Mega Man X

The first game Capcom made to bring the Mega Man formula into the 16-bit age of gaming, Mega Man X does a pretty admirable job of keeping the original spirit of the classic NES titles alive. The new flagship mechanic of the X series is the ability to find permanent visual/mechanical upgrades for your suit throughout the stages, hidden away in secret nooks. Along with Heart Tanks which increase max HP, and Sub-Tanks, which allow you to refill your health with "overflow" health caught by enemy drops, the damage and movement potential of X by the endgame is huge. This huge spike in power makes this a good spot for newcomers - it's easier than most if not all of the mainline games preceding it.

The boss count is upped to 8 from 6, the sprites are large with great animation and fluidity, and the game is much faster paced thanks to the new dash mechanic that you obtain with the boots upgrade. The levels also implement more verticality without being cumbersome thanks to X's ability to wall-jump. The bosses themselves all look like something straight out of Power Rangers, too - huge diabolical animals with an elemental theme/gimmick. They're all pretty fair fights (except Launch Octopus, that dickhead), but just like the original series, it's hard to lose when you stumble upon the weapon they're weak to.

The levels are really well-designed and revolve around a handful of themed concepts and enemies. There are mini bosses, elevator sets, chase sequences, minecart(?) rides, and even (inconsequential) sections where you pilot a mech for a portion of the stage. Expanding on the idea of the rock-paper-scissors boss weakness strategy of the classic Mega Man series is a new concept where entire stages can be altered by completing another before it. Defeating Storm Eagle causes his ship to crash into Spark Mandrill's factory, causing blackouts and making the electric flooring less dangerous. Defeating Chill Penguin makes the lava in Flame Mammoth's cave cool, allowing you to walk on it. While this is an engaging concept that lets you guess how certain stages will interact, it does make the "optimal path" even easier to determine. I personally found the two previous examples completely by accident, never seeing the original versions of those stages on my first playthrough.

My only real complaints are minor. The first is that the game is just far too short. This was the first Mega Man title I played all the way through, and even with my struggles, I completed the entire thing in under 4 hours. Experienced players who know the stages and the optimal routes could no doubt beat this game in around an hour and a half. It's hard to feel entirely fulfilled when the game passes by that quickly, even if some stages are revisited for secrets. I also found the soundtrack to be pretty inconsistent, with as many memorable tunes are there are grating ones. The SNES sound chip had weird limitations, but the synth tone on some of these tracks is just whiny.

Overall, it's a really fun game with a very short length, and it feels a bit like a Saturday morning cartoon in tone, art direction, and narrative. Mega Man X is a super consistent, straightforward action platformer with just enough depth to keep you engaged for long stretches. Recommended.

I remember I got this game in 6th grade, by trading a couple granola bars with some Chinese kid for it.

Was it worth skipping lunch that day for a game that was, at the time, 15 years old?

Absolutely.