Mega Man Xtreme

Mega Man Xtreme, known as Rockman X: Cyber Mission (ロックマンＸ サイバーミッション) in Japan, is a spin-off title in the Mega Man X game series, developed by Capcom for the Game Boy Color. Mega Man Xtreme is said to chronologically take place in between Mega Man X2 and Mega Man X3, although gameplay-wise it is mostly a remix of the first two games. The game was followed by one direct sequel, Mega Man Xtreme 2, also for the Game Boy Color. The graphics and music are downgraded to 8-bit quality, due to the Game Boy Color's limits. The game and its sequel have been praised for giving gamers a glimpse at what the Mega Man X series would have been like on the NES. This game is currently available for download on the 3DS Nintendo eShop.

Gameplay
The game features similar gameplay as its predecessors. An action-platformer, players attempt a series of stages, collect various power-ups, and defeat the boss of each stage, assimilating its signature weapon. Mega Man Xtreme also features stages, enemies, and bosses from both Mega Man X and Mega Man X2.

Story
It is the year 21XX, where humans and Reploids coexist. Peace returned to the world thanks to the efforts of the Maverick Hunters. But one day, the Mother Computer of "Hunter Base", the Maverick Hunters' headquarters, has been hacked by an unknown source. All of its data was overwritten in an instant, and the resulting fake data has sent the whole world spiraling into chaos. The command center sends X out to face the as-yet unidentified enemy, who has resurrected Maverick data from the past.

Main Characters

 * Mega Man X
 * Zero
 * Middy
 * Techno

Bosses
Opening Stage:
 * Vile

Stage Select Screen bosses:

Normal Mode:

Hard Mode:

Extreme Mode: Contains all eight Maverick bosses.

Sigma Stages:

Development
As a last minute decision by Capcom, the Japanese version of the game made its initial, inconspicuous debut as a playable demo at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May of 2000. The game was later shown again at the Tokyo Game Show the following fall.

Haruki Suetsugu was the sole artist responsible for the game's character designs and cover art. The entirety of the game's cover illustration was done in Painter, forgoing the usual cell painted look of central figures, as Suetsugu wanted to give the whole image "a sense of summary as well as luxury." His only regret regarding the piece was that he didn't use crisper colors. The twins Middy and Techno were designed so that if one's helmet was turned 90 degrees, its shape would mirror the other's. Additionally, Middy was illustrated with soft, round lines, and Techno was given sharper, pointed angles, to better reflect their personalities. Going by his instructions to make "armor" characters, Suetsugu designed Zain and Geemel in contrast to one another by giving them heavy and light armor plating, respectively. Initially, he felt their illustrations would be too complex for the Game Boy Color's graphical capabilities, but he was greatly impressed with the outcome, praising the skills of the game's graphics designers.

Trivia

 * Erroneously, Vile was referred to as his Japanese name, "VAVA" in the North American version. This error was not corrected in the Virtual Console re-release.
 * Like Mega Man V before it, Mega Man Xtreme was originally going to have Super Game Boy functionality, but the feature was scrapped for unknown reasons.