{"id":2265,"date":"2013-02-06T14:36:54","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T14:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2265"},"modified":"2013-02-07T16:52:23","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T16:52:23","slug":"my-top-100-23-mega-man-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2265","title":{"rendered":"My Top 100: #23 – Mega Man X"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"1993<\/a>

1993 – Capcom (Super NES, PC, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Virtual Console)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mega Man X<\/em> was one of those games that felt completely different from its predecessors.\u00a0\u00a0However, it\u00a0didn’t re-invent the formula to\u00a0the point\u00a0where it no longer felt like the games we had known and loved for years.\u00a0\u00a0It still felt like you were playing a Mega Man<\/em> game, but, much like the kids\u00a0who\u00a0had known\u00a0the Blue Bomber so well,\u00a0the franchise\u00a0had grown up.<\/p>\n

Gone were the silly and repetitive Wily plots, friendly companions like Rush and Fliptop,\u00a0and the\u00a0awkward Man-monikers that creators had really started losing ideas for.\u00a0 Instead, we got a villain that was actually taller and more intimidating than the main character, a deeper story about a robot who questioned the very reason for his existence, a robot dude in red with long hair and a laser sword, and…\u00a0 what the hell is a Boomer Kuwanger?<\/p>\n

Indeed, it was quite different, but it all felt so familiar and awesome at the same time.<\/p>\n

The levels in prior Mega Man<\/em> games sometimes had branching paths, but X<\/em> took that to a whole other level.\u00a0\u00a0Sub Tanks, Heart Containers\u00a0and suit upgrades were a must if you wanted a serious chance at\u00a0beating Sigma, and the game really made you work for it by putting them in hard-to-reach places.<\/p>\n

Though it only happened for one\u00a0level, I really liked how the consequences of defeating one Robot Master – er, I mean, Maverick Hunter – affected another stage.\u00a0 Sure, you can probably defeat Chill Penguin much easier if you have Flame Mammoth’s flamethrower weapon…\u00a0 at the same time, Flame Mammoth’s level is much less stressful (and easier to explore) once Chill Penguin has been\u00a0dealt with.\u00a0 It’s like day and night, and it’s really quite neat.<\/p>\n

In the end, Mega Man X<\/em> was one of the last Mega Man<\/em> games to truly get me excited to play it.\u00a0 X2<\/em> and X3<\/em> were fun, but just didn’t live up to expectations set forth by the first game.<\/p>\n

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