Mega Man X6

Mega Man X6, known as Rockman X6 (ロックマンX6) in Japan, is the sixth game in the Mega Man X series and the final title in the series to be released for the Sony PlayStation. Both Mega Man X5 and Mega Man X6 were released after the launch of the PlayStation 2, so after the development and release of Mega Man X6, Capcom made the transition to the PlayStation 2. Mega Man X6 was developed and released on the original PlayStation mainly to reach out to a broader audience. The game was later re-released as part of the Mega Man X Collection, and it was released on the PlayStation Network as part of the PSOne classics in Japan on July 8, 2015. It was then re-released on Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 on July 24, 2018 in North America and Europe, and was released two days later in Japan.

Series artist and producer Keiji Inafune was not involved in the game's production, as he had originally intended for the series to end with Zero's death in Mega Man X5. As such, X6 caused a change of plans in the Mega Man X series, since it was originally intended to have Zero resurrected in the Mega Man Zero series.

Story
(Note: X6 story follows X5 canon: Though Eurasia is 86% destroyed, some of its remains still crash on Earth. Zero is severely damaged (near destroyed) while battling Sigma as seen in X5. He disappears & his Z-Saber is kept by X in honor for his fallen friend.)

Three weeks after the crash of the Eurasia colony in Mega Man X5, the Earth's surface is badly damaged, and humans have been forced to live underground to survive from the pollution. Reploids have been sent to the surface to attempt to make it livable once again. There were no trace of Mavericks for some days, and the Maverick Hunters help clean up the world. Gate, a Reploid scientist who was once a colleague of Alia, stumbles upon the crash site of Eurasia, finding something unusual. After that, Gate became mad and a strange set of Maverick outbreaks occur, and when X is called to stop a giant Mechaniloid, he sees a purple-like figure that resembles Zero. Around the same time, a powerful Reploid named High Max appears and claims to be investigating the Zero Nightmare, and they fight. High Max, however, proves to be too strong and X cannot damage him with his X-Buster.

A Reploid scientist named Isoc makes an announcement saying that the ghost of Zero, Zero Nightmare, is behind the new Nightmare Phenomena. He sends eight Reploids to investigate areas with high jamming suspected to be infected by the Nightmare to discover the mystery surrounding it and delete Zero's ghost, with High Max leading the mission. Isoc also ask for volunteers to help them. X goes off to the suspected areas to investigate the Nightmare, defeat the Mavericks, and rescue the Reploids that volunteered to help.

During his mission, X fights against the Zero Nightmare and finds the real Zero, who was believed to have been destroyed after the last encounter with Sigma. Signas is reluctant to ask Zero's help as he had just returned, but due to the crisis, Zero helps X in the mission.

After defeating the Mavericks, the Maverick Hunters discover Gate was behind the Nightmare Virus. Gate is impressed with the abilities of X and Zero, and challenges the Hunters to a duel, revealing to them the location of his hidden laboratory. In his laboratory, Gate also reveals he was able to create the Nightmare and High Max by analyzing Zero's DNA, which he found in Eurasia's crash site. X and Zero defeat High Max and Gate; Isoc was later found unconscious in a similar way to the Erasure Incident (mentioned by Alia when playing as X). Upon Gate's defeat, Gate reveals he had revived Sigma. Sigma states that he didn't need his help to be revived, attacks Gate and retreats. X and Zero rush to stop the partially-reconstructed Sigma and battle him, and although he was not fully complete, he puts up a good fight. In the end, the Hunters prove victorious, defeating Sigma and removing Gate's body from the wreckage of his lab to attempt to repair him.

Gameplay
Mega Man X6 is identical to its predecessor in terms of general gameplay, traversing through dangerous terrain while defeating a legion of enemies throughout the way. Unlike the previous two games, the player starts out the game as X. However, X has changed considerably. While he starts out with the Falcon Armor, most of its special abilities have been lost, but for a trade in, he can use Zero's Z-Saber as an alternate weapon, although he wields it with less skill and thus can only use single swings. Some areas contain a portal which X can go through. Should he enter one, he will enter an extra area which will lead to a battle with a boss version of Zero known as the Zero Nightmare. Winning this battle will reveal the real Zero and unlock him as a playable character. While he has not changed much, his Z-Saber has a somewhat longer reach and its appearance has changed into a straight sword. His Z-Buster also fires faster but can only be fired on the ground as usual. This is also the first game in the series that Zero can double-jump without having gained a special technique first.

