Mega Man X8 (Sony PlayStation 2, 2004)

I got this game because I am a huge fan of the Mega Man series and wanted to complete my collection of the X games, and in my opinion this was a good addition to make.

In this game, the Earth of the future has been severely damaged thanks to the efforts of human-hating robots (we call them Mavericks; see X-X7), and so humans are working hard on moving to the Moon. They are assisted by friendly/neutral/non-Maverick robots commonly known as Reploids, and their less-sentient counterparts the Mechaniloids.

Unfortunately, this Jakob Project is in danger from sabotage. Early on in the game the project's leader is kidnapped by the Maverick Vile, who is notorious, as is his boss Sigma, for refusing to stay dead. Now eight sites associated with the project are under attack by Mavericks, and it's up to our heroes to stop them and find out exactly what's going on before something really bad happens.

When kicking Maverick butt, you can use X and his trusty X-Buster, Zero and his awesome sword skills, or the shapeshifting sharpshooter Axl. In true Mega Man fashion, the three will copy an ability from any Maverick bosses you defeat, and if you're lucky, the ability you get from one boss will help you to take down another.

Now you may have heard some jokes on the 'Net about how soul-crushingly hard the X series can be... and I'm afraid they were telling the truth. The objective of each level is to stop the Mavericks from causing trouble, but each level's got a different thing for you to do in order to achieve that noble goal. You have to be good at running, good at jumping (Zero's double jump and Axl's gliding are very handy), good at shooting and REALLY good at dodging. And then you still have to take down Sigma. Did I mention you aren't supposed to touch the spikes?

But don't let that discourage you, because this is a good game. The graphics are well done, the soundtrack's great, and there's plenty of the shooting action Mega Man fans love. Try to pick up as many Metals (they appear as little triangles) as you can, because you can take them back to the lab and have them made into helpful items such as extra health or more energy for your special attacks. There are Navigators to help you through the levels (depending on who you pick, you can learn about secret routes or get info on boss techniques), and I have heard that you can even play with them...

I knew Capcom would strike back eventually. They finally did and gave us Mega Man X8. After the last X game people started to lose hope with Capcom and Mega Man himself. Now we have no reason to complain about past mistakes because I truly believe they made up for them.

Yay! Good voices and no targeting system! These are the first things you will notice if you played Mega Man X7. Everything in this game is better than X7. Graphics, cut-scenes, controls, voices, music, and story. I don't want to bash X7 but this game is just so much better.

The reploids are still fighting amongst each other so now man has decided to go to the Moon to think up new operations. However, instead of going there by rocket, they are building a gigantic orbital elevator which connects the Earth and the Moon. This is probably to shorten time between sending supplies and data among each other. However, the opening movie reviels not all is well. No more than that or else I would spoil a decent story.

A great thing to note at this point if I didn't already make it obvious is that everybody have fantastic voices. They may not be the best you ever heard but they are the best you have probably heard come from X. Everyone sounds like you would think they should. Now X can sound cooler than Zero and Axl sounds like a GUY. The targeting system from X7 is officially gone so now you are back to manually controlling your shots which is GREAT. X's fully charge blast has excellent size and power, Axl has amazing rapid-fire action and great power for such small and fast bullets and who can still copy his enemies, and Zero is the agile close AND far-ranged fighter(depending on his weapon) with intense strength and fighting tactics. You can easily handle all the characters with ease and will have no trouble mastering them.

The team system is still here but feels so much better than X7. Firing a humongous blast from X and then immediately switching to Zero to hack any remainers to pieces or switch to Axl to quickly and effectively fill them all with holes is now the way you would have ever wanted it. Graphics look much more fluid and resemble cell-shading which is probably why even though the sprites seem smaller but they still look great. Boss fights are fun again with an addictive new tune playing which changes after you beat up the boss a bit and a decent challenge from all of them.

X's armor system has been changed as well.Instead of just finding the parts and not using them until you find them all, you can custimize X's armor by choosing between the two sets you can find. By finding all of a set you get an added bonus. New skills can be acquired from metals you find as well as bosses you beat. As you find rare metals, you can unlock these skills so can upgrade your characters. To get them though you have to pay with regular metals you recieve from enemies. Defeating the final boss with a different character can unlock even more surprises.

Overall, I highly recommend this game for any dedicated Mega Man fan.In fact, I recommend everyone at least play it once. Rent it first if you want but I think it is a buy. I hope Capcom keeps giving us Mega Man like this.

MEGA MAN X7:

Let me start this review by saying I had ABSOLUETLY no problem with the 3-D\2-D system this game had going on, personally I found it very cool. Dont let what people tell you about this game ruin your thoughts.. Like the voice acting was awful -- So what else is new? It's capcom, they suck with voices. That doesnt ruin an amazing game though, there is sub titles unless you just cant read, another thing is people say the 3-D gets really frustrating and can get you killed, theres a simple explanation, those people that complain about that just suck at the game. I found this to be the easiest game in the series, how can you possibly die on the final fight with sigma? I barely even had to move for god's sake! damn that god I dont believen for people being dense! Megaman Legends 2 is the game that had all the problems that people say this game had, there was nothing wrong with X7 at all.

MEGA MAN X8

In broad strokes, this Mega Man X game is like all the others. You have a first level that indicates a problem, then 8 bosses with accompanying stages, and finally, two or three stages with bosses until a final showdown. As usual there are some good songs/music, background graphics, and boss challenges that make the Mega Man series the success that they are.

What is different is that you can pick two Maverick Hunters to go into each stage, just like in 7, however this is relatively new to the "X" games, no pun intended but I'll take it. Also you get "chips" for beating enemies that can be spent to give the three characters upgrades. There are also secret areas in each stage and I had to use the Gamefaqs website to find them all.

X8 is another fun game like all the other Mega Man X games. This time, too, a surprise end boss makes the ending a little different. This is overall a solid effort on Capcom's part.

I've decided that I want to play all the Megaman games that there are. I love the Megaman X games but my faith in them started to wane with the poorly-produced sixth one and the just plain awful seventh one. My favorite of the series was X2, but now it is this one; it's really that good. The sound and the visuals are great and you can tell a lot of production value went into this one. The storyline has evolved as well and is actually very engaging. There is much to see and do in this game. Finding all the powerups is a lot of fun; they are hidden in very innovative ways and will require you to think and try different things. There is only one truly frustrating level but, since there are no powerups hidden there, you'll never have to visit it again after you've completed it until you start a new game. You will not be disappointed with this game and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Let's hope that number nine will be just as good, if not better!

the exact opposite of easy. yes. and, unlike links that appear on your 'my ebay' page, and then upon following said links need you to write a review consisting of at least 100 characters, when you really only clicked twice-said links in the hopes of removing thrice-said links so you post some long run-on, fragment riddled sentences fulfilling quad-said links requirements, this game has nothing to do with any of that and post-game playing, will lead you to exactly whatever it is that i no longer remember to be the point - but i believe it.