Megaman: Maverick Hunter X FAQ/Walkthrough v.1.3 25. April 2006 =============================================================================== - 0 - Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------ =============================================================================== As with any new system, the first few games being released for the Playstation Portable are ports or remakes of existing games. This game, Megaman: Maverick Hunter X (MMHX from this point onwards) is one such game. This is a remake of the 1993 SNES game Megaman X by Capcom. Unlike most other remakes though, Capcom has done a great job in that they not only upgraded the game so that it conforms with current standards in terms of graphics and style, they also added in a bunch of new features and game modes. This resulted in a great game for new players as well as nostalgic romp for older fans of the franchise. This FAQ aims to guide players through MMHX, giving relevant tips on the harder portions of the game. The following items are covered in this guide: * A quick run down on what's new in this game. * An introduction to both characters with a detailed discussion of their weapons and upgrades. * Walkthrough for both X MOVE and VILE MODE (both for normal and hard). =============================================================================== - 1 - What's New in Maverick Hunter X ----------------------------------------- =============================================================================== Upon booting up the game for the first time, fans of the original will instantly recognize a number of key changes. * First and foremost, a new graphics engine was implemented. Gone are the 2D sprites moving on "layered" flat backgrounds. Everything is now made in 3D! Sprites (X, Zero and the Maverick Bosses in particular) are very detailed and the animations are now great to watch (you'll see what I mean after you kill your first Maverick Boss). * A new playable character is introduced in Vile. Fans will remember Vile as a powerful yet relatively minor character in the original game, only appearing in a couple of scenes: one near the beginning and another time right near the end of the game. Through the different cut scenes and the actual game itself, we get to know more of the motives behind Vile and how he fits into the X Saga. More on Vile later on. * X's stages have been changed a bit though not by that much. The most significant change is the swapping of the locations of the armor upgrades. This change I was, I think, made them a bit easier to obtain but that is just my opinion. * Overall difficulty of the game is somewhat on the easy side. The included X's Normal mode should be easy to cruise through if you're a veteran Megaman X player. If not, you should still be able to play through the said mode in a couple of days. Hard Mode is more at par with the original but still a bit easier. I would have hoped that they instead labeled Normal Mode as "Easy", Hard Mode as "Normal", and created a really hard "Hard" Mode. Difficulty is something that the current generations of games has been a bit lacking I think (with the exception of the Zero games for the GBA as well as the hellish Megaman Powered Up!). * You will now able to "Escape" even non-completed stages and go back to the Stage Select screen. They probably realized that it was a common tactic for beginners to get upgrades/power-ups from stages then forcing stage select via suicide :-) (well I know I did that). * A number of few new albeit minor features were added as well such as the inclusion of a save feature (for newer gamers, believe it or not older games never allowed you to save as is a limitation of the systems involved) to replace the Password system, and the inclusion of Free Play Mode which is essentially your last save game with all bosses revived for play through again (very handy for FAQ making). Note that in Free Play Mode, Vile's equipping limit is removed (you'll understand this later on in the FAQ). * Upon completion of the game, you will be treated to a 20 minute long movie featuring the start of the conflict between Reploids and Mavericks. Sigma's turning is detailed as well as the motives behind this. Now I hope they include another movie showing the beginnings of Zero :-). =============================================================================== - 2 - Megaman X --------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== From the start, the Megaman titles follow the same basic formula, where the main protagonist fights 8 (or 6 in the original) themed robot masters after going through stages following the same theme (i.e., Ice Stage for Ice bosses, Fire Stage for Fire bosses, etc). After defeating the said robot masters, the protagonist obtains a crippled version of that enemies weapon which he can now use on the following stages (as long as the energy meter for said weapon allows of course). Note that some robot masters are more susceptible to some weapons than others (similar to Pokemon where Leaf Types are easily defeated using Fire Types). Players familiar with the original Megaman series but new to the X series will quickly find out that X is much more agile compared to the original blue