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Gaming Spotlight #19: Megaman X (1993)

Acquired Stardust's Spotlight series returns for the month of May! Larsa takes the reigns this month with an article on standout Super Nintendo title Mega Man X, which has a special place in their heart as a devout Capcom fan. Come read along below the cut!

It may be hard to believe with how infrequently the series gets new games in the present day but indeed there was a point where Mega Man (also known as Rock Man in Japan) was the mascot of Capcom's golden age in the 1980s/1990s. It was thanks to Capcom-created series like Mega Man, Street Fighter, Breath of Fire, and eventually in the latter parts of the 90s with Resident Evil that the company began to be considered by many as one of the best game developers of their time, perhaps a distinction they have earned again in the present day thanks to the continued success of their releases after a period of more middling reception starting in the 2000s. During the best times for the company it feels Capcom had an unmatched level of coolness and artistry to their many works that made their games feel that much more significant than they would have otherwise.

And much like the Capcom of the present day their output of quality games stands out as a particularly noteworthy aspect. It feels there are times where Capcom has discovered the secret cheat code of game development where they somehow find a way to not sacrifice quality while maintaining a high output of quantity; or maybe they can at times be so good at being in tune with their fanbase that they trick us into thinking they have that code. And then well naturally the tide pulls back to reveal in their darker times that Capcom's quantity can often be their undoing by 'flooding the market' so to speak, causing a negative effect which we have seen with Mega Man as well as their fighting game franchises.

No matter the era of Capcom the one thing that seems consistent with them is that they weren't afraid shake up an established franchise to make them feel fresh, sometimes to mixed results.

One of Capcom's most successful examples of a shake up of an established series could be seen with Mega Man X. This game was designed to be the series' first foray into Nintendo's newest hardware at the time, the Super Nintendo. The choice to make MMX was a necessary iterative move on Capcom's part that signaled to consumers distinct difference from the classic series, as they previously released Mega Man titles 1-6 on the Nintendo Entertainment System alone, with Mega Man 6 having released only a mere month before the release of Mega Man X. One could be right to assume a MM7 as their first Mega Man title on the SNES would be a difficult title to sell to the public at the time. MMX originally known as "Super Mega Man", an earlier scrapped working title, would be a big departure for the series as a game.

By 1993 it was time for Capcom's beloved mascot to enter the glorious 16-bit age. MMX was designed with the intention to be an evolution of everything that the original games were before it while feeling all the more new thanks to Capcom's impressive usage of the more advanced SNES hardware. Due to this new leap in technology the game would be designed to be more colorful, faster paced, and overall more complex than the previous series.

Responsible for ushering in Mega Man's official arrival on 16-bit hardware, the development team for MMX featured an all-star of game development. This team would be in part led by a young member of team who had in his hands in many aspects of the game, Keiji Inafune. These days Inafune is perhaps more infamously known than celebrated nowadays due to the various ways he would torch his reputation in the future but he does deserve a lot of credit for the first four games in the MMX series, making important contributions like the designs of characters such as the iconic Zero and his general influence over seemingly all aspects of the game. The development of MMX is often told as story about Inafune's legacy due to the nature of common storytelling on the subject so it would be easy to solely focus on his notable contributions. However there were other talented developers who also worked on the game that in my opinion also deserve some shout outs too.

Developers such as Tokuro Fujiwara (credited as Professor F) helped oversee the project as a producer and would go on to make Tomba. Kazunori Tazaki (credited as Ikki) wore many hats when it came to the art of MMX, whose impact on gaming is still felt today due most notably in recent times for his contribution as the lead character modeler of Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising and Nier Automata. Hayato Kaji, one of the art designers of the game, would also be responsible for designing the titular main character, X. One would be remiss to not mention the sounds of MMX, created by a team of composers who were tasked to make a game that sounded little like what came before it.

Mega Man X was as much as sequel as it was a departure for the larger Mega Man franchise that existed at the time. Mega Man was already an established icon in gaming just a step below Mario or Sonic at the time that this new Mega Man series was conceived. Being treated as a new series that built on what had came previously before it, the story was darker and more serious in tone in contrast to the original series. Being in a new setting the story would no longer revolve around the rivalry between Dr. Light and Dr. Wily over their differing point of view on robotics. Instead this story would be focused on a new threat.

