I finally got around to playing this. I got it back in the Famicom anniversary sale. Having played almost every Metroid game before this one (only Metroid 2 left now), I was kind of looking forward to it as the commonly-held “best” in the series.
I actually played them in a weird order. My first two were Fusion and Zero Mission, chronologically the last and first. I also played ZM’s included NES version of Metroid 1, with my own hand-drawn maps and everything! So while I’ve seen how low the series could go, it felt like I still had a glorious high to go through. To make a long story short: I prefer Zero Mission in a lot of ways.
I played the GBA ones a lot, and they have a distinct feel. I don’t have Fusion to go back and check, but I played ZM to confirm after finishing Super and it felt so right. In comparison Super feels slow and floaty, and the controls are much clunkier. ZM streamlines everything: no run button, no toggling between 5(!) different abilities, no need to deactivate or switch your powerups, no cumbersome X-ray scope. It’s also quicker and smoother, and with trickier puzzles and more impressive set pieces.
So my general impression is that I don’t quite see how Super is the be-all end-all that it’s made out to be. I’m just a dabbler in game design theory, so maybe a lot of the clever things went over my head. I think nostalgia must play a part too—in terms of growing up with it, ZM was my Super. However, Super has a lot of good stuff.
You can go anywhere to see why people think SM is great. It’s the subtle environmental storytelling. It’s the open-ended structure, where you choose what you do next, and many powerups are missable for a long time. The exploration, and the exciting combat.
There’s a dark side to open-ended exploration in a game with obvious goals, though. In Maridia especially I wandered around for ages, falling down holes and having to go the long way around. I don’t like that area. It brought to mind another comparison: the map, while immensely useful after my scribbled pencil scrawl for the first game, is simply not as helpful as its counterparts on the GBA. I relied on a separate map from the good folks at Metroid Recon, especially during the item collection phase.
Enough comparisons though. The endless secrets in this game were very rewarding: the animals who teach you new techniques (never could get the hang of the bloody walljump though), the beam combos, and of course all the missile tanks and so on. And sometimes it felt like you stumbled upon a boss, although most were well set-up. You get to know these areas you’re exploring, and then suddenly you find a hole in the wall that opens it up, that you never knew was there.
If you’ve played Metroid games before you know all the items you’ll get, although I had a few surprises such as the X-ray scope. Switching beams is also not something I’m used to outside of Prime, and I’m not sure I liked it. Sub Tanks are also unique to SM, taken straight out of Mega Man X, although given its open nature I wasn’t sure of the point. I also found so many things that I now recognise were being called back to in later games, especially Prime, ZM, and Other M. This really was an influential game for the series.
I dunno, I feel weird about this game. To me it’s not so special, just another Metroid game. It’s a good one though, probably better than Fusion if I really think about it. Fairly glitchy but full of ideas and atmosphere. Treating it as a game I didn’t like how it played compared to ZM, but it’s a well-crafted experience. My recommendation (if you somehow haven’t played any Metroid games) is to take this one fairly early. The bosses can be hard, but the puzzles are easier. Search thoroughly for items, it really helps. And find the Metroid larva!
It seems like most of my family love Picross. I certainly do. It’s more interesting than Sudoku because there’s more variety possible, while still being purely logic. Once you really get a handle on the rules and intricacies it becomes very satisfying to smash through a puzzle while you’re in the “Picross Zone”. The other great thing about it is you get a cool picture at the end, with either nice, awkward or heavily stylised pixelart. Depending on your game, this will also be colourised or even animate at the end.
Another big draw for me in Nintendo-licensed Picross games is the Nintendo-themed puzzles. Picross NP did that so much better than other ones I’ve played, as instead of the lazy and boring way of replicating 8-bit sprites on a puzzle grid, they featured new, original pixel art renditions of characters, even ones that were already pixel sprites.
I’ve played through the Normal mode of Picross DS, to get to the Extra section with the 8-bit sprites. Too much Mario. 3 rows of it to be precise! Leaving only one row for Samus, Link, Ice Climber, and Excitebike. Getting there was awesome fun, though. Having said that, often what you filled in was very hard to distinguish until they colourised it for you, meaning you wouldn’t know until the very end what it is you were making. From my experience, the older games in the series had puzzles that were simpler in shape so you could guess.
