The Wonder Years: Week 19 - Mega Man X
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 08.29.2007
Video games’ most franchised character kicks robotic ass.
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
MEGA MAN X
(Capcom, Super NES, 1993)
I'm not lying in that tagline, you know. Mega Man (or to call him by his rightful Japanese name, Rockman) has featured in around 85 games - including remakes and spin-offs, but not including cameos - since his debut in 1987. That's an average of four and a quarter games per year, or round about one every 10 weeks. Insane. By comparison to another legendary franchise, Mario has starred directly in around half a dozen fewer games. Back in 1993 though, Mega Man had yet to really expand beyond his original series, and Mega Man X represented his first leap onto 16-bit consoles. Lucky for him, it would turn out to be a pretty successful one, with all the action of the original games married to a hugely enhanced graphical engine and a new, yet still familiar, gameworld.
The plot of MMX, surprisingly, is quite thoughtful science fiction fare and draws parallels to Blade Runner. A hundred years or so in the future, premier archaeologist Dr. Cain come across the remnants of an old robotics factory operated by Dr. Light from the original games, and is immediately enraptured with its contents - namely, the cyborg/android known only as X (the game isn't really clear on which side of the distinction the character falls). Working together from Dr. Light's notes, Cain and X create a race of androids with free will, the Reploids. Of course, they fall prey to the laws of science fiction, and some Reploids go maverick. An organisation dedicated to hunting out the Mavericks is set up, but its leader Sigma also goes mad (what are the chances) and along with his top henchman Vile leads the Mavericks in a reign of terror. It's down to X and his occasional companion, the sole remaining hunter Zero, to put a stop to all these evil shenanigans.
From a pure gameplay perspective, MMX sticks firmly in the classic Rockman tradition, with intense robot-murdering run n' gun action spliced together with some tricksy platforming. As usual, ol' Mega Man can only fire directly left or right and can't duck (must be the armoured codpiece getting in the way), a less-than-versatile approach which necessitates some infinitely precise jumping at times. Each of the eight levels, all selectable from the get-go, is themed around its boss, an animal-based Reploid that will divulge its weaponry to Mega Man when defeated. Scattered throughout the game, too, are upgrades from Dr. Light, which for the most part prove very helpful indeed. The relative power of the graphics engine allows a fair number of enemies to be flung at the player (well, not up to Contra standards or anything, and at a slight expense of framerate), which means the game can get pretty hectic when you're trying to negotiate jumps while avoiding projectiles and demolishing flying bird-bots.
[poor journalism] Also: the soundtrack fucking rocks. I mean, really. It's awesome. [/end poor journalism]
I used to think that this game was ‘rock' hard (zing!), but replaying it recently suggests I might have been blinded by youthful inability and/or very short thumbs. I still have the short thumbs, but I've learned to live with them (and the mocking insults). Anyway, the game is actually very pleasingly challenging, although as with all the traditional Mega Man games, the learning curve doesn't really apply unless you can find the right order in which to tackle the levels. The final stage, Sigma's fortress, is an epic challenge firmly in the old school vein, with the Blue Bomber required to take out all eight of the bosses he's already defeated before making it to the tricky final battle with a disembodied head (it's harder than it sounds). I'm ashamed to admit that back in the day I never could defeat Sigma, and was mightily ashamed when I lent the cartridge to my pal AJ who promptly dispatched him first go. The git.
It's quite an achievement that of all the many, many Mega Man / Rockman games in existence, Mega Man X is still one of the finest (along with, for the record, Mega Man 2 and 3 on the NES and Mega Man V on the Gameboy). Okay, so it does have competition like the ‘quality' of Mega Man Soccer, but that shouldn't denigrate its achievements. Although released as part of the immensely desirable Mega Man X Collection on PS2 and GameCube (desirable at any rate for any gamer outside of North America), the actual Super NES cartridge isn't too hard to find, even though a decent condition copy may well set you back around £25 / £30 (sixty or so dollars). But it's definitely worth the price - Mega Man X represents the pinnacle of one of gaming's premier franchises.
Mega Man X trivia
The X series of Mega Man games spawned a further twelve iterations and spin-offs, each of relatively declining quality. It's still worth picking up the collection disc, though.
The game was remade as Mega Man Maverick Hunter X for the PSP, which was pretty unnecessary and didn't add anything of note except for a bit of back story and the fact that Vile seems to have different motivations.
I actually came across an MMX manga once in a second-hand store, which is a little odd as I was given to understand it was never released outside of Japan. It's pretty cool though, and drawn by Yoshihiro Iwamoto of Gundam fame.
Mega Man X is number 31 in my official all-time Top 100 games.
Splendid visitation possibilities
The place to come for random retro gaming tidbits, links and videos, and general amusing games-related stuff collated from the interweb.
Firstly, inkeeping with today's choice of game, here's the plot of Mega Man X laid out in a five-minute script form. Most of the jokes are probably funniest once you've completed the game, but it's still amusing for the outsiders.
Here's a musical gaming video that has probably been done to death, but for the three of you out there who haven't yet seen it, here's a choir performing a medley of random gaming tunes, complete with several loons dressed up pretending to be Mario and Johnny Cage.
A look at some of the wonders that are possible via the magic of Half-Life 2 mods - Mario Kart? On the PC? You just know Ninty's lawyers are gonna have a field day with this one when it sees the light of day.
Every week in this section I'll endeavour to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Wii Sports, having finally got my hands on the console, courtesy of my friend AJ who has gone to Spain for a few weeks. Little does he know I have moved house in the meantime, and taken the console with me. Bwahahaa! Seriously though, what's with the bowling? It sucks.
Once in a Livetime by Dream Theater, a great live album with a horrendously cliched name. The band drops in musical references to everything from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to ‘Enter Sandman' by Metallica, although sadly they don't play the whole of ‘The Mirror'.
The Red Dwarf Omnibus by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which is a bit more derivative of the TV show's jokes than one would have wanted from a spin-off novel, but is still a fun science fiction yarn.
and any TV show (particularly World's Wildest Police Chases) hosted by Sheriff John Burnell, who is surely the greatest cult icon never given any mainstream recognition.
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - it's time once again for a super-special feature! Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
