Mega Man X
(Rockman X in Japan)
Systems: SNES (Super Famicom), PCs with DOS or Windows
Released 1994

The Basics
Perhaps due to the complaints from gamers who were eager to see their favorite blue mascot on the SNES but unwilling to end the franchise's successful run on that platform, in 1994 Capcom came up with a side series to appease fans. Mega Man X added some very interesting new gameplay elements to the series -managing to seem both fresh and original and classic at the same time. X took place after Dr. Light's death - and presumably Dr. Wily's - when a new threat to peace, Sigma, arose and formed a group of "Mavericks," essentially rebel robots. Dr. Light had sealed the completed X in a capsule to be awakened at the first sign of danger, and that's just what happened in the game's intro. X would be joined by the enigmatic Zero, a red-clad, blonde ponytailed robot who was interested in furthering the cause of justice and destroying the Mavericks.

Gameplay
X was capable of more interesting moves than Mega Man, but he faced more in terms of initial setbacks as well. X could cling to walls and slide down them or jump ever upward to ascend vertical surfaces. Instead of sliding, he could dash - once you found the capsule containing the dash option. He could also break certain bricks with his head (once you found his new helmet) and absorb more damage (once you found his new armor). Last but certainly not least, intrepid adventurers would stumble on the Hadoken - that's right, Ryu's fireball - by completing Armored Armadillo's stage a whopping four extra times, in addition to the ones required to defeat the boss. Besides these specials X had to fight for his life - because he started with a short energy bar and had to find hearts to extend its length. Finally, rechargeable energy tanks were also scattered throughout the landscape.

Another cool feature of X's gameplay was that the order you beat the stages in could be important - for example, if you defeated Storm Eagle and then went on to Spark Mandrill's stage, pieces of the eagle's destroyed air carrier would smash through the glass tubing Mandrill used to construct his demesnes, causing power outages throughout the level.

The Weapons and Bosses
Sigma's obviously a fan of animals, because all of the bosses in this game were ferocious animalistic robots: Chill Penguin, with shotgun ice; Spark Mandrill, with electric spark; Armored Armadillo, with rolling shield; Launch Octopus, with homing torpedoes; Boomer Kuwanger, with boomerang cutter; Sting Chameleon, with chameleon sting; Storm Eagle, with storm tornado; and Flame Mammoth, with fire wave. An interesting side note was that you could charge any of these weapons once you procured X's gun upgrade. Also, shooting Armored Armadillo with electric spark destroyed his armor, Chill Penguin could be set aflame with fire wave, and most humiliating of all, shooting Flame Mammoth with boomerang cutter chopped off his trunk. It just made him mad.

Japanese Version
The bosses had much wackier names in the original version. They made much less sense in English. Chill Penguin, for example, was known as "Icy Penginko." We also had Burning Naumander, Armored Armage, Storm Eaglet, Sting Chameleo, Bumeral Kuwanger, Spark Mandriller, and Launcher Octopus.

Final Thoughts
Mega Man X was a great way for the franchise to come to the SNES. Without sacrificing the traits that made Mega Man so appealing, Capcom made some interesting changes to the title that livened up the series. Of course, true to the company's nature, it was about to do the thing to death. This first title made fans of the original series even hungrier for a 16-bit upgrade that wouldn't happen for a while, but it also gave something nice to console those starving fans.