I've been interested in this series for a very long time. I've listened to music from it, watched reviews of the series, and have heard great things about it from people/friends as well. And of course, I've definitely seen the memes from some titles, haha. However, I was always a bit hesitant on taking the plunge out of fear of the series not being my cup of tea, or it being too difficult. It wasn't until I tried out a Touhou fangame inspired by the X series that was the push I needed to finally try the series out through the Legacy Collection.

And I'm very happy I did so, because man is this game just so damn COOL. Okay, so when I first started playing, I was kind of a mess. Didn't know what I was doing at all, felt like I'd never make any progress, and was starting to feel disheartened. But I decided to keep going, look at guides/tips, videos in order to help me out, and then after that... it started to get really fun! The feeling of excitement I felt when I beat my first maverick boss was just so awesome, and it really made me feel like "Okay, maybe I can actually beat this lmao?". And so I would go on to fight Flame Mammoth, Storm Eagle, and Spark Mandrill, and then... that is when I started to get it. That is when I realized why these games were so well regarded, because of how fun and addicting the gameplay was. I loved getting more used to the mechanics---such as dashing and wall climbing. I loved being able to build my arsenal of power ups and then getting excited upon wondering "Ooooh, I wonder what this power up I got does". And I loved using said power ups against the proper bosses who were weak to them (like, my mind was blown with how fucked Spark Mandrill got from Chill Penguin's power up, I had no idea the power ups were THAT huge of game changers). And then I felt really proud of myself when I was able to beat some bosses with just the X Buster. It's like the more I played the game, the more I got my ass beat, and the more I learned... the more satisfying it was for me to actually beat them. And then when I would lose, I would be like, "Okay, I've got their ass next time", and then just try again.

...or I would also maybe try to break my controller in half, but that's on me, not the game's fault lmao.

I just really liked that sense of challenge, I feel that same way when I play Touhou too. So much so that when I put the difficulty on Rookie Hunter mode twice, I ended up turning it off each time, and even started over just so that I could do it on the game's regular difficulty. The thing about me is that with some things, I just can't let myself play on a lower difficulty. My pride would just not allow me to lower the difficulty and play the game AT ALL lmao. And it probably would've saved me less trouble and stress if I did... (but I'm incredibly stubborn with stuff like this, it might be a problem lmao). And this game was REALLY TOUGH for me, probably one of the toughest games I've played, and very frustrating too. But at the same time, that difficulty thrill is fun to me (so long as it's not like, too insurmountable lol). And so when I'm up against a difficult boss, it's fun when I finally beat it, like I really accomplished something. LIKE MAN... THIS GAME IS SO COOL DUDE, I SEE IT NOW LMAO.

Alongside that, I really loved the incredible level-design throughout the many stages, and especially the amazing attention to detail of how beating certain bosses affects the environment of another---usually making it much easier for you. Like, I'm not a game developer expert at all, but having such ambitious level design in 1993 is pretty damn sick honestly. The way this game is structured and the way its designed... it's hard to describe, but it's really well done in its execution of helping the player learn the ropes and challenge themselves just through simply playing the game. Now granted, I uhhh... looked up guides and stuff to help me out, but even taking that out of the equation, I can just tell that the game is really well-designed in that aspect. And then the music... like... yessss... I've listened to the music in the past when I was a kid, but it was really nice hearing these themes old and new to me. Chill Penguin, Flame Mammoth, and Zero's theme are definitely my favorites, and I really loved the Sigma Stage Select music too. Honestly, I really liked a lot of the Sigma themes in general.

I guess my only few gripes would be that I really wish there wasn't a life system, just a personal thing. I like being able to get back into the action, so losing all my lives and having to restock could be a bit of a chore. That and some of the upgrades were HELL to get, which I'm looking at you buster upgrade. Whoever designed getting that upgrade must have had a seriously bad day back in the office, because my fingers were aching after having to do that shit who knows how many times lmao. I mean, it was DEFINITELY worth it for the upgrade, but I would've much preferred a less taxing way to get it lmao. Other than that, not really much else that really bothered me that I can think of at the time of my head.