X can gain more than two armors as usual though they must be assembled before they can be utilized: The Blade Armor, which enhances X's melee potential with the Z-Saber and the Shadow Armor which ups his maneuverability and grants him immunity to spikes.

In each stage except the last one exists the Nightmare Phenomenon, strange helix-based enemies that, although weak, can prove troublesome. Though they have no sufficient means of attack, they will often attempt to infect Rescuable Reploids (who the player must save in order to obtain bonuses and upgrades) and turn them into enemies. Defeating a Nightmare will yield a Nightmare Soul which can be used to upgrade how many parts can be equipped to a character. A Soul must be retrieved quickly before the Nightmare revives itself where it will not yield it a second time.

Bosses
Eight Mavericks:

Others:
 * D-1000
 * Zero Nightmare
 * Dynamo
 * Nightmare Mother
 * High Max
 * Gate
 * Sigma

Armor
X's Armors:
 * Falcon Armor - X begins the game with this armor.
 * Blade Armor - Maneuverability and Z-Saber-based armor.
 * Shadow Armor - Defense and stealth-based armor.
 * Ultimate Armor - Accessible through a code.

Zero's Armors:
 * Black Zero - Accessible through a code.

Reception
According to the Japanese magazine Famitsu, Mega Man X6 was the seventh best-selling game in Japan during its week of release at 39,318 units sold. Dengeki Online reported that Mega Man X6 sold a total of 106,980 units in Japan by the end of 2001, marking it as the 109th best-selling game of the year in the region. The game eventually saw a re-release as part of the PlayStation the Best range of budget titles.

Outside Japan, Mega Man X6 received mixed to positive reviews, with an average score of 68.74% on GameRankings. GameSpot gave the game a 7 out of 10, saying that the game is "a disappointing effort. The nightmare system and item collecting add variety and longevity to the game, but... The graphics aren't really even up to the standards set by older games in the series, and while the music is good, there aren't any tracks that particularly stand out. Despite these shortcomings, it's still Mega Man, and the gameplay is still entertaining, making X6 an attractive package for hard-core Mega Man fans." IGN gave a more positive review, an 8 out 10, stating "It's an all-new Mega Man game, yet it's still pretty much the same. There's nothing wrong with that"; they praised the soundtrack and replay value.

Among the most negative reviews, Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 3.5 out of 10, saying "I thought I’d sooner see Sasquatch ride a Chimera bareback through the streets than a bland series like Mega Man X last through six installments." 1UP.com referred to Mega Man X6 as "sloppy" citing multiple issues within its design such as unpolished and cheap gameplay, repetitive stage elements, and high difficulty.

Gallery

 * For this subject's image gallery, see Mega Man X6/Gallery

Trivia

 * In gameplay, Mega Man X6 is the only game where it is impossible to acquire both the Ultimate Armor and Zero's black armor in one playthrough (or save file) without using external cheats. X4 also shares a similar situation, although it's only because X and Zero are playable separately.
 * Zero's sprite set was redesigned for Mega Man X6. Although his gameplay is mostly identical to X4 and X5, his Z-Saber no longer has an arcing curve, appearing more straight during gameplay. His saber swipes move in a new pattern, and his idle pose changes his hand positions. His Z-Buster has also been improved from the previous title. Although Zero can still only fire mid-charged shots with limited range while stationary, it can now be fired in quick succession with the charge-up time reduced to near-instantaneously.
 * Nightmare Zero however still uses Zero's old sprite set from Mega Man X5, although recolored purple.


 * This is one of the few games that doesn't feature Sigma as the main villain, a first in the Mega Man X series. That honor goes to Gate, though Sigma was still included as the final boss.


 * This is the first game in which the Reploids in the game could be corrupted, collected, or be missing. It was also the first to mention they could give X and Zero upgrades.


 * Zero's ending in Mega Man X6 is not actually an ending of Mega Man X6; instead, it is supposedly the true ending of the entire Mega Man X series, serving as a replacement of sorts for Keiji Inafune's intended conclusion from Mega Man X5. It was never officially stated when the ending takes place, allowing two sequels (Mega Man X7 and Mega Man X8) to be made so far.


