A big improvement over the first game in some areas. The boss fights in particular are miles above the bosses from X1; their difficulty is a lot more balanced and their patterns are more advanced. The level design is just as good as X1, with a good balance of platforming and shooting. The upgrades are well placed most of the time and you can finish the game with almost no backtracking if you know what you're doing. The game isn't perfect though. Some of the items are hidden in pretty lame spots (like the heart tank in the weather control stage), and the radar item to find them is a pain to use. The special weapons acquired from bosses are almost useless. The soundtrack is also pretty weak in my opinion. Those are fairly minor flaws, but the one major problem with this game that always annoyed me was the X Hunters. For a new gimmick that had so much emphasis on the story, they sure did a bad job of implementing them. They have some of the worst fights in the game, and having to go out of your way to find them is not worth the effort. Thankfully, you can just completely ignore them and you'll have a fun time.

Overall, a great game that I personally enjoy playing more than X1, even with its occasional issues.