Mega Man X (video game)

Mega Man X, known as Rockman X (ロックマンＸ) in Japan, and often shortened to MMX or MMX1, 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, to the Android in 2011 and to the iOS devices in late 2011. It was also ported to Mega Man X Collection on January 10, 2006, then later re-released on Mega Man X Legacy Collection on July 24, 2018 in North America and Europe, and was released two days later in Japan. The game takes place in the early-22nd century (21XX time period), a century after the conclusion of the original series.

Story
It is the year 21XX. While trying to find a fossil record, Dr. Cain, a human scientist, has uncovered a capsule with a robot from the past: Mega Man X. The capsule contained 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, and he analyzed Dr. Light's notes. Months later, Cain was able to create robots similar to X, called Reploids, and they began to be mass-produced around the world. For unknown reasons, some Reploids began to act strange and attacked humans, being labeled Mavericks. To counter any possible threat, the Maverick Hunters were formed. Sigma, an advanced Reploid, was assigned to be their leader. X also became a member of the Maverick Hunters. Time passes and the Maverick Hunters are able to keep peace, but one day Sigma himself became a Maverick, being joined by other Maverick Hunters to start a war against humanity. Although X was by nature a pacifist, he had to do something, so he joined the new leader of the Maverick Hunters, Zero, to stop the ambitions of Sigma and the Mavericks.

Bosses
Intro Boss:  Eight Mavericks: Sigma Fortress 1:
 * Vile (in his Ride Armor)

Sigma Fortress 2: Sigma Fortress 3: Sigma Fortress Final Stage:
 * Vile
 * Boomer Kuwanger (rematch)
 * Bospider
 * Chill Penguin (rematch)
 * Storm Eagle (rematch)
 * Rangda Bangda
 * Armored Armadillo (rematch)
 * Sting Chameleon (rematch)
 * Spark Mandrill (rematch)
 * Launch Octopus (rematch)
 * Flame Mammoth (rematch)
 * 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, however using a password to obtain Chill Penguins's weapon can be used as a bypass).

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 receive 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 cave-like 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.

Other media
The storyline of Mega Man X was adapted into manga form by Shigeto Ikehara in Irregular Hunter Rockman X, and was adapted again by Iwamoto Yoshihiro and published by Kodansha's Comic Bom Bom (also called "Bom Bom Comics"). Unlike Shigeto Ikehara's adaptation, Iwamoto Yoshihiro's adaptation was much darker in comparison. And this would continue for the rest of the manga adaptations with themes such as death, blood, cursing, serious emotions, vaguely sexual overtones and religious symbolism.

Elements of the game made their way into the Mega Man series from Archie Comics prior to it going on indefinite hiatus. The backup story with Mega Man #34 and Mega Man #35, "The X Factor" was an adaptation of "The Journal of Dr. Cain" and seemed to be leading into the events of the game, and continuing in an original story entitled "Dawn of X" that further teased at an adaption of Mega Man X.

Rockman X The Novel: Irregulars Report was a retelling of the events of Mega Man X written by Todoroki Tsubasa and illustrated by Yoshihiro Iwamoto.

Wii Shop Description
''Hundreds of years after his death, Dr. Light's final creation is discovered. Released from his capsule by Dr. Cain, "X" is born into the world of the future where robot rebellions are a thing of the past. But when Dr. Cain tries to implement Dr. Light's designs into a new series of Reploids, something goes horribly wrong. Now, the future lies on the brink of destruction and X must use all of his newfound powers and abilities to hunt down the maverick Reploids and their leader, Sigma, before the human race is wiped from the planet!''

Trivia

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


 * In Mega Man X Collection, when the Hadouken is used, X does not shout Hadouken! like in the SNES version.


 * The music during the closing credits has a certain similarity to Mega Man 4's Wily Capsule fight.


 * This game was the first one in the Mega Man franchise to show a preview of the boss' level on the stage select screen.


 * The first segment of the boss theme sounds similar to the stage select screen from Mega Man 2.


 * This game and its remake are one of the two only games to have the traditional boss selected theme borrowed from the original Mega Man series; the other is the PSX/Saturn/PC version of Mega Man X3.