Mega Man X7

Mega Man X7, known as Rockman X7 (ロックマンＸ7) in Japan, is the seventh game in the Mega Man X series, and the first on the PlayStation 2. The game brought a return to FMV sequences and introduced the X series to 3D graphics. It got some backlash from some fans and critics since it mostly deviated from the traditional sidescroller flow of previous Mega Man titles.

This game also debuts a new Mega Man X character, Axl.

Story
After the Eurasia and Nightmare incidents that left the Earth's surface devastated, Reploids have worked diligently to clean up the world and make it habitable for humans once again, and is slowly recovering. However, Maverick crime is on a rise. The Maverick Hunters had weakened when X retired from the front lines to assume a support role and achieve more peaceful solutions. To take care of the rising crime, the group of vigilantes Red Alert was created under the command of Red. Initially they only fought against Mavericks, but one day the group changed and began acting strange. One of their key members, Axl, noticed he was being used and goes AWOL. Red sends a giant Mechaniloid to take him back, but it is stopped with the help of Zero and Axl is taken to the Maverick Hunters headquarters. Red contacts them and issues a challenge - he released some of the Mavericks Red Alert has in custody to various locations around the globe, challenging them to see who can defeat more with Axl as the prize. In the end, it is revealed that Sigma is behind the change of Red Alert, having been drawn to Red Alert after realizing Axl's power. Once again, the Hunters face Sigma and he is defeated. Later, Axl attempts to officially join the Maverick Hunters, even with X's disapproval.

Overview
Although Mega Man X7 shares basic gameplay elements with previous games in the series, it also has many differences. One notable feature is that this is the first and only game in the series to have 3D gameplay in addition to the standard sidescroller style. Also unlike previous titles, X is not initially playable — Zero and Axl are the starting characters. To unlock X, the player must either defeat the eight Mavericks or rescue 64 Reploids. After completing the game and starting a new game from an old save file, X will be available after the opening stage. This is also currently the only X series title where X's buster can be fired directionally.

Both X and Axl gain the same Special Weapons when a boss is defeated, with Axl able to use his version without energy consumption. Axl also gains three new guns, Double Bullet, G-Launcher, and Ray Gun, which must be equipped to use their related special weapon.

X has been reduced to one special armor when compared to X5 or X6, and like X-X4 automatically equips the parts when he receives them. However once all the parts for the newest armor, the Glide Armor are gathered, then the player can choose to play as X when forming their two-man team, either with or without the Glide Armor equipped. Also unlike the previous games, X can freely use his air dash without having to get the leg enhancement first.

Zero's Z-Saber can deflect enemy shots and he can to double-jump without having gained a special technique. Like Axl, Zero gains other close-range weapons when he defeats certain bosses, the V Hanger and D Glaive, but Zero is only limited to the special technique associated with that special weapon while he has it equipped and must revert back to the Z-Saber to use his other special techniques.

Copy Shot/A-Trans
Axl has an innate special ability called Copy Shot. If certain types of enemies are destroyed with this ability, they'll leave an item (DNA core) upon their destruction. If the item is picked up, Axl will transform into a copy of that enemy using A-Trans if they were the same size as him, gaining its' appearance and abilities. Other enemies grant Axl special attacks or a temporary boost in abilities.

Power-up Parts
Each individual Hunter has their own unique power-up parts that can be earned from rescuing Reploids. Whenever a Reploid is rescued that holds power-up data, Alia will give the player a chance to equip that data to one of the available characters after completing the stage. Power-ups change their effect depending on who it is assigned to, and what attribute it is assign to (Speed, Power, or Special). Once a power-up is assigned to a character it cannot be deactivated, nor changed from one playable character to another. If a new game is started from an old save file after completing the previous game, the assigned power-up parts from the previous game will remain with their characters and it is possible to add more power-up parts to them until all of their power-up parts are maxed out.

Development
Mega Man X7 was developed by a team of about 30 people, led by producers Tatsuya Minami and Tatsuya Kitabayashi of Capcom Production Studio 3. This was the first game in the Mega Man series that Kitabayashi worked on, as well as the first game he produced. He explained that when transitioning the characters of Mega Man X from 2D to 3D graphics, it was very difficult to get the right style and character design. However, the decision to include both sidescrolling and 3D gameplay was planned from the very beginning, as they knew that they wanted to have equal amounts of both in the game. The team took into account the poor reception of previous Mega Man titles, especially Mega Man X6, however this wasn't a deciding factor in the decisions made for X7. They wanted to make a better, newer, and fresher Mega Man X game, and they wanted it in 3D. Kitabayashi stressed that their effort went into making a 3D Mega Man X that worked, not trying to correct or dodge past mistakes. Minami also stated that with the inclusion of so many characters, the game was planned to feature multiplayer for up to two players. However, this feature is absent from the final version of the game for unknown reasons.

