The Complete Legacy of Mega Man X

[Music] [Music] please in the winter of 1990 the world changed forever the release of the super nintendo in japan would alter the course of history for video games worldwide and on the designer's side game developers felt the hum of previously untapped potential for projects and characters this new console was exactly the device needed to give some franchises a turbo boost one such franchise was capcom's successful but stagnant rockman series known as mega man in the united states and for the rest of this video after years of sequels that were fun to play but increasingly similar feeling the snes was poised to give the mega man franchise the thrust it needed to reassert its dominance as an incredible action platformer with mega man x everything felt re-energized as though dr light himself had installed a fresh battery to a dying series mega man x and its first few sequels revitalized the 2d action platformer genre but much like the original mega man series on the nes after a few years and several games fans were left to wonder what just had happened to mega man x with 2018's release of mega man x legacy collections 1 and 2 on every major platform it feels like it's time to take a long look at a franchise that is laying dormant today we're presenting the rise the mixed middle and a look to what the future of an iconic series could look like this is the complete legacy of the mega man x franchise [Music] mega man's rise to glory has been well documented originally created by akira kitamura and keiji inafune during their time at capcom in the late 1980s the first mega man game had a solid but not exactly blockbuster first outing mega man enjoyed an explosive burst of popularity on the nes however with mega man 2 and 3 much to capcom's surprise the series would grow to become one of capcom's flagship franchises and the developer is willing to push out sequel after sequel with this instantly iconic character but after six main entries in what would come to be known as the classic series things were not as rosy as they had been the games were undeniably good but capcom was still publishing these games on the original nintendo entertainment system instead of the newer and more powerful super nintendo mega man 3 through 6 released from 1991 to 1993 were critically successful but not nearly as popular as mega man 2 the classic series biggest success story the nes and titles released on it faced dwindling sales numbers in the face of the super nintendo's popularity mega man was primed to join mario and zelda on the 16-bit console where games were better looking and better playing than ever before but capcom was faced with a difficult question how were they going to bring this popular character and franchise over to an entirely new system the formula for a mega man game had been more than solidified leading into the development of mega man x classic mega man jumped and shot his way through well-designed levels acquiring different weapons from defeated bosses and using those weapons to rock paper scissors himself to glory mega man x's success hinged upon a fusion of old and new ideas holding an element of the past with a fresh and bold direction the power of the super nintendo and the success of capcom's other big franchises like street fighter laid the groundwork for mega man to come to his own by shaking up the formula in every respect from art direction to story to gameplay mega man x became a smash hit it was important for capcom to bring someone they trusted to head development of mega man on the snes they tasked keiji inafune who worked in the original mega man in 1987 as an artist and animator and on every nes mega man game since with planning the franchise's move to the 16-bit era he also worked on character portraits for the original arcade version of street fighter and was a known and reliable figure at the company upon receiving this news inafune was excited but also wary according to a tongue-in-cheek development diary translated by shmupulations the mega man series was the kiss of death to a developer's free time inifune was seemingly stumped and how to bring mega man the stalwart of the nes era to a new generation of players rather than completely replicate a classic mega man game inifune wanted to bring in completely new characters and situations he created the character zero with the intention of making a brand new protagonist for this series but wound up redesigning mega man after realizing fans would inevitably be disappointed by not being able to play as the character they expected in an interview with chris hoffman for play magazine in 2004 inifune remarked i wanted a totally different mega man i'm a designer a creator and i wanted something new i didn't want to use the same old mega man and so i made this new character and of course the new character i created 0 wasn't anything like the old mega man and people were gonna say that's not mega man so i redesigned mega man as well art direction aside what this new series needed was different mechanics to justify its existence to fans this new game placed a huge emphasis on movement and speed with the dash and wall jump mechanics completely changing the way x would interact with levels this new emphasis on speed and verticality helped set x apart from his classic self inafune and the x team also saw an opportunity to integrate the feeling of leveling up and growing more powerful even deeper into the mega man formula instead of just acquiring different weapons from bosses for the first time mega man could improve his equipment as well in the form of sub tanks armor parts and heart containers this