bomber. X can climb up walls and slowly slide down them as well. He can ( with the correct upgrades) also perform pretty long jumps. X also sports a cooler more mature look (this is further emphasized if you compare this game with Megaman Powered Up!, the remake of the original Megaman game). In terms of weapons, X starts out with the Variable Weapons System (or X- Buster). This is your standard pellet shooter with the additional ability to charge-up for more powerful shots. As discussed above, this has one special feature and that is the ability to replicate weapons of defeated bosses ( though in comparison, these weapons are definitely gimped versions of the originals). Once upgraded, his X-Buster can charge up the said stolen weapons either for more powerful shots or for special abilities (such as temporary invincibility or shielding). Below is the list of weapons that X can obtain in the game: ROLLING SHIELD Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires a spherical projectile that rolls along the ground and until it hits an enemy or obstacle. Fully charged up it creates a shield which blocks some non-energy based projectiles and destroys some smaller enemies outright. It is significantly improved in that you can now switch weapons while this is active greatly increasing its usability. You get this after you beat ARMORED ARMADILLO. This is most useful against LAUNCH OCTOPUS as it staggers him for a bit of time. HOMING TORPEDO Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires a missile that homes in on the nearest enemy or non- energy based projectile. This has been gimped somewhat compared to the original in that it does not home in on enemies as fast as before. This is best used when there are no obstacles between you and the enemy. Charged up it fires three somewhat stronger homing missiles. You get this after you beat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. This is most useful against BOOMERANG KUWANGER. It also staggers him upon impact. BOOMERANG CUTTER Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires a short range boomerang that travels a small distance and loops back to the thrower. This weapon is relatively weak but has some very specific applications. One such application is that it carries all power ups and pickups it passes through back to X. Charged up it fires a number of more boomerangs starting from X in the four primary directions. Fun to watch but has limited use. You get this after you beat BOOMERANG KUWANGER. This is most useful against STING CHAMELEON as it causes him to stop his current action when hit. Also note that it is also effective in limiting the move set of FLAME MAMMOTH (it cuts off his trunk) and LAUNCH OCTOPUS (it cuts off four of his tentacles). More on this later. CHAMELEON STING Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires three laser beams one going horizontal and the other two at ~5 degree angles up and down. It can also be aimed up and down (up angling all shots by 5 degrees upwards and down angling all shots 5 degrees downwards). This is useful in that it makes aiming some enemies easier though I rarely use this except for the maverick susceptible to it (STORM EAGLE). Charged up, X is rendered invincible for a duration (indicated by X flashing different colors). You get this after you beat STING CHAMELEON. This is most useful against STORM EAGLE. It staggers him upon impact negating his more lethal attacks. STORM TORNADO Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires a tornado type attack horizontally, which can hit larger enemies multiple times and destroys most non sub-boss/boss enemies outright. Charged up it fires a larger vertical tornado. Useful in many situations. You get this after you beat STORM EAGLE. This is most useful against FLAME MAMMOTH. FIRE WAVE Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: A flame thrower type weapon that sends out a continues flame starting from X's arm propagating to about 8th the length of the PSP screen. This is pretty strong though has limited use because it requires you to be at close range as well as being very energy consuming. Charged up it sends a wave of fire from the ground just in front of X that propagates until it hits a solid object. You get this after you beat FLAME MAMMOTH. This is most useful against CHILL PENGUIN. Upon impact, he is burned severely and he cannot do anything while burning. SHOTGUN ICE Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires a shard of ice that shatters upon impact (enemies or obstacles). Each shard is as powerful as the original. It has the ability to freeze certain enemies. When charged up, this creates a large block of ice which X can use like a skateboard. The ice block can also be used as weapon. You get this after you beat CHILL PENGUIN. This is most useful against SPARK MANDRILL. He is frozen solid for a duration. ELECTRIC SPARK Firing Cost: 2 units (4 charged up) Description: Fires a small electric sphere which splits into two upon impact. It has the ability to electrocute certain enemies. When charged up, a sort of electric storm is created centered on X frying enemies in a radius of almost the vertical length of the PSP screen. You get this after you beat