Mega Man X (video game)

Mega Man X (Rockman X in Japan) is the first game of the Mega Man X series and was released from 1993-95. It was the first spin-off of the classic Mega Man series and made its debut on the Super Famicom/SNES, although it was ported to the PC in 1995. The game takes place in the early-22nd century (21XX time period), one-hundred years after the conclusion of the classic series. Although Keiji Inafune and the series creators had originally planned for the series to star Zero, they shortly thereafter made the decision for the game to star Mega Man X (the hero of this game).



Release Dates
Super Famicom/SNES:
 * Japan: December 17, 1993
 * North America: January 19, 1994
 * Europe: March 15, 1994

PC:
 * North America and Europe: January 1, 1995

"Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X," PlayStation Portable:
 * Japan: December 15, 2005
 * North America: January 31, 2006
 * Europe: March 3, 2006

"Mega Man X Collection," GameCube and PlayStation 2:
 * Worldwide: January 11, 2006

Mobile phone:
 * Japan: 2007

Story
It is 21XX. Dr. Cain, a human scientist, has uncovered a robot from the past-Mega Man X, along with a warning message from Dr. Light, his creator.

WARNING:

''"X" IS THE FIRST OF A NEW GENERATION OF ROBOTS WHICH CONTAIN AN INNOVATIVE NEW FEATURE - THE ABILITY TO THINK, FEEL AND MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. HOWEVER THIS ABILITY COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS. IF "X" WERE TO BREAK THE FIRST RULE OF ROBOTICS, "A ROBOT MUST NEVER HARM A HUMAN BEING", THE RESULTS WOULD BE DISASTROUS AND I FEAR THAT NO FORCE ON EARTH COULD STOP HIM.''

''APPROXIMATELY 30 YEARS WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE WE CAN SAFELY CONFIRM HIS RELIABILITY. UNFORTUNATELY I WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT DAY, NOR DO I HAVE ANYONE TO CARRY ON MY WORK. THEREFORE, I HAVE DECIDED TO SEAL HIM IN THIS CAPSULE, WHICH WILL TEST HIS INTERNAL SYSTEMS UNTIL HIS RELIABILITY HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE CAPSULE UNTIL THAT TIME.''

''"X" POSSESSES GREAT RISKS AS WELL AS GREAT POSSIBILITIES. I CAN ONLY HOPE FOR THE BEST.''


 * SEPTEMBER 18, 20XX
 * T.LIGHT

X's design interested Cain so much he started making similar robots, called Reploids. Not after long, Sigma, Dr. Cain's Reploid general, betrays the Reploids and goes Maverick (the state of insanity for robots). Along with 8 other Mavericks, Sigma sets out on a Dr. Wily esque quest. Now, X and his friend Zero are the only ones who can stop him.

In-Depth Story
In order to understand the the story of Mega Man X, one must look at the series of events that leads into the twenty-second century and the events that lead up to the beginning of the "Reploid Wars." The following is a brief time-line of the events that lead to and include the story of Mega Man X:


 * September 18, 2016 : Dr. Light completes the capsule of Mega Man X, realizing that his work on X would not be completed within his lifetime (he was nearing 60 years of age). Light knew that X was a "new breed" of robot which possessed the ability to make his own decisions, and this ability brought with it serious implications.  X could be both a blessing and a danger- he did not have to follow Asimov's "laws of robotics." Thus, during his construction of X, when X asked him why he called him X, he answered that "X is a variable of unlimited potential."


 * ca. 2040 : Dr. Thomas Light and Albert W. Wily die, most likely of "old age" (they would have been 82 years old).


 * ca. 2050 : Dr. Cain is born (the exact date of his birth is unknown, but he appears to be in his late-60s to early-70s by the events of Mega Man X and Mega Man X2).


 * 2078 : Dr. Cain receives his PhD in Archaeology.


 * April 8, 2116 : Dr. Cain's archaeological team searches for fossil records relating to mesozoic plant life, but is unsuccessful. Thus, he decides to change locations.  According to his journal:  "Still nothing.  Tomorrow I'll move my dig to a new site and maybe have better luck."


 * April 9, 2116 : Cain's team finds something: "I got some odd readings...It looks like something metallic is buried below the surface." (From the Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 10, 2116 : "I can't believe what I've found! The lab that belonged to the famous robot designer, Dr. Thomas Light." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 13, 2116 : "I found it! There's a warning on the capsule, but it should be safe to open..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 14, 2116 : "I met "X." Light gave him the ability to think and make his own decisions..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain)


 * April 15, 2116 : "Light was a genius! I may be able to replicate his design..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * November 22, 2116 : "With X's help I have completed my first "reploid." His strength and intelligence seem limitless."  (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain") A Reploid is what Dr. Cain calls a "replication" of Dr. Light's work.  The Reploid that he is referring to having created here is Sigma.