rpg-like trend was sprinkled throughout mega man x and incorporated in every subsequent game in the x series with a new look new moves and a new focus on upgrading equipment mega man x brought one more thing into popularity completion bonuses this was a first for the series die hard fans can earn the hadoken move a nod to capcom's other mega hit franchise street fighter having a secret easter egg that only the best players could unlock showed that the developers were thinking about the legacy of this game the combination of incredible graphics revolutionary action gameplay and a more bombastic storyline focused on good versus evil resonated with players x felt like the future of the series that fans have been waiting for much has been said about the impact mega man x has had on game design as a whole mega man x injected new life into not only the mega man franchise but the entire genre of the action platformer [Music] mega man x was just the starting point mega man x2 and x3 would further streamline what was established in this new series x2 and x3 are known as the super nes trilogy because for a long time they were exclusive to that 16-bit console these three games would establish with the base gameplay of the entire x franchise would come to look like they also offer a preview of what would come to divide fans down the line one of the strengths of the super nintendo was that it gave developers a chance to reimagine and redefine what their classic franchises would look like after all what were 1990 super mario world and 1990 is linked to the past if not more refined versions of super mario bros 3 and the legend of zelda mega man x followed the trajectory of sticking close to the classic mega man formula but put a super nintendo spin on it one of the biggest changes from the classic era to the x era is the introduction of a dramatic and complicated story classic mega man had always been inspired by old school anime and tokusatsu shows like super sentai or what we would come to know in the united states as power rangers instead of just a blurb in the manual x has full-on cutscenes x2 and x3 introduced more characters more plot lines and more to keep track of the story began to resemble that of a long-running anime love it or hate it the ever complicated plot of the x series is one of its defining features the story of classic mega man is almost non-existent in the nes games mostly because it doesn't need to be you are a little blue robot and you fight other robots some built by dr light some built by dr wily but all are converted and controlled to do dr wily's evil bidding the mega man x series provided motivations not just to the main character but to the dastardly villains as well taking place in the same universe as mega man but far into the future the creative team could essentially do whatever they wanted and create their own new canon mega man x2 and x3 also brought more mechanical changes to the mega man x formula similar to how 1988's mega man 2 and 1990's mega man 3 introduced features like energy tanks to slide or rush the dog into the main cannon the ultimate goal of the series was always tight and fast gameplay in the super nintendo x trilogy kept things fresh x introduced the ability for mega man to dash and x2 further expanded that with the ability to dash in the middle of the air if x established that this new series would emphasize quick and precise movement in big beautiful levels the next two was the game that really delivered on that promise the development team loved putting secrets and easter eggs in mega man games and x2 is where their philosophy really began to pay off x1 had the perfect easter egg completion bonus in the form of the hadoken and x2 continued the tradition with the massively powerful shore you can if players found all upgrades in the game x2 is more of what fans wanted perfect pacing a memorable soundtrack and a difficulty curve that the player could dictate depending on how they approached collectibles with its optional boss fights incredible vehicles and changes to movement and weaponry x2 very much felt like lightning had struck twice ign said in a roundup of the 100 best snes games of all time that following up the explosive debut of the mega man x series was no small task but mega man x2 accomplished the job admirably though not as innovative as mega man x was to classic mega man x2 is to x1 what mega man 3 was to mega man 2. x3 marks another hallmark moment for the series it is the last x-game to appear on the snes and the first to be ported to the 32-bit powerhouses that were the ps1 and the sega saturn at least in japan this game made even greater use of the cx-4 chip that was first developed for x2 in the mega man official complete works designer yoshihisa souda recalls that there was a time when they were holding weekly meetings to discuss how to use the cx4 to its maximum potential as a result x2's look and music are even more advanced than that of x1 and showed that the series had plenty of room to grow the retail price of a mega man x3 cartridge was incredibly high in europe and north america especially for a game released in 1996. at the time of release this game was sold for about 75 dollars new and a good conditioned copy of it on ebay today averages at least 150 per cart those wire frames and advanced sprite rotation techniques didn't come cheaply though x3 ran into mega man's greatest foe time this game was produced during the tail end of the snes's life cycle in 1995. x3 is also iconic for another reason after years of teasing this is the first game that let players finally control the mysterious zero zero brought a whole new style