SPARK MANDRILL. This is most useful against ARMORED ARMADILLO. Hi is staggered and his armor is removed making him susceptible to damage even while rolling. Note that each of these weapons have their own energy bar which is depleted with each use (more so if charged up). Aside from these, X can pickup armor upgrades that give him specific abilities. These are as follows: LEG PARTS - Gives X the ability to Dash. Unlike the slide move from the original series, Dash can be used in conjunction with jump giving the X to jump long distances. HEAD PARTS - Makes X's head harder :-). This gives him the ability to break some blocks with his head and block some attacks coming from above (like the falling rocks in STING CHAMELEON's stage). BODY PARTS- This reduces damage taken by half. ARM PARTS - While the non-upgraded X-Buster is able to charge to 3 levels, after the upgrade charge level is increased to 4, which is actually two level 3 charges traveling in a helix formation. Note that these hit separately so full damage is not always done. More importantly, this upgrade gives X the ability to charge up stolen weapons as well. You also get two "secret" upgrades. These are the following: Z-BUSTER UPGRADE - Upon reaching near the end of the game, if you didn't pickup the ARM PARTS upgrade, an ally of yours (Zero, not discussed, playable character in later games in the X series) will give you his version of the X-Buster, the Z-Buster. It is a much more powerful compared to the X-Buster and has many things going for it. For one, instead of two level 3 charged shots forming a helix, this is actually one level 5 projectile meaning it hits harder and it always hits at full strength unlike X's level 4 blast which only hits full blast if both projectiles in the helix formation hits the enemy and often that not it doesn't. Plus, its red :-). HADOUKEN UPGRADE - Most older gamers should know that Capcom (the makers of Megaman) also had another fairly successful series under its belt, the relatively well known Streetfighter Series. The main character of the game(in my point of view), Ryu, has one well known move named Hadouken. Triggering this, an energy blast is fired from his hand propagating forward. Given certain requirements, X can get a version of this move ( complete with animation and sound effects). Note that this is more akin to the Hadouken move in the first Streetfighter in that it can kill anything in one hit (except if doing can disrupt the story of course). Note that to use this, X's life bar should be full. This is triggered by the key combination DOWN, DOWN+FORWARD, FORWARD+SQUARE. Note that X's armor is blue but as you collect upgrades, the body part relating to the upgrade is changed to white (i.e., X will have white legs after the leg upgrade). In the end, X will be white (i.e., white bomber?, doesn't suit him much). Just a thought. X can also pickup power ups in the form of 8 heart tanks (raises max life by two tics) and 4 sub-tanks (a store for health when you pick them up while your life is full so you can be use when you need them). =============================================================================== - 3 - Vile -------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== Vile shares some of the abilities of X (climbing, stealing weapons, etc.) but his style of play is radically different. While X's arsenal of weapons consists of his X-Buster plus 8 weapons stolen from maverick bosses (as is normal Megaman fare), Vile has a staggering 45 weapons (and two armor upgrades), in his repertoire. While X's weapons are all readily available once obtained, Vile can carry only 3 weapons at a time, one for each of his launchers (shoulder mounted gun, arm, and leg/knee) and these are selected at the start of the level and cannot be replaced until you go back to the stage select screen. Equipping these weapons also depend on Vile's energy bar which starts out very short but increases with each defeated Maverick. This energy bar is shared by all three weapons chosen. Note that each weapon has a firing cost and the total of these costs cannot exceed the length of your bar (so if you have an energy bar 20 tics long, you can't equip three items if the total of their firing cost exceeds 20 tics). Note though that in contrast to X whose energy bar can only be refilled via energy pickups, Vile's energy bar is constantly refilling (and fast at that). This means that you can use weapons indefinitely. You can't spam them though. Sooner or later, rate of fire is reduced greatly as the refill rate can't cope with your fire rate. Also note that, depending on the order you defeat the bosses, you may be able to pickup the stronger weapons sooner than later, but this doesn't mean you can use them immediately. As discussed above, Vile has three weapon launchers: his shoulder-mounted gun, his arm, and his leg/knee. Each of these have three weapon sub-classes and these sub-classes are unlocked upon defeat of certain bosses. Each sub- class has 5 types which you are unlocked after defeating other bosses. This means that you would need to two bosses to get some weapons. These are discussed below. Note the following: * I haven't had the time to extensively test all weapons against all