Frequent Rental Completed, YAY Mega Man X2

Back in the day when Blockbuster and Movie Gallery stores were everywhere and it was normal to go rent a movie or game for the night or weekend.  Back in the good ole days where it felt almost like a rite of passage to get a rental ID as much as a driver's license.  And when you would rush back to return something so you didn't get the fee, however would forget to rewind the movie (for those youngsters out there, google VHS tapes).

Those were the days of my youth, and I would spend a lot of time and money on renting video games from rental stores.  I may not have had the money to buy the game, but I could easily rent the game over and over again.  My biggest concern though was someone renting the game when I wanted to get it, or if someone saved over my file.

This trip down memory lane has lead me to a game I frequently rented titled:

MEGA MAN X2

I had grown up playing the old school Mega Man games.  There difficulty coupled with this new idea of gaining a bosses ability and being able to use it in battle was exciting.  It was like a weird game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors".  The thing is after awhile with the original series things started to get a little stagnant.  It was always you against Dr. Wily.  You had your weird friend but enemy ProtoMan (which my friend Chris and I used to play Mega Man and Proto Man all the time in the front yard as kids.  I was always Proto Man which is cool since he has shades and a kick as whistle intro).

Thats where the X series was a great breath of fresh air.  I have completed X before, but X2 as always the game from my past that struck me the most.  I most have spent about a hundred dollars on renting it between GA and Massachusetts (where my father and mother lived respectively).  Because it was different places I had to get a different cartridge when I was at one house or the other.  I loved my SNES and how easy it was to travel with it.  However paper is usually pretty easy to travel with too but I would always lose the page that would have the number code on it you would get from Mega Man.

Thats right kids.  Back then MegaMan didn't let you save the game.  You would get a 12 digit code that you could input to continue your game.  It was nice and all, however it would be a pain when you could have many codes on one piece of paper.

Back to the matter at hand.  Its hard to really go too much into the detail of the X series storyline.  It is not as founded and established I feel as the original series.  Thats ok though because it is a rebirth.  Its great being able slide and climb walls.  Its great to be able charge up your blaster.  And the upgrade system rocks.

The big draw with the X series is the upgrades that MegaMan X can get.  Dr. Light made X but sealed him away long ago.  He also made capsules that when X walked up to would upgrade his abilities.  In X2 the ability to slide in the air, decreased damage, charge any weapon, and the "find the secret" helmet are pretty damn cool.  These are what made me as a young child gravitate to this game because I found something from when I was really young but didn't understand it that much upgraded.  It wasn't completely brand new in every way, just updated for more modern times.  Thats what I loved.

So go and play Mega Man X2 if you can.  Its worth it.  Trust me.  The whole X series is great.

In fact, before I finished this entry I also completed X3.  Great game too, however doesn't hold as close a spot in my heart as X2.  It is nice being able to play as Zero and getting more into that backstory.

Maybe I should do a Mega Man X series playthrough.  Might be fun on Twitch.

Mega Man (Rock Man) Rocks in X

I was working on my Legend of Dragoon post before my wife and I left to go to DC last week so she could run the Marine Corps Marathon (it was her first marathon ever).  She totally rocked it as well.  I am so proud of her.

I will finish up my Legend of Dragoon post, plus talk about our experience up in DC and then the subsequent being stuck in DC soon.  I wanted to talk about another game I just completed.

MegaMan X with no upgrades

MegaMan X with upgrades.  Pretty badass, minus his thunder shins

I have loved MegaMan since I was a kid. The original games on the NES were a bitch to beat.  I attribute this to the fact that back in the day everything was harder, including kids growing up.  We didn't have as many limitations by people or people looking out for us.  There was a constant concern of natural selection taking over and we would end up dead in the street.  This mentality also was taken into video games.  Many people have played the original MegaMan games and never completed them, myself included.  It was so damn hard to get through the levels to the bosses for each stage and not just having to beat them.  Some of them had an easy mode that you could try to use to help get through the game, but still it was hard as hell.

There are many trademarks to MegaMan.  Dr. Light, Dr. Wright, the ability to take your enemies ability and use it.  Robots Robots Robots.  It is fun.

Now MegaMan X is a reinvention of the MegaMan series for when Capcom decided to develop the MegaMan for the SNES.  It has 16-bit graphics, new characters, new story, and takes place ~100 years in the future.  MegaMan X was made by Dr. Light in the past but locked away due to certain factors.  If you are really concerned about the back story to him, you can find it here.  

X has an added bonus to him from MegaMan in that you find capsules with Dr. Light's hologram in them giving X newer armor and body.  I don't know why but when I was a wee lad I loved this concept of upgrading beyond just getting new abilities.  It was so cool looking for upgrades, heart tanks, extra energy tanks.  I loved it.  I needed it.

Maybe this is what fueled my wonderful OCD.  Who knows.

So now that I have laid down the foundation for MegaMan X and my attraction, the question is why did I just play it?

Well, the reason is I needed something to break up the monotony that has been going on in terms of the games that I have been playing.  I love RPG's.  I love them oh so much.  But when you play a whole lot of them at one time then it feels as if your life is dragging on and on.  Just grinding away the days.  Because you have to spend a lot more time on a RPG (on Legend of Dragoon I am currently around 56 hours) you need a break.  And MegaMan X provided that for me.

I was able to beat Mega Man X in maybe 7 hours tops.  I did a full Complete as well and have updated Backloggery to reflect that.  All upgrades and tanks and weapons GOT bitches.

I guess this is when I talk about Mega Man X and its coolness factors and all.  It was cool.  It did well in terms of setting off the X series of games.  I will be playing the other X games, mostly cause I have them on my list, but because I like the series.  Because I am playing my SNES for the most part on a PC emulator I get the added benefit of having save states.  I love save states.  I can instantly save anywhere and return to it whenever.  Its great.  But I think this can also damper the experience sometimes.

Instead of having to deal with dying and then going back through the stage, or replaying the boss again and again, with whatever energy I have left over in terms of my weapon energy usage, I got to cheat the system and restart exactly where I was.  I used this to help me with the final boss fight for the game cause I could save state each time I landed a hit on him so I would not lose my process.  In normal play you would have to keep track of passwords that you get when you complete stages or whatever, but the save state process knocks all of that out.  It cuts out the fine property of the game where you have to be really careful and plan things out.  You can't explore too much or you have to start alll over again.  That is something that is nice for someone who wants to experience the game as opposed to someone who wishes only to complete things.

I try and not to play through just to play through.  I like to experience the story and all.  However the other part of me is like "Hey dude.  There is this ability with the emulator that you can use.  Might as well."  So I did my best to balance the two and didn't abuse the system.

Bottom line time.  Should people play this.  I think everyone should play this that has every played a Mega Man game and enjoyed it.  It is different but the same.  I guess you could say it is a same difference.  Its a great game.  I am glad it is not something where it is a completely different path from the original series.  Its a great game and keeps to a similar route, maybe just off to the side.  Like a highway access road.  Yeah.  Like that.

Play it!