Mega Man Maverick Hunter X

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, known as Irregular Hunter X (イレギュラーハンターX) in Japan, is an enhanced remake of the original Mega Man X game released for the PlayStation Portable in 2005-2006. The game is also compatible and cross-playable with the PlayStation Vita via a PSN Download which was released at the PlayStation Vita's launch on February 15, 2012. It has several new features and several redesigns.

Changes
New content and differences from the original game.


 * Brand-new 3D graphics.
 * Character and item redesigns and updates (primarily the Mavericks). Note that many of these redesigned items in this game are also similar in design and function to another 3D Mega Man X game, Mega Man X8, which was released in the same year as this title. Similar items for both games include (but are not limited to) the Light Capsule designs, Life Energy and Weapon Energy refills, and Ride Armor design and mechanisms.
 * A new 4-chapter cinematic animation named The Day of Σ that shows the world before Sigma openly turns Maverick.
 * A navigator appears in game speaking with X. She speaks directly with X in the Opening Stage, but does not contact X during other stages, unlike the navigators of other games. Zero on the other hand, does not speak to X face-to-face after defeating the eight Mavericks but via radio transmission instead in this remake (Zero meets up with X and speaks to him in the original version).
 * The ability to play as Vile after completing the game. Vile acquires unique weapons as he defeats each Maverick that attaches to his Arm, Shoulder, and Leg that must be equipped before each stage. He can use these three weapons an unlimited number of times, but he cannot use any weapons beyond those three once in a stage. Each attack uses some of Vile's quick-charging Weapon Energy. However, there is a drawback of Vile being unable to dash as a player despite being able to do so as a boss in X Mode. This has been somewhat compensated by allowing him to get the Speed Devil and Frozen Castle parts to increase his defense and speed. According to Keiji Inafune's comments in Mega Man X Official Complete Works, he deliberately chose Vile to be the second playable character in order to give players the opportunity to see the same event from a villain's perspective, feeling that it would have been "too obvious and boring" if the new option was to play as Zero.
 * Much dialogue has been added to the game, mainly between X with the Mavericks, Vile, Zero and Sigma. Vile has similar conversations through his own game. These dialogues are fully voiced, bringing over the full-voiced dialogue features of Mega Man X8 into this game as well.
 * Strangely, Sigma's post-credit speech was cut.


 * At the end of the opening stage, Vile now has an energy bar and X must defeat him in order to progress.


 * The Foot upgrade has been moved to Flame Mammoth's stage, in the same hidden area that housed the X-Buster upgrade in the original game, which has no blocks covering it and is easier to reach as a result.
 * The Helmet upgrade is moved to Chill Penguin's stage, in a new hidden area in the vertical passage just before where the Foot upgrade was in the original game. The area is barricaded by blocks that require the Foot upgrade to destroy.
 * The location of the Armor has been moved to where the helmet upgrade was in the original game, in Storm Eagle's stage.
 * The Arm upgrade has been moved to where the Armor upgrade was in the original, in Sting Chameleon's stage.
 * As in the original game, if the player reaches the fight with Vile in Sigma Palace 3 without the Arm Parts upgrade, Zero will grant them his. However, unlike the original game, the charged shot acquired from Zero is different from the one acquired from the Light Capsule; the Light Capsule charged shot fires a swirl of three pink orbs similar to the original game, while the charged shot received from Zero fires a red blast identical to Zero's charge shot. The charged shot received from Zero does greater damage to bosses than the one received from the Light Capsule.
 * The Sigma Palace stages have completely different layouts, and boss orders in the stages have been completely changed in this remake:
 * Sigma Palace 1 with Bosspider will involve rematches against Launch Octopus and Boomerang Kuwanger.
 * Sigma Palace 2 with Rangda Bangda will involve rematches against Armored Armadillo, Storm Eagle and Spark Mandrill.
 * Sigma Palace 3 with D-Rex will involve rematches against Chill Penguin, Sting Chameleon and Flame Mammoth followed by Vile (without battling his Ride Armor) before facing D-Rex.
 * The method of acquiring the secret Hadouken capsule is also different from the original. It only requires one trip, but needs a no-damage run to make it appear.
 * The Hadouken itself works the same, with one key change: Sigma's final form is no longer immune to it, allowing players to defeat him in one hit.
 * The in-battle voice acting for the 8 Mavericks changes significantly for the rematches. The main Maverick voice acting will sound like their original selves, but will sound corrupted and half-dead in the rematches in the Sigma Palace stages. The most noticeable ones in the English-voiced versions are Chill Penguin, Flame Mammoth, and Sting Chameleon.
 * Zero's theme from the game now has an additional segment that's similar to the version used in Mega Man Zero.
 * There is a new musical cue that is used when Sigma is about to personally challenge X. Originally, the intro to the fortress boss fight was used during this instance.
 * In addition, Sigma is present to watch the entire battle with Velguarder in Maverick Hunter X. Originally, he teleported out and only returned after Velguarder was defeated.
 * Wolf Sigma's theme does not actually start up in Maverick Hunter X until after his HP bar fills up. Originally, the beginning portion plays as Sigma's head is being raised up and merges with the mech. On a similar note, the BGM used for the cutscene just before the battle with Wolf Sigma is a lower-toned remix of the Day of Sigma theme.