enemies but I have had success in finding weaknesses for all enemies. I will update the list later on. * For those observant enough to notice, from the below you will see that weapon weaknesses are similar to X's (i.e., ICE types are strong against SPARK MANDRILL, FIRE types are strong against CHILL PENGUIN). This is not always the case though so be forewarned. = ARM WEAPONS ================================================================= This is your most commonly used type and is most akin to X's X-Buster. ----- VULCAN-TYPE-------------------------------------------------------------- This is your default ARM weapon type. This type can be described as a sort of rapid fire gun (hold-down SQUARE button), akin to Bass' weapon in Megaman and Bass although this cannot be aimed. This is available from the start. CHERRY BLAST Energy Requirement: 2 Description: This is your default Vulcan. It has good range but damage leaves much to be improved. You probably won't use this outside after you defeat your first Maverick unless you are short on energy. This is available from the start. ZIP ZAPPER Energy Requirement: 8 Description: This VULCAN, though a bit stronger than the default, has very limited range (about a sixth of the length of the PSP screen only). I prefer CHERRY BLAST over this due to difficulty of use. This becomes available when you defeat ARMORED ARMADILLO. BUCKSHOT DANCE Energy Requirement: 12 Description: This is a combination of Chameleon Sting from X and Cherry Blast in that it fires a series of "Vulcan shots" forward but the resulting shots are angled slightly at about 5% - 10% horizontally. This is pretty useful in that in some cases you no longer need to jump shot to hit enemies. Other than that usefulness is limited. This becomes available when you defeat STING CHAMELEON. DISTANCE NEEDLER Energy Requirement: 6 Description: This, in my humble opinion, is the best of the Vulcan class weapons. It has excellent range (much longer than the PSP screen length), and it can go through most enemies (even shielded ones!). It's main downfall is that its fire rate is very slow but that is compensated by its relatively more powerful shots. This becomes available when you defeat CHILL PENGUIN. I've tested this to be useful against SPARK MANDRILL. TRIPLE 7 Energy Requirement: 16 Description: Similar to BUCKSHOT DANCE only more powerful but more costly so you can't combine this with some of the more powerful shoulder and leg types until Free Play. This becomes available once you defeat FLAME MAMMOTH. ----- MISSILE TYPE ------------------------------------------------------------ Vile removes his arm and fires a missile from the hole. This is less powerful compared to the last type below but unlike that one it can be fired multiple times. This offers a good balance of speed and power. Note that ALL MISSILE TYPEs become available after you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. HUMERUS CRASH Energy Requirement: 4 Description: This is your basic MISSILE TYPE. It fires a missile horizontally. It is not rapid fire, so you need to press the SQUARE button multiple times. This becomes available after you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. I've tested this to be useful against BOOMERANG KUWANGER. POPCORN DEMON Energy Requirement: 6 Description: Fires a missile that splits into three a short distance away from Vile. Its usefulness is akin to that of BUCKSHOT DANCE in that you can fire missiles at enemies on slightly higher or lower ledges. This becomes available after you defeat STING CHAMELEON. BANZAI BEETLE Energy Requirement: 6 Description: Fires a missile with wings which improves accuracy in that you can hit the enemies via the wings as well and not only the missile itself. This becomes available after you defeat STORM EAGLE. I've tested this to be useful against FLAME MAMMOTH. LOST LAMB Energy Requirement: 6 Description: Fires a missile that travels at an irregular path. It is a bit quirky to use but otherwise is usable. This is useful against BOOMERANG KUWANGER. SEROTINAL BULLET Energy Requirement: 4 Description: Fires missiles that travel at a very slow rate (almost floating for a few seconds). This is most useful against aggressive enemies in that you can fire it then run a way and see said enemies rush into your missile. This becomes available after you defeat CHILL PENGUIN. This I have tested to be effective against BOOMERANG KUWANGER and SPARK MANDRILL. Though this doesn't damage him that much, this is also useful against STORM EAGLE. ----- PUNCH TYPE -------------------------------------------------------------- For fans of the series, this is similar to the weapon given to Megaman by Hard Man in Megaman 3 in that you launch your fist itself into a rocket boosted punch attack. This is extremely powerful but you need to wait for your arm to reattach to your body before you fire again. Nevertheless, this is the best arm type weapon and one that you would be choosing most of the time. All PUNCH TYPEs become available once you defeat SPARK MANDRILL. GO-GETTER RIGHT Energy Requirement: 6 Description: The default PUNCH TYPE. This is as close to the original Hard Man Punch weapon as you can get. This becomes available once you defeat