Anyway, I've always held a lot of respect for Mega Man. I didn't grow up with him like many others, but I had always heard such great things about the games, spin-off material, music, etc. It made me really want to one day try some of the series that really interested me, like the X series or the Legends series. And I'm really happy I ended up trying this game out and enjoyed it, it's a game I've wanted to at least try once in my lifetime. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the games expand or innovate from this one. I hope to especially see more added onto the story as well---since it's an early 1990s title, I didn't expect that much in-depth storytelling, but I really do like the overall premise and lore the X series established in this one,. And I'd really like to see more of X and Zero's characters too! I was already interested in them having seen them in crossover games and the like, so getting to play and learn more about them will be really cool. So yeah, I'm really happy I enjoyed this first entry, and I'm excited to play more of this series.

(Man, I really need to get better at writing shorter reviews... 😖)

I could give a 5/5 to the soundtrack alone but they included a kickass game alongside it.

This game is my childhood. I am 100% biased and love it regardless of how it actually is.

The feeling of getting motivated by Zero even in the intro stage, I remember that shit even though I was a kid, that line hit hard. Only for Zero to FKING die at the end, it fueled my rage, then the spiderboss kicked my ass.

GOAT/5

"NOT A CHARGE SHOT!" - Vile, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, 2006.

And here we have my entry point to the Mega Man series as a whole. This SNES classic clearly still kicks ass to this day. I first played this charming Sum-Bitch on the Legacy Collection that this game was packaged in. Those sprites, tight controls, a killer soundtrack, combine that with the upgraded presentation from the NES titles to the SNES, it really felt like the next generation. The X series took a lot of the formulas that the classic series had with some new advancements. Adding some rpg elements with the armor pieces was a great staple to the X series. Both this game and X4 are my favorites in the X series.

There are so many things I love about this game but it's not without its rough spots. Some of the secrets: heart tanks, and capsules feel like you're trying to get the game to glitch out to get that one perfect dash jump off. The timing of the final Sigma battle is such a huge spike in difficulty compared to the rest of the game which is fairly balanced. I'm not sure I really like how hard the design leans on X's charge shot. It slows down the speed a lot from Classic Mega Man even if everything else is ostensibly faster.

I was really really excited to play this through since I bought it, and the game certainly never disappointed. There's just enough new stuff to the Mega Man formula to catch the interest of people who got bored of the classics (I don't know how you would, but that's just me being obsessive) and there's just enough of the old formula to get people like me into this rather easily. I really loved going back through the levels and collecting all the hearts and armor upgrades. While hidden goodies in the stages was nothing new for Mega Man at this point, it was never a big focus unlike how it is here, where upgrading is a central focus.

I didn't put a lot of time into using all the weapons (I wanted to stick with the buster a lot to re-awaken my classic mega man skills) but they felt really useful for when I whipped them out. They'll make for a lot of good experimentation on future playthroughs.

X's new abilities compared to Mega Man were honestly kind of hard to get used to but I think by the end I got used to it. I've played Mega Man Zero before so I kind of understood it already, just needed to get used to how this game in particular works. Even if it took me a bit it was always fun.

This is definitely a must play must own SNES game. I'd love to own the other X games on SNES and Mega Man 7, but those seem to be very very expensive.

9/10

Level design: 10\10;
Gráfico: 10\10;
Gameplay: 10\10;
Diversificação: 10\10;
Trilha: 10\10;
História: 10\10;
Fator replay: 10\10.

For a next step in the classic Mega Man formula, Mega Man X does a really good job. Of course, it fumbles from time to time, but that doesn't ruin the experience as a whole.

Gameplay wise, this game is some of the most fun shit I've played. I already enjoy how the classic games play, but now this game ramps that shit up to 11. Wall jumps are already cool as hell, but oh my lord, the dash makes this game so much fun. Chaining together dash jumps and blitzing though stages feels great, and better yet, the game rewards you for it. The maverick weapons are pretty good, but they barely hold a candle to the X Buster, especially with the arm upgrade.

The soundtrack FUCKS. Like goddamn, they locked the fuck in on this OST. Spark Mandrill, Storm Eagle, Sting Chameleon, Boomer Kuwanger, Zero's theme. Goddamn, these songs are great.

I will say that there are some stuff that is pretty annoying. Namely the secrets, like heart tanks. It's obnoxious since they're basically mandatory if you don't want this game to start being obnoxious with its balancing. Sigma himself is as fun as stubbing your toe if you don't have a Hadoken in your back pocket. Speaking of the Hadoken, I didn't even bother trying to get it, because it felt like I was doing nothing but busywork just to one shot a boss or two. It's cool as hell, but I'm not doing the most just to kick the rest of the game in the balls.

Even will all its obnoxious secrets, I say this game kicks major ass. It's a great branching off point for the series with a really strong foundation.