Mega Man X2
Added 5/20/07
Ah, Capcom. What hast thou done? Thou hast taken Mega Man down from thy mantle, and destroyedth thou's reputation...
Enough of the old English!
Er-hem. Mega Man X2 is a relatively old game, and the third-darkest game I own. Why third? Well, Blackthorne takes the top spot, while good ol' Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3 takes second. Yes, I qualify SW as dark. Not exactly a happy-all-the-time plot line like, say, Mario... Or the original Mega Man.
X2 was made back in 1994, and is among the rarer SNES games to hit the market. X3 is rarer, though, and it's even harder to get one for that PSX of yours! I was pleasently surprised to see one at a used game market... ...For $40. OW! Like an idiot, I got it. Turns out, it's about $25 on eBay for the cart alone. I don't feel so bad now, but man, what an idiot!
Not owning X1, I didn't know (In theory, but I read up on the X series on the MMHP...) the plot. It turns out X's buddy and partner in crime, Zero, sacrificed himself near the end of X1 to help X destroy Sigma. With Sigma gone, the head of the Maverick rebellion has been cut off, and the snake is withering. ...Analogies, analogies... You control X, in the intro stage, clearing out a Maverick factory, eventually destroying the prototype.
Then, the real game begins. Like every other Mega Man game (Well, pre-Legends, anyway.) you choose your level and play through it. The difference between X and Mega Man Classic? X gets upgrades! Tired of only shooting a large blue fireball? Find the arm upgrade and you'll get a Double Shot, complete with GIANT blue fireball with orbiting red! And those new legs come in handy!
There are, naturally, some shortcomings. Capcom, for some reason, has treated X to the dash treatment of some beat-em-ups. Double-pressing on the D-Pad causes X to dash, and sometimes you don't even realize that you double-tapped until you ram into those spikes. Whoops. Also, my controller is beat up and the Start and Select buttons are not very responsive. So, I just map the Menu to the X button. No problem! The D-Pad, likewise, is also somewhat unresponsive. Still, it's an equipment problem.
What IS annoying, though, is the X-Hunters. Sigma's minions are TOUGH for a first-timer. But, if you don't take care of them, you'll have a bigger nightmare...
I like this game, though, despite it's shortcomings. The game even gets pretty creative in one level, where you have to shoot orbs with various specials to manipulate the weather. It rains, and blows wind, at the most inopertune times, like trying to cross spikes. However, depending on the weapon, you can switch it to normal, cause a heat wave, create a monsoon, or, my favorite, a murky fog that covers the area and obscures the screen a bit, which actually helps, as you now can't be detected by a pesky laser.
The bosses are kinda odd. For instance, you have an ostrich, a snail, and, the oddest-looking one of all, a sponge. Well... You can't say they didn't get creative...
The powers, though, are NICE, and Mega Man looks sweet with the color schemes, too. Try Speed Burner, Magnet Mine, Sonic Slicer, and Spin Wheel on for size. He looks UGLY, though, with the Silk Shot and the Bubble Spread. The weapons seem to be ridiculously overpowered, which kinda worries me. The Spin Wheel, basically a giant buzzsaw, can deliver massive damage to a large target should the wheel get caught. The Double Shot is among the most overpowered weapons I've ever seen, and the Crystal Hunter is either a one-hit kill or a complete waste of time.
Now, what of Zero? Well, if you succeed in recovering all his parts, he'll be resurrected and will save you a boss fight in the last level. If you don't... Well, you have an extra boss fight to take care of. Zero's theme, by the way, is SUPERB. My favorite tune in the entire game.
There's a great pun when he's resurrected. He'll taunt Sigma by saying "There is only one Zero!" Well, yeah... Look at a number line recently? I don't think that was intended, but it makes for a great laugh.
Ah, speaking of soundtracks... The soundtrack is excellent, overall. There's no tune that I didn't like. Each one is pretty catchy. The final (and intro) level theme is also VERY sweet.
Mega Man X2 is a good find if you can locate it out in the wild, and your shop doesn't really look at rarity guides. Good luck finding it, though; it's a pretty uncommon game, and in high demand as well, so you'll have to put up some dough.
GRAPHICS: 8.6/10
GAMEPLAY: 9.4/10
SOUND AND MUSIC: 9.8/10
ORIGINALITY: 7.2/10
REPLAYABILITY: 8.2/10
OVERALL: 43.2/50
FINAL VERDICT: B