Mega Man X is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was the first Mega Man game for the 16-bit console and the first game in the Mega Man X series, a spin-off of the original Mega Man series that began on the Super NES's predecessor, the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game takes place a century after the original Mega Man series, and is set in a futuristic world populated by both humans and "Reploids", robots capable of thinking, feeling, and growing like their human creators. Because of these complex attributes, many Reploids are prone to destructive, renegade activity and are thereafter referred to as "Mavericks". The plot of the game follows the protagonist X, the last creation of Dr. Light and an android member of a military task force called the "Maverick Hunters". With the help of his partner Zero, the last creation of Dr. Wily, X must stop Sigma, a powerful Maverick leader, from taking over Earth and committing genocide against humanity.

With the transition to more advanced gaming hardware, series artist Keiji Inafune explained that the development of Mega Man X involved reinventing Mega Man through gameplay expansion and a more mature storyline while still maintaining the basic concepts on which the franchise was built. Much like the NES Mega Man games that came before it, Mega Man X is a platform game where the player takes control of the eponymous character and must complete a set of eight, initial stages in any order desired. Defeating the boss character at the end of each stage grants the player one new weapon that can then be toggled and used at will for the remainder of the game. However, Mega Man X adds a number of new features and makes radical changes to the original gameplay mechanics of previous releases in the series. These include allowing the player to dash along the ground, scale walls, and obtain armor attachments which grant special abilities.

Mega Man X has met with positive reviews for its gameplay, sound, and graphics, as well as its attempt to augment the aging Mega Man franchise. Some critics have listed it as one of the greatest video games ever made. A longterm commercial success on the SNES, Mega Man X has since been ported to personal computers (PCs) and mobile devices, included in the North American Mega Man X Collection for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 (PS2), and released on the Virtual Console download service for the Wii, the Wii U, and the New Nintendo 3DS. The game also received a remake on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) titled Mega Man Maverick Hunter X. Nintendo re-released Mega Man X in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition, and iam8bit re-released the physical SNES version in September 2018 in celebration of Mega Mans 30th anniversary. The game is also included in the Mega Man X Legacy Collection for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.

Plot

Mega Man X takes place in an unspecified time during the 22nd century (21XX) and approximately 100 years after the original Mega Man series. A human scientist named Dr. Cain discovers the ruins of a robotics research facility that had once been operated by the legendary robot designer Dr. Thomas Light. Among the ruins, Cain finds a large capsule which contains a highly advanced robot with human-level intelligence and emotions, and even free will, the likes of which the world has never seen before. Light had wished to instill within his creation reasonable sanity, good nature, and an understanding of the more controversial aspects of human morality. The robot was buried while running a 30-year diagnostic program to ensure these features. However, because of his old age, Dr. Light died before these 30 years ended, and his final creation ended up sealed for 100 years instead of 30. Cain spends the next several months studying the robot, who is named "X".

As the public outcry against the few Maverick incidents becomes too great to deny, the government steps in, and under the advice of Dr. Cain, forms an elite military police organization called the "Maverick Hunters". X proceeds to track down and exterminate eight of Sigma's most powerful Mavericks, then rendezvous with Zero outside Sigma's stronghold. Inside the compound, X finds that Zero has been captured by Vile. Another battle ensues, ending similar to their first meeting with X at Vile's mercy. Zero suddenly breaks free of his restraints, latches onto Vile, and self-detonates, destroying his own body and the Maverick's Ride Armor. Shocked over Zero's sacrifice, X regains his strength and finishes off Vile. Zero encourages his comrade once again, and succumbs to his damage. Now more determined than ever, X fights his way to Sigma, destroys the Maverick leader, and escapes the island fortress as it explodes and sinks. As he returns to base, X reflects on the events that have unfolded, questioning Zero's sacrifice, his own decision to fight, and the ongoing war with the Mavericks. After the credits, a message from Sigma reveals that X merely destroyed a temporary body and that Sigma's spirit lives on. Sigma then says that he would gather new, stronger bodies to do his bidding, and he would see X soon.

Gameplay

thumb|left|The player character [[X (Mega Man)|X evades enemies in Armored Armadillo's stage.]]

The original Mega Man series on the NES consisted of 2D platform games that focus on run-and-gun gameplay. Mega Man X uses the same basic principles as its precursors but with many added options. The player takes control of the protagonist X, and, after completing an introductory stage, is presented with a stage selection screen that depicts eight boss characters. The player may attempt these eight levels in any order, using weapons gained in one level to overcome challenges in the others, although some bosses will be much easier if challenged after having beat another boss and obtaining their signature weapon.

Development

Mega Man X was developed by a team at Capcom which had worked on the long-running Mega Man series for the NES. Lead artist Keiji Inafune (credited as a planner as Inemuryar) recounted that the development of Mega Man X required a lot of brainstorming for its storyline and content where the team's goal was to branch out from original Mega Man games while still maintaining their fundamentals. The development team additionally wanted the world of Mega Man X to be much more sophisticated than in the first Mega Man series. They wanted to accomplish this with Zero's "hardcore" personality and the game's antagonist Sigma. As stated by Inafune, the original series' villain Dr. Wily had "a side to him you couldn't really hate". Sigma, however, was written as a once-good character suffering an "unforeseen error" that leads him to be completely evil. Mega Man X altered the franchise tradition of having themed boss characters with a "Man" moniker by replacing them with anthropomorphic animal-like androids. The art and pixelization for these eight bosses were divided among three illustrators: Inafune did Storm Eagle and Chill Penguin; Kaji did Spark Mandrill, Launch Octopus, and Sting Chameleon; and Kazunori Tazaki (credited as Ikki) did Flame Mammoth, Armored Armadillo, and Boomer Kuwanger. The team was careful in making the bosses distinct from one another in both stature and coloring. Iwai and Horiyama would later compose the soundtracks for Mega Man X2 and X4 respectively. The Japanese division of Sony Records published an arranged album featuring ten songs on March 9, 1994. Music using the SNES instrumentals was included as part of the Capcom Music Generation: Rockman X1 ~ X6 soundtrack released by Suleputer in 2003.