of play to the x franchise though his usability was very limited since if he fell in battle he could not be used for the rest of the game but his influence would be powerfully felt from this game forward from both a story and gameplay perspective x2 and x3 felt like natural steps forward for the x franchise in the mega man official complete works art book kj nifune says the nature of a creator is to constantly want to make something new something different however we did understand that we couldn't completely go against everything that had came before looking at the series as a whole it is clear to see where inafune felt that mega man x could innovate and where he and other capcom creatives felt they needed to adhere to what had come before mega man x sold over 1 million copies on the snes not including re-releases x2 and x3 did not sell as well but still successfully brought the franchise into a new era the new focus on story and gameplay evoked what made the classic series great but the new stuff also stood on its own capcom was eager to once again bring mega man to the next generation but in doing so the series would go through a lot of growing paints 1997's x4 gave players the option to play through the entire campaign as either x or zero resulting in different gameplay and story beats for both characters mechanics are still vintage mega man with either x or zero battling enemies and mavericks platforming and riding vehicles through themed levels stages could still be tackled in any order like before but once a player chose which character to control during their playthrough that choice was locked zero lacked x's signature ability to use weapons from defeated bosses but had his own attacks and abilities to learn throughout the campaign mega man x4 is about where critical views of the series started to split as mark east says in a gamespot review from 1997 aesthetically mega man x4 is a sizable improvement over its predecessors but you must remember that it's only a side scroller if you're looking for something new look elsewhere but over at egm they reacted more positively mega man x4 offers a nice change of pace from past games in the x series with the ability to play as either x or zero being a huge factor in the game's replay ability after four games in the x series not to mention every entry in the classic series artist and producer keiji nifune took a step back he says himself i had very little to do with x5 i just told the team finish off the series with this title and left it at that that's why the game itself has a real feel of finality to it inafune may have felt ready to walk away from x at this point but the future had other plans x5 was in production for longer than any other mega man titles as developers worked to push the power of the playstation 1. finally releasing 3 years after x this game didn't provide anything truly revolutionary to the series other than a controversial timer system that limited levels replayabilities this game also added a plot device that relied on rng at any point between levels players could choose to fire off a weapon into the atmosphere to take out a falling space colony whether or not the attempt is successful is pretty much out of the player's hands and influences how the rest of the game plays out unless players save scum it wasn't easy to determine the outcome of this game in a previously mentioned play magazine interview from 2004 inafune cites the enduring power of the mega man design philosophy what i feel truly makes mega man mega man is getting shot and killed or falling down a hole and losing but yet feeling like ah frustrated i lost but i want to play again i want to continue to keep playing until i beat this stage or continue to keep playing until i clear the game so people who are complaining now saying it's too hard they don't truly understand what the game is about which is the frustration which is about clearing a difficult goal that's what mega man's always been about to many fans and critics 2001's mega man x6 felt tough without the fairness undermining the philosophies of the series thus far the longer the x-series went on the more difficult it became to jump right into it unlike the snes trilogy x6 starts slowly with characters like aaliyah stopping the action to explain every little thing the anime style cut scenes of x4 are out in favor of static pictures and text boxes consistently throughout for a game with action so intense and the story is so heightened it feels like a step backwards for the series despite retaining much of the staff who had worked on the previous games in the series x6 had some design decisions that stuck out to players memories the parts and armor system received an overhaul with mixed results for example it is impossible for the character x to switch armors after starting a level without killing himself or quitting out to the main menu progression worked differently too in that players could reach the final boss without actually defeating the a bosses like in most other mega man games but x6 also pushed some of the series artists in unexpected ways lead artist of x6 haruki swetsugu makes an excellent case for the character's designs i guess it's because we had made it to the sixth title in the series but we got into some pretty unusual themes for our boss characters like scarabs and water fleas from a designer's perspective it seemed like a fun idea from a critical perspective x6 is probably considered the worst in this series it sits at 65 a metacritic firmly in the mix category its core is still undeniably mega man but whether it's due to release fatigue or other factors the x series was in