 * January 3, 2117 : "The new reploids have been running off the assembly line for several weeks..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * February 16, 2118 : "Three reploids went "maverick" today and injured two people...Council has decided to set up a group of "Hunters" to destroy any maverick before it can cause injury. The reploid Sigma has been assigned to lead.  Sigma contains my latest circuit designs.  His systems should be immune to problems..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * May 16, 2118 : "Sigma and his Hunters have been able to prevent further injury. Everyone is starting to breathe easier.  I'm worried about X.  He seems unsure of his place in life.  Given time, I'm sure he'll find his way..." (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * 2118 : The Maverick Hunters discover the ruins of another laboratory dating to the 21st century. Inside, they discover a capsule that contains a robot, and upon opening it, the robot goes "maverick," taking out several members of the team.  Sigma is called to see if he can neutralize the maverick and, after an intense battle, he takes him down.  The only way for Sigma to defeat the maverick is to destroy a crystal on his forehead, and upon doing so, it releases a vapor into the air.  At the moment, no one thinks anything of it, but later, this seems to be the origin of the Sigma Virus (which is later renamed the Zero Virus after its true origin).  Dr. Cain repaired the robot when he was taken back to the Hunter HQ.  The robot turned out to be Zero and, although it wasn't known at the time, he was the creation of Dr. Wily (who Bass and Treble was a prototype for).  Zero soon became a member of the Hunter team.


 * June 4, 2119 : "My worst nightmare...Sigma went maverick! X wants to join Zero, the new leader of the Maverick Hunters, and go after Sigma.  I'm doubtful, but I won't stop him.  Something has to be done!"  (From the "Journal of Dr. Cain")


 * (The Day of Sigma) Sigma went "maverick," most likely because of his exposure to the Zero Virus, but possibly due to some faulty system design, and being the leader of the Hunters, he took a large portion of them with him. Then, believing that Reploids were destined to be the masters of the Earth, he launched a large-scale attack against Able City, where Hunter HQ was located, greatly damaging it with warheads.


 * (Mega Man X) Although X was by nature a pacifist, he had to do something, so he set out to stop the ambitions of Sigma and the maverick Hunters. Fortunately, he found capsules that contained the artificial intelligence of Dr. Light that explained X's purpose and, at the same time, provided system upgrades for him.  X managed to defeat the rogue Hunters and, along with Zero, find the secret base of Sigma.  In their battle with Vile, one of the powerful ex-Hunters, Zero sacrificed himself to destroy Vile's ride armor, but provided X with a stronger "buster."  In the end, X managed to destroy Sigma and bring the unrest to an end...

Note: The dates from the Journal of Dr. Cain are given simply as Month and Day. The years in the game and manual are stated simply as "21XX." However, the time-line of events has been figured out to take place in the 2110s, most likely shortly after 2114 (the last copyright date on the computer that Dr. Cain is using when documenting his research on Mega Man X- in the game's introduction the computer boots up and it can clearly be seen to be copyright 2105, 2109, 2114 by NOM Computers).

Maverick bosses
Eight bosses:
 * Armored Armadillo
 * Boomer Kuwanger
 * Chill Penguin
 * Flame Mammoth
 * Launch Octopus
 * Spark Mandrill
 * Sting Chameleon
 * Storm Eagle

Other bosses:
 * Vile
 * Bospider
 * Rangda Bangda
 * D-Rex
 * Velguarder
 * Sigma

Armor
X can find Armor Capsules throughout the stages of the game. They were hidden by Dr. Light to help X fight the Mavericks, should the case ever arise. They are usually hidden, but the Leg Capsule, which is required to nab the rest of the capsules, is in plain sight (and is impossible to avoid receiving).

Helmet Part, in Storm Eagle's stage: Dash-jump off of the bottom of a tower to find a corridor filled with DR tubes. Destroy them to find the Helmet Capsule.
 * Allows X to break certain blocks with his head.

Body Part, in Sting Chameleon's stage: Dash-jump onto the ceiling of the cave from the left. Climb up the wall and defeat the mini-boss, RT-55J, to reveal the Body Capsule.
 * Halves the damage X takes.

Arm Part, in Flame Mammoth's stage: Right before a very large room with flaming geysers that destroy platforms, dash-jump to the left to find several blocks that can be broken if X has the Helmet Part. This jump takes practice. Climb the wall to find the Arm Capsule. Alternately, defeat Vile in Sigma's Fortress to recieve the Arm Part.
 * Allows X to charge his X-Buster to the next level, as well as to charge special weapons.

Leg Part, in Chill Penguin's stage: In the middle of the stage, in the cavelike area. You can't miss it.
 * Allows X to dash along the ground and break some blocks by jumping off them. The dash feature remains a part of X's arsenal for the entire series.

Enemy Guide
List of Mega Man X enemies

Walkthrough
Click here to see a step-by-step walkthrough for the game.

Secrets

 * Hadouken Fireball

Trivia

 * The first boss (Vile in his Ride Armor) is the most miniscule intro stage boss in the series. Other intro stage bosses are often huge, taking up half the screen in many cases.