Mega Man X series

The Mega Man X (Rockman X in Japan) series was the second "Mega Man" franchise released by Capcom. It debuted December 17, 1993 in Japan (February 1994 in North America) on the Super Famicom/Super NES. It is the first continuation in plot of the series, preceded by the Classic Mega Man series. It is currently available in the anthology collection Mega Man X Collection, along with five of its sequels and Mega Man Battle & Chase.

Plot description

Mega Man X (often referred to as simply "X") was created by Dr. Thomas Light around 30 years after the original series. X was a new breed of robot like no other with the ability to make his own decisions. After completing the creation of X, though, Light realized that there was a possibility X might choose to turn against humankind. Fearing this, Light sealed X away in a diagnostic capsule for thirty years of testing to make sure he would not choose an evil path in life. It is unknown what happened to him during these 30 years, but Dr. Light presumably died and left his diagnostic experiments unfinished. X's capsule was eventually uncovered by an archaeologist named Dr. Cain almost 100 years after X's creation. With X's help, Cain and X created a legion of new robots replicated from X's ability of free-will— these robots were called "Reploids" ("Repliroids" in Japan). For a time, everything seemed calm and peaceful.

However, a virus began spreading that caused Reploids to turn against humans. These Reploids were dubbed Mavericks ("Irregulars" in Japan), and a force called the Maverick Hunters ("Irregular Hunters") was formed to combat them. The Maverick Hunters were originally led by Sigma until he too became a Maverick. Because of his betrayal and eventual declaration of war against the humans, X took it upon himself to join the Maverick Hunters and current leader, "Zero", another powerful robot, on a mission to save Earth from Sigma.

Throughout the series, X and Zero battle against Sigma and his Maverick followers to stop their many diabolical plots to destroy the human race.

Series history

Capcom released "Mega Man X" for the Super NES to give a new image to the Mega Man game series. There are a total of 13 games in the Mega Man X series. "Mega Man X, X2 and X3" on the Super NES (with ports of "X1" and "X3" to the PC, and a port of "X3", released only in Japan and Europe, to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn), "Mega Man X4-6" on the PlayStation ("X4" also being on the Sega Saturn, and "X4-5" being ported to the PC), "Mega Man X7-8" on the PlayStation 2 ("X8" also being on the PC in Japan and Europe, while "X7" was (possibly) only released in South Korea), the RPG "" on the GameCube and PlayStation 2, and "Mega Man Xtreme 1-Mega Man Xtreme 2" ("Rockman X: CyberMission" and "Rockman X2: Soul Eraser" in Japan) on the Game Boy Color. "Mega Man X" was remade on the PlayStation Portable as "Mega Man Maverick Hunter X."

"Mega Man X Collection" on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube is comprised of the first six Mega Man X games. In addition, Capcom re-released Mega Man X4 and Mega Man X6 in 2007 on Singapore's AMK Hub

Gameplay

Mega Man X plays nearly identically to its predecessor series Mega Man, however several things are very different in Mega Man X. Most notably that X, the new protagonist, can cling to walls and Wall Jump, and he can dash and jump at the same time, increasing his speed in the air. These modifications make it possible to go through the majority of the game without using any other gun than the default, which is very different from previous Mega Man games where players had to rely heavily on weapons won in previous fights against boss characters in previously conquered stages. In addition, from the second game onward, Zero is armed with a beam saber. And from the fourth game onward he relies on it exclusively, instead of the traditional "buster" gun. In more recent versions, both X and Zero gained the ability to duck; an ability previously unavailable in earlier predecessors.

Mavericks replace the Robot Masters, and Sigma replaces Dr. Wily. The Mavericks are based on various types of organisms, usually animals, instead of being humanoid in appearance, as were most of the bosses in the classic series, although their attacks and names are usually based on mechanical or chemical phenomena or laws of physics like the original games.

Though some Mavericks have new, never-before-seen powers (e.g., "Toxic Seahorse"), most have the traditional element-based weapons of the past games, such as fire, water, ice, lightning, wind, and earth.

Characters