Mega Man X6



Mega Man X6, known as Rockman X6 in Japan, is the sixth game in the Mega Man X series and was the final title in the series to be released on the 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.

Series creator Keiji Inafune originally intended for the series to end with Mega Man X5. As such, it 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. Thus, Mega Man X6 is the first Mega Man game not to be directed by Inafune. 

Release Dates
PlayStation:
 * Japan: November 29, 2001
 * North America: December 4, 2001
 * Europe: February 8, 2002

PC:
 * South Korea: 2003

"Mega Man X Collection," GameCube and PlayStation 2:
 * Worldwide: January 10, 2006

Story
Three weeks after the crash of the Eurasia colony in Mega Man X5, the Earth's surface is badly damaged and the Sigma Virus is rampant. As such, humans have been forced to live underground and Reploids have been sent to the surface to attempt to make it liveable once again, with the Maverick Hunters, under the command of Signas, cleaning up the world of Maverick resistance. Gate, a Reploid scientist who was once a former colleague of Alia, stumbles upon the crash site of Eurasia, finding something unusual. A week after that, a strange set of Maverick outbreaks occurs, and when X is called to investigate, 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 a announcement saying that the ghost of Zero, Zero Nightmare, is behind the new Nightmare phenomena, and he sends eight Reploids to investigate suspected to be infected by the Nightmare to discover the mystery surrounding it and delete Zero, with High Max leading the mission. X goes off to the suspected areas to investigate and defeat the Mavericks, discovering Gate was behind the Nightmare and outraging him, making Gate challenge X to a duel, thus allowing the Hunters access to his hidden laboratory.

Before going to the lab, X defeats the Zero Nightmare and finds Zero, who was believed to have been destroyed after the last encounter with Sigma. Signas is reluctant due to the Nightmare Incident, but Zero is allowed to come back onboard. X and Zero go to Gate's lab, and High Max, the "indestructible Reploid," is ultimately destroyed while Isoc is "erased" (Alia comments that it is reminiscent of the "Erasure Incident" prior to the Repliforce's revolt). X and Zero manage to defeat Gate himself, and upon his defeat, Gate reveals the truth: at the wreckage of the colony, he discovered the "DNA" of Zero, and thus he used it to create the Zero Nightmare. This, however, was not the end of it. He also found the badly damaged body of Sigma, and he had been slowly reconstructing him ever since the combination of the pure "DNA" of Zero and the presence of Sigma (both of which had the pure original virus of Dr. Wily) made him go Maverick. X and Zero rush of to the location of 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 from the wreckage of his lab. Alia and Gate manage to reconcile their past before Gate succumbs to his terminal wounds, but the threat was averted.

Bosses
Eight Nightmare Investigators:
 * Commander Yammark
 * Rainy Turtloid
 * Shield Sheldon
 * Blizzard Wolfang
 * Blaze Heatnix
 * Infinity Mijinion
 * Metal Shark Player
 * Ground Scaravich

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 - Manuverability and Z-Saber-based armor.
 * Shadow Armor - Defense and stealth-based armor.
 * Ultimate Armor - Accessible through a code.

Zero's Armors:
 * Red Armor - Zero begins the game with this armor.
 * Zero Armor - Accessible through a code.

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 is also in a similar situation, although it's only because X and Zero are playable separately.
 * This is one of the few games that doesn't feature Sigma as the main villain, a first in the 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 the game is supposedly the true ending of the Mega Man X series (however, the ending was originally planned to be one game earlier). It was never officially stated when this ending takes place, allowing three sequels (Mega Man X7, Mega Man X8 and Mega Man X: Command Mission) to be made so far.
 * This is the first game in the X series where most of the eight Maverick's names were not differentiated from the Japanese release for the US release.
 * The Reploids that are able to be rescued in Blizzard Wolfang's stage share the same names of characters from other Capcom franchises such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Devil May Cry. (Ryu, Ken, Leon, Dante, etc.)
 * This and X3 are the only X series games in which the heroes (X and Zero) can use both a Buster and Saber.
 * Oddly, the intro says that the events of Mega Man X6 took place three weeks after the events of Mega Man X5, whereas in X5, the ending stated that it took place three years later. It's simple to assume that the events of Mega Man X5 took place in a possible future time.