a bit of a rut [Music] part of the legacy of mega man has been the domination of everything he touches the x-series was no exception broadening the blue bomber's horizons to all forms of media video games anime manga art books and action figures and then there's the series appearance on nearly every form of hardware the nes snes sega saturn playstation windows and beyond x even made a detour into handheld territory with the bold experiments of mega man xtreme and mega man xtreme 2 for the gameboy color both released in north america in the year 2001. perhaps sensing that the original team was restless to move on from the x series capcom prepared to pass the torch to new artists and designers as the x series wore on sweet sugu worked on x4 x5 and the mega man xtreme series he poured his heart into the new character designs for these portable games and was amazed by the results regarding the armored characters zane and gemilled he commented i did think they were a little too complex considering the gameboy's graphical capacity so i was totally blown away when i saw them come to life on that little screen i can't say enough nice things about the masterful skills of the people who work the dots mega man xtreme was proof that when capcom wanted something like the x series on handheld consoles they would do their best to make it happen extreme still feels like an x game despite the game boy color's lack of processing power the plot is somehow still canon in the x series and the gameplay itself is sort of like the greatest hits of the mega man x mechanics mega man xtreme 2 would go even further putting zero on a handheld console an entire year before the character's game boy advance debut xtreme 2 even implemented a stripped-down version of the part system from mega man x6 considering that the inafune produced zero series was just over the horizon and that console mega man x games were still going strong it's noteworthy that capcom invested so much into these games and that they came out as solid as they did extreme and extreme 2 may not be the instant classics that mega man x in the other games in the x series were but they do an admirable job of bringing x to handheld consoles at the time of extreme 2's release the game boy advance had already been dominating the handheld market for six months continuing the unfortunate tradition of mega man appearing on consoles that were on their last legs or to use a more apt metaphor their last set of batteries the x-series would never grace a handheld console again until the release of mega man x collection on the nintendo switch after x6 the series made the jump to yet another generation the playstation 2 with mega man x7 in 2003 and x8 in 2005. after a decade of mega man x games the series had grown and changed but not all ford momentum is easy x7 was the first game to experiment with 3d which proved to be a stumbling block mega man x8 carried the full weight of everything that had come before it it is no easy feat to jump from 2d to 3d just ask mario zelda sonic and really any other big name video game franchise adding a new dimension to the mix comes with its own set of headaches the x series had steadily seen keiji inafune step back to focus on his own work but he was still involved as a series producer in x7 a new playable character was added to the main cast alongside x and zero axel inafune's only design work on x7 was to give advice regarding the creation of this new character he told the team if we're bringing in a new character just make sure you give him a distinctive silhouette but even with strong art direction x7 stumbled like so many first forays into 3d a gamespot review by ryan davis laments that the controls don't translate from 2d to 3d very well and this is exacerbated by the game's reliance on nick of time platform jumping and by its unwieldy camera x7 would probably be a better game had it stuck to its guns and stayed with the series 2d platforming action it also probably didn't help that x the main character from the previous six games wasn't playable at the start of the title he had to be unlocked by rescuing reploids a first for the series axel was fine as a new playable character but he certainly wasn't mega man x the x series was in a tricky spot at this point when they stuck to the formula critics cried that capcom was afraid to innovate when the games tried to promote new characters or ways to play fans wondered why things couldn't go back to the way they were it truly felt like a damned if you do damned if you don't situation 2005's x8 could be seen as an attempt at course correction the game lean into a 2.5 d style ign called it a substantial improvement over 2003's x7 and has some truly awesome stages it felt like a return to form but that could also be because the team was more well-versed in the technology by that point the game added difficulty modes and new game plus features that felt like the series was connecting with the future x8 didn't try and reinvent the wheel but went back to the well to focus on what players had come to love about the x series as a whole fast difficult action an amazing soundtrack memorable bosses and an increasingly over the top plot since mega man x8 there has been no new mainline mega man x games there have been spin-offs including mega man x command mission and rpg set in the x universe this game came out just before x8 releasing on the playstation 2 and nintendo gamecube this game truly broke the mould of the x series mega man had appeared in rpgs before notably mega man battle network but this is the first and only rpg featuring mega man x and his fellow friends kj nafune wanted