Mega Man X2

The Good
Mega Man X is generally considered to be a classic platformer, and one of the greatest Mega Man games ever made. But as great as the game is, not many people realize that it is actually flawed in some ways. First off, some of the levels were downright boring, including the intro stage which was a total disappointment, and some of the enemy placements (particularly in the final levels) make the game more unfair than challenging. Also the game ran at a much lower FPS than X2 and X3.

In light of this fact, Capcom realized their mistakes and they were quick to release Mega Man X2. While you may think it is more of the same, this isn't necessarily a bad thing: the framerate has become faster so X is A LOT smoother to control now, it's so much better it's hard to explain it in words.

The story is not really big but it works: After the destruction of Sigma the Hunters have to defeat his remaining followers that continue to cause havoc throughout the Earth. Now under X's command after the demise of Zero, with the help of Dr. Cain X tracks down a factory that is producing huge mechaniloids to assault human cities. X investigates the area and finds out what remains of Sigma's army has regrouped under the control of a mysterious trio of Mavericks who call themselves the X-Hunters. These Mavericks have recovered Zero's parts and intend to revive him as a Maverick. It is now up to X to defeat them and put a stop to their scheme and save his friend, while uncovering secrets about his and Zero's pasts...

As with most MM games, after a short but nice intro stage you're taken to the stage selection screen in which you can choose the level you want to go to. Each level has a different theme and a different boss at the end of it. Once you beat a level and defeat a boss, you gain the weapon of this boss and you can use it against other enemies and bosses. A boss usually has a particular weakness to a weapon so you can finish him a lot more quickly using it (although I generally just use the standard weapon otherwise the game is too easy). There are various hidden Dr. Light capsules in the stages too, that grant you new nice abilities like dashing in mid air and a double charge shot! There are also vehicles and various other powerups in the game, allowing for some diversity. As opposed to the previous game, once you defeat two bosses the X-Hunters will contact the HQ and challenge X to duel: you will find the three of them as hidden bosses during the other stages, which allows for even more fun fights! The game is quite challenging as I said, but it is never unfair: If you can't make it past an area it's not because the game is too hard, it's because you aren't good enough. Keep praticing. :P

The graphics are excellent, the new chip makes it possible to create better graphical effects and even some 3D-like graphics. All of the levels have a different theme and feel: there's a forest level with a weather control device that can alter the weather, an underwater level in which you can swim and avoid a giant fish Mechaniloid, a computer lab level, a "robot scrapyard" full of revived Mavericks, a giant Dinosaur-like tank in which you can even control some huge combat robots called Ride Armors, and so on. All of the levels are fun to play, in my opinion. The only part in the entire game that is really really stupid is the platform ride in one of the final stages (you'll see what I mean once you get there) but it's just one in the entire game so it's forgiveable.

The tracks are very catchy and the music rivals that of the original MMX game in my opinion. You won't get bored of the music! The sound effects are also efficient and they do their job well. Gotta love the explosion sounds that play when you destroy a Maverick boss.

The Bad
This game has the usual problems of any mega man game ever, the biggest being that it's too short: there's about 12-13 levels.

Another small problem is that because of the enhancement chip there have been a few cuts in the game: Violen's second form was cut out for example, and a few stages (like Overdrive Ostrich and Crystal Snail) have about 2-3 different types of enemies. The stages are still fun but they could have used more different enemies like X1 and X3 did.

Another small thing is that they changed the explosion graphics: while they still look good (they became awful in X3 but became good again in X4), they aren't as good as X1's, and besides I have no idea why the explosions would be blue...

Most of this really does not interfere with the fun factor of the game, fortunately.

The Bottom Line
It all boils down to this: Mega Man X2 is a great game and MM fans will love it. If you hate MM games this one won't change your mind, but if you're in for a challenging 2D adventure, look no further than Mega Man X2.