I don’t know why author Mike Zeller was so down on Mega Man X2 in this article. This is the game that introduced us to Green Biker Dude. Few games can claim such a legacy!
13 thoughts on “GameSpite Journal 10: Mega Man X2”
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I don’t know why author Mike Zeller was so down on Mega Man X2 in this article. This is the game that introduced us to Green Biker Dude. Few games can claim such a legacy!
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RIP GBD
Overdrive Ostrich pretty much rules.
There was the relatively shocking addition of three super-bosses who roam the map and could challenge you in any stage. Indeed, that’s why I never finished X2 – those bastards kicked my ass every time.
Those guys are actually pretty optional; you can just ignore ’em and go to stages where they aren’t. The only reason to fight them is if you don’t want to fight Zero near the end.
It’s true. Despite how unfavorably some Mega Man games may compare to others, the NES and SNES era installments were still solid games compared to a good chunk of their competition.
Of course, it doesn’t change that it was disappointing that X2 went for gimmicky wireframe bosses and a sidequest with minibosses which only serves to cheat you out of an awesome boss fight if you go through with it instead of expanding on X1’s beaten stage effect interconnectivity, but it’s still one of the better action games on the SNES.
That whole Zero resurrection deal does have the effect of making all other robot deaths in the series ridiculous, though. If Zero can be brought back after being blown in half in X1 and having his head torn off at some point before X2, and after having 66% of his body trashed in X5, what’s to stop the resurrection of Dr. Doppler after that ending where he dies? Or Sigma’s Reploid comrades Zero murdered back before baldy became the X series’ smirky robotic stand-in for Dr. Wily’s classic series final boss role? Or heck, the Colonel and Iris? What was he grieving foooooooooooooor?!
According to X6, reploid resurrection is illegal, though I don’t recall them ever giving a reason why. :/ Kinda’ silly.
Note to Zeller: Mega Man is not “referred to as X,” they’re different characters.
There is al least one area in which X2 stands out from the rest of the series: the horrendous X-hunter boss-theme, which truly was “god awful”. Someone at Capcom must have really loved that faux electric guitar wailing that the SNES soundchip produced, because they use it a lot in both this game and X3. As a whole I find the music of the X-series (with the possible exception of X1) to be far less memorable then the original MM series.
But the first X-Hunter stage theme is amazing! And the intro stage theme. And the Zero battle theme. And some others.
Overall, I really liked X2 and its soundtrack. It didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but when your precursor is one of the greatest games of all time, I don’t think you really need change too much to make a fun game.
Don’t get me wrong, the X series on SNES is still one of my all-time favourites. And I have to say, having spend a good part of the day on Youtube listening to the X2 and X3 soundtrack, some of the music in those games is really great! It’s been a while since last played X2 and X3 and for some tragic reason, the only music that seems to stick is that high pitched X-hunter bosstheme. :(
I rather liked X2 honestly. It did some interesting things with its weapons, and took the high road with the armor upgrades by not recycling them from the previous game.
You forgot the misplaced ‘ in Eight Eye’s.
X2 is more of what made X great. It didn’t do anything particularly wrong, added some inoffensive weapons, had AMAZING boss fights, and the formula wasn’t yet stale. I have no idea why you’re comparing it (and the predecessor NES games) to other completely unrelated games on the console?
This article should be about X3, if anything. Which wasn’t all that bad, either.