SPARK MANDRILL. This is most effective against ARMORED ARMADILLO though this does not have the effect of removing his armor. SPOILED BRAT Energy Requirement: 6 Description: The same as GO-GETTER RIGHT but FASTER and WEAKER. I won't use this. IMHO I'll take one of the VULCAN's instead if I was looking for something fast. This becomes available after you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. EGOTISTIC PILL Energy Requirement: 12 Description: PUNCH TYPE but armor piercing! Useful but I would choose something else. This becomes available once you defeat ARMORED ARMADILLO. GOLDEN RIGHT Energy Requirement: 20 Description: This is extremely strong (probably the strongest in terms of raw damage of all of Vile's weapons). It suffers greatly in range though which limits its usefulness. This becomes available once you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. INFINITY GIG Energy Requirement: 16 Description: This is probably the best PUNCH TYPE of all. It has the power of a PUNCH TYPE plus homing and armor piercing. If you've played Diablo II using a high pierce guided arrow Amazon, you'll know what I mean. This is just so good. This becomes available after you defeat CHILL PENGUIN and is extremely useful against ARMORED ARMADILLO though it doesn't remove his armor. = SHOULDER-MOUNTED GUN WEAPONS ================================================ This form your anti-air arsenal. Note that you pause in place when you fire this (even in the air) which may be advantageous and disadvantageous depending on the situation. ----- BLAST TYPE -------------------------------------------------------------- These fire concentrated energy similar to X's charged shot in appearance (though you don't need to actually charge). This is Vile's default SHOULDER TYPE and as such is available from the get go. Note that except if explicitly specified, this weapon can be aimed using the UP and DOWN keys. Note though that UP fires at ~80 degrees from the horizontal, default fires at ~45 degrees from the horizontal and DOWN fires horizontally. FRONT RUNNER Energy Requirement: 2 Description: This is your default BLAST TYPE. It's about as powerful as X's charge shot. This is available from the start. TRIDENT LINE Energy Requirement: 6 Description: As is all weapons you get from beating STING CHAMELEON, this fires 3 FRONT RUNNER like blasts at angles of each other. Note that the 3 blasts are fired one at a time leaving Vile vulnerable for that time span. FATBOY Energy Requirement: 20 Description: Exceedingly powerful but cannot be spammed due to Energy Requirements. This becomes available after you defeat BOOMERANG KUWANGER. FIRE MURRAIN Energy Requirement: 8 Description: This fires a short range blast that explodes after traveling a short distance. It is very powerful though and good against multiple flying enemies. This becomes available after you defeat FLAME MAMMOTH. LONGSHOT GIZMO Energy Requirement: 14 Description: Similar to TRIDENT LINE except it fires five blasts. This becomes available after defeating STORM EAGLE. ----- LASER TYPE -------------------------------------------------------------- This fires lasers (obviously). These are extremely powerful though I would use the type below except for specific situations. All LASER TYPEs become available after defeating STING CHAMELEON. NOTE THAT IN MY OBSERVATION ALL LASER TYPES ARE USEFUL AGAINST STORM EAGLE. CERBERUS PHANTOM Energy Requirement: 6 Description: This is the default LASER TYPE. Like all weapon's received from STING CHAMELEON, this fires 3 lasers at angles of each other. Note that this can be aimed. This is especially effective against STORM EAGLE, having the ability to stagger him. This is important given it is almost impossible to defeat STORM EAGLE without the ability to interrupt his tornado attack. NERVOUS GHOST Energy Requirement: 8 | DEFEAT: Sting Chameleon, Flame Mammoth) Description: Stronger version than CERBERUS PHANTOM but fires only one laser. Note that this can be aimed. This becomes available after defeating FLAME MAMMOTH. RISING SPECTER Energy Requirement: 18 Description: Much, much stronger laser though cannot be aimed. You won't need to though because of its width. This is very effective against STORM EAGLE. This becomes available after you defeat FLAME MAMMOTH. STRAIGHT NIGHTMARE Energy Requirement: 14 Description: Slow and piercing, this is one of the more powerful lasers. This has the distinct disadvantage of not being able to fire upwards. I don't use it much though, since I find RISING SPECTER to be more useful. This becomes available after you defeat STORM EAGLE. This is useful against FLAME MAMMOTH. NECRO BURST (COST: 28 | DEFEAT: Sting Chameleon, Launch Octopus) Energy Requirement: 28 Description: Now this is different. Firing this kills any non-boss enemy right next to you. This means though that you'll be taking a lot of damage. Also note that after firing this, you won't be able to fire anything else for a short while so its usefulness is rather limited! I would like to try this against some end bosses though sometime except using this will mean you'll be using the weakest weapons of your other launchers because of the cost. This becomes available once