Let me get the angry part out of the way. The PAL regions’ version of Picross DS was abysmally under-supported compared to the US and Japan. I’m talking downloadable puzzle packs. We got 2 packs of 5, they got 100 and 60 packs, respectively. I felt so cheated.
So I emulated the highlights of what they got. First, recap.
Mario’s Picross for Game Boy, 1995. All regions got the cart release and later 3DS VC release.
Mario’s Super Picross for SNES, 1995. Japan only for cart, Wii VC release for Japan and PAL (untranslated, and they charged more for it. The cheek!)
Picross 2 for Game Boy, 1996. Japan only for cart and 3DS VC.
Picross NP for SNES, 1999. Japan only, released in 8 volumes via the Nintendo Power cartridge rewriting service.
Picross DS for DS, 2007. All regions got it, PAL got shafted in the DLC department. DLC, for reference, included many puzzles from Mario’s Picross, Mario’s Super Picross, and all 8 volumes of Picross NP.
Picross-e and Picross-e2 for 3DS eShop, 2011-2012. Japan and PAL.
So the USA has had less games released, but a much better version of DS. The reason for that (and less for PAL too) is poor sales of the first game outside Japan.
Ok, so what I decided was the touchscreen interface was best. If I had to use the inferior button interface, I would only bother with the puzzles that were really interesting to me, namely the Nintendo IP puzzles in NP. The other 3 have some too, but mainly sprites—NP, as I’ve said, had 12 puzzles in each of 8 volumes with redrawn Nintendo characters, animated after solution. Awesome~!
The properties were covered with one per volume: Pokemon, Yoshi’s Story, Kirby, Lylat Wars, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, Wario Land 2, and Donkey Kong Country. For more information see here. (They erroneously claim the games were distributed via Satellaview, but their puzzle lists are accurate.) The last 3 volumes had slightly different presentation in the menus, and of course all had many more puzzles apart from “Character Mode” but that was the only mode I concerned myself with.
It was, as I predicted, totally cool. As you go on, you could try and guess who it would turn out to be based on the theme, and then at the end the whole thing was coloured and the characters started doing a little animation loop. Very cool. I tried to make a gif, but it was so hard and it didn’t work and it got blurry and distorted.
As I said, the button interface was inferior. Much easier to make mistakes and just less natural. There were other interface issues, or rather, the DS and 3DS versions have made many improvements over these older ones. Like automatically greying out the row numbers when you fill a row, you had to do that manually here. This version also counted down and failed you after half an hour, instead of counting up and just not registering a completion after an hour (they let you finish the puzzle but it didn’t count). So actually doing the puzzles was a worse experience and just made me wish I’d been able to do the same puzzles, but with the improved interface, rules, and controls of DS. Sigh. I got used to it though and was soon racing through them.
Of course, the interface of NP was not without its charms. Its different presentation was novel and colourful, compared to the rather flat DS one. The puzzles were presented on book pages, with a character-approproate background for the NIntendo puzzles (in vol 1-5), and the cursor was alternately a crayon or pencil. Of course, DS had a series of themed puzzle tiles (although the Mario brick one for Extra was unintuitive and hurt my eyes!), and its DLC packs (I assume) all used the Mario’s Picross-style archeological chipping at stone theme. So they each have their unique features.
For that reason, I’m glad I played the Nintendo puzzles in their original form. I still feel cheated but ha! I emulated your games for free! How do you like that, Nintendo! Ugh, I’m a bad person aren’t I?
Yeah so Picross is loads of fun! It’s relaxing to just follow these logic rules for puzzles. There’s plenty of versions of it on the iOS App Store, so go pick one up (there’s even free ones). I was introduced to the concept by “Shady Puzzles” for iPhone. Or get Picross-e, it’s quite good. In that case, if you’re unlucky enough to be American, well nuts to you! Now you know how we feel about Earthbound and countless other games! (Quick note about -e compared to DS: smoother interface, less puzzles, non-animated solutions.) It was so nice to see these cameos, it’s the same reason I like Tetris DS. Enhance the concept with IP dressing. Recipe for success. Ok thanks for reading guys!