By the time of the events of MMX take place many years have passed since the days of the original Mega Man series. The original Mega Man series took place in the vague undefined years of "20XX" and now we are set in the years of "21XX" which means MMX would be set around hundred years later. Much of the story within Mega Man X is set up through the game's opening intro scene - perhaps the last log about his research written by Dr. Light, imparting his last will to whomever would one day discover his laboratory. The details of the log, which entirely revolved around his magnum opus: an android who represented a new advanced form of robotic life.

The game's instruction manual acted as supplemental material and would further explain everything the player is meant to know heading into this new adventure often from a in-universe perspective. Much of the plot for this game is written to the player through the journal notes of a new character, Dr. Cain who we will get to later. This method to convey information to a player through a manual is a lost art these days as physical media in the gaming world has became increasingly phased out with each subsequent hardware generation. These days games no longer come with instruction booklets, at most they come with downloadable content vouchers or small pamphlets to advertise other products. Yes, long gone are the days of completely colored and highly detailed instruction manuals that were supplementary material to a player's experience with a video game.

As anyone who played the original series would know, Dr. Light was a reputable genius who believed that robots could do much to benefit mankind if they are to strictly obey the famed "Three Rules of Robotics" as laid out by Isaac Asimov. However unlike his previous creation "Mega Man", who was programmed to strictly follow the laws of robotics, this new creation simply named "X" was beyond these limitations. X was designed to be a successor to Dr. Light's previous greatest creation, Mega Man, whom Light treated as a son. This relationship is even reflected in X's appearance as he resembles a slightly older teenage form of Mega Man.

In order to truly be a successor, X was created to be far more advanced. So much so that he could develop his own emotions and free will, meaning his personality was not bound to any hard pre-programmed limitations like his predecessor. He believes this new creation X would be a being of infinite potential and possibilities - this meant ultimately that X would think and feel like a human being, free to choose his own path in life.

Light was not just simply cautious he was outright afraid of X's potential destructive capabilities falling into the wrong hands, or perhaps worse, his beloved creation willingly choosing to turn against the human race. Further stoking his concerns was that Dr. Light feared that his own life would not last much longer due to his old age and he would not personally be able to guide X in the future to come. Furthermore in Dr Light's last testament he lamented he had nobody else living whom he could trust to carry on his work. So it was for these reasons which Dr. Light took it upon himself to seal X away in a capsule hidden under his laboratory where X would undergo a rigorous diagnostics program to iron out any foreseeable issues.

This testing program which would take 30 years to complete with the goal being that by the end of it all that X would be immune to any viruses or malfunction by his time of waking. X was created in hopes he would decide to live alongside humanity in peace for himself and hopefully as a last resort be able to fight in defense of humanity against catastrophe with his incredible combat capabilities. Ideally he could live out in peace in the future if that same future allowed him to do so.

As feared, it was true that X would be Dr. Light's final gift to the world as he sadly passed away shortly after the automated testing began on his final creation. X would stay in isolation for over a hundred years until he was discovered by another revolutionary mind, the aforementioned Dr. Cain. The man was a scientist much like Dr. Light was in his own time but Cain was more focused on environmental endeavors. Never one to let his time go to waste, Cain was an on an excursion to find fossils of ancient Japanese plants for his research and he instead stumbled upon something else entirely - a laboratory lost to time. The same lab which which once belonged to Dr. Light and where X remained dormant. Dr. Cain would awaken X and immediately be astounded by his advanced technological workings.

Cain eagerly used the schematics he found in the lab in the hopes of using this technology to benefit the state of the world and the human race at large. Dr. Cain would replicate the incredible technology that created X and quickly the world entered a new, more advanced age. This new copied technology gave a birth to a new race of robots known as "Reploids", a name short for "Replicated Androids", a term roughly meaning 'beings copied from X's specifications'. Each of these new Reploids were all customized personally by Dr. Cain on an individual level to handle different tasks alongside humanity and were crafted with the best of intentions to aid the world, much like the classic series' Robot Masters. However in Cain's rush to do great things he would cut corners in the creation of his Reploids. Within short order things took a turn for the worse as many of these Reploids malfunctioned and in turn lost their free will. Before long as the number of malfunctioning Reploids grew they would come to be labeled as "Mavericks" - carriers of the "Maverick Virus", a strain of computer virus which causes Reploids to lose their own thoughts to madness.

