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In 1993, Capcom began to cult classic series, Mega Man X. Now after thirteen years, the first six games (from the Super Nintendo and Playstation) have finally received a re-release. It's what longtime fans of the series have been waiting for, but it isn't nearly as worthwhile as the original Mega Man Anniversary Collection.
To put it simple, Mega Man X takes place in the future, after the original Mega Man series. A group of robots calling themselves the Mavericks are waging war with the humans. They are lead by an evil reploid named Sigma. Meanwhile a rebel group--a group of robots calling themselves the Maverick Hunters--are on a quest to save humanity. And if you couldn't guess, it's Mega Man X leading this group.
You won't find any members of the original Mega Man series here, except well... Mega Man. The Mega Man X series shows a Mega Man that has more edge to him. The series also shows a more mature and grown up storyline.
Each of the Mega Man X games plays virtually the same. You control Mega Man X, created by Dr. Light years ago. Unlike the original, X can climb walls and cling to them. Like the original, however, you select a stage, go to it, and make your way to the boss and defeat it. Upon defeating a boss, you'll gain its special abilities. It's simple gameplay, but it works out just as well as it did in the original series.
Another highlight was how they introduced a key character. Zero. Zero isn't playable throughout the first half of the series, but in the later half he becomes a key player. He plays a very important role in the story.
In this collection, however, the games have been basically emulated. The emulation is perfect. Even the original passwords from the Super Nintendo versions will work. The soundtracks are unchanged, and they look almost exactly the same. There are a few differences. The original dialogue that was edited for the SNES releases has been restored (such as cusswords), and there's actually a bit of animated blood. Also, the slow down that plauged the cartridges has been fixed. Each game runs at good speed.
The only game that suffers horrible treatment is Mega Man X3. CAPCOM, for whatever reason, ported the PC version of the game, and the PC version wasn't all that great. The soundtrack sounds horrible, and I began to wonder why they skipped out on giving us the far superior Super Nintendo Version.
In addition, there's also a kart racing game called Mega Man Battle and Chase. It's a fun game, but the excitement of it drowns pretty fast. However, outside of that, there aren't nearly as many extras as there could be. For one, there are art galleries and that's about the only thing outside Mega Man Battle and Chase that's really worthwhile. I would've really liked to see some interviews and background on the series. The good news, though, the Gamecube and Playstation 2 versions are exactly the same. Both of them have the same unlockable extras, and if the controls bum you out, you can change them with no problems.
The other problem with the game is that like the original Mega Man Anniversary Collection, you're also getting games that were bad to begin with. The first four Mega Man X games are solid, but X5 and X6 weren't that much to get excited about in the first place(perhaps because by then the original developers of the series left). X5 and X6 also suffered some heavy criticisms by several fans. Still, six games for the price of thirty dollars isn't all that bad. And if you really didn't like them, you don't have to play them.
However, for what it's worth, it's nice to see this collection. There aren't as many extras as I had hoped for, but you do, for the most part, get some classics games. It's better than looking for the original SNES counterparts, and the look and feel of the games is still the same. It's great nostalgia for any fan of the Mega Man X series.
The Good
+Six games, for only thirty dollars
+Excellent Emulations-even the original passwords still work
+The look and feel is the same, meaning it's great nostalgia
+A seventh game is included Mega Man Battle and Chase
The Bad
-Later games in the series aren't nearly as good
-There just aren't nearly as many extras as there could've been
-They gave us the PC version of Mega Man X3. The audio is no where near as good on the PC version.
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This has the best Megaman X games out there, I'm a big fan of X1,X2,X4 and X5, the menus/features aren't great and are lacking but it's the games that are important. All of the games work just as well as the originals and I feel they work best on the PS2 controller over the other consoles. All of the games are untouched letting the experience be as it was when they came out. It even has the PSOne version of X3 with better quality music, which is a big bonus since X3 is incredibly rare and expensive alone.This has every game in the series up to X6, the quality of the games are mostly high though that's mostly up to personal taste. I honestly didn't care for X3 or X6 but the rest of the games are top-notch platforming with some of the best soundtracks in the genre.
There are some forgettable extras, a few bits of concept art, music, nothing you can't find online. Honestly the reason to get this is strictly the games which are 100% worth it.
