Not every Mega Man game gets a threequel.
Bitter Legends and ZX fans can attest to this.
(Seriously?
We get a third Star Force - a series that’s
just biting on Battle Network - but no Legends
3?
C’mon!)
Ahem.
Most of them, however, came back for a third
turn.
Mega Man 3 brought the introduction of Break
Man/Proto Man/Blues/whatever you call him.
The dude with the whistle.
Battle Network 3 brought the Pokèmonization
of the series, breaking it into two halves.
And X3 brought a whole new player character,
the recently-reassembled Zero.
Oh, and platforms to summon one of four ride
armors.
And a pile of new upgrades.
And MAPS.
HONEST TO GOODNESS MAPS.
They don’t love you like I love you.
And, for whatever reason, some versions boast
intro animations for the bosses that scream
“Anime circa 1996.”
X has all the fun.
But open the weapons screen, hit R, and BAM.
It’s time for Zero to shine.
Dude’s had it coming, having been kinda
dismantled in the last outing.
Unfortunately, though it’s a nice gesture,
Zero gets none of the weapons upgrades X gets,
and he can’t enter boss rooms or mid-boss
rooms, of which you’re guaranteed at least
two a stage.
And if Zero dies... well, let’s just say
it was hell putting him together the last
time.
Regardless of who you’re using, the idea’s
the same: Beat 8 bosses, collect heart tanks
and sub-tanks and ride armor capsules and
whatnot, and shoot/slash your way through
Sigma’s forces.
Dr. Light’s power-up capsules make a return,
with a new twist: There are more enhancements
than X’s robotic frame can accommodate.
You’re going to have to choose.
Again, it’s a Mega Man game: You’re doing
all the same things, just a little better.
The stages are a little more complex.
The tricks you’ll need to use to get the
items are a little more elaborate.
Evolution takes time.
The game itself occupies an uncomfortable
point in history: that hinge between the 16-
and 32-bit eras, when a 2D platformer - hardcore
and refined though it may be - was apt to
be prejudged a relic of the past.
We here in the States never received the PlayStation
or Saturn versions of the game, save for a
PC port in 1998... until this enhanced version
made it onto the Mega Man X Collection.
This is the dividing line: past this point,
Zero is playable... but there are mid-stage
loading breaks.
Past this point, the graphics improve to take
advantage of the new hardware, but some see
the changes as gilding the lily, jamming voice
acting and an announcer who doesn’t even
try to pronounce things correctly into a game
that, frankly, was good enough as it was.
Past this point, Capcom tries to evolve the
series more rapidly than the organic, comfortable
pace they set in Mega Man 1-6.
At least you don’t need the super-glue anymore...
until Mega Man X5.