Unlike X, who went through decades of testing imposed by his creator Dr. Light, these new copied creations were not subjected to the same testing process, with Dr. Cain rushing them to task and ultimately leaving them vulnerable. As a response to the increasing threat posed by these Maverick Reploids it was then that Dr. Cain would decide to create a Reploid-led police force known as "The Maverick Hunters", led by his own personal greatest creation, a further advanced Repiold with the greatest capacity for combat of his creations named Sigma. Created to bring order to the world before things got out of control, it was by Cain's hand that Sigma was molded to be the commander of the Maverick Hunters, a squad of combat-capable Repiolds with the mission of routing the dangerous Maverick types.

Unfortunately, despite being more advanced than his fellow Reploids, Sigma too would be vulnerable to the virus and turn Maverick himself, declaring war on all of humanity as well as those who supported them. Whether through malfunction or plain fear, other Repiolds on the police force felt compelled to follow under Sigma's command in his new ambitions against the human race. This would be what ultimately kicks off the events of the game itself. Much like his predecessor, X was an optimistic being who detested violence, but would understand the necessity of fighting for the betterment of the world. X reluctantly accepts that his responsibility as "Maverick Hunter" would mean he must put Sigma and the rebel army down to achieve peace, and joining in the defense of humanity would be the few Maverick Hunters left, now led by a red warrior with flowing blonde hair armed with the Z-Buster known as Zero, the now most senior member left in the squad after Sigma's revolt shrank their ranks. Zero serves as a partner of X in the war against the Mavericks, somebody that X looks up to as a mentor figure.

As for the gameplay, this game feels like a treat to play with highly responsive controls on its native hardware. The game wastes no time in giving you chance to learn it as right away you are thrown into the front line, being dropped into the iconic highway stage to defend a city under assault and while tackling this first mission Zero may assist X when necessary. Perhaps your first impression as you control X for the first time is that things may feel familiar yet distinctly different from the original series. MMX is more demanding on the player expecting you to think fast and be ready with more complex inputs. X feels more responsive to player's input, more than Mega Man ever did previously, and his buster cannon, the X-Buster, feels much more powerful as a default weapon by comparison to the classic Mega Buster. This new higher level of action created more of a need for tight controls and as a result X was given the helpful ability to kick off walls. This ability alone changes how you may think of maneuvering around stages natively to allow for more mobility options whether you are in the heat of battle against a boss or attempting to avoid a stage hazard, also providing plenty of opportunities to save yourself during precarious jumps. Often in Mega Man X well timed positioning and movement is even more important than your offensive capabilities. Additionally much like the previous series with the successful defeat of a stage boss you will obtain a new special weapon you can freely toggle through to use at any time. These Maverick weapons are worthwhile to experiment with when given the chance and mastering how to use them will make your time with this game that much more fun. Maybe the most noteworthy innovative feature of Mega Man X is the ability to evolve X's native capabilities and theoretical limitless potential by equipping armor found in mostly optional to discover capsules scattered throughout levels. These capsules too were created by Dr. Light before his passing and allows the genius to support X from beyond the grave. As you collect every individual piece of armor the appearance of X's sprite will change along the way. X will go from heavily resembling an older teenage version of his predecessor to looking more distinct clad in bright colors. These newer vibrant colors of X's first armored form feel like a direct homage to some of Japan's beloved mecha franchises.

The hunting for armor upgrades aspect of the game goes a long way in establishing the story told here. From the point of view of the player these armor upgrades might reflects X's character growth throughout the journey gaining the confidence to truly own his new identity and responsibilities as defender of peace against the Maverick revolt. All in all the armor system is delight, it feels good to be made stronger and the capabilities bestowed by the armor pieces can change how you can interact with the game's world. Thankfully this idea of building power through exploration established in this first title turned out to be so popular that every subsequent MMX released is sure to include the hunt for new armor parts to equip onto our hero for the purpose of overcoming whatever obstacles lay in his way.

