Franchise Review Megaman Part 2 of 6: the X Series

The next series that came to be was the Megaman X Series. At the time, many fans on a Nintendo Power back in the early 90s believed that X was 10 in Roman numeral. Of course, that would not be the case as it was a different robot all together. This of course was also another great series that I also personally enjoyed and would recommend myself but that's just me. It was a dramatic change and it got its start into the Super Nintendo realm. The success of Megaman was utilized greatly and also at the same time introduced a new character named Zero.

Before I go into details about each of the different Megaman X games, I want to point out that the series leaves a mystery as to what really happened to the original Megaman, Protoman, Bass, Dr. Light, and Dr. Wily. I presume that most of the robots are dead that were in the classic series. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily might be alive but not to live much longer. I do not have much base on that but that is just my assumption as to what happened. Zero was a super robot created by Dr. Wily designed to be "The Ultimate Killing Machine." Dr. Light was also working on Megaman X as his ultimate robot that was powerful enough to be able to combat Zero.

The 1^st Megaman X was released originally on the SNES and was quite different from the Megaman games in a way. For instance, the charge shot was instantly available from the 1^st X game and a new villain came about. The main one was Sigma, the leader of the Mavericks. Instead of Dr. Wily as the main antagonist, Sigma took his place. Also noted to have was the introduction stage before picking the Mavericks that you wish to face off with. At the end of the intro stage, a new character was introduced in Vile. He's a killing machine and is like an assassin. He tries to X but fails when Zero comes into the picture. Not much is told about Zero in the beginning but serves as just a secondary character trying to help out Megaman X. The robots in this game were Mavericks but were different. They used animals such as instead of Flame Man there was Flame Stag. There was also Spark Mandrill that was used. This X game used a password system. I know I stated that Megaman 7 was the last one to do so but to be clearer, it had more to do with the Classic Megaman series so if anyone got confused on that, now you know. After completing that part, the next part was the Sigma stages and then the final part itself. After defeating Sigma, there's an ending. I've played this game and thought actually it was pretty decent and a good start for the X Series. I should also note that this game introduces the Hadouken and had the ability to gain armor, which became a staple in the X Series.

Megaman X2 was the direct sequel to the successful Megaman X game. This time however Zero needed to not only be rebuilt but also repaired. This would become a theme as Zero seemed to get destroyed more often than not. There are 3 Zero body parts, which can be obtained by fighting 3 different sub bosses. If you could not obtain all of Zero's body parts, you would have to fight Zero. However, if you were able to do so, Dr. Cain reactivates Zero or destroys the fake Zero. A little more on Zero's character was developed as some slow hints as to who created him. Sigma had claws, which resembled Wolverine and could slash opponents. The last quote as Sigma's defeat was that Zero was the last of the doctor's creation. At the time, you wonder whom was he talking about. Though his name was never revealed, it was pretty obvious whom Sigma was talking about.

Megaman X3 was another sequel to the X Series and also introduced to playing as Zero a little bit. It was the last game made in the X Series made for the SNES. This one was also made on other systems like the Playstation for Japan only or the Saturn. Vile also had appeared and wanted to go to battle X again. Though this also was the last Megaman X game to use a Password and I think the last series to use it at all as the other Megaman franchises used memory cards or saving to a hard drive depending on the system. Sigma would once again return as it became a recurring theme and making it seem no matter how many times they crush him, he keeps coming back for more.

Megaman X4 was made for the Playstation and the PC. It had something different than the other X games. Zero had his own story and if you played the beginning of his game, the guy that created him bares a striking resemblance to Dr. Wily. He created Zero and what really gave it away was that W on Zero's forehead. The game also had animated cut scenes and would vary depending on who was used. It introduced a secret armor though a cheat with the Black Spy armor turning Zero into Black Spy Zero. Megaman X would have a secret armor as well called The Ultimate Armor. It was done through a cheat and going through Web Spider's stage finding the capsule. I should also point like that like the other X games, Dr. Light is in hologram form talking to X giving him armor. The game also had 2 different endings and depending on which one you played as, you got that ending. The only thing with the cut scenes and in particular X's voice should have sounded more like a teenager instead of a kid. I felt that really was the minor flaw in probably what I consider one of the best X games made in the entire series. Sigma this time would fit in 4 different forms though in 3 different parts.