Continuity
Unlike Mega Man Powered Up, Maverick Hunter X is a reboot to the X series that has many changes to the story that completely disconnect it to the original timeline. It was the intention of Keiji Inafune to completely redo the first six games of the Mega Man X series, but this project was discontinued due to poor sales of Maverick Hunter X.

These are some examples of the continuity with the rest of the series being ignored:


 * Dr. Cain discovered X many years ago (as opposed to months), and is artificially extending his life via mechanical support to oversee the Reploids. He also fears he does not have long to live. Towards the end of The Day of Sigma, a missile also destroys his home in Abel City - with him inside it (although it is left ambiguous as to whether Cain had actually died or not).
 * Vile's story, barring his flashback to Sigma's release of him from his cell, is merely considered a "what-if" scenario, as it conflicts with X's game. However, the line by Sigma to "retrieve Vile" seems to foreshadow his remodel in Mega Man X3.
 * Dr. Light's reasons for sealing X are completely different from the version previously established. In the original storyline, Dr. Light sealed X in a special capsule that would basically test his moral integrity, because it would be necessary to determine whether X would ultimately make the right decisions when he entered the world. However, in Maverick Hunter X, Dr. Light is already confident with X's moral integrity, but seals him up because he believes mankind is not ready for him just yet.
 * Sigma's personality is depicted quite differently than in other games. Here, he is obsessed with the evolution of Reploids (which somewhat reflects his attitude in Mega Man X8), and is fascinated with X's potential rather than truly wishing to overcome the humans. He even directly states to Vile he plans to go Maverick to test X's abilities and bring out his true power, and instructs Vile to help him incite rebellion to help achieve this. As such, he also seemed to have gone Maverick of his own free will, although his statement when releasing Vile that he "needed someone who could go Maverick of [his] own accord" in the opening to Vile Mode implies that this might not necessarily be the case.
 * As the game contains new designs, the visual from Mega Man X characters that appeared in later games is different. Of note, the iOS port of Mega Man X used artwork from Maverick Hunter X, creating design inconsistencies between the mugshots and sprites.

Gallery
For this subject's image gallery, see Mega Man Maverick Hunter X/Gallery

Trivia

 * Before the game's release, Capcom made a promotion in Japan where five winners received a script of the game signed by five of its voice actors.
 * The game's engine has been repurposed and used for Rockman X DiVE.
 * The Japanese version contains a unique vocal track played during the start up intro. The North American version instead plays a standard original theme and has the voice actor for X announce "CAPCOM".