As for the armor parts in this game there are the boot armor upgrade that gives X the ability to dash, make longer jumps, and break certain objects with the wall kick, further advancing the platforming aspects of the game. The helmet upgrade gives X the ability to break certain objects with a headbutt and nullifies the damage of most falling debris. The body armor upgrade cuts down the incoming damage X takes from attacks. Last but certainly not least, the buster cannon upgrade powers up X's weaponry which allows him to charge his arm cannon attack even further and this upgrade also allows X to charge Maverick weapons (obtained through defeating the game's various boss characters much like the classic Mega Man series) resulting in even more devastating special attacks. As a fun aside, the idea of MMX's armor parts system apparently came from the surging popularity of role playing games in Japan.

Speaking of special attacks, there is even a hidden Dr. Light capsule containing a special final upgrade. This last capsule is where X can learn how to do the Hadoken, one of the signature moves from Capcom's megahit Street Fighter series, which Dr. Light claims to have learned by personally training under a waterfall in the background of the stage where you can find the capsule. To perform this attack you must do the actual input for the special move as featured in the fighting game series it hails from. I have to say that I thought this easter egg was awesome and when I was a young kid, it made me feel like that perhaps the Mega Man games may theoretically take place in the same world as Street Fighter.

The Hadoken is hugely satisfying to pull off and the massive power of the attack is unmatched. There are few things that feel as delightful as getting X to throw a well-timed Hadoken at an enemy at the last possible moment before you take a hit. Like so many other elements that comprise this game it reinforces that Mega Man X is a game that feels fantastic to play and the basis of this gameplay will be drawn on for many future titles in the series.

On my most recent revisit I found that the gameplay of MMX still holds up well to this day and it is still one of the best action platformer games there has been to date in my opinion. I think to add to it all is the feeling of your skills as a player growing alongside X as he gets more confidence and becomes stronger too. To further illustrate the leap between Mega Man games up until this point, you could say the real-world technological leap between the hardware of the original series and the X series mirrors the fictional technological hardware leap between Mega Man and X.

After successfully clearing the opening stage you will be brought to the iconic Mega Man stage select screen. The eight Maverick commanders represent one of the game's eight opening stages, representing a key locale in their world they seized and hold under occupation. These Mavericks leaders being Chill Penguin, Flame Mammoth, Boomer Kuwanger, Sting Chameleon, Spark Mandrill, Storm Eagle, Armored Armadillo, and Launch Octopus. Each of them make for memorable challenges to overcome as their designs are fascinating and their animations in combat full of personality. Something that makes these Mavericks stand apart from the Robot Master bosses from the original series is that the Mavericks tend to have been built in the image of animals, allowing a lot of variances in their designs.

Each of the stages these Mavericks occupy must be liberated from them before you are able to invade Sigma's Fortress at the end, in a formula familiar for players of the classic series. One of the key things that make this first game in the Mega Man X stand out from the crowd are the stages themselves. Every stage in MMX feels like a character all its own with distinct visual flair and adrenaline pumping music. The stages are a blast to play and serve as a great canvas to employ the more complex gameplay elements of the series, and still hold up will against any example found in the series or even genre up to the present day. Of course one shouldn't forget these areas are also ripe with secrets such as the previously mentioned armor capsules as well as heart containers to increase your max health bar.

The stage select formula featured here is very much like the classic Robot Master stages of the older series but like with many aspects of MMX there is an evolution on the previously established formula of the series at play here. Traditionally in Mega Man you find whichever stage you think you can best tackle with the buster cannon and clear that one first, then using the weapon you earn from defeating that stage's boss to make an informed choice of which boss to challenge next, by estimating who is weak to the weapon you earned previously in a manner reflecting rock-paper-scissors. You repeat this until you get through all eight stages and then go to the final boss's lair, typically Dr. Wily's castle in the classic series, where you will fiercely battle through a gauntlet of new extra stages and after a climatic final boss fight ultimately save the day.

However in MMX, while the core formula remains intact, there are now even more choices because you have new engaging ways to interact with the game itself. Some boss weapons can open up new means of traversal, and as mentioned earlier the same goes to some of the armor upgrades. The thing that makes MMX1 stand out in this regard from other Mega Man games is that occasionally you may find that a Maverick weapon like Boomer Kuwanger's "Boomerang Cutter" can actually cut off the parts of a few enemies, altering their combat behavior even though the weapon in these instances itself isn't doing bonus damage, and this aspect may change your routing through the nonlinear stage select.