The success of the Mega Man series allowed Capcom to continue releasing NES titles well into the 16-bit era. Mega Man X was announced in North America in a March 1993 Game Players magazine interview with Capcom's Senior Vice President Joseph Morici. The tentatively titled "Super Mega Man" was originally to have a "fairly large memory configuration and a battery backup". The autumn 1993 issue of Club Capcom announced Rockman X for a December 1993 release in Japan, divulged several plot and gameplay details, and showed Zero as a silhouetted "Blues-like character". Leading up to its release, the game was covered by the North American press surrounding the summer 1993 and winter 1994 Consumer Electronics Shows.

Reception and legacy

Mega Man X has been widely acclaimed by critics since its release. Gaming magazines in the United States and Europe including Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), GamePro, Game Players, Nintendo Power, Super Play, and the German version of Total! consistently lauded the game's visuals, audio, control, and overall gameplay. Brett Elston of GamesRadar stated, "X was a total reinvention of the series, a perfectly executed update that had fans anticipating its release with a fervor the franchise hadn't seen since the Mega Man 2 and 3 days."

Mega Man X was ranked number 58 in Nintendo Powers "100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time" in its 100th issue in September 1997, number 103 in the publication's "Top 200 Games" list for its 200th issue in February 2006, and the 11th best SNES game of all time in its August 2008 issue. Both GamesRadar and ScrewAttack listed Mega Man X as the eighth best game in the SNES library. GamePro similarly listed it as the eighth greatest 16-bit video game. Game Informer considered it the 120th best game of all time in its own 200th issue in December 2009. IGN named it the twelfth-best on its own top 100 SNES games list in 2011. In 2018, Complex listed the game 15th on their "The best Super Nintendo Games of All Time." They felt the game was one of the best games in the Mega Man X series. In 1995, Total! rated the game 28th on its Top 100 SNES Games.

Mega Man X was a commercial success. The SNES version sold 1.165 million copies worldwide , making it the 41st best-selling Capcom game of all time. IGNs Jeremy Dunham speculated that the game's more mature storyline and its inclusion of numerous gameplay extensions over the original Mega Man series helped create a "unique cadre of fans". The game was followed by seven direct sequels and three related titles: Mega Man Xtreme, Mega Man Xtreme 2, and Mega Man X Command Mission. Nintendo also republished the game in Japan on its Nintendo Power cartridge service in 1998. Mega Man X, alongside its next five direct sequels and Mega Man: Battle & Chase, was compiled and made available on the Mega Man X Collection in North America for the GameCube and PS2 in 2006.

An enhanced remake titled Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, or in Japan, was released worldwide for the PSP between 2005 and 2008. With the launch of the PSP, Keiji Inafune and his team debated on whether or not to create a Mega Man X9. "So, we decided that instead of going the X9 route, let's go back to the series' roots and rediscover what makes the X series so classic," Inafune concluded. "We felt that the best way to do that would be to make an X remake." Although the remake stays true to the original game in both gameplay and basic storyline, Maverick Hunter X features a total graphical overhaul with 3D character models and backgrounds, a remixed soundtrack, voice acting, and anime cutscenes. According to Yoshikawa, the character illustrations were updated to resemble both toys and the designs of Mega Man X8. Although the game did not meet sales expectations, it was later made available as a download from the PlayStation Network. The Japanese and North American versions were also bundled in a special compilation with Mega Man: Powered Up, a remake of the original Mega Man.

Capcom released a port of Mega Man X onto FOMA and i-mode compatible mobile phones in Japan in 2007. The game was ported to the Android operating system in Japan as a free download on November 18, 2011. However, this version removed extra life power-ups, and separated the levels into chunks by black screen transitions, as opposed to the continuous scrolling of the original. Weapon and armor upgrades could also be purchased with actual money to ease the game's difficulty.

Mega Man X was announced for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch as part of Mega Man X Legacy Collection (Rockman X Anniversary Collection in Japan) which was released on July 24, 2018, worldwide and July 26, 2018, in Japan and also possesses an optional high-resolution filter to create higher-resolution graphics for this game. In addition, the Day of Sigma OVA from Maverick Hunter X is available as part of this release, which is also available on Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 as well.

In May 2018, iam8bit announced it would re-release the original SNES cartridge version in September in celebration of Mega Mans 30th Anniversary. The release was limited to 8,500 copies, with 7,500 produced in opaque light blue cartridges and 1,000 in glow-in-the-dark translucent blue, and each color in a random box. The instruction booklet of the re-release features a foreword by Jirard "Dragonrider / The Completionist" Khalil and packaging restoration by Jango Snow Art & Design.

Notes

References

  • Official Rockman website
  • Official Irregular Hunter X website