you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. ----- BOOMERANG TYPE --------------------------------------------------------- This is akin to X's BOOMERANG CUTTER except for different flight patterns and number of projectiles. Read below for details. This type becomes available after you defeat BOOMERANG KUWANGER. Note that in my experience, ALL BOOMERANGE TYPES ARE EFFECTIVE AGAINST STING CHAMELEON AND HAS THE ABILITY TO CUT OFF BOTH FLAME MAMMOTH'S TRUNK AND LAUNCH OCTOPUS' TENTACLES. METAL CRESCENT Energy Requirement: 4 Description: This is you default BOOMERANG TYPE. It fires 3 boomerangs and is aim able. This becomes available after you defeat BOOMERANG KUWANGER. QUICK HOMESICK Energy Requirement: 4 Description: This is the exact same boomerang as X's in that it returns to you picking up items along the way. Note that this is the ONLY BOOMERANG TYPE with this ability. This becomes available after you defeat FLAME MAMMOTH. PARASITE SWORD Energy Requirement: 6 Description: This is exceptionally powerful and useful. It fires a single boomerang which grows larger the farther it goes. It can also pierce through enemies and shields! I usually use this over every other SHOULDER TYPE except MAROONED TOMAHAWK. This becomes available once you defeat CHILL PENGUIN. TWO HEADED SLASH Energy Requirement: 6 Description: Another useful boomerang type. This is almost the same as PARASITE SWORD except for the fact that it fires two boomerangs and that the boomerangs don't grow in size. This becomes available after you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. MAROONED TOMAHAWK Energy Requirement: 12 Description: One of the best weapons in the game, in my humble opinion. This fires a boomerang that stops a short distance away from Vile and just rotates in place. It can also pierce through enemies and shields! This is very useful against all stationary enemies and can also be used to block of pesky flyers while you fight something else. This becomes available after you defeat ARMORED ARMADILLO. = LEG WEAPONS ================================================================= This holds your most powerful weapons and are your best bet against stationary enemies. Note that triggering this usually involves quite a lengthy animation sequence (i.e., Vile kneels down before firing) so time your use wisely. ----- BOMB TYPE --------------------------------------------------------------- This your default LEG TYPE and as such is available from the start. These are mostly powerful given the right situation. One tip for these weapons is to jump then fire them. This makes firing time a bit faster and a lot less difficult to aim though you need to be right on top of an enemy to hit it. BUMPITY BOOM Energy Requirement: 02 Description: This is your default BOMB TYPE and powerful at that. It usually takes two to three shots to kill powerful stuff though so I don't use it when I get something else. This works well against CHILL PENGUIN though which is nice for a default weapon. RUMBLING BANG Energy Requirement: 12 Description: A bit more powerful than BUMPITY BOOM and sporting a larger horizontal range, its not one I prefer though. This becomes available after you defeat SPARK MANDRILL. SPLASH HIT Energy Requirement: 8 Description: This is the best of this type, IMHO. It fires a tornado similar to a X's charged up STORM TORNADO which is a lot more useful compared to others in its class. I use this a lot in the early going. This becomes available after you defeat LAUNCH OCTOPUS. TERRITORIAL POW Energy Requirement: 4 Description: More of a shield type than anything else, it blocks some enemy projectiles. You need to time it right though. Me, I'd rather avoid projectiles than waste offensive power on this one. This becomes available after defeating ARMORED ARMADILLO. BANGAWAY BOMB Energy Requirement: 10 Description: This fires something similar to X's charged up FIRE WAVE though not as powerful. This is useful against ground enemies. This becomes available after defeating STORM EAGLE. ----- BALL TYPE --------------------------------------------------------------- This is slightly better than the BOMB types simply because you can fire them a distance away from enemies which makes the animation sequence bearable. Jumping before firing is still the best way to use this. IN MY EXPERIENCE ALL BALL TYPES (except HOT ICICLE) ARE EFFECTIVE AGAINST LAUNCH OCTOPUS. THIS TYPE BECOMES AVAILABLE AFTER YOU DEFEAT ARMORED ARMADILLO. DEATHSTAR HUG Energy Requirement: 4 Description: This is very similar to X's ROLLING SHIELD attack. This type becomes available after you defeat ARMORED ARMADILLO. PEACE OUT ROLLER Energy Requirement: 6 Description: When this hits a surface, this splits into two each going in opposite directions of each other (so if it hits a wall, one goes up and the other goes down; if it hits the ground, one goes left while the other goes right). This is the most effective weapon against ARMORED ARMADILLO, as it removes his armor and is easy to use (you just need to hang on to either wall and fire away). This is a shame because you need to beat him (as well as SPARK MANDRILL) first to get it. SWORD BOUQUET Energy Requirement: 16 Description: This napalm fires something similar to X's charged up