Title: Mega Man X
Release Date: December 1993 (Japan), January 1994 (US)
Original Platform: Super Famicom/Super Nintendo
I bought Mega Man X sometime in 1994. I was in Toys R’ Us late at night with my dad. I think he actually let me wander the store alone for a bit, and I went to the game aisle. I saw it on clearance for some odd price - I believe it was eighteen bucks and change. I somehow had a twenty dollar bill to my name, and I never expected I would find a Super Nintendo game to buy, let alone a Mega Man game. I remember bringing the paper slip to the register, and having a mini heart attack when I forgot about the existence of tax. It’s a good thing it wasn’t $19.99, or I’d have been hosed.
I passed the cashier the money. The bill was so worn out and creased down the middle that Jackson’s face was barely visible. It hardly looked like money anymore. But he took it, and then the game was mine. The rest was history.
To borrow a few words from The Wizard of Oz, Mega Man X is an undeniable, reliable, certifiable classic. This is the king at the top of his game. The top of the mountain. Quite possibly the best this franchise has ever been, and ever will be.
But why?
Mega Man X is a classic because of the ridiculous amounts of custom animations and detail in its artwork and animations. I’m talking about the way the ax robots in Sting Chameleon’s stage laugh when they hit you.
I’m talking about the way some stages are altered when other stages are cleared:
I’m talking about the special animations when certain bosses are attacked with their weakness.
I’m talking about how Mega Man X breathes heavy when at critical health.
I’m talking about how you can see Mega Man X’s breath when he’s at critical health, but only in Chill Penguin’s stage because it’s cold outside.
This game feels like it was drawn and animated by masters of their craft, who did the artistic equivalent of trick shots just because they could. No one else did this kind of stuff, or does this kind of stuff, but it’s a joy to see and discover.
Mega Man X is a classic because it figures out how to add replayability to a very simple, straightforward character progression system by adding powerups and secrets in each level. In a general sense, these secrets are well hidden, but in a more specific sense, they are extremely well hidden for veterans of NES Mega Man. Many of them require you to do things and go to places that you would not dare try in those older 8-bit games. To truly learn Mega Man X, you need to unlearn some of what you knew before.
Mega Man X is a classic because it figures out how to update and extend a very simple, straightforward, “run `n gun” formula by adding new moves and abilities. The dash and the wall climb/wall slide not only give the player more options for moving and dodging, but also allow the developers to get more clever and challenging with enemy and platform placement. Success is no longer just about positioning, but how fast (or slow) you get into position.
Plus, they just make it fun to move around in the game. That’s a big deal.
Mega Man X is a classic because its level design encourages you to use all the weapons in your arsenal. Then it all but forces you too in the final stages. Your standard X Buster is simply not strong enough in every case to just plow through enemies. You need to get creative.
Mega Man X is a classic because no matter how many times I play it, and no matter how easy the first eight stages get, those final four stages and boss fights are always a rigorous challenge.
Mega Man X is a classic because it has some of the best environmental storytelling in the entire series, with stunning background art to go with it.
Mega Man X is one of the only games that can take 90’s butt rock and techno and make it sound good. If Armored Armadillo’s stage music doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will.
Nothing in this game is broken. Nothing is bad. Everything clicks and everything works. When I decided to replay this for review, my muscle memory took over, and I beat it in two sittings. If I wasn’t trying to get Mega Man X Legacy Collection achievements, I might have done it in one. I probably could have done it while half asleep.
It was still one of the most fun gaming sessions I’ve had in awhile.
When you can play a game for the umpteenth time in your life and walk away thinking “that was worth a few hours”, that’s when you know you’ve got an true gem.
People like to claim that the Super Nintendo is the pinnacle of 2d gaming, that nothing else touches it, not even the entire Sega Genesis library.
These people always point to Mega Man X as proof.
But what if the game never existed? Would the argument in favor of the SNES be as strong? I don’t think so.
No disrespect to the SNES as a whole, but to me, this isn’t proof that the console itself is the pinnacle of 2d gaming.
It means Mega Man X is.
Is this the GOAT among Mega Man games? Absolutely.
Is it the GOAT among all games? Maybe not, but it’s up there.
Is it the best twenty bucks I ever spent? You tell me.
Final Thoughts
- I still don’t remember where my dad was at any point when I was in the toy store trying to buy this game. I remember going in with him, and I remember driving home with him. Everything else was a weird euphoric blur.
- I purchased this in 1994. I was still playing it on and off in 1998 before I got an N64. Nowadays the poor cartridge is yellowed and old, but it still plays. That’s all that matters.