 | What's the Franchise you've chosen? Mega Man X saga by Capcom.  |
| How I got into it – I first came across Mega Man 2 for the original Gameboy which was released in December 2001, I picked it up about 12 months later and it became my go to game boy game (try saying that three times fast when you've had a skin full) until I found another game, this time for that old great console – the SNES. That game was the first in a new Mega Man series Mega Man X. At the tender age of about fourteen this game into my life and honestly I've never looked back from it. |  The man himself |
The game itself followed the template of the previous games – pick a stage any stage, complete a stupidly hard side scrolling platformer level, kill the boss, get his weapon and rinse and repeat until you get to the final levels and kill the big boss. The games previous had introduced various other items and characters during the Mega Man tenure but in 1993 Capcom revamped the series bringing about a slightly more adult theme to it changing its place in the future (from 200X to 20XX), giving us new villains and new heroes. The titular character is named X and he is a fully functional AI. The storyline goes that when a scientist tries to replicate the technology used, some of the new robots (or Reploids as I've always known them) go a bit bonkers and decides lets eliminate all of mankind (ala every AI movie ever) and thus the Reploid war begins. But X is not alone in his adventures he has the biggest baddest coolest son of a gun sidekick going in the form of Zero. Blonde haired and red and shiny he goes and gets killed in the first game and the second game is about bringing him back to life and from that point on (except for X6 unless you do it in a certain way) is a playable character. The villain of the series is a Reploid named Sigma (who bears a remarkable resemblance to Street fighters M Bison) whose variously nefarious schemes are foiled by X and Zero (and later Axl) throughout the games.
 Vs Sting Chamleon |  Zero saves X from Vile |
While the games on the whole did not introduce anything new per se (more revamped and changed ideas it already had) it did revitalise the series and gave us a whole new storyline which actually progressed past the 'Dr Wily is trying to blow stuff up again' that was the previous titles. It also moved Mega Man (arguably the most famous Nintendo character outside of Mario) back into the worlds eye and especially in Japan who love the blue bomber to the point we get several games following (up to X8 for the PS2) a turn based combat linear RPG (Mega Man X command mission with full on animated cut scenes with Mark Catha and Lucas Gilbertson voicing X and Zero respectively) a manga, a game tied in anime, toys and collectables and another spin off focusing on Zero in the future (yeah more future) for the Game boy consoles.
 Sigma - One Badass Baddie |  Megaman X The Anime |
Favourite media/toy –
Gameswise its the first one, every time I play it it just brings back great nostalgic memories – such as throwing my controller at the wall in sheer frustration (back when controllers had cords) and the sheer elation of beating Chill Penguin (the first boss I went after). To this end my favourite possession is the Mega Man X anniversary collection and the Game Cube console it resides on.
Summarising the franchise.... Frankly I love it. Always have, always will. I bought the games, the toys, watched the youtube clip shows even wrote a rather bad fan fiction (not slash) and though I might go months even years without playing one of the X saga games, I will always keep it close by. As to others, well I dont know if there is anything ground breaking in it. But Mega Man is certainly an enduring nostalgic series. Okay, sure the blue bomber is not in the league as the red plumber but in parts of the world he is damn close. Mega Man characters have still current toy lines and show up in such titles as Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Super Smash Bros. Will we get yet another revamp (maybe then he will learn to crouch)? Who knows but I'll keep my eye on the skies.......erm internet, in hope.
Gameswise its the first one, every time I play it it just brings back great nostalgic memories – such as throwing my controller at the wall in sheer frustration (back when controllers had cords) and the sheer elation of beating Chill Penguin (the first boss I went after). To this end my favourite possession is the Mega Man X anniversary collection and the Game Cube console it resides on.
Summarising the franchise.... Frankly I love it. Always have, always will. I bought the games, the toys, watched the youtube clip shows even wrote a rather bad fan fiction (not slash) and though I might go months even years without playing one of the X saga games, I will always keep it close by. As to others, well I dont know if there is anything ground breaking in it. But Mega Man is certainly an enduring nostalgic series. Okay, sure the blue bomber is not in the league as the red plumber but in parts of the world he is damn close. Mega Man characters have still current toy lines and show up in such titles as Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Super Smash Bros. Will we get yet another revamp (maybe then he will learn to crouch)? Who knows but I'll keep my eye on the skies.......erm internet, in hope.
 | Simon "Dyansis" Skey has horrified nuns with his language since 1642. He washed up on the shore of a long forgotten land and procededed to smile at the animals of the land, which is why rabbits are rabbits. He also has a youtube channel right HERE and is a utter delight to spend time with. |