Megaman X5 really pushed the multiple endings to the limit, as there were multiple combinations as to what could possibly happen. You could play as either Zero or X at the beginning and alternate them when selecting another boss. It introduced something called the Eurasia colony and there was a time limit as to how long it would take to prevent it from crashing. 16 hours were given and had to collect the items called the Enigma and the Space Shuttle. The game also introduced Dynamo, who seems to want fight X or Zero depending on who you play as. For a quick kill on Dynamo, use Zero and go with a rapid slash on him. He could be beaten as fast as 8 seconds. The Enigma actually succeeding is actually pretty slim so don't expect it to ever work. The shuttle has a better shot but Zero is the pilot. If he fails, he comes out as a Maverick though it looks like in a DBZ reference like he's powering up or the color of the Kao-Ken attack surrounds him. That was not the ending wanted at all considering that you may want to have Zero for the final fight. If the game ends with Zero destroying Sigma, he looks to his origins though more hints of Dr. Wily without ever mentioning his name are given. If it ends with X winning and Zero is still around, it will lead to events with X having the Saber going into the next mission. If X wins and Zero went Maverick, somehow his memory of Zero is gone. To note, Alia will talk and not have the option to just not listen at all and it can get rather annoying. The armors in this game were the Falcon Armor and the Gaea could be obtained through the capsules.

Megaman X6 is probably considered the lowest of the games. X starts the game without Zero and has the Saber. I actually named it the X Saber on the count of Megaman X actually having it still. He does actually keep it if you somehow can bring Zero back. A nightmare form of Zero is around and if X can defeat him, he becomes Zero. New introductions to other characters like Hi-Max, Isoc, and Gate. The nightmare system was added to increase difficulty. The Ultimate Armor could be obtained through a cheat in the Playstation. There was Japanese voice acting but English text was there. Translation was I don't know exactly because I don't know Japanese. Gate had a hand in resurrection Sigma but did not get the job done completely. He was not completely resurrected, which explains why he looks so stupid and not so responsive. Anyhow, back to it and this also had Sigma who looked like a drunken idiot. After getting rid of Sigma, it was actually thought that it would be the end of the X Series. Zero would go into a capsule, leaving him to rest for 100 years, assuming it would lead into the next series Mega Man Zero or so anyone thought. I had thought it would do such a thing and would make a lot of sense.

I really can't much about Megaman X7 but Zero is in the game. I have not actually played this so if I do get to play it, I'll talk more about it but what I'm assuming happened was simple; Zero got taken out of the chamber and was needed for battle. Axl was introduced and that was all I know. Sigma came out wanting to rule the world again and then failed once again.

Megaman X8 was actually the 1^st Megaman X game to come out in the United States before Japan. The animated scenes returned and the voice acting came back, which I thought was cool. I have actually played this only on PC so I would assume maybe some differences in the PS2 version. The Jakob Project was around and it had 3 main heroes X, Zero, and Axl. Vile had returned to the scene for the 1^st time since X3 and he's once again a hired hitman for Sigma. Lumine was captured and was actually the main point of the game. In this game however, there were more armors of X though had different names like the Icarus and Hermes armors respectively. The Ultimate Armor returned as well and so did Zero's Black Armor. Axl also had an armor called The White Armor. There were also 3 female characters that could be used for navigation like Alia, Layer, and Pallete. They each compliment X, Zero, and Axl respectively. This X game is a lot different than any of the X games because Sigma is actually not the final villain. In a twist, it turned out to be Lumine who had 2 forms and the last form reminds me personally of either the final form in Legends 2 or the Angelic form from Megaman Zero with the final boss Copy X. Sigma is finally dead and that's it.

There was Megaman Command Mission, which is after everything that happened. No trace of Sigma nor was he even mentioned at all. I did not see him at all and wondered what happened but I guess that's what happens when actually seeing what happened to him in X8 before this game. Anyhow, this was an RPG element based game, which was an experiment to see if Megaman could adapt to that type of game style. I actually liked the cut scenes and the acting no question about that, the RPG element was just for me out of place. I mean while the game was developed well, I was more used to it being a Side Scrolling Adventure game. The game dealt with a new major villain in Epsilon. That was actually a different twist as usually it would be Sigma but not this time. Like any RPG game, you pick your move and that's it. There were other characters introduced and could be played like Spider/Redips, Steel Massimo, Cinnamon, Marino. The end actually had Repids and had secret bosses: Belladonna's, Tails Clan, and Dukebill in no particular order. It wasn't that bad of a game it just was out of place personally but if you enjoyed it, that's all right.

The Megaman Xtreme games were made for Game Boy Color and more or less had some of the robots from the 1^st 3 Megaman Xtreme games. Iris is in Xtreme 2 so this would logically take place before X4. They were pretty decent. A PSP game was remade of the 1^st game with a hidden of Megaman: Powered Up, a remake of the 1^st Megaman game but with 2 different robots: Time Man and Oil Man. Perhaps if I play it, I'll go into details about it sometime.

The last collection series made was Megaman X Collection. Like the previous collection, it was made for the 3 systems prior to the 360, Wii, and PS3. Each had some differences but I'm not quite sure which. I do know that it had Megaman Battle and Chase, which was never released in the United States. It had the 1^st 6 X games. I think there should be a part 2 of the X Collection using X7, X8, Command Mission, and maybe if possible the 2 Megaman Xtreme games as well at least. I do think something like that is possible. All in all I would have to say the X Series was pretty good and enjoyable.