![Mega Man X 1](https://images.nintendolife.com/50a128a737f3b/mega-man-x-1.900x.jpg)
Soapbox options allow our particular person writers and contributors to voice their opinions on sizzling subjects and random stuff they have been chewing over. At this time, to have a good time the thirtieth anniversary of the launch of Mega Man X in Japan, Ollie dives into what makes its introductory stage so darn good…
The unique Mega Man collection is well-known for its punishing issue, significantly for newcomers. With time, endurance, and persistence, it is comparatively straightforward to be taught the ropes and get by every entry with little fuss, but when there’s one factor the unique franchise lacked — significantly on the NES — it was a tutorial. You had been merely thrown into the ring with a number of six to eight phases to select from, and that’s about it.
![Mega Man X 2](https://images.nintendolife.com/4dc637cc34f21/mega-man-x-2.900x.jpg)
Now, one might argue that Mega Man didn’t actually want a tutorial. In any case, you simply run, shoot, and in later entries, slide. You can simply choose up the fundamentals as you progressed by whichever stage you occurred to choose first, however the designers of Mega Man X should have thought the franchise’s religious successor might do with one thing to present newcomers a little bit of a leg up. Fortunately, the consequence is likely one of the coolest introductory phases of all time.
Happening in opposition to a cyberpunk-esque metropolis backdrop, the extent basically sees you progress in a comparatively straight line from level A to level B, defeating enemies each huge and small alongside the way in which. One of many superior methods through which the brand new recreation took benefit of the SNES’s 16-bit energy was that sure enemies might really drill down into the platforms and destroy the setting, which might drive X to leap over these newly shaped gaps.
The largest change, nonetheless, and probably the principle purpose for together with the tutorial within the first place, was X’s capability to leap up partitions and attain excessive ledges. The stage forces this at a number of intervals by introducing the ‘Bee Blader’: a big, mechanical helicopter resembling the overall look of a bee. Destroying these will drive them to crash down onto the platform, inflicting the entire thing to drop down with you on prime of it.
![Mega Man X 3](https://images.nintendolife.com/7ccc17b62750f/mega-man-x-3.900x.jpg)
Now, if this had been OG Mega Man, you’d be caught — like, utterly caught. However this isn’t OG Mega Man; that is Mega Man X. The primary time you soar in opposition to the wall and realise you possibly can hold ascending in perpetuity is actually sort of mind-blowing. It utterly adjustments the way in which that Mega Man video games play (some would argue for the more severe, however they’re incorrect), and I like the way in which the introductory degree teaches you this new mechanic.
As you make your strategy to the tip of the extent, a number of new enemy varieties make themselves identified, together with the quite ingenious ‘Highway Attacker’, a pink automobile that, in the event you shoot the motive force particularly, might be ridden by X himself (there’s no real profit to doing this, but it surely’s a good way of showcasing the quite a few methods you possibly can work together with enemies).
![Mega Man X 4](https://images.nintendolife.com/3ed60dc720310/mega-man-x-4.900x.jpg)
It’s not lengthy till a formidable mech drops down from an airship and utterly trounces X in a head-to-head showdown, pulling a ‘Souls-like’ trick many years earlier than the style even grew to become a factor. With X grounded, we get our first peek at Zero, who blasts an arm off the mech in a single swoop, immediately turning into the fan favorite he was all the time destined to be.
I need to reiterate that Mega Man, and certainly Mega Man X, most likely does not want a tutorial degree. The gameplay, whereas tough to grasp, is straightforward to be taught by itself, so Mega Man X might have fairly gotten away with presenting its eight important phases and be achieved with it. Nevertheless, I am so grateful for its chic tutorial stage: with its satisfying mixture of enemies, banging music, and gripping conclusion, it is the proper introduction to Capcom’s glorious sub-series.
Now the place’s Mega Man X9, Capcom?