nothing to do with this title in the official complete work art book he said i've always believed that x is an action game and belongs squarely in that genre so when i was told to make a mega man x rpg i just said no i totally left this title up to the others i didn't want to touch it at all command mission remarks an unusual step for mega man and is one of the few games in the series that is unavailable digitally it's a hard to find kind of a hidden gem of the series ign thought so too saying various aspects of combat make for one hell of a nice battle system and despite being as influenced by other rpgs as it may be the final product works together rather effectively so where is mega man x now technically command mission is the final game in the x series it's been years since that game's release and there hasn't been a true side-scrolling sequel ever since that doesn't mean that x is gone for good there may even be reason for hope these games have had innumerable re-releases and one full-blown remake in the original game in the form of mega man maverick hunter x for the playstation portable the two mega man x legacy collections went platinum about a year ago selling a combined total of at least 1.4 million units mega man 11 the most recent game in the classic series sold over 1 million copies as well mega man is still one of the most popular video game characters in the world even if some of the mega man x games are less beloved than others the series has potential for a strong comeback it is a truth that's universally acknowledged that any 2d action platformer in the modern era must owe a debt to mega man x but developers tend to cite the earlier games in the series with nostalgia culture in full swing over the last few years japan and in the us it is easier than ever to consider the mega man x series as a whole games like 2014's 20xx fully acknowledge their inspirations and of course there's the elephant in the room mighty number nine kj and ifunes kickstarted a game that was his return to mega man style gameplay that story has been well documented but in short the game wasn't what fans wanted it didn't have the refinement or the soul that people love about mega man but for the people who want the difficulty and thrill of mega man x it's worth looking into the inti creates developed mega man zero series for the game boy advance which was also recently re-released as a bundle in the form of the mega man zero zx legacy collection there's also maverick hunter x which is almost an entirely different game than the original mega man x it has a totally different art style new voice acting and story beats and even the ability to play as vile in developing this remake inafune had some poignant thoughts on the iconic character he co-created as more and more mega man games came out they started to lose what made mega man so great i personally was only involved in the x series up until x4 and then after that other people took direction of the series making these remakes and showing what make the original so fun will help the designers learn a lot about what makes mega man so cool what makes him tick so to speak they can use that knowledge on x9 this is sound advice mega man x9 would be a dream come true for fans but only if done correctly and with care the legacy collections have shown that fans will still support mega man even though x9 rumors have been swirling for a few years with no definitive proof of new developments the future potentially remains bright more recently capcom has been working closely with companies to celebrate their legacy in the form of merchandise and physical re-releases of their classic games mega man x recently celebrated its 30th birthday with capcom re-releasing special edition cartridges in conjunction with im8 bit for the original mega man x these cartridges are a bit expensive as limited number has been made but one of the more wonderful things about this re-release is that i gerrard the completionist was asked by capcom to write the forward for the game it was truly an honor and a privilege to be able to celebrate this franchise on such a personal level so there we have it from the original super nes trilogy to the playstation to game boy and beyond mega man x's impact has been undeniable even if we don't get another main entry in the x series this game's influence on action platformers is clear to see and that is the current complete legacy of mega man x thank you all for watching and more importantly thank you for 9 amazing years of support if you guys liked this type of video please let us know this was a very special video that we made just for you a quick thank you to all of those who lended their voices for this video and a very big shout out to did you know gaming the gaming historian and so many other of my friends that inspire me each and every day thanks for watching [Music] to prevent the death of wow this is not the way the world should be the destruction of so many lies [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: The Completionist

Views: 301,367

Keywords: mega man X, mega man X review, mega man X gameplay, mega man review, mega man gameplay, megaman, nintendo, completionist, jirard khalil, mega man history, mega man ost, mega man X series, legacy collection, mega man X legacy collection, mega man X legacy collection 1, mega man X legacy collection 2, platformer, classic, retro, retro games, switch, nintendo switch, playstation, capcom, documentary, gaming documentary, somecallmejohnny, mega man 2, dykg, didyouknowgaming, gaming historian

Id: AJZAsCLGbPI

Length: 28min 13sec (1693 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020