Mega Man X1-3
Below you will find my opinions on Mega Man X, X2, X3, and Mega Man 8
What to expect in Megaman X? Most of the gameplay remains true to the original series. However unlike the original Mega Man, Mega Man X series develops a much more elaborate storyline "in the future". Dr. Cain discovers a strange capsule left behind by the late Dr. Light. Using "X" as a prototype, he mass-produces "Reploids" so that they could benefit humanity. Reploids start to think for themselves and were going "Maverick" against the humans. Dr. Cain's best robot, "Sigma", decides to lead them. With the help of "Zero", X continues to fight back. I know there are a lot of quotation marks in there but all of those elements are repeated throughout the whole series.
What makes up Megaman X? In control of X, or eventually Zero, you fight 8 Mavericks. You will also have to eventually fight X-Hunters. There will be a rematch with the Mavericks before the final confrontation. (All of this sound familiar?) Stages will contain areas where you can obtain additional health (Zelda-like hearts), Sub-Tanks that store energy for later use, Enhancements that improve your capabilities (smash, dash, and reduce damage), and an arm cannon called X-Buster with the ability to charge up special weapons gained from the Mavericks. The series includes the ability to climb and slowly decend the walls. Very much like sliding in the original series, the game has you utilize speed by dashing on the ground, off the walls, or in the air. Sub-Tanks are permanant and can be refilled by gaining additional energy from the stages. X will be able to gain the Maverick abilities and use two distinct capabilities after obtaining the X-Buster. Zero will be able to gain additional attack patterns with distinct elemental properties. X fires bullets while Zero attacks in close-combat with a blade.
Megaman X
Notable Differences: (1) Stages change if other Mavericks are defeated (2) Passwords use Characters instead of Dots (3) Ride Armor (4) Climbing (5) Stage Previews (6) Maverick Attacks listed in Menu Preview (7) Items reappear after death (8) Energy Equalizer automatically included (9) Introduction Level (10) Maverick Rematches in Order (11) Solid Platforms (12) Enhancements
Difficult Mavericks: "Electric Spark" (from Spark Mandrill) removes Armored Armadillo's ability to block attacks.
Useful Weapons: "Boomerang Cutter" grabs items out of reach. "Chameleon Sting" secondary ability gives a few seconds of invulnerability. "Homing Torpedo" targets enemies on the screen. "Rolling Shield" secondary ability gives you a shield that will destroy minor enemies but will otherwise fail to larger enemies. "Shotgun Ice" has a wide range attack when it breaks and a secondary ability to form a platform wall.
Review: The game is wonderful. The game does an awesome job introducing all the new elements of the X series without becoming too complicated. Being able to control a Riding Armor (a giant mecha with drills for arms) was a pleasant surprise. The difficulty is at the right level where you could potentially defeat most of the Mavericks without any of the Enhancements or additional Heart Tanks. Being able to charge up your special weapons was a fine addition. I personally enjoy how some of the stages change after defeating a Maverick from another stage - Chill Penguin will freeze Flame Mammoth, Storm Eagle will cut power from Spark Mandrill, Launch Octopus will flood Sting Chameleon. Most of the items are visible or easily reachable. A couple of secrets were added for the die-hards like the lone bubble bat that gives you the 1-up, the X-Buster tucked away in the ceiling, or the fireball Hadokun upgrade that appears after visiting a spot 4 to 6 times. Boomerang Cutter returns a sliver of energy if it comes back. The Fortress levels were completely restructured to include rematches with the Mavericks inbetween bosses in 3 supersized stages. At least you are able to revisit Maverick stages after completing a Fortress level.
Megaman X2
Notable Differences: (1) X-Hunters (2) Weather Changes (3) Targeting Helmet (4) Dash automatically included (5) Air-Dash (6) Explosive Armor (7) Double Shot X-Buster (8) Number Passwords (9) Stage Select includes overview map
Review: I want to come out and say that I got incredibly angry with the game to the point of quitting very early on. I went through every level and only managed to complete two of them. If the level design didn't kill me right away, the Maverick certainly did. Once you defeat two Mavericks, you must hunt down the X-Hunters before defeating a third Maverick. If you don't, they run away and you will never be able to collect all three Zero parts. Most of the enhancements are useless and the Mavericks have random wide-area attacks. This means you can't dodge. I feel like this game gave the illusion of freedom when really they wanted you to take a specific path to defeating all the Mavericks. Enemies reappear if you go offscreen. There were a number of times where I would get hit after destroying an enemy only to have to repeat the process over again. I wouldn't know for I had no desire to keep playing to find out.