Another innovative measure is that even the stages themselves can change depending on the order you are able to take down the Maverick bosses. By defeating Chill Penguin at his snow research facility for example you will receive the dash boots armor upgrade, and the resulting climate change will cause Flame Mammoth's burning factory to cool down. This choice makes an otherwise difficult stage like the factory much easier to traverse due to the lava hazards being removed and now opening up new routes to otherwise unobtainable items.

For instance if you decide to deal with Flame Mammoth first that will give you access to the Maverick weapon "Fire Wave" which is the strongest weapon to utilize against Chill Penguin, as fire is his weakness. Despite not being the weakness of Storm Eagle, you can make the battle against him more manageable with proper use of the boots' dash ability. Furthermore if you decide to take down Storm Eagle then afterward the airship that you fight Storm Eagle on will crash to the ground, causing a power outage in Spark Mandrill's power plant stage, resulting in blackouts throughout the stage altering the hazards found in it. There are even more effects than this one can make on the world depending on how you play, not all of which will necessarily make the game easier, but I will leave that for you to discover for yourself one day.

The art team did a fantastic job of creating a dark futuristic world that still feels very much alive but not unfriendly or overly grim, and certainly not too far removed from the classic series that came before it. There are a great amount of graphical effects done through smart use of sprite techniques that are utter eye-candy, such as the shattering glass in Storm Eagle's stage. To speak on another aspect of the art of course the character designs are incredible, characters such as X and Zero are still being widely recognized to this day as gaming icons even for those who have never played these games before. Just as well, each of the Maverick bosses are also very visually memorable.

But as much as I praise the visual design this is a game that is as delightful to listen to as it is to look at. The weapons have such cool sound effects and even the movement sounds cool which creates a positive feedback loop of trying to get the most out of your gameplay. The soundtrack is strong, bringing high energy and urgency as the mood requires. Songs such as Spark Mandrill, Chill Penguin, Storm Eagle, and more populate my playlists to this day. MMX radically shaped my taste in art as a whole as I am sure that it has for some people reading this spotlight.

All these aspects that made up this title really resonate with people and Mega Man X has become a cult classic, fondly looked at long after the days of its initial success as a best-selling Super Nintendo title. Even for its time Mega Man X as a video game was a massive success for Capcom selling over a million SNES carts, which for the time was a smash hit. Following this first game would result in several direct sequels to follow it up over the years, turning it into a full blown series proving the team behind it was able to get Mega Man X to step out of the original Mega Man's shadow.

Eventually over a decade after the original release Capcom would remake the initial Mega Man X as Maverick Hunter X, a game with perhaps a more fitting title for the series, on Sony's Playstation Portable. The remake would serve as a reboot for Mega Man X as a whole, intended to be a new starting point for the series. As a game it featured more bells and whistles, including a fearsome fan favorite character, the Maverick known as Vile, becoming playable for the first time. Sadly this reboot sold poorly and Capcom has since seemingly abandoned the series outside of bundling the games up into collections. Unfortunately these collections, while nice, do have significant extra input lag not present in their original releases which could hamper the experience.

Despite the setbacks the series have faced over the years it still feels like the legacy of Mega Man X is still strong to this day. It is a title still held in high regard and the proof of that is everywhere as other games still draw to it for inspiration such as the Azure Striker Gunvolt, The Messenger, Shovel Knight and a slew of other indie game titles created decades after the first MMX game. Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of the ultra popular My Hero Academia manga and anime series, has also cited the MMX series as a point of inspiration from his childhood which you can really feel in his art.

Even the sounds of the game have stood the test of time, and its soundtrack has been the subject of countless remix and arrangement albums in the years since. MMX would in more recent times go on to be a staple of the speed-running community and for me it was the first game that I got wrapped up in myself, attempting to speedrun MMX because the game is so appealing to play. The first MMX is a standout hit, even among a series known for outstanding titles, and it should be on every gamer's bucket list to try out for themselves.

In closing Mega Man X is an incredible game in my opinion well worth the time for anybody of any age to play. The challenge of the game can feel harsh yet fair, without much in the way of "cheap deaths" or timer wasters. For those looking for a higher level of difficulty I recommend you try a "X-Buster"-only playthrough, this challenge run can greatly change how you approach each boss battle. And while the story of the game itself is simple enough, the world which Capcom created still holds up as one of their best efforts.

A gem hidden among the stones, Mega Man X is undoubtedly stardust.

-- Larsa

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