As you may remember, I picked up the Donkey Kong Country trilogy before it vanished from the Virtual Console. I played them back to back, which was a good way to compare their differences. I grew up with 2 and 3, and I still greatly prefer both to the first, especially now after my retrospective run through. Many people consider DKC1 the best, but as I’ve said I find it clunky and unpolished.
One of the biggest strengths of the series is atmosphere. All three do it very well, but each has a unique tone and character that is quite different from the other two. In the case of DKC3, the character designs are a little more wacky, but the environments are rich, beautiful and mysterious, although there are echoes of previous archetypes (not enough for it to seem stale or derivative though, everything is fresh). The impression is of traversing new territory (although all three achieve this). There is also a noticeable theme of nature vs. industrialisation, with the former represented by many level types and wildlife, and the latter by the Kremlings’ factories and pipes.
The music varies between lively, tranquil, and oppressive, similar to DKC2 in those variances but again with a completely different feel. Eveline Novakovic (nee Fischer) did the music, unlike the previous instalments which were scored by David Wise. This soundtrack proves the dominance of this series in great video game soundtracks (my opinion, of course).
An interesting side note to this, however: when the DKCs were being remade for GBA, at some point someone decided that instead of just inserting new, horrible mini games and new collectibles (DKC3 GBA has the former but not the latter, strangely), this one would get a more significant makeover. A whole new world with new levels was created, and the entire soundtrack removed and replaced by a brand new one composed by Wise. Thus DKC3 is one of the rare games (also Rare games) with two soundtracks. The new soundtrack radically alters the feel of many of the level archetypes (and includes remixes of DKC1’s Aquatic Ambience and Jungle Groove). On the whole I don’t like it as much, although to be fair it suffers from the GBA’s sound chip and speakers.
On that note, recently OverClocked Remix released the long-anticipated DKC3 remix album. It’s massive, and apparently very good, but I decided that before I listened to it I wasn’t familiar with the Advance soundtrack, so I should hear that first before I hear it remixed. I downloaded Cody’s rip from here, and while I played my SNES VC DKC3, I muted the TV and played the corresponding GBA level music through my phone. It was certainly a different experience, and I learned to appreciate a few tracks more than my initial impression. Some also got on my nerves, like the yodelling new Frosty Frolics.
So what about the game? Well, there’s a lot to say but I feel it’s been said better elsewhere. That elsewhere is probably lots of different threads on DKVine though, so I’ll summarise a few main points here.
More than the first two, the game uses gimmicks in new stages, which changes the gameplay feel from one that can be run through quickly with basic jumping or climbing mechanics to sometimes slower and more complex interactions. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it results in a different style that you need to know about. Series staple gimmicks of course return, such as swimming stages, dark levels, and mine carts (roller coasters in 2, toboggans in this one). The boss fights are also more interesting and strategic, with some quite unconventional methods needed. The animal buddies too are on the whole more complex, with tricky abilities rather than just making you stronger or better at jumping. So complexity is increasing through the series to here.
It’s also been said that in this game you can see the seeds of the 3D platformers that were becoming all the rage (and have since sadly quite died out). The more freely explorable open world map, the heavier emphasis on collectibles, the fetch quest items, the secret world and worlds that do not have to be completed in order, many NPCs like the Brothers Bear (also known as Mindless Idiots Who Ask For Your Help or MIWAFYHs). Of course, this game was being developed alongside Donkey Kong 64, as well as Banjo-Kazooie (and Super Mario 64, which Wrinkly Kong is playing on her own N64 at one point) so some design elements crept in. I think they enhance the game though, and make for a more compelling experience in a lot of ways. There are lessons they can teach each other.