 * This is the first game in the Mega Man X series where most of the eight Maverick's names were not differentiated from the Japanese release for the US release.


 * The rescuable Reploids in Blizzard Wolfang's stage share the names of characters from other Capcom franchises, such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Devil May Cry (Ryu, Ken, Leon, Dante, etc.).


 * This and Mega Man X3 are the only X series games in which X and Zero can use both a Buster and Saber.


 * Due to a continuity error, the game's intro states that the events of Mega Man X6 took place three weeks after the events of Mega Man X5, whereas in X's ending of Mega Man X5 (if Zero does not become Maverick), it is stated that it took place three years later. Although it may represent that X's ending on X5 took place after the events of X6, thus following the ending in which X does not find Zero.


 * This game is known to have a somewhat low-quality translation. One example is Alia saying that "A high jump part will be help." at the beginning of Blizzard Wolfang's stage. A re-translation was planned for the Mega Man X Collection, but the changes were dropped. The lack of translation quality, copyright issues of Japanese songs used in the game, and other reasons also prevent the English versions from being released on PlayStation Network.


 * Interestingly, the area where the game's ending takes place seems to be similar to the area Zero was discovered if the player defeated the Zero Nightmare.


 * Oddly, this game has the most themes for the bosses in Gate's Laboratory stages.


 * Sigma is the only boss in the game to have a Sigma/Maverick insignia on his life bar.
 * If one defeats High Max in the Nightmare Area (easily done with X's Ultimate Armor), the way to Gate's Laboratory will open. This means one can effectively reach the end of the game without fighting a single Maverick Boss.
 * This game and Mega Man X5 are the only games in the entire series which do not fully require the player to defeat all of the eight Mavericks to unlock the final stages.
 * If one looks very carefully at the opening cinema of this game, one will see a detailed script between Sigma and Dynamo before the opening scene of Mega Man X5, describing Sigma's observation of the Colony to Dynamo, to the battle between X and Zero, and the aftermath of the Earth Crisis.


 * Like in Mega Man X2, there seems to be a translation error where X discovered Zero. In the English version, Zero claims that he "hid himself while trying to repair himself", whereas, in the original Japanese version, he said no such thing, but compared his survival to X's, possibly implying that he was repaired by either the same person who repaired X or even his own creator.


 * From this game to Mega Man X8, Zero has a rolling double-jump present by default.


 * In the original release, and the Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 release, the cutscenes had the original Japanese voice actors. This was dropped from the Mega Man X Collection release.
 * Although the original American release retains the Japanese opening and ending vocal themes, they have been removed in the Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 revision, with new-recorded instrumental tracks replacing them (possibly due to copyright concerns of Japanese songs), with the exception of playing the English version of the game in the Japanese release.
 * Incidentally, the Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 re-release uses the original Japanese version of the opening stage theme, rather than the slightly altered international version. It is unknown whether or not this was an oversight or if it was intentional.


 * This is one of the few games in the Mega Man X series that does not change the background music of the Stage Select screen once the final stages become accessible, the other ones being the spin-offs Mega Man Xtreme and its sequel, thus also making Mega Man X6 the only main game of the series to not have this feature.
 * It is entirely possible to have both X's Ultimate Armor and Black Armor Zero in the same save file. However, only the Ultimate Armor can be unlocked via cheat code, and to get the other requires the player to defeat the Zero Nightmare with 5,000 souls who will be at LV4. But because the cutscene with Alia about the Nightmare Virus activates with 3,000 souls triggers the final stages to be unlocked and that the Zero Nightmare disappears upon doing so, it is impossible to get Zero's Black Armor without using a cheating device first.
 * The soul requirement was actually 5,000 in the 9/28/2001 prototype build; Capcom changed this after the prototype build, probably because it would take too much time to collect 5,000 souls. Also in the 9/28/2001 prototype build, Zero Nightmare/High Max can still be fought even if the final stage is unlocked via the collection of 3000 souls.


 * Sting Chameleon, Magna Centipede, Blast Hornet and Storm Eagle make a cameo appearance in this game, the former three being summoned during battle by Metal Shark Player, the latter in one of X's Special Weapons, the Metal Anchor.