OK let's set this straight from the jump: X in this case does NOT mean 10, but what it does mean is that a newer version of Mega Man and Capcom going back to the back breaking, manhood stealing, difficulty that made Mega Man what it was when it first showed up on NES in the early to mid 80s
The story behind this series is that this Mega Man model which is called "X" was initially created by Dr. Thomas Light in 20XX(And no I never could figure out why they just didn't put in a year number) and he was to be able to think and make decisions like a human and was hopefully going to be able to live a normal peaceful life in whatever time he was awakened.
We know better don't we?
The year is 21XX and a scientist named Dr. Cain found the capsule that "X" was in and activated him. He followed the late Dr. Light's orders to a tee and Mega Man X would be "reborn" a century later. His abilities are different of the previous model whom could jump, shoot and eventually slide, but this model could now dash and climb on walls, which becomes more essential than you know when you narrowly miss jumps. In the past if you botched a jump you were dead...simple as that! At least this time you were given a technique to help you out.
Now in the first game we were introduced to the group called the "Maverick Hunters" whom were lead by X and a mysterious individual named Zero whom is similar to the "Blue Bomber" but is also different with his weapons and what he CAN'T do...more on that in a minute!
Your objective for this game is a rather simple one: Beat 8 Maverick bosses and then Sigma and beat the game. Simple concept, but there's one BIG difference in this game than the NES games and it goes like this...
In the past your life bar looked like this:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Pretty big right? Well to get it that big in this game and any future games the folks at Capcom made you work for it! How? Well this game introduced the "Heart Tank", a heart-shaped tank that made your life bar longer and made you able to endure more hits from enemies and bosses(spikes still mean instant death though) and this game introduced the "sub tank" as well. The tank didn't work like the old "E Tanks" as once you used the energy stored in these you can refill them and the way to fill them was to have your life bar maxed out however big it was and then collect more energy pellets and let me tell you that if they aren't sitting out in plain sight good luck getting them from defeated enemies. The drop ratio seems to have shrunk in this series.
X has attachments that he can get for his armor and Buster but to get them he has to find "Light Capsules" which is where he meets his original creator(Dr. Light) and then gets an item to help him on his missions and trust me he'll need them all!
Oh before I move on to game two in the series let me also inform you that if you beat certain bosses it actually affects how things go in future levels from a layout standpoint. An example of this would be if you beat "Chill Penguin" and go to "Flame Mammoth"'s Level where the lava gets frozen over. This helps because in one section there's a heart tank to get that you can get otherwise.
Now game two which is oh so cleverly called X2 introduced a series of new bosses on top of the regular Mavericks and they were called "X Hunters". They first make an appearance after the standard prologue level that all the games in the series had and then only after you beat two Mavericks will they show up in a level and then you have the right to challenge them if you choose to. Why would you want to? Well you see these guys have Zero's parts! Yep! Sigma decided to have Zero kidnapped and disassembled and one part of him belongs to one of the Hunters. If you do NOT complete Zero by the end of the game he dies but if you do then you get a different ending altogether.
OOPSIES!!!!
I neglected to mention this: If you fulfill certain requirements in the first two X games you can use certain moves from Street Fighter! The fireball(Mega Man X) and the Dragon Punch(X2) but you have to do certain things to get the attacks...have fun with them.
Now there are 4 more games on this collection but most of its standard shit until we get to X4. For the first time EVER in the series Sigma got bounced as head villain and we get to play as Zero! Now if I sound excited about it its because of the fact that he brings an element to the stellar series that I thought kicked ass!
Now Zero has a few similarities as X and some MAJOR differences that separate him from the "Blue Bomber"
1. Zero can NOT get any of the Light Capsules in the stages. You can find where they are for X but nothing will show up for him specifically so he's on his own
2. All but one of the weapons he gets from a boss doesn't use weapon energy and moreover they are more like ninja moves than anything
3. His main weapon: A saber called the "Z-Saber" and unlike X's "Buster" it can't be charged. I guess they figure they give him ninja arts from each boss so why let him charge his weapon?
4. Both characters can use a "Ride Armor" but only X can get an attachment to call up a robot to help him out.
I'll go ahead and say this: I WISH Capcom put in an updated version of "Beat" and "Rush"(Beat was the bird in Mega Man 5 & 6 and Rush was a dog that was at least in Mega Man 3-6) in each game. To me at least Rush was useful and you didn't have to spell anything out for him
Now if you wanted to know my way of thinking as far as should you buy this compilation its this: On a scale of 1- 10 its a 8.5 but in "Escapist" terms I say what the hell and go ahead and...