Megaman X3
Notable Differences: (1) Zero Playable (2) Maverick Attack Pattern changes when at half-health (3) Enhancement Chips (4) Introduction Video (5) Text moved from before Stage Select to after
Review: People warned me this game is hard. They were right. Mega Man X2 might have been frustrating but Mega Man X3 is downright mean. Many of the enemies have high-evasive counterattacks. Mavericks have high-damaging counterattacks as well. I might have still been upset with playing the previous game but I couldn't take much more of how the game was setup. There are 4 ride armors, where one of them is required to be able to use the others. I never got one. There are multiple upgrades and super upgrades. I think I got one. You can play as Zero but he only has one life! If you lose him, it changes the ending. In other words, you are better off not using him at all. X-Hunters eventually will appear in the empty rooms, but I didn't have the patience to wait around. I was so tired of playing Treasure Hunter. I quickly gave up after attempting each stage with no success. I might give this one another go if I had a walkthrough showing where all the items were.
Megaman 8
Notable Differences: (1) Fire Mega Buster while equipped with Master Weapon (2) Current Weapon Shot Remains Active even after switching weapons (3) Mega Man can fire Master Weapons on Rush Jet (4) Mega Man can swim (5) All weapons are refilled with every life (6) No Tanks (7) Continue on Robot Master stage will plop you halfway (8) Robot Masters speak (9) Mini-Bosses drop Rush capsules (10) Rush Cycle (11) Rush Bomber (12) Action Sequences (13) Puzzle Sequences (14) Item Shop (15) Limited Number of Screws (16) Introduction to Duo Character (17) Animated Video Cutscenes (18) 4 Robot Masters followed by another 4 Robot Masters (19) World Robot Master Stage Select (20) Mega Ball Item (21) Visible Number of Master Weapon Charges (22) Surprise Shells (23) Save Slots (24) Switch Weapons with Bumpers
Difficult Mavericks: "Flame Sword" (from Sword Man) burns Search Man and his bushes.
Useful Weapons: "Flash Bomb" (From Grenade Man) for concentrated damage. "Homing Sniper" (From Search Man) for a homing missile. "Ice Wave" (From Frost Man) that destroys invulnerable targets, freeze fire, and follows around walls. "Thunder Claw" (From Clown Man) is used to grapple across certain areas. Tornado Hold (From Tengu Man) that momentarily launches you and other targets up into the air.
Review: This game was way different than any other game. I feel like the developers had a meeting and decided to throw everything they had in one last ditch effort to make Mega Man interesting. Now I know where they got some ideas for Mega Man & Bass. A lot of the elements in Mega Man & Bass, like 4 of the Robot Masters, were borrowed from this game. Instead of collecting unlimited screws, you must find the limited amount available. Then you can use those screws to aleviate inconveniences like not sliding, charging, or climbing fast enough. Through defeating mini-bosses you obtain 4 different Rush capsules that can be used once per stage: Rush Cycle, Rush Charger, Rush Bomber, and Rush Health. Every Robot Master has some fun minigame included in their stage: Flying on Rush Jet, Jetboarding, Labyrinths, Puzzles, Sinking Towers, and many others. You will learn to hate the Jetboard. Pay close attention and you will notice small touches all throughout the game. Because of the sheer length of the Robot Master stages, there is a huge chance you will be using continues to jump back to the mid-way point. Don't be ashamed. Instead of E-Tanks, the new Rush Health will drop health capsules. There are two different introduction stages for both 4 Robot Master Stage Select screens. You can revisit any of these stages for screws by rotating the world. This gives you access to the Item Shop as well. If I were to play it again I recommend "Spare Extra" (5 lives), "Laser Shot", "Energy Balancer", "Hyper Speed Charge", and lastly "Super Recover" (for Robot Master Rematch) in that order. That's 28 screws out of 40. I would totally play this game again.