LogFAQs > #934111917

#59. Mega Man X2


While I really like the classic Mega Man games, Mega Man X is my subseries of choice. I was introduced to the series through the X games, so even though the bad X games are worse than the bad Classic games, I still love them because they have the highest ceiling for me. Honestly, the Classic games almost feel a bit primitive to me compared to the X games, and Im not just talking graphically. Im talking in terms of gameplay because it feels like you can do so much more in a Mega Man X game with the armor upgrades. There are platforming segments you cant have in a Classic game because the Blue Bomber cant dash or wall climb, and I enjoy the extra layers of complexity the upgrades provide.

Anyway, now lets talk about Mega Man X2 in particular. The game opens up with a cinematic style cutscene that you didnt really see often in games like that at the time, and especially not in a Mega Man game. The intro stage is a breeze, but its a good introduction to the gameplay with a really huge boss whos extremely easy who still feels good to beat because hes so big. The new Mavericks and their stages were pretty good. I think Overdrive Ostrich, Flame Stag, and Magma Centipede were my favorites, but honestly theres not a notably bad one in the bunch. The soundtrack is pretty solid, too. The armor upgrades were pretty neat, highlighted by the ability to do an air dash, which was awesome. I also liked the body armor that let you gradually absorb damage and then unleash it in a really powerful attack called the Giga Crush. Then the arm upgrade lets you charge the X-Buster up to 4 levels, which may not necessarily be practical against a boss since it takes so long, but it sure does look cool and makes you feel really powerful. You could even get the Shoryuken as a hidden skill this time, which isnt as easily usable as the Hadouken, but it looks awesome since its the flaming version.

But to me, the main draw of Mega Man X2 is the side mission to find all the Zero parts. Because Zero turned out to be massively popular among the fanbase after the first game despite only having literally two minutes of screen time, Capcom decided to bring him back to life for the first of many times. You have to find three separate Zero parts to revive him for your side, and you have to beat three separate X-Hunters to do so. The cool thing is that they moved around from stage to stage, and each Maverick stage had a hidden room where they might be found, so it was fun trying to track them down. However, if you couldnt retrieve all the Zero parts, he was revived by Sigma and you had to fight him. Honestly, the fight is so cool that sometimes Ill intentionally not get all the parts just so I can do it. Zero doesnt mess around in this fight. He follows an easily discernible pattern, but your attack window is very small and hes still tough to dodge because he never lets up. That battle also might contain my single favorite song in the entire series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HalR8W3VuCo

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http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/080/145/638.png
https://imgur.com/WqDcNNq