Mega Man X Series Box Art

Well, it had to happen.  I can't ignore the stats page any longer....even though nobody has made a single comment on the post, it's gotten almost 14,000 hits, so apparently it's being viewed fairly regularly.  So....being a greedy bastard, I might as well try and double my hits!  And so, I give unto you the Mega Man X Series Box art!

 Taking place 100 years after the original series, Mega Man X starts an all new adventure and story line involving Mega Man (Now usually just referred to as X) hunting down Reploids (known as Mavericks) under an evil robot named Sigma's control.  All the robot masters are now based on animals, which was an interesting concept.  X still takes each defeated master's weapon and game play is still classic run and jump platforming, but there are now introductions of upgrading your armor and mega buster.  The artwork is classic and iconic.  Mega Man X also introduces us to a new ally - Zero.

X2 is a direct continuation of Mega Man X.  A new threat faces X and the Maverick Hunters...a group of robots calling themselves X-Hunters.  They lure X in with parts from Zero, who was destroyed in the first installment.  X must try and recover Zero's body parts to have Dr. Cain rebuild him.  If he fail's Sigma rebuilds him and X must fight his old friend himself.  That's some powerful stuff for a Super NES release!

The final Mega Man X release on the Super NES console.  This installment sees the Reploid threat being neutralized by a Repoloid Scientist named Dr. Doppler, who creates a new technology.  The reformed Reploids form a sort of robot utopia that they call Doppler Town.  All is well until these Reploids revert back to their evil ways and go on an all out attack.  X and Zero head out to destroy 8 new robot masters.  After defeating Doppler, they find out that Sigma is alive and well as a computer virus.  Sigma corrupted Doppler, forcing him to create a new body for him.  Hey.....are you starting to see a trend with Sigma here?

X4 is the first of the MegaMan X series to appear on the Playstation console stateside.  X3 had a PS release in Europe and Japan.  X4 is the first in the series to present Full Motion Video cut-scenes.  An army known as Repliforce is created to assist the Maverick Hunters.  Repliforce is lead by General and Colonel.  General is meeting with shady characters in the background and when the floating city known as Sky Lagoon comes crashing down, killing thousands, X and Zero are dispatched to investigate.  Colonel denies any involvement, but we know betting.  8 new Maverick Leaders spring up and after defeating them and General & Colonel...surprise, surprise...we find out that Sigma has been pulling the strings the whole time!

X5 is a pretty cool edition to the series.  Sigma wastes no time in attacking after the events of X4.  He openly attacks the Maverick Hunters intending to lose and spreading a new virus.  He has a keen interest in Zero in this installment, wanting to "unlock his true power" and taking X down at the same time.  There is a plot to crash a space colony into Earth as well.  X and Zero must defeat eight more Maverick Leaders to collect the parts needed to upgrade a super weapon called "Enigma".  The success of this mission is completely randomized by the game, which is a first.  Another first is the fact that this is the first Mega Man game to feature multiple endings!

X6 was the first time that series creator Keiji Inafune was not involved in the game.  He had intended to end the series with the death of Zero in X5.  X6 finds the surface of the world virtually uninhabitable, Zero is missing and presumed dead.  A new Maverick called Zero Nightmare is causing havoc and X is infuriated that this Maverick would use his friends name.  Defeating Zero Nightmare, we find that Zero is alive and recovering from his injuries.  Together X and Zero seek out the creator of Zero Nightmare.  A Reploid known as Gate who.....wait for it.....also has been rebuilding Sigma!  X and Zero again defeat the nearly rebuilt Sigma.

With X7, the series jumped from the PSOne to the PS2.  In this installment, we find that X has had enough of war and violence and starts to question whether or not the Maverick Hunters are doing the right thing.  He steps down as a Hunter, and this causes a void in the ranks of Maverick Hunters.  A new group arises called Red Alert...who are sort of like Repliforce, but more vigilante with very questionable tactics.  A young member named Axl has had enough of Red Alert and leaves, which infuriates the leader, Red.  Red sends out a Mechaloid after Axl, who is saved by Zero.  Red issues a challenge to the Maverick Hunters, releasing eight Maverick Leaders that he had in custody....who ever manages to take them down first will get control of Axl.  Zero and Axl are your two main characters for most of the game, until X gets his head out of his ass for the final battle against Red.  When we get to Red's fortress we find that yet again Sigma has been rebuilt.  Time to whoop his robot ass again, I supppose.

The final of the numbered X series games, X8 is an odd one.  Humans have finally had enough of this Reploid war and are trying to colonize the moon.  A new generation of DNA based Reploids are created that have special inhibitor chips that prevent them from going Maverick.  These new Reploids can use DNA data to change their shape, which is pretty cool.  We find out that Axl is actually a prototype for these.  All is going well until a resurrected Vile (defeated in X3) kidnaps the lead Reploid project leader.  The Maverick Hunters go after and we soon find that Sigma's DNA is implanted on all the chips put in the new generation.  So all these Reploids that aren't supposed to be able to go Maverick.......they go Maverick.  Sigma is finally defeated once and for all, but then Lumine, the kidnapped Reploid takes his place and launches an all out assault on the Maverick Hunters, stating that in order for evolution to take place, humans and obsolete Reploids must be destroyed.  Lumine is defeated, of course....but at a cost.

This is a spin-off of the X series, but I figured "what the hell" I'll include it here.  Command Mission takes place about 100 years after the events of X8.  A meteorite falls and a new substance known as Force Metal is extracted from it.  This Force Metal is used in the engineering of new Reploids.  Cause, you know....that's a good idea.  A whole floating city called Giga City is created in the middle of the ocean, who's sole purpose is harvesting and smelting Force Metal.  Well, shocker, Giga City is attacked by a group of Reploids led by one called Epsilon.  X and Zero are dispatched along with another Hunter named Shadow to take care of the situation.  Well, Shadow betrays them....cause...you know....Reploids named Shadow sound trustworthy to begin with.  Turns out Epsilon isn't a Maverick.  He's fighting the good fight against the Reploid who sent X to Giga City to begin with, Redips, who IS Maverick.  Sigma is nowhere to be found, thank god.  This is a turn based strategy game, which is a huge departure for the series, but still very cool.


Well there ya have it!  The Mega Man X Box Art series, with capsulized reviews of each game!  Hope you enjoyed this as much as the classic series and.....seriously.....leave me a comment or something.  I don't bite.  Much.