Mega Man to the Xth Degree

The venerable Mega Man series got its humble beginnings in Japan in 1987 with the title of "Rock Man" but underwent some changes when it was exported to the United States including a name change what we now know as Mega Man. I doubt anyone would have pictured this strange half-robot half-man with a blaster arm sticking around for over two decades and spawning over 100 games but here we are!

The folks at Nintendo recently redid Mega Man X and brought it to the Wii console and released it March 1st, 2010 in North America. While Mega Man X is the same title as a 1994 release by Nintendo Entertainment, Nintendo now promises that their latest release is not simply an adaptation to a new console but a brand new game true to the spirit of the series. Having personally played through more than my fair share of the multitude of Mega Man games I can in fact support Nintendo's claim that Mega Man X is true to the spirit of the series but I am having trouble calling it a brand new game that moves the series forward in any sort of meaningful way.

The general plot of the game and theme of game-play is markedly similar to the other games in a series. A robotic virus, in this case a virus known as Roboenza, has begun infecting machines world-wide causing them to go insane and is directing them to take over the world. Mega Man sets out under the guidance of Dr Wiley and Dr Light to take down the latest threat and recover a stolen prototype which can cure this new disease. Along the way, Mega Man must navigate some 88 levels including boss encounters, in order to complete the game.

As a veteran of the series, I used to thoroughly enjoy much of the devious nature of Mega Man levels. There were parts of the game where I could spend a good 15 to 20 minutes scratching my head, attempting and failing to get up some wall or conquer some logic puzzle in order to advance. It seems the latest installment has largely lost this in favor of just dotting each level with things that trigger instant death if you hit them like spike traps or death beams. This gives the game more of a feel like the board game Operation, where you are being ever so careful not to run into things instead of a tricky shooter game with some nice puzzles to it.

What deficiencies the game has in level design it moderately redeems itself for in how Mega Man functions and how the rest of the game handles. Most of the enemies are about on caliber you would expect to face and the game provides an appropriate challenge in most places although I do personally feel the difficulty is a little lower than I would like. I relish the terrifying and devious nature of the previous games and Mega Man X just seems to overall come up short in this area. Secondly, speaking to level design, the bosses also seem a lot less creative and complicated as with previous games. There were some really wonderful and evil boss abilities and patterns in the previous games that made you appreciate the seriousness of a boss encounter. But at the risk of sounding a little snobby, the bosses seem too easy and are really just normal robots with a lot of health and a gimmicky, simple pattern.

As per the normal, the various levels contain a "special weapon" which is a type of ammo Mega Man can use to suit specific situations. Most notably these special powers do extra damage or add a helpful mechanic to specific boss fights. For example, a fire boss might be vulnerable to a frost weapon in that he might take extra damage or he might become stunned. This is handled well enough by the game when applying to bosses but you mine as well totally ignore these special powers in any other situation than to fight the one boss they were intended for. I did take the time to consider using special powers in various situations throughout normal levels and unfortunately I successfully identified next to no chance to use these powers for any practical gain.

Overall Mega Man X for the Nintendo Wii is a pleasant experience for any Mega Man fan to enjoy. It offers traditional game-play and brings it to a new console with all the trimmings you're used to. It does lack for flavor with some of the special powers and level design but if you want 'more of the same' then you've found the right game.