BUY IT!!!!
The story behind this series is that this Mega Man model which is called "X" was initially created by Dr. Thomas Light in 20XX(And no I never could figure out why they just didn't put in a year number) and he was to be able to think and make decisions like a human and was hopefully going to be able to live a normal peaceful life in whatever time he was awakened.
We know better don't we?
The year is 21XX and a scientist named Dr. Cain found the capsule that "X" was in and activated him. He followed the late Dr. Light's orders to a tee and Mega Man X would be "reborn" a century later. His abilities are different of the previous model whom could jump, shoot and eventually slide, but this model could now dash and climb on walls, which becomes more essential than you know when you narrowly miss jumps. In the past if you botched a jump you were dead...simple as that! At least this time you were given a technique to help you out.
Now in the first game we were introduced to the group called the "Maverick Hunters" whom were lead by X and a mysterious individual named Zero whom is similar to the "Blue Bomber" but is also different with his weapons and what he CAN'T do...more on that in a minute!
Your objective for this game is a rather simple one: Beat 8 Maverick bosses and then Sigma and beat the game. Simple concept, but there's one BIG difference in this game than the NES games and it goes like this...
In the past your life bar looked like this:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Pretty big right? Well to get it that big in this game and any future games the folks at Capcom made you work for it! How? Well this game introduced the "Heart Tank", a heart-shaped tank that made your life bar longer and made you able to endure more hits from enemies and bosses(spikes still mean instant death though) and this game introduced the "sub tank" as well. The tank didn't work like the old "E Tanks" as once you used the energy stored in these you can refill them and the way to fill them was to have your life bar maxed out however big it was and then collect more energy pellets and let me tell you that if they aren't sitting out in plain sight good luck getting them from defeated enemies. The drop ratio seems to have shrunk in this series.
X has attachments that he can get for his armor and Buster but to get them he has to find "Light Capsules" which is where he meets his original creator(Dr. Light) and then gets an item to help him on his missions and trust me he'll need them all!
Oh before I move on to game two in the series let me also inform you that if you beat certain bosses it actually affects how things go in future levels from a layout standpoint. An example of this would be if you beat "Chill Penguin" and go to "Flame Mammoth"'s Level where the lava gets frozen over. This helps because in one section there's a heart tank to get that you can get otherwise.
Now game two which is oh so cleverly called X2 introduced a series of new bosses on top of the regular Mavericks and they were called "X Hunters". They first make an appearance after the standard prologue level that all the games in the series had and then only after you beat two Mavericks will they show up in a level and then you have the right to challenge them if you choose to. Why would you want to? Well you see these guys have Zero's parts! Yep! Sigma decided to have Zero kidnapped and disassembled and one part of him belongs to one of the Hunters. If you do NOT complete Zero by the end of the game he dies but if you do then you get a different ending altogether.
OOPSIES!!!!
I neglected to mention this: If you fulfill certain requirements in the first two X games you can use certain moves from Street Fighter! The fireball(Mega Man X) and the Dragon Punch(X2) but you have to do certain things to get the attacks...have fun with them.
Now there are 4 more games on this collection but most of its standard shit until we get to X4. For the first time EVER in the series Sigma got bounced as head villain and we get to play as Zero! Now if I sound excited about it its because of the fact that he brings an element to the stellar series that I thought kicked ass!
Now Zero has a few similarities as X and some MAJOR differences that separate him from the "Blue Bomber"
1. Zero can NOT get any of the Light Capsules in the stages. You can find where they are for X but nothing will show up for him specifically so he's on his own
2. All but one of the weapons he gets from a boss doesn't use weapon energy and moreover they are more like ninja moves than anything
3. His main weapon: A saber called the "Z-Saber" and unlike X's "Buster" it can't be charged. I guess they figure they give him ninja arts from each boss so why let him charge his weapon?
4. Both characters can use a "Ride Armor" but only X can get an attachment to call up a robot to help him out.
I'll go ahead and say this: I WISH Capcom put in an updated version of "Beat" and "Rush"(Beat was the bird in Mega Man 5 & 6 and Rush was a dog that was at least in Mega Man 3-6) in each game. To me at least Rush was useful and you didn't have to spell anything out for him
Now if you wanted to know my way of thinking as far as should you buy this compilation its this: On a scale of 1- 10 its a 8.5 but in "Escapist" terms I say what the hell and go ahead and...
BUY IT!!!!