The one big gripe I have with this collection is if you play it on PS2 through an component, it will NOT work, the games will not display though the menus will. I'm not sure why this is since I've played Sonic Mega Collection on the same set up and I've had no problems.
The collection does work on compatible PS3's via HDMI there's very slight controller delay which can be hard to take in a 2D platformer. However this can vary as I understand between monitors & set ups.
However with that problem it's still a solid collection as a lot of these games are hard to get and they are emulated really really well.
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Back in the late 80's/early 90's, there were few names in gaming as beloved and hardcore as Mega Man. Time after time, Mega Man's games on the NES proved to be masterworks in hardcore gaming, and that classic series continued to stay on the NES even after the Super Nintendo was released. Then, in 1993/1994, Capcom introduced to the world a new kind of Mega Man to grace the more powerful system, and the gaming world would once again never be the same. Much like the classic Mega Man series, the X series would continue producing awesome hardcore gaming experiences for years to come (although it's definitely not as consistently excellent as the classic series, unfortunately). In traditional Capcom fashion, they produced a ton of X games, and now they've rereleased the first six onto a disc for your gaming pleasure, and what a pleasure it is.The X series, from its very inception, was meant to advance the Mega Man name into a more hardcore direction, and it most definitely succeeded. Of course, the main gameplay retains the classic Mega Man formula. You go after 8 bosses with their own unique stage, you take on a final fortress series of levels, you gain new abilities and weapons from your vanquished foes, it's all about tight platforming and running and gunning, and so on and so worth. However, it's not just classic Mega Man with an "X" at the end of the title. New moves, health upgrades, and Light capsules that hold armor upgrades for X are attributes first introduced in Mega Man X, and quickly became series' mainstay elements. In later X titles, you could play the game as Zero, who utilized a totally different style of play with his melee-centric Z-saber focus and a "Weapon Get" system that totally differs from X's and is very unique. I love playing as both characters. They're both about as good as it gets when it comes to 2-D action platforming.
I love the story behind the Mega Man X series and this paragraph will be somewhat of a tangent about it. Much like the gameplay, the story took the Mega Man name into more mature, complex themes that resonate with gamers of all ages. It takes place 100 years after the events of the classic Mega Man games, and features a new cast of characters, villains, and a very different type of conflict. The story in this series often explores themes of betrayal, loyalty to your brethren, the philosophical implications of freewill in machines, and war itself. It's all quite awesome. The main character is X (the new Mega Man), and he has a whole cast of great support characters, including his greatest comrade and close friend Zero, who also becomes playable in later X titles in this collection. It's all great. I love the charming and fun aspects of the classic series, but the X series just appeals to me more from a narrative perspective. Each game has a fairly different story too. No "Wily was behind Cossack/fakeProtoMan/Mr.X the whole time!!!" stories, and I quite like that. Sigma may be the main villain in each X game, but X4 is a great example of moral complexity and ambiguity that makes the overall plot quite compelling. The whole notion that the absolute evil you face, Sigma, was once the greatest hero in the world, and that Zero, one of the most awesome heroes, was once evil and Dr. Wily's last and greatest creation, is just fantastic. X1, X4, and X5 are personal highlights, for me, when it comes to the plot. Great stuff.
The quality of the collection itself is quite awesome. The controls have always been very tight, and thankfully this collection really does work well on the PS2 and Gamecube both. I personally prefer the PS2 controller's d-pad, shoulder buttons, and overall button arrangement, but both are great to play (I personally own both versions). There aren't nearly as many extras on this one as the classic Mega Man Anniversary Collection, but there are some such as unlockable artwork, as well as a PSX Mario/Crash Bandicoot Kart racing clone with Mega Man, which is quite a lot of zany fun. All-in-all, a stellar job at compiling it all together, and of course, the core X titles are what make this collection a must-own.
If you fancy yourself a classic gamer who loves action titles, then it really doesn't get much better than Mega Man X. Sure, there are some weaker entries in the series (I personally am not fond of 3, and 6 is downright atrocious, in my opinion), but overall, the Mega Man X collection is a fantastic package of multiple gaming masterpieces that must be played. I really cannot recommend it enough. Any hardcore gamer will love this series. So buy it, go to war against the Mavericks who would rob the world of peace, and put an end to Sigma's evil, twisted ambitions!
