Mega Man X8

Overview

Mega Man X8 was a hybrid game, taking elements from X7 and combining it with elements from the older X series games. It retained the 3D graphics from X7 but did not feature the 3D gameplay from X7. In this, it made the game more like the older X series games only with modern graphics. Graphically, while it was still 3D, it no longer had the cel-shaded graphics introduced in X7. X8 also changed how the vehicle sequences played, and removed several gameplay features. These features were the duck and the lock on. Ducking was first introduced in X5, and locking on to enemies was a feature that was introduced in X7. The character switch from X7 was retained, and now featured a Double Attack move, which allowed the player to launch a barrage of attacks against an enemy with both characters.

Gameplay

Mega Man X8 does away with the 3-D elements that was found in Mega Man X7; the game stays true to its 2-D roots. Axl, who was introduced in the previous game, returns as a playable character. New features are also introduced in the game, such as the R&D Lab - which acts as a item store.

When first choosing a stage, the player has the option to pick two of three characters. The new feature in the game is a double attack move; a meter is presented on the left side of the health bar. When filled, the player can unleash a dome around the character; if a maverick is near by the dome, the player will enter a matrix-like zone and unleash an onslaught attack. A tag team mechanic is also featured, it can be useful when one of the characters is caught in the hands of a giant maverick. The tag team can also be useful when a character's health is badly damage - sometimes when a character gets damaged, part of the health meter will turn red, meaning that part of the meter can be recovered if the player tags out to the other character; it works similarly to how the health meters worked in the Marvel Vs. games.

The game retires the ability to save reploids that was first introduce in Mega Man X5, but in replace of that is the rare metals. The rare metals are found hidden in the stages, and they are used to unlock new chips in the R&D lab.

The R&D lab is pretty much the item store that was in the original Mega Man series. The player can collect metals that are found in the stages of the game. They are use to purchase chips that are use to improve on certain abilities of each of the playable characters.

The player can also be ranked for his or her performances after completing a stage. The player will be judged based on the amount of mavericks destroyed, metals collected, and the amount of time spent in the stage.

Another new feature in the game is the ability to choose a navigator. Alia returns along with two new characters to the X series, Layer and Palliette. Each navigator has their own traits, Alia explains the nature of each of the stages, and warns the player about certain dangers that the stage contains. Layer explains weak points that are found on the bosses of the stages, and Palliette will expose secrets in the stages.

Armors

While X8 does have multiple suits of armor like a few of the previous X games, one new feature in this game is the ability to mix and match different parts of different suits to create your suit of choice. This being the case, here is a list of the individual pieces and their enhancements, as opposed to a list of each suit of armor:

Icarus Armor

Head Parts - Powers up your jumps so that they hurt enemies above you if you collide with them.

Body Parts - Cuts the damage you take in half.

Arm Parts - Gives you a powerful continuous laser attack if you charge up all the way that stops you in mid-air if you do it there.

Leg Parts - Increase jump height.

Hermes Armor

Head Parts - Faster weapon charge speed.

Body Parts - Activates X-Drive, which increases the armor's abilities so long as you have a lot of energy left.

Arm Parts - Gives you a three-way Charged Shot.

Leg Parts - Makes it so you are invincible while you dash.

Ultimate Armor

This one is a full suit of armor on it's own, and is obtained by beating the game with 100% of X's items that can be bought from the store with metals gained in the levels. You can move faster and jump higher, and you have an invincible dash. It also gives you an incredibly powerful X Buster, even if it isn't charged. It cuts your damage in half and gets rid of knockback when you take damage, as well as unlocking a crazy special attack that rockets X forward and cuts boss's HP down to exactly 1 point. Yes, even the final boss.

Mavericks

This game, being the eighth in a series that has always had ridiculous boss names, has some of the strangest monikers in the whole series. This might be attributed to Capcom having lost imagination, or just that Bamboo Pandamonium is a sweet name. Anyway, here are the eight Mavericks:

Gravity Antonion

Stage - Primrose

Weapon - Squeeze Bomb

Weakness - Shadow Runner

Earthrock Trilobyte

Stage - Metal Valley

Weapon - Crystal Wall

Weakness - Squeeze Bomb

Gigavolt Man-o-War

Stage - Dynasty

Weapon - Thunder Dancer

Weakness - Crystal Wall

Avalanche Yeti

Stage - Central White

Weapon - Drift Diamond

Weakness - Thunder Dancer

Burn Rooster

Stage - Inferno

Weapon - Melt Creeper

Weakness - Drift Diamond

Bamboo Pandamonium

Stage - Booster Forest

Weapon - Green Spinner

Weakness - Melt Creeper

Optic Sunflower

Stage - Troia Base

Weapon - Shining Ray

Weakness - Green Spinner

Dark Mantis

Stage - Pitch Black

Weapon - Shadow Runner

Weakness - Shining Ray

Cut Man (side boss)

Stage - Troia base

Weapon - None

Weakness - ???

NOTE: All weapons listed are for X ONLY. The same weaknesses still apply with Zero and Axl's corresponding weapons.

Reception

X8 received a mixed reception from fans and critics. It was generally praised for returning to a more classic style of Mega Man gameplay and removing the criticized gameplay elements of Mega Man X7. On the other hand, X8 was most criticized by fans and critics for its level design, which often made the game extremely frustrating to play. X8 recieved higher ratings from critics then X7, but it was still rated lower than the PS1-era X games.

Soundtrack

The Soundtrack for Mega Man X8 was composed by Yuko Komiyama, Naoto Tanaka, and Shinya Okada.

Track	Title
1.	"Theme Of "RockmanX8""
2.	"Noah's Park"
3.	"Intrusion Crabz-Y"
4.	"VS Maverick"
5.	"Troia Bass~Passage"
6.	"Troia Bass~Forwarding"
7.	"Primrose"
8.	"Pitch Black~Sneaking"
9.	"Pitch Black~Discovery"
10.	"Dynasty"
11.	"Inferno~Descending"
12.	"Inferno~Going up"
13.	"Central White"
14.	"Metal Valley~Evade"
15.	"Metal Valley~Overheat"
16.	"Booster Forest"
17.	"Booster Forest~Ride Armor "CYCLOPS""
18.	"VS Boss Demo"
19.	"VS 8Boss"
20.	"Angry 8Boss"
21.	"Jakob"
22.	"VS VAVA"
23.	"Gateway"
24.	"Gateway~Escape"
25.	"VS CopySigma"
26.	"Sigma Palace"
27.	"VS Sigma Demo"
28.	"VS Sigma"
29.	"VS Lumin~The first form"
30.	"VS Lumin Demo"
31.	"VS Lumin~The second form"
32.	"Paradise Lost"
33.	"Intermission"
34.	"Dr.Light's Capsule"
35.	"Title"
36.	"Hunter Base~Going to the front"
37.	"Hunter Base~Doubt"
38.	"Hunter Base~Wickedness"
39.	"Stage Start"
40.	"Stage Clear"
41.	"Weapon Get!"
42.	"Result!"
43.	"Menu"
44.	"Save&Load"
45.	"Option"
46.	"Demo~Deepening mystery"
47.	"Demo~Sorrow"
48.	"Demo~Perplexity"
49.	"Demo~Advancement"
50.	"Demo~With the Hunter Base"
51.	"Ending"