The other consequence of this late development is that the game, when it came out, had to compete with the N64, much like Paper Mario as one of the last N64 games was competing with the Gamecube. This has contributed to its relative lack of popularity compared to DKC2 (awesome) and especially 1 (overrated). It has become a bit overlooked and is also criticised in the mainstream for “not having Donkey Kong”. I say, screw that guy! The new characters were heaps of fun and the gameplay was super solid, the atmosphere was absorbing, and there was loads more to do than in Donkey’s own game (DKC1). He isn’t needed, as far as I’m concerned, to make a game great.
Of course, the game is nowhere near as influential on the greater DK series. Kiddy never showed up again, although Ellie the elephant and the Banana Birds had cameos in the Donkey Konga games (Barnacle Bear is also apparently in the 3rd one, but I haven’t seen evidence of this apart from a promotional artwork). Barrel Blast, a haven for fan service if not particularly good apparently, featured toboggans, Kopter, and the purple parrot who is alternately known as Squeaks, Flapper or Quawks. The unreleased Diddy Kong Pilot also featured Buzzes alongside Zingers, which is cool. This also has the dubious honour of being the last Donkey Kong game in which Wrinkly Kong is alive. She dies soon after, despite being a fitness nut in this game, to become a ghost in DK64.
So, DKC3. Underappreciated, I see it as pretty much one of the last great 2D platformers before the “retro revival” stuff recently that gave us great stuff like DKCR and Rayman Origins. It also builds complexity on top of the very solid gameplay and physics of the DKC series up to that point. Besides this, the music, art, characters, etc are all top notch, typical of DKC, but with their own flavour that tells you this game was designed by a different team. (Sidenote: disappointing that almost all enemies are all-new, a discontinuity from 1 and 2 which shared enemies with new designs and roles). Another great game of my childhood that was lots of fun to revisit. I give it 5 bananas/Bear Coins/Bonus Coins/Banana Birds/DK Coins/extra life balloons.
So when Nintendo apparently decided to remove the DKC trilogy from the Wii Shop (WHYWHYWHY, they answered my emails with weaselly non-answers)(at least we got warning in this country, unlike USA), I bought them before they disappeared. Good decision. Especially for 2 and 3, the ones I actually owned on the SNES, my muscles practically remember the moves for every level. I have had very little trouble getting through anything so far. And it’s just so fun doing that, running through again like a boss.
Anyway I don’t know how much I can say about this game. It’s one of my favourites of all time, a common stance for many gamers. I can make lots of comparisons, how it’s so much better than DKC1 in lots of ways, how there is no comparison between it and the comparatively bland Super Mario World, how it and Yoshi’s Island took different branches that are both excellent.
I don’t need to say too much though. This game is so very special to me, and I mean ideally its quality will come through to anyone who picks it up, but my eyes are so heavily tinted towards it. I just don’t feel I can say much meaningful commentary, you know?
So as I played this game, it all came flooding back. I remembered where every secret was. I slightly misremembered the instant 75 Kremkoins cheat so had to look it up (I used it to open the Lost World so I didn’t have to get all the bonuses- hey I know I can do it!). The physics and mechanics just feel so right. My absolute familiarity with this game makes it feel like the epitome of videogames. Since I know it so well, it seems like the best because it feels right.
Some levels of course are still just hard. Bramble Blast, Screech’s Sprint and Animal Antics all spring to mind as ones I died many times on in this playthrough. When I did play this as a child, there were levels I’d avoid as they were hard or less fun (the two haunted forest levels also come to mind). On the other hand, Rattle Battle, Rickety Race, Castle Crush, these are all levels I loved to replay many times, so I know them the best. And yes, I got to Krocodile Kore both as a child and now.
In fact, I managed to beat the secret final boss on my first time, as Diddy, without getting hit! I am so proud of that. :D
So let’s talk about the non-mechanics things about this game that make it great. The atmosphere is utterly wonderful, each new environment is vibrant, iconic, and yet tense and moody. The music is, oh, so good. The character designs are full of personality and charm, and the mostly-consistent pirate theme of the Kremling Krew makes for a cohesive collective identity for your foes. Especially good are the returning enemies with updated costumes.