Honest reviews on Mega Man X Collection - PlayStation 2
I've been waiting for this since the first Mega Man Collection came out. The anniversary collection they released with the original Mega Man games was fun, but I think every gamer who had played through all the old ones had some problem with it. Capcom figured out what exactly it did wrong, and really drove this one home.One of the reasons this really shines as being just like it was on the original systems is because the controller designs line up naturally. The Super Nintendo and Playstation both have 4 "action buttons" if you will, so executing button combinations works out exactly the same on the Playstation 2 as they did on the SNES.
As for the actual games, they're exactly like they were on the old systems. Some people might be disappointed, but I was happy to see that there were no alterations in the graphics. Some people were wishing for more extras, but for me, the only thing I really wanted was all of the old X titles in one package (since the older games are hard to come by these days). Capcom did that.
I'd recommend this to anyone who really liked any of the X titles--as a general rule, the series started great and as new games came out, they got worse and worse. I think straying from side-scrolling was a bad choice, but that's the direction that graphics went. Sometimes the best games are the ones with minimal graphics, an obvious goal and a little bit of inventiveness. I think over time that inventiveness became really hard to come by.
Old Mega Man fans will not be disappointed. This collection is ahead of the anniversary collection that came out about 2 years ago by leaps and bounds.
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A short while after releasing the solid Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Capcom wisely heeds the call of its fans for the re-release of the blue bomber's older, tougher, future self in Mega Man X Collection. Bringing another heaping portion of the finest 2D platforming around in six yummy courses, it even throws in a racing game and some extra goodies for dessert.The X series debuted in the early 90's on the SNES with a darker, more mature feel designed to expand on the tried and true formula of the original NES titles. The main difference lies in the progressive, overarching plot dealing with human/reploid (fancy word for robot) conflict and some very grown-up ideas about this self-proclaimed 'race' of androids seeking freedom and realizing their dream of a robotopia. That's pretty intense for a side-scroller.
As far as gameplay evolution, the X games focus on collecting various ability upgrades and health extensions in addition to the old "kill the bosses and get their special powers" mechanic of the classic Mega Man. New actions like charge shots, dashing and hovering add a deeper set of variables to the equation and really flesh out the experience. Gone are Cut-Man and Dust-Man, as the baddies in X get wacky animal-based monikers like Spark Mandrill, Morph Moth and my personal favorite, Duff McWhalen.
Mega Man X through X6 are included in this fairly robust package, covering three SNES and three PSOne titles released over an eight-year period, and each game adds variation and depth to the experience. X3 introduces the mysterious, androgynous, light-sabering Zero as a partially playable character (think Proto-Man with a ponytail), and X4 tops that by giving Zero his own playable storyline. Things start to take a turn for the worse in X5 and X6, however, where the heavy plotlines and vast amount of upgrades start to buckle under their own weight. Ultimately, the bells and whistles of the PS titles hasten the slow decline from the series' original greatness by adding a bit too much drama and cheesy gameplay tactics.
All the games share the same sweet, distinctive art style of cartoonish robo-animals and colorful, interactive levels. The emulation is rock solid, and unlike the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, you can now configure your controller however you see fit. There's no noticeable difference between the PS2 and Gamecube versions, although the PS2's controller is better suited for hours upon hours of holding that charge shot while trying to dash-jump off walls.
Barring a strange audio loop plaguing the SNES games, the sound is spot-on, too. Nice, catchy tunes carry you through the whole shebang. The sound effects are faithful as well, although the PS titles tie annoying 'Yeah!' and 'Hah!' sound effects to every jump and attack, and I guarantee your ears will ring with the sound of a held charge shot after a few hours.
Password support is still in working order for X, X2 and X3, so feel free to skip to the end, but you're also able to simply save your progress to a memory card like the PS games. The incentive to bust through the first three titles lies in the fact that once completed, you'll unlock Mega Man Battle and Chase, which is a Mario Kart-esque racer that was only released in Japan. It's nice to see such a rarity, but why they buried it beneath three other games is mystifying. As you plow through the other games, you'll also unlock various art galleries and soundtracks to fawn over, if you're the type.
And it's hard not to be at this price thirty bucks for seven games ain't too shabby, even if a few of them aren't terrific. While the Mega Man Anniversary Collection contained more meat, there's simply a ton of robots to blast, dozens of armor capsules to grab, and really no good reason not to let ol' Blue back in your life once again.
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