This time, it's personal.
About a year after releasing Mega Man X, Capcom released its sequel—an impressive turnaround time given the amount of original content. This December, MMX2 will be twenty years old, but it hasn’t really aged a day. While not as mind-blowing as its predecessor, MMX2 is still ridiculously fun and challenging, and you’d be insane not to pick it up.
The plot involves a group of three villains called the “X Hunters” stealing Zero’s body parts and challenging X to find them. After defeating two Mavericks, the Hunters start teleporting around the map, and each Maverick level contains a path to one of these optional bosses. The X Hunters do provide a healthy challenge, and if you don’t defeat them all, you’ll have to fight an evil version of Zero in the final stage. The new Mavericks are colorful and fun to battle, and the music is arguably better than MMX (Overdrive Ostrich’s theme is particularly memorable). The level design has also been taken up a notch—you’ll find Heart Tanks, Subtanks, and Dr. Light Capsules in some interesting places that often require you to use your weapons in interesting ways (Strike Chain, Spin Wheel, and a fully-charged Speed Burner are quite useful).
There are a few downsides: several Heart Tanks are hidden in awkward areas that require irritating precision to reach—particularly the one in Crystal Snail’s stage. The game breaks its own rules in the placement for Bubble Crab’s Subtank, and after a fairly difficult trek to the secret Dragon Punch capsule in Sigma’s fortress (hint: it’s in the third area), the Dragon Punch itself is pretty much useless, although you can score some cheap hits on Sigma’s wireframe final form with it.
Still, the pros far outweigh the cons, and with help from Restore Points and Miiverse, you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting to 100%.
Rockman X2
Mega Man X2
Mega Man X2