Also, the bosses are leaps and bounds ahead of the original (both designs and the battles themselves). Speaking of comparisons, I think Rare were brave to turn the tables and put Donkey Kong - THE Donkey Kong, mind you - as the kidnapped victim you need to rescue. This meant he was not playable, and not even seen until the end of the game. This apparently was the source of some controversy, at the time and later from idiots, especially at major gaming publications. I didn’t mind about that in the slightest (still don’t).
Diddy is just so much more relateable for a kid. Dixie too, although obviously she’s a girl and I’m a boy. But I loved both of them. For many years Diddy was my ultimate Video Game Hero (that’s the subplot of this game by the way, him proving himself).
Anyway it’s probably this game that started my love of the DKU, Nintendo, and even videogames in general. Pure platforming gold, with heart. I give it a flablillion bananas out of 10. Emulate it now! It’s less immoral than ever! Oh and the GBA remake is good too, although the overly bright colours, chirpified soundtrack and smaller screen make it a diminshed experience (and the new minigames are not good), but the extra collectibles added that extra element for me to make it worthwhile to play (the map screens are also new, but uglier)(oh and there’s one extra boss).
I’d like to talk about these two games at once because my backlog is filling up, and I thought a comparison of these was apt. Why?
Well, two of my favourite games growing up were Donkey Kong Country 2 and Yoshi’s Island. Those probably stand out to me the most before we got our 64. These two games, then, are related to these, being the prequel and a sequel/spin-off respectively. Also, I never really played them at the time or at all until recently. The other way I can talk about them together is that they are both ground-breaking platformers that tried new things in the market at the time, but had differing levels of success.
There is a quote from Miyamoto at the time about DKC: “The success of this game proves that people will put up with mediocre gameplay if the graphics are good.” I’m paraphrasing, but the gist is that DKC was being hyped up a lot for its graphics (even though the gameplay and other aspects were great too), and I think old Miyamoto was bitter that it was outselling his project, Yoshi’s Island. I think both games have beautiful visual styles and great gameplay, although they are very different on both counts. Both were, in a way, responses to Super Mario World but they took the 2D platformer concept in very different directions.
I can tell this is going to be long. Bear with me, folks. DKC’s sequel refined further everything that made it great, and is superior in most ways. Yoshi’s Island on the other hand had a sequel the next generation which pushed even further away from the basic SMW style, off the wacky deep end. This is my opinion, of course.
So I guess the main thing I took away from these playthroughs is that sometimes you have to try new things, and sometimes they don’t work. DKC had a few mechanics that are dropped completely in the sequel, as they were awkward or not useful. That just may be my DKC2 familiarity talking, but I feel that the designers learned a lot from DKC to make the second one a much better game. Segue to YS, which introduces a buttload of things done differently to YI, and ends up even more awkward than DKC in comparison to my childhood favourites.
They are opposite ends. That’s not to say either is bad, they just frustrate me a lot more, especially when I can see what they’ve done wrong.
To give a bit more detail, there’s a lot to love in DKC. The atmosphere, the personality, the controls feel good. My main complaints are with the hit detection, the pointless bonuses, and the badly flow-breaking animal bonus levels. These are minor though, and the reason I tend to overlook it is I prefer the sequels, the new heights they reached, how they played with the formula, plus they have more internal consistency with each other than either has with DKC1. Each installment has its own different atmosphere that gives them unique feelings, which is a great thing and more than you can say for the Mario series (ok, no more cheap potshots). The music and backgrounds play a big part in this.
YS has less to recommend it on face value. It’s a little slow and wonky, the controls are a little weird and there are also a few hit detection issues here. Also, unlike its predecessor YI the music is less memorable and tends to reuse arrangements of the main theme for most areas (in this way it resembles YI’s true DS sequel). I find this boring, personally. The aesthetic is both overly cute but also a very interesting crafty style, with newspaper, cardboard, felt, etc backgrounds like Little Big Planet but low-res.
Unlike the more precise YI, the platforming and egg-throwing is more forgiving or loose, although if you miss a jump I found it very hard to recover. The game is quite short but it is built for multiple playthroughs, with each of the 6 worlds having 4 possible levels with one being played each go through. This gives it a lot of variety, and each run will be different. The structure is also unique, mostly left-to-right or down-to-up but some more complex structures with branching paths and the level ends when you eat 30 fruit, not reach a certain point or anything.
