Mega Man X5



Mega Man X5, known as Rockman X5 in Japan, is the fifth game in the Mega Man X series and the third X game on the PlayStation console. It's also the only game to have a time limit on the stage select. The game lacks the FMV sequences seen in Mega Man X4 (with the exception of the game's opening), and these sequences have been replaced with still screens and text.

The player can choose X or Zero in the title screen, but you can still choose between the two characters later inside the game (a staple of the series starting with this game). The only difference is that if the player chose X, he will be able to use the Force Armor, and with Zero, he will be able to use the Z-Buster.

It should be noted that series creator Keiji Inafune originally intended for this to be the last title in the Mega Man X series, with Zero dying and resurrecting later in the Mega Man Zero series, but Capcom later decided to green-light Mega Man X6 against his wishes, changing his plans.

Release Dates
Sony PlayStation:


 * Japan: November 30, 2000
 * North America: February 1, 2001
 * Europe: August 3, 2001

PC:


 * North America, Europe, and South Korea: 2002

"Mega Man X Collection," GameCube and PlayStation 2:


 * Worldwide: January 10, 2006

Story
"It's AD 21XX and peacetime. The chaos of the Reploid Wars has passed. But wait! A band of cyber-radicals has just hacked into Eurasia's artificial gravity device. And now, this gravitation deprived space colony is spinning out of control... on a collision course with Earth! Solution: collect the parts of the beam cannon Codename Enigma, get it restarted and deploy it, within the next 24 hours. Your every move counts. Quick! Join Mega Man X and his comrade Zero as they race against time. Eradicate the evil threat occupying Eurasia and prevent total annihilation of Earth."

In-Depth Story
Here is a list of the events that lead up to, include, and immediately precede Mega Man X5:


 * Early-2130s : Dr. Cain resigns his command of the Maverick Hunters and leaves Cain Labs out of his guilt for the failure of the Doppler Project and the Repliforce as well as the fact that his first creation, Sigma, seemed to be the cause of the ongoing "Reploid Wars" (at the time). He creates a Reploid named Signas, with the most advanced CPU of all existing Reploids, to assume command of the Hunters.


 * ca. 2135 : As Dr. Cain doesn't appear again through the series, it is believed he died of "old age" (he would be 85 years old).


 * 2140 : (Mega Man X5) Ten years after the battle with the Repliforce, the world thought a new age of peace might exist. People had begun to expand into outer space due to a boom in population on Earth and colonies began to spring up orbiting the planet. However, the largest colony, Eurasia, was taken over by an unknown group of Reploids, lead by Dynamo, and its gravitational device was altered so that it would head on a direct course to Earth (the colony will hit the Earth in just 16 hours!). A large energy readout of the colony returned a signature that it was infected with the Sigma Virus, so the Maverick Hunters saw no other solution except to alter the colony's path by hiting it with the Enigma laser canon. Yet, the laser required four pieces, each of which was being held by a Maverick, so Mega Man X and Zero were called into action by Signas, the Hunter's new commander (created by the late-Dr. Cain), and assisted by a navigator named Alia. When they recover all the pieces and use the laser on the colony, it hits it and only destroys part of it! Thus, Douglas (the Hunter engineer) tells them that they must recover four parts of a space shuttle (a relic from the past) that the Mavericks have if they want to have one more chance to put the colony off of its course. X and Zero collect the parts and Zero flies the shuttle into the colony, but not only does the shuttle not destroy the remainder of the colony, but Zero goes careening down to the Earth to an unknown location. X goes after him when Alia pinpoints the location, and, upon finding him, he notices that he has gone "Maverick." The two fight each other in a room reminiscent of one of Dr. Wily's 21st century labs (with a "Dr. W" neon sign on the back wall), and in the end X overcomes Zero. It is revealed that Sigma was behind the whole plot, and X manages to defeat him, but Sigma's final form, created with the help of Dr. Wily, is very strong, so Zero sacrifices himself to save X...All that X finds of Zero is his signature "Z Saber," which he carries with him away from the battle...

Mavericks
Enigma parts:
 * Grizzly Slash (Crescent Grizzly)
 * Squid Adler (Volt Kraken)
 * Izzy Glow (Shining Hotarunius/Firefly)
 * Duff McWhalen (Tidal Makkoeen/Whale)

Midboss (fought twice): Dynamo

Space shuttle parts:
 * The Skiver (Spiral Pegacion/Pegasus)
 * Axle the Red (Spike Rosered/Rose)
 * Dark Dizzy (Dark Necrobat/Bat)
 * Mattrex (Burn DinoRex/T-Rex)

Final Stage:
 * Shadow Devil
 * Rangda Bangda W
 * Fight between X and Zero
 * Rematch against the eight Mavericks
 * Sigma

Armor
X's Armors:
 * Force Armor - If X is chosen at the beginning of the game, he begins with this. All-around armor.
 * Falcon Armor - Flight and maneuverability-based armor.
 * Gaea Armor - Defense and power-based armor.
 * Ultimate Armor - Replaces the Force Armor when a code is used.

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

Enemy Guide
List of Mega Man X5 enemies

Walkthrough
Click here to see a walkthrough of the game.

Trivia

 * Regardless of the progress in the gameplay (whether the player stops Eurasia or not) and regardless of selecting which character for the mission, the battle in the third stage of Sigma's fortress will always be between X and Zero.
 * When fighting X in the third Sigma fortress stage, he uses some of his Special Weapons from X4: an enhanced version of the Soul Body (where he launches many images at a time) and charged versions of Frost Tower and Double Cyclone.
 * In battle, X also dons his Ultimate Armor, making the battle the first (and so far, only) canonical appearance of the secret armor.
 * This is one of only two games, the other being X8, in which Sigma is not only fought once; he is fought as the intro stage Boss as well.
 * All of the eight Mavericks' English names are based in the name of a member from the rock band Guns N' Roses.
 * Though indirectly, Mega Man X5 is referenced in Mega Man Zero 4, as the game's main setting, Area Zero, is revealed to be where the Eurasia colony crashed. By that time, centuries after X5, nature had returned to Area Zero. That certain aspect also forms part of Doctor Weil's plot.
 * The final Boss music is very similar to the song The Final Countdown by Europe.
 * The first Sigma fortress stage is a remake of Quick Man's level in Mega Man 2 and the second stage is a remake of the first Sigma Fortress stage from Mega Man X.