Mega Man Maverick Hunter X

Originally written 10-13-10

Mankind coexists with robots called Reploids whom are programmed to serve them. Unfortunately, some of them have the tendency to go rogue, thus being labeled as Mavericks. To stop them, the Maverick Hunters group was created with their leader being a powerful robot named Sigma. Soon, Sigma also goes Maverick taking a team of powerful hunters with him. Now, Mega Man X along with his best friend Zero must join together and stop their former Maverick Hunter comrades. -summary

Capcom adds a new twist to an old classic for a franchise that perhaps will never die, Mega Man. The company decided to reuse a formula that previously worked for their other hit franchise Resident Evil. In which, they took the original classic for the PS One, and remade it into a newer version for the Nintendo Gamecube. The results were beyond outstanding as the remake clearly outshined the original. Mega Man X which was originally for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System gets a make over into a newer and sleeker version for the PSP. The results here are also satisfying, but not as mind blowing as RE was. Still, the game kind of has a different feel, but it's the updated graphics and bonus features that are the icing on this cake.

Gameplay:

Mega Man X is still an action/adventure 2D side scroller with 3D elements. The game follows the same formula as all of the others in the original Mega Man series. The player must venture through eight selectable stages with a boss character at the end of every stage. However, unlike the original Mega Man series for the Nintendo system, there's a beginning stage that must be completed which sets up the story and introduces characters.

I heard others say that this version is actually easier than the Super Nintendo version. I don't feel the same way. The game has its difficult as well as easy parts. Some of the stages are a breeze to run through, while others require just a tad bit of patience. The enemies are the standard cannon fodder waiting to be gunned down, but others should be approached with some kind of strategy, because that chip damage adds up and making it to a stage boss with only half your life is not a good thing.

Although Mega Man is a basic run, shoot, and jump platformer, the game always had that interesting twist which set itself apart from the others in its genre. This feature is obtaining the weapon from a defeated boss. After completing a stage, Mega Man gains the boss character's main weapon, and uses a different variation of the ability. This enhances the gamplay greatly, because the ability helps make some boss battles a lot easier as well as getting through stages. The game also features powerups in the form of body armor which is scattered around in the game throughout different stages, along with energy tanks that increases your health gauge.

The stage set ups are straightforward and there's no way to get lost. The enemies return once you move from one screen to another. So it's best to gun and move on. There are drop offs which cause instant death, but when compared to the stages of the original Mega Man series these are very easy.

Controls:

The only issue that I had would be with the directional pad and stick. Although movement is very simple, it's not as smooth as the SNES version or the Mega Man X Anthology for the PS2. One of your characters abilities is to scale walls by jumping and sliding down while shooting. I found myself having to be a little strict with the controls when shooting towards an enemy. Several times I would fire the other way by accident. The fire, jump, and dash buttons are pretty smooth, as well as the weapon swap which is located at the shoulder buttons. The player could also go to the weapon select screen and choose a weapon, instead of swapping for weapons in the heat of battle.

Graphics:

This area is the biggest improvement. The game is set in a futuristic era and the stages look that way. The stages take place in many environments; such as in the snow, water, jungle or stages that light up and go dark due to the electricity being played with. The 3D backgrounds look gorgeous, and I didn't notice any pixels or jumpiness. The camera is set and cannot be controlled manually, but I never found it to be a problem. The character designs vary with some bosses being of regular size and some being incredibly big. This version now features animated cut scenes in the beginning and end of the game with some good animation.

Sound/Music:

The songs are remixed versions of the original and I still like them. They have a nice sound that pretty much fits the stages and keeps the excitement up. New to this game would be the voice overs. There's dialogue that takes place between Megaman and the bosses, and the voices fit so well with the characters that I was able to predict what they would sound like. The sound effects are also improved for the blaster weapons and footsteps for X.

Overall Difference Between The Two Games:

I touched on some of the differences on the way here, but now I'll hit on what I missed. The stages have been slightly redone, while a couple may not have been touched at all; but they still have a familiar feel. The armor power up locations have been changed for the most part with I think one still being in its original place. The energy tanks are still in the original places. The bosses are also a little bit tougher. The bonus features are the biggest treat, and they're opened up when the game has been finished on normal. The first is a short animated movie, maybe about 20 minutes but I'm not too sure on that. It's an origin story on what caused the Maverick Hunter rebellion.

The second feature is playing as the villain Vile. Although his role was bite sized in the original. He's pretty much a main player here. He fights the eight robots in his own story mode, and he's equipped with three weapons. At full power, Vile will be able to handle at least 40 weapons, in which only three can be used before beginning a mission.

Overall:

Vile's story adds a good deal of replay, and his style of play is completely different from Mega Man. He needs a better strategy besides run in and attack. Even the enemy placement changes for his story. The game also now features a hard difficulty which will probably appeal more to the die hard fan.

Personally, I think this version is a little harder. It's very difficult to beat almost all of the bosses with the standard weapon and without armor, while in the SNES, it was possible to beat many of them like that. Overall, I think the game is worth checking out, and I'm not exactly a die hard fan of all things Mega Man. I do own the Anthology which contains the original, and I didn't find this game to be a waste of time at all. In fact, it makes me want to replay the entire series. Highly recommended to those who enjoy a good old fashioned side scroller.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Highs: Bonus features, a remake that delivers, cleaner graphics, voice acting

Lows: Can be on the easy side at times, very minor control issues