Speaking of structure, I guess I didn’t structure this review so well but I saw some commonality there. Basically I regard both these games as lesser installments in series that I adore, and therefore worth playing on the strength of their brethren alone. But I was pleased with each when I actually got to playing them, and with YS I appreciate its radically different style. I can look past DKC’s faults to see the germ of the great series it spawned, but its more abstract features that carry through are fantastic. I just think it’s popularly overrated. YS on the other hand is slightly underrated.
The Yoshi and DK series as wholes are way too big to include any of here, so maybe one day they’ll get the proper MiloScat treatment. I’m glad I’ve now experienced these as they’re so important and influential to the overall series, DKC in its design and music and YS in its contribution of sound effects to all subsequent Yoshi material, and the aesthetic that was adapted in many Mario sports games. But now I want to play the actual games I grew up with, so I’m gonna do that. Toodles.
Hm, probably should have done a background post, so the X1 review didn’t end up so long. Ah well, the blog is partially about me anyway so I think each review or whatever will have a bit of personal stuff for context. After all, we all are made by our experiences and who we are inextricably is linked to what we get out of a game.
Speaking of games, tenuous segue! This post is part excusing the inordinate length of previous post, part news post. And the news is, I am about to obtain many more games to play! I have a giant pile of things I’m currently playing on and off, and another pile of things I will start later. The latter pile is about to get bigger, as I am very close to getting a PS3 in my house.
First, some history. Our family bought a Super Nintendo when I was in about Year 3, I think. Most likely due to pressure from 3 boys who all had friends at school with consoles. I don’t remember pressure or what games captured my imagination at friends’ houses that much, but I do remember the ones we owned very well. Many hours spent in bliss. At that time, even my parents got into it. My dad played a car game and a cricket game with us a little bit, although it was my older brother who was mostly into the sports games. My folks’ big gaming passion was the seminal Tetris & Dr. Mario. Two of the best NES puzzlers (although I didn’t know it at the time) in one package. We got a lot of play out of that one. It wasn’t really my forte, I was more into the platformers, but that game really brought the family as a whole together. My brothers and I would love watching each other play through different things, and take turns, but the only real multiplayer experience we had at the time was Tetris & Dr. Mario. We did the watching and taking turns thing with this as well, but it also had a couple of multiplayer modes. It was also the only thing we could all play, albeit with me and my little brother on a handicap. I have a great memory of being scared of a thunderstorm at night, coming downstairs to find my parents taking turns going over level 20 in Dr. Mario, and watching them for a while. Funny how things stick with you.
Anyway this was originally going somewhere else, but I’ll just say that nowadays some of my favourite games are ones that I can enjoy with others. Others being my wife most of the time. So we have a lot of Lego games, because they have great co-op. And I like playing games that she likes to watch. So she really wanted to try Journey, which looks like a great thing to experience together. Also our Blu-Ray player is becoming more stupid, so we decided that a PS3 could replace it and have cool games, for about the same price we got the player.
Of course, the reason it’s cheap is because it’s pre-owned. The cheapest one is the lowest HD capacity (40G), second generation model. Second because the first had fancy expensive features like PS2 hardware chip and Super Audio CD support that they eliminated to make manufacturing cheaper after the first models. The great thing about PS3 though is the hard drive is user-replaceable, and unlike the Xbox you don’t need a weird proprietary drive, just any SATA drive will do. The thing can become a more expensive model by taking out some screws and replacing the HD with any old one you just happen to have lying around bigger than 40G.
So after two frustrating weeks, I went into the shop to check. My one hadn’t arrived, but someone else’s had that they’d changed their mind about. So I took that one and brought it home. After a lot of setting up, we found that the HDMI output was busted. So now we’re waiting for another one to come in we can trade it for, or even the one I originally ordered. I even borrowed Little Big Planet from my brother’s friend but can’t play it yet.
