Review #282: Megaman X Collection

 A bit more inconsistent than Megaman Classic...

 Remember that little blue guy that would steal his enemies' weapons? Well, now imagine if that little guy was a bonafide badass and you'd get Megaman X. The game's basics remain the same, jump and shoot your way through 8 different bosses, obtaining a weapon from each that is extra effective against another specific boss, until you defeat them all and then you are ready to tackle the last gauntlet of stages before the last boss. But besides being darker and edgier, Megaman X is much faster than its predecessor series, the 'dash' mechanic becoming a core move that you'll need to use in order to deal with the new obstacles and enemy patterns. X, the hero, can also cling to walls and jump off them for extra verticality when it comes to stages. This is a whole 'nother beast, and when it's at its best, its even better than classic Megaman.

 Megaman X 1: The first entry in the series is downright fantastic. The difficulty is just right, and everything works just right. There's a ton of stuff to find on the 8 levels, from different armor pieces, health upgrades and extra sub-tanks(Rechargeable health packs). They got everything right on their first iteration. 9.0

 Megaman X 2: Almost as good as the first one. My biggest gripe is that some of the bosses are a bit of a drag, as you have to wait for them to become vulnerable to attack, which leads to a lot of waiting. 8.0

 Megaman X 3: The game I liked the least on the SNES, not that that is a bad thing, as I only prefer X2 slightly more than this one. This version is the PS1 port, which means it includes anime cutscenes, which if you ask me, feel a bit out of place. This game is noticeably harder than the other two, but don't worry, if you got through the other two, you are well prepared to tackle this one. This time around, there are multiple endings, and you can even play, in a very limited form, as Zero, at the cost of one life. There's a new type of hidden collectible, to add to the armor pieces, health upgrades and sub-tanks: Rider Armors. I felt like these added nothing to the game, as you only get to ride these on some sections of only some stages, which translates to busy work. And you will need to collect these if you plan on collecting the other upgrades, since some require the rider armors. 8.0

 Megaman X 4: The first entry on the PS1, it looks fantastic. Like, really, really good, bosses have never looked this cool, and they have some of the most interesting movesets in the series. It also features some of the most memorable stages as well. You also get to play as either Zero or X, both have different storylines, and while they fight most of the same bosses, their play styles are completely different. 9.0

 Megaman X 5: Now you can play as both X and Zero, picking who before each stage. They also, finally, added the option to crouch! There's new equippable parts to customize your characters. This one is a bit of a misstep. They added this arbitrary 'time limit', until you beat the eight robot masters, that while it isn't very strict, it's annoying. The Boss Rematch at the end of the game is a pain in the butt, as enemies take ages to die, luckily, if you are savvy enough and collected the Ultimate Armor in the previous stage, you can cheese them to death with unlimited Giga Strikes. There's also a lot of handholding, Allia, your navigator, will interrupt you mid-stage to tell you the most obvious things she can. Things like 'HEy, break that door in front of you to continue', goddammit, I'm not playing on easy, I'm not stupid, I just want to play. Not gotta lie, this game made me want to play the SNES originals again... 6.0

 Megaman X 6: An absolute joke of a Megaman X game. Level design is absolutely atrocious. Leaps of faith, damage that looks unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, one area has RANDOM rooms, and some house upgrades, so you might have to replay that one level multiple times. So. Much. Fun. There was also that junk compressor stage, turns out if you manage to avoid it, and stop holding down to crouch, it will kill you anyways. And even if only X's toe stretches into the hitbox, he dies. There're also parts that can't be cleared without the right 'optional' parts, some which can, potentially, be lost forever on a playthrough. There's also that terrible avalanche stage.... it seems as if stages were purposely designed to annoy players. And while I don't care about graphics, it's hard not to notice how poorly animated the new sprites are. This is a sad way to finish this collection. 4.0

 Megaman Battle and Chase: But hey, maybe you finished X1, X2 and X3, which unlocks Megaman Battle and Chase, a PS1 kart racer that never made it out of Japan before! And... it's terribly average. It has a few original ideas, like collecting kart parts from defeated enemies, but it's not very fun. It also doesn't look very good, which in a racing game, where you need to see what's coming and what's in-front of you is quite vital. 5.0

 Alright, so this collection's quality isn't as consistent as Megaman Anniversary Collection, but I'd say that X1, X2, X3 and X4 are absolutely worth it and are even better than anything Megaman Classic can offer. And even then, you are left with an above average platformer in X5 and Battle and Chase which justifies itself as a fun little curiosity. X6 is best left alone.
 9.0 out of 10