Kitabayashi expressed his reasons for including Axl in the game: he felt that by making him a key plot element, they achieved a deeper, better story. He also believes that introducing such a non-traditional character to the series will also help steer it in a new direction. "He's young, he's running away. He's like the new younger character of the group, and that's why I wanted to put him in there," Kitabayashi explained. Mega Man series artist and Capcom producer Keiji Inafune had little involvement in the X7 development, only lending advise on designing Axl. Inafune explained that over the years he has learned that when drawing robot characters it is easy for them to fall into similar shapes. He continues stating that he was very careful while designing X and Zero to make sure they had unique silhouettes and he wanted Axl to have the same.

Illustrator Tatsuya Yoshikawa joined the project while it was already well underway and was responsible for designing central characters, supervising the modeling, and drawing the final package illustration. Since the project was already in progress, he decided to lead the art design in a direction that took after Suetsugu's from X6. Yoshikawa expressed that he is a big fan of the X series and had many ideas when joining the project. Since the series was going into 3D, he wanted to re-examine the overall concept and was hoping the team would also be willing to do so. However, the project continued on without giving this any consideration. Inafune weighed in on this stating that his personal opinion is that 3D is simply a graphical style and that doesn't mean that the gameplay itself must be in the 3rd-dimension.

The music was composed by nine individuals. A 46-song soundtrack was released by Suleputer in Japan on October 1, 2003. The game's opening theme, "CODE CRUSH", was performed by Rina Aiuchi. The ending theme, "Lazy Mind", was performed by Showtaro Morikubo, the Japanese voice actor for Mega Man X. A CD single for each of the songs was released in Japan on July 20, 2003 and August 6, 2003 respectively.

Bosses
Eight Mavericks:
 * Soldier Stonekong
 * Tornado Tonion
 * Splash Warfly
 * Flame Hyenard
 * Ride Boarski
 * Snipe Anteator
 * Wind Crowrang
 * Vanishing Gungaroo

Others:
 * Mega Scorpio
 * Mole Bore
 * Red
 * Sigma

Armor
Mega Man X7 returns to the style of armor collecting first featured in the original Mega Man X. Rather than being forced to collect all four pieces of an armor before it can be used, as in Mega Man X5 and Mega Man X6, each piece of the game's armor, the Glide Armor, is received upon collection and upgrades one of X's functions. Upon completion, the character team select menu will give the player the option of choosing between the Glide Armor X and normal X. Absent from this game are the common secret armors: Ultimate Armor and Black Zero.

Rockman X7 Trial Edition
Trial Edition is a demo of Rockman X7 for the PlayStation 2 that was distributed to select retailers in Japan for demonstration purposes a couple months before the game's release. The trial includes two playable stages: the intro stage (featuring Axl and Zero as playable characters) and Deep Forest (with Axl, Zero and X available).

The demo represents a near final build, but with some differences:
 * Axl's intro stage music, "Conflict", lacks one to two instruments
 * No voiced dialog
 * Unused player select portraits
 * Placeholder audio samples (grunts and exclamations) from Mega Man X5 and X6
 * The game cannot be paused.
 * The trial will cut to a video advertising X7's release and then back to the title screen if left idle for 5 minutes.
 * The Guard Door sub-boss in the warehouse portion of the intro stage is already disabled and open.
 * Cutscenes and Alia's introduction and stage explanations after completing the intro stage are absent.
 * Only Solider Stonekong's stage select portrait is visible, the other seven bosses are silhouetted. However, all stage names and preview images are present.
 * Solider Stonekong cannot be fought. The trial ends immediately after his dialogue cutscene with the player character.

Trivia

 * The back of the game's case shows X in the opening stage, which is impossible considering there are no Rescuable Reploids there and the player hasn't beaten any bosses. Even in New Game+, where X is playable from the start, the game still forces the player to use Axl and Zero for the intro stage.


 * Even though only two bosses are fought in a 2-D boss room, 3-D elements are still present (a circular stage when fighting Soldier Stonekong and Wind Crowrang flying into the background).


 * This is the first X title to not feature ladders or boss shutters. The boss shutters return in re-designed forms in its sequel, Mega Man X8.


 * The is the first game in the X series to feature the health bars of some bosses containing multiple layers. 1.25, 1.5 or 2, depending on the boss and difficulty level: Level 5 is 1.25 bars, level 6 is 1.5 bars, and level 8 is 2 whole bars (the only level 8 boss in the game is Sigma's second form on Hard difficulty).


 * All eight bosses feature an "R" symbol on their health bars, referring to Red Alert. This is the second X series game to use the letter "R" as a symbol of an organization, the first being Mega Man X4, where it stands for Repliforce.


 * This is the final game in the series that features Shoutaro Morikubo as the Japanese voice actor for the series' protagonist, X. This role has since been taken over by fellow veteran voice actor Takahiro Sakurai beginning with Mega Man X: Command Mission as well as in Mega Man X8 and the PSP remake of the first Mega Man X game, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, all released in the span of less than a year.


 * This is the only game in which the Ultimate Armor and Black Zero do not appear since their debut in Mega Man X4.


 * Although a major game in Mega Man X series, Axl is considered the main protagonist of the game's storyline, being the main focus of the game.