It seems anticlimactic to make the big decision to buy a PS3 (since I’m mostly a Nintendo fanboy), wait for it for two weeks, then it’s broken. Anticlimactic like this post, as I’ve run out of things to say and you probably ran out of patience long ago. Until next time, then.
The first game I’d like to talk about here in detail is Megaman X. Ugh, OK, before that I’d like to get 2 things out of the way. First, the internet and I can never decide whether he has a space in his name. Rockman is always Rockman, but if want to search for Megaman games on an online shop or something I always have to try both spellings. It’s nobody’s fault really, but it’s annoying. At least you can say that all the games in the uberfranchise have that word in them (except Misadventures of Tron Bonne, but I’m not gonna play that. And Rockboard doesn’t contain Rockman but never mind that one) Anyway during this I am going to omit the space because it’s easier that way. The other is that I have really grown to hate the name “Blue Bomber”. It just sounds stupid. It’s a real lame nickname that only barely describes the guy, and I just wince every time I read it. Maybe I’ll get over this eventually. Anyway, this point is kinda irrelevant to the subject at hand, which is X1.
So for the first time, I got some Wii points recently. I had gone through the store and checked it all out, and decided the first thing to try would be X1. In my Super Nintendo days, I liked games like Yoshi’s Island and DKC2. Megaman was not really on my radar. I definitely remember playing some X game on a friend’s console at some point, because I remember the multiple levels of charging. But my first real introduction to a love for the series was with Zero for the Gameboy Advance. Me and my friend bought the first two on a trip to Japan and played them to death. It didn’t matter that we didn’t understand the story, the characters and cutscenes were enough for us to piece something together and the replayability is very high. My first and greatest love in Megaman canon is the Zero series. And really, I haven’t actually played many other games in the series—so what kind of MM fan am I?
A few years ago I got back into gaming in a big way, after having a dry patch through part of high school and uni. Part of this involved researching series I used to be interested in, and getting back into them. Unfortunately, some of the games that are essential playing to some series are hard to come by. But there is plenty for fans to see, especially if they’re catching up. I read many wikis, found tie-in comics, watched some YouTube videos. I also scouted some fansites, and picked up a bunch of RSS feeds. The most dedicated sites are a joy to read, because they are passionate about their series. Two great examples of this, in their own ways, are the DKVine and the Metroid Database. The best fansites also have a podcast, and I found the TMMN Megacast an enjoyable listen on my commutes. Adam, Jesse, Tabby and Andy are highly entertaining hosts with a deep knowledge of Megaman and even I, with no actual game experience, had a great time listening. I think someone can be a fan with no game experience, but I also happen to love gaming. I am slowly working through many games, and as I think Megaman is a very strong series, I picked up a few of his games. I breezed through Megaman 2 (iOS port) on easy mode, and loved the extension of the Zero series that was ZX Advent (DS). The first ZX is next on my list. Which brings me to X (finally).
The Megacast reviewed X1 at one point, saying it was the best X series game, that it was all downhill from there. I also had at this point basically mastered the Zero series, so my expectations for this game were high. Too high, as it turns out. What I experienced was a strange beast, so obviously an extension of the Classic series, but not extending far enough. I could also see the bones of what it could further evolve into (Zero). Apparently somewhere along the way the series got bogged down and bloated, but this game was a little barebones. I had fun with it, but it didn’t come close to matching Zero in my eyes (or my fingers’ muscle memory.)
The first thing I noticed was how different the controls were to GBA Zero. I don’t know why, but I expected it to be closer to that. In fact it’s essentially a Classic game with the Classic formula, with some changes and additions. Even the Maverick intro theme is the exact Robot Master intro theme! Anyway, as I played through the game that same idea kept coming back: This is a halfway point. Too firmly rooted in the Classic series framework, but with interesting advancements. More complex controls and powers. More interesting characters and dialogue scenes. I didn’t enjoy it as much as those who grew up with it seemed to though, because I had seen where this direction was heading: the Zero series, which just seemed better in every way.
