I’m not a big Mega Man fan, but god damn if I didn’t enjoy Mega Man X on my SNES Classic. I like the concept of Mega Man games – fight through themed levels, tackle sub-bosses and overthrow robot masters to acquire their abilities, using them in future battles with other mechanical baddies. But for some reason – granted, it’s because my younger brother likes them and whatever he likes is poop – I never got into them. But I picked up an SNES Classic and decided to start with a game I’d never played. Using no walkthrough, no save states, and only asking my little bro a question or two about enemy weaknesses, I finished that game. My thoughts?
Old games are brutal as hell.
I’m going to keep my retro reviews short and to the point because, for the most part, digging deep on a game over twenty years old is pointless – countless others have beaten me to the punch. We’ll just tackle this rapid fire, like. To start, the game is difficult. Maybe that’s why I never liked Mega Man games? Too much trial and error? I know we live in a post-Dark Souls world, but “Get Gud” is not something I like as a game mechanic. Having said that, once you get the hang of the controls and the abilities, Mega Man X becomes a simple game of “platform to the right” until you reach those iconic double doors.
I’m a sucker for three things in my “classic” games: interesting boss battles, great music, and tight controls. This game nails all three. The boss fights are fun to figure out and a hoot if you unlock the power to topple them quickly and utilize it in advance. While the final boss trio (a dog, his master, and some kind of giant clawed machine) is a bit unfair, insofar as I lost so much health to that damned dog each time, the rest of the bosses are a treat. I much prefer this games approach to re-fighting the bosses. I know the classic series of games has a room where you teleport to each one in successions, but this game just makes the encounters part of the flow of the final levels of the game. I endorse this.
The music is great, too. The level select is a bit repetitive, but once you pick your level and you hear the standard enemy screen theme, it’s on. Each level features a more-or-less unique sound and if you say Storm Eagle’s stage music is shit I will burn your house down with you and your family inside. After this, it’s all about control. And X moves through the levels like he owns the place. Wall jumping, power dashing, charging your shots, and – if you’re crafty with your searches – finding the armor pieces, heart upgrades, and E Tanks scattered across the levels is a welcome surprise each time you stumble upon one.
I did not acquire all the upgrades, did NOT get the Dragon Punch, and absolutely had to fight the final boss(es) about thirty two thousand times. But when it was over and I avenged Zero and stopped the uprising, I know I’d played a solid – if not shockingly short (seriously, the levels end in about three minutes if you just keep moving) – game. I have also completed its first sequel, Mega Man X2, and will provide a review in due time. Until then, if you’ve never had a crack at this one, give it a go. Well worth the time, frustration, and cursing you’ll absolutely do. And if you hit a brick wall, just remember, keep bashing your head against it until you finally break through. The headache is key to winning.
A concussion, though? See a doctor for that.
skylerbartels 