Mega Man X Collection

The Ultimate Collection of Mega Man X Adventures!

NA release: 10th January 2006
EU release: N/A
JP release: N/A
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
Mods Used: None

After the Mega Man collection brought a bunch of mainline Mega Man games to current consoles, Capcom decided to carry on with the spin-off series, Mega Man X, which started on the SNES and stars a different (but similar) hero. While the main Mega Man series ended on the PlayStation, Mega Man X8 only came out a year before this, and as a result, X8 and X7 (the PS2 games) were not included in this collection.

Mega Man X

I was really surprised as to how much this was like regular Mega Man – similar kind of bosses, weapons and structure. It almost feels like an attempt at a reset, making things simple again with no faffy items (like the robot dog).

At first I was a bit concerned about the lack of a slide ability, but you unlock a dash ability in one of the levels, which feels great for use and is useful for some really long jumps. X also has a wall jump ability, which is heavily used, so movement feels great once you’ve got the slide.

I will say that none of the stages stood out to me, there’s no special gimmicks, which goes with the feeling of bringing this back to basics and evolving it in a new direction.

Mega Man X2

This continues on from the last one, thankfully starting with the dash at the start. The levels also have their own gimmicks once again, with hoverbikes, moving platforms and so on. There’s even a couple of fancy wireframe 3D effects.

This really feels where the X series should have started, as the first I felt went backwards a bit too far. It’s a really enjoyable game, although I don’t know how some of the platforming sections are even possible without save states, especially as failure leads to instant death.

Mega Man X3

While this was also originally released on the SNES, this is based on the later PlayStation port or the game. The graphics still look like a SNES game (which isn’t a bad thing), but there are new FMV scenes added as introductions to the stages and the bosses.

This game carries on the momentum of the previous game, although some of the secrets I found easier to find, some of those are extra powers (such as regenerating health), however one of these was a game changer: an ability to do a dash in mid-air (including upwards).

Not only is this a massive help for some of the later platforming sections, plus extremely handy for accessing more secrets (this was the first X game where I found health expansions) but it’s just so much fun, and it’s a massive shame that this isn’t a standard ability – I wouldn’t want to swap it for any of the others in this game. This is a great one.

Mega Man X4

The first Mega Man X that was built for PlayStation, and what’s interesting is that the FMVs don’t disturb you as much as X3 (I suppose they were trying to make them stand out more). This features new graphics that thankfully don’t make the game feel quite as slow as the first PS1 Mega Man game.

The mid-air dash is thankfully back, and one upgrade I found surprisingly early is infinite ammo for all the special weapons. Although this wasn’t a huge advantage for most of the game as the special weapons here, while interesting, are a bit more circumstantial, with weapons that shoot upwards, one where you need to target first. One really useful one is on the shoots in up and down diagonals at the same time, including through walls.

It seems like another good X game, with some fun levels (I liked the bike one here) and interesting set pieces and bosses.

Mega Man X5

X5 introduces a character called Alia and I hate her so much. She constantly interrupts you to tell you how to complete the next section of the game, how puzzles work and how to avoid hazards. It’s like modern video game allies that give you the answer too quickly, only here it also pauses the game. It’s immensely frustrating.

But this isn’t the game’s only problem, as none of the levels felt all that interesting, with moments more annoying than anything (the hoverbike level here is atrocious) and upgrades being a bit more random, as bosses can be a higher level to unlock better upgrades, but you don’t have much control of this.

I also found the perspective of the level was a little bit off, with it being tilted more than X4 and it just doesn’t quite work – there’s a repeat of a spiral staircase section from the previous game and it just looks really bad. Overall, I wasn’t a fan of this one.

Mega Man X6

When it comes to the dialogue, Capcom at least learnt their lesson. Now, instead of being interrupted constantly, there are spots where you can choose to ask for hints. A much better system. I did somehow miss the explanation of the characters, as I made a huge mistake

As I had no idea who “Falcon” was, I selected X as my character. I got really annoyed when I found the air dash and was told I would not be able to use it until I found all the other upgrades. In another level, I encountered a section that was actually impossible to make without the air dash. After googling, I found that the Falcon character was a suit, pretty much an already fully upgraded one with the air dash.

Most of the levels are quite annoying – frustrating laser puzzles, acid rain, an ice level where you can’t use your wall jump and one where you’re constantly attacked by a giant mech. There was one cool museum level, but I didn’t enjoy most of them.

Battle & Chase

A random inclusion for this collection (the Mega Man Xtreme games on Game Boy Colour would have made more sense), as it’s a kart game that doesn’t have X in it at all. Still, this was actually the first release of the game in the USA, having only been released in Japan and Europe on the PS1.

Now, while Mario Kart is the easy comparison, Battle & Chase has a lot of similarities with the Choro Q (Penny/Gadget Racers) series, where you win parts to customise your kart when you win races, letting you mix things up (although, personally, I felt like nothing actually changed other than the look)

It also has an interesting item system. There are cones and little creatures on each level, and you have to destroy 10 to get an item. On top of this, you have a constantly charging weapon, which can cause enemies to spin out at the highest charge.

Ultimately, though, the extremely slow speed (despite the speedometer claiming 400kph+) and poor handling really let the game down and it’s not that fun to play. It’s a shame as the levels look nice and have some neat ideas in them, like one where the track is mostly speed pads but buttons will change them into different types

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Overall, the X Collection is another solid group of Mega Man games, with X3 and X4 being big highlights. Most games play well, and felt great in this collection, and even have button prompts changed to fit the controller, which is something often overcooked in compilations like this.

Great

Certainly, the package would have benefited from more in the way of unlockable content–especially since there are really only two truly great games on this comp, and the rest merely range from solid to mediocre. But as it is, X Collection will please the series’ longtime fans, and serves as a good primer for those who never had the opportunity to check out these games back in the day.
Alex Navarro, GameSpot

Remake or remaster?

The Mega Man games has been re-released in the Mega Man X Legacy Collection (which was released in two parts)

Official Ways to get the game

The X games are available on most platforms, but Battle & Chase is not part of any modern collection.