Still, I very much appreciated the complexity of the game as compared to what I had experienced of Classic, Megaman 2 (also regarded as the best entry in its series). From what I understand, some elements of this complexity were backported in a way into 7, M&B, and 8, but here I only have the “best games” of the series to compare. And there is no comparison. Perhaps it was the fiddliness of the iPhone controls or the inherent dislike I have for NES fidelity, having grown up a generation later, but X surpasses Classic by miles. If only because it is closer to my Zero ideal. Let me go into a bit of detail.
X1 doesn’t do a great job telling a story. The opening cinematic is very evocative but not expository. Not necessarily a bad thing, but after going from the title screen directly to the intro stage, I was a little lost. At the end of the intro stage, suddenly things start happening. Vile shows up, he demolishes you, Zero comes out of nowhere like a badass and says some stuff. But all the dialogues are a bit out of context. At this point I realise that games from this generation, I should probably read the manual. This helps, but it’s a little threadbare. I’m not sure if this is a localisation thing, but the whole premise was not well established. Par for the course for Megaman in general I think, though so whatever. It’s about gameplay, right?
The gameplay is pretty good, especially after you get the dash boots. It felt so wrong after Zero, not having dashing. I don’t expect the little peeny Classic guy to dash, but X should dash! Luckily I knew to do Chill Penguin’s stage first, and after I got that first capsule things really picked up. Of course, the physics are a little weird, and I really miss the Z-Saber, but hey most of ZX Advent you don’t have a sword so I told myself it was fine. And after a few Mavericks down, I enjoyed the weapon changing mechanic. It took way too long to get charging for them, though, and you end up with a lot you don’t use. I feel like most Classic and X games are probably like this.
The Mavericks were cool, but as a Megaman fan, I feel they are extremely under-characterised. I know a lot of devs only care about gameplay, but c'mon, give them a line before I fight them! I guess I can always read the manga or something. And for that matter, what is Sigma really about? How does he present himself to his henchbots? Are they just infected by an incurable virus or is there an attractive ideology to this guy? I expect this to be developed in later games, but apparently the gameplay starts to suffer down the track as well. Maybe I’ll get to them one day, but this game didn’t exactly convince me playing the whole series was essential, except that I would one day get to control Zero. :D
The different power-ups hidden in the stages was a great idea, well implemented, and I felt good for finding these rewards. I feel like they helped too (well, except for the block breaking helmet). I was frustrated that use of a sub-tank completely drains it, no matter how much energy it restores, though. Ah well. Oh and the hadouken was awesome.
The final boss? Climbing that shaft each time you die was annoying, but at least it let you farm those worm guys for health. The dog was interesting, fun to dodge and shoot. Sigma’s first form was OK, not enough moves and when you learn how to game him fairly easy (just like Harpuia in Zero 1&2). His second form was just plain bad. Only like 2 attacks even damage him, and it’s hard to hit. His attacks aren’t very interesting either, they just do loads of damage. It doesn’t feel dangerous, not within the game. The strength of his attacks made it feel exciting to fight him, but I feel like that’s a little artificial. He just sits there and moves his hands. And any boss where you stand on his hands always seems a little silly. “Hey, I’m just gonna stand on here. Hold still while I shoot your face”.
OK this is getting very long, I do apologise. Congratulations if you read down to here, I’m still learning how to write well really so thanks for reading. Wrap up time.
All in all I think X1 is a good game, I don’t regret the purchase. But I really just view it as backstory to my favourite Megaman series, Zero. As far as that goes, it’s good to see the origins of something you love and I enjoyed it while I played. But I got the hadouken, I saw the 2 or 3 stage variations, I saw the Bubble Bat in Armored Armadillo’s stage. Now that it’s done, I don’t feel I ever need to revisit it again. But I do recommend it for those who are willing to do a bit of outside research to flesh out the world a little more than the game did.
Oh and my wife’s comment: “Looks hard and not fun. Too much of the same! And dying.” Maybe that says something about my skills, eh? Until next time.
I finally got around to playing this. I got it back in the Famicom anniversary sale. Having played almost every Metroid game before this one (only Metroid 2 left now), I was kind of looking forward to it as the commonly-held “best” in the series.