FIRE WAVE though not as powerful. This is useful against ground enemies. This becomes available after defeating FLAME MAMMOTH. HOT ICICLE Energy Requirement: 10 Description: Similar to SWORD BOUQUET except its fired on ceilings not floors. Not that useful since you have your SHOULDER gun to deal with flyers. This is pretty useful against STORM EAGLE though. This becomes available when you defeat STING CHAMELEON. STUBBORN CRAWLER Energy Requirement: 12 Description: Similar to DEATHSTAR HUGGER except it doesn't stop when it hits walls. This becomes available when you defeat BOOMERANG KUWANGER. ----- FLAMETHROWER TYPE ------------------------------------------------------- This is like a whole family of different types of X's FIRE WAVE. These are the most powerful weapons in your arsenal. Note that if fired while on the ground, fire is release horizontally. When fired while jumping, fire is released from Vile down. Firing it while jumping, in my opinion is much more better than while on the ground as it keeps you safe from ground enemies. This type becomes available when you defeat FLAME MAMMOTH. NOTE THAT NOT ALL FLAMETHROWER TYPES ARE EFFECTIVE ON CHILL PENGUIN. WILD HORSE KICK Energy Requirement: 6 Description: This is your default flamethrower with about the same range and power as X's FIRE WAVE. I have tested this to be useful against CHILL PENGUIN. This is available after defeating FLAME MAMMOTH. DRAGON'S WRATH Energy Requirement: 8 Description: It has exceptionally long range. It arcs as well making it a bit more difficult to aim. I don't use it that much. I have tested this to be useful against CHILL PENGUIN. This is available after defeating STORM EAGLE. GREEN-EYED LAMP Energy Requirement: 10 Description: This is similar to WILD HORSE KICK in terms of range but upon reaching max range it flares up and causes more damage. Not as useful as others though. I prefer range over power. This is available after defeating STING CHAMELEON. SEA DRAGON'S RAGE Energy Requirement: 12 Description: This is the only flamethrower useful under water and it has excellent range to boot. This is one of my favorites. This becomes available after you defeat CHILL PENGUIN. BURNING DRIVE Energy Requirement: 16 Description: This is exceedingly power if used correctly but is limited in range. I prefer SEA DRAGON's RAGE. This becomes available after you defeat BOOMERANG KUWANGER. Vile also receives a couple of armor upgrades, though it doesn't change anything graphically. FROZEN CASTLE Description: This reduces damage taken by Vile by half! You need to defeat CHILL PENGUIN to get this. SPEED DEVIL Description: This greatly improves your speed! You need to defeat STORM EAGLE to get this. Vile's stages are also somewhat more difficult. The level designers have done a great job in swapping the enemy types and locations in Vile's levels such that although the they are (structure-wise) the same as X's, reaction times are much more critical if you want to go through to the maverick with minimal damage. All in all Vile's game is a lot more strategic and requires a lot of forethought especially in the early going. It is much more satisfying though (similar to how Zero's game in X4 is a lot more satisfying compared to X's). =============================================================================== - 4 - X GAME WALKTHROUGH ------------------------------------------------------ =============================================================================== Note that I won't provide you with a step by step walkthrough the entire stages as that won't be that useful. I will instead focus on the giving you tips in beating specific points in the game that are particularly difficult. For those experienced MMX players here, the route taken in this FAQ is not at all optimal. My aim is to provide the easiest route for beginners so don't flame me saying that I'm not doing stuff right. End goal is to beat everyone and collect everything and this is pretty much achieved albeit in a much longer time. Now let's begin. = CENTRAL HIGHWAY ============================================================= General Tips: * Familiarize yourself with controlling X. This is the best place for you to do it as the enemies are relatively harmless. * Keep your X-Buster charged up even if you don't see any enemies so you are always ready to fire. * If an enemy doesn't drop after a charged shot, continue shooting it with uncharged shots. It will drop faster than if you charge up your shot again. This is not applicable against bosses though since you will after firing they will be invincible and this time is best used charging up again. * When fighting the giant bee, just continue firing taking note of the enemies it drops. When it starts lobbing missiles, dodge these by jumping. Take this time to re charge up your X-Buster. BOSS: Vile * Note that unlike the first game, Vile does not aim to capture you this time. * Only his head is vulnerable so don't bother trying to hit his Ride Armor. * When he dashes towards you, jump over him, though he is big, his speed relative speed should make it easy for you to jump over him. * When he fires his spark attack, jump else, you'll get stunned for a while. = STARTING ACTIVITES ========================================================== * Note that you can get all armor upgrades even before you defeat each individual Maverick. I highly recommend this as this will make your life a lot easier even in normal. Below are their locations: LEG PARTS: PROTOTYPE WEAPONS PLANT HEAD PARTS (need LEG PARTS): MISSILE BASE BODY PARTS (need HEAD PARTS): NEW TYPE AIRPORT ARM PARTS (need LEG PARTS): RECON BASE * To make it even easier, there are a number of HEART TANKS and SUB TANKS readily available to you at the start. These are as follows: HEART TANKS available in: MINE RUINS SUBTERRANEAN BASE NEW TYPE AIRPORT (needs LEG PARTS) PROTOTYPE WEAPONS PLANT SUB TANK available in: MINE RUINS NEW TYPE AIRPORT PROTOTYPE WEAPONS PLANT = MISSILE BASE ================================================================ * Again, always charge up your X-Buster. Most enemies will go down in one hit while for others you will need to follow it up with a few single ones. * The best way to defeat the woodcutter is to jump over him and shoot him from behind. ITEMS: * HEAD PARTS (needs LEG PARTS) * Near the start of the stage where you need to climb up but are hindered by wheel enemies, you will find a set of breakable bricks on the right wall. Just climb up it and the wall should break. You will find the HEAD PARTS just behind it. * HEART TANK (needs fire wave) * Somewhere along the middle of the stage, you will notice a metallic bunker. Go past it and through to a cave. When you get out from the other side, find the ride armor. Go over to the top of the cave by jumping in the armor then jumping, and then at the apex of your jump, jumping out of the armor. You should be high enough that you can go on top of the cave. From their find the bunkers and break them open using Fire Wave. Go back later if you don't have it yet. BOSS: Chill Penguin * For those who didn't follow this FAQ and has acquired FIRE WAVE already use it. The hardest part of this battle would be to hit him once. This will stun him and you can stun him continuously through timing your shots carefully. * For those without FIRE WAVE, immediately grab hold of the wall farther a way from him and charge up your X-Buster. If he grabs on to the ring, fire away with your X-Buster making sure you charge it up again. If he jumps to your side of the screen, drop over him and run to the other side and grab hold of the other wall as he will either jump and hit you or grab on to the ring and fire his blizzard attack which will make you fall to the ground. You survival relies on being able to keep hold of a wall. Ignore his other attacks. He should go down in a bit. * Hard mode is a bit of a doozy if you try this guy first. He has one special attack where he fires a series of Shotgun Ice shots against a wall and you will undoubtedly get hit. Since you will probably have very limited life you would need to take a more offensive approach here as you won't survive if you try waiting it out. You may want to get some upgrades, HEART TANKs and SUB TANKs available first to make life easier for you. = POWER PLANT ================================================================= * If you've beaten STORM EAGLE already, you will find this place in ruins. The spark hazards will be gone. The dark stages will be very dark, however, making those parts a wee bit harder IMHO. * Learn to dodge the sparks. They don't do much damage but it does add up. * To fight the big enemies firing sparks and missiles, just charge up your shot, and after he fires his missiles, dodge them and fire your charge shot. Follow this up by spamming single shots. Repeat as necessary. * When you get to the dark areas where you see flying light bugs, just go slowly. Stop when the area gets dark and move forward when it lights up again. This shouldn't be that hard. * When you get to the large gel type robot, just charge up your shots and fire at him from the side wall, remembering to move to the other end if he gets near you. ITEMS: * SUB TANK (needs BOOMERANG CUTTER) * Near the beginning where you avoid the sparks, always take the stairs down. Near the end of this area, you should find the SUB TANK behind a wall. You should be able to reach it with a well aimed BOOMERANG CUTTER. * HEART TANK (needs BOOMERANGE CUTTER) * Near the middle of the stage, you will find a set of stairs going down. Notice the ceiling is especially high in this area. That is because their is a HEART TANK off screen. You can reach this by grabbing hold of the right wall and climbing up. When you reach the top, you need to aim your BOOMERANG CUTTER such that it reaches the HEART TANK. BOSS: SPARK MANDRILL * You should have SHOTGUN ICE now. You just need to keep him frozen and he should drop without any difficulty. * If you don't have SHOTGUN ICE, well, some strategy is in order. The first thing you should do is learn his movements. You should know the animation sequence for his different attacks so you can dodge them easily. As with CHILL PENGUIN, hug one of the walls and charge up your X-Buster. If he climbs up, he will go to your side so fire your X-Buster then go to the other wall. If he does his dash punch, drop over him (time it right since if he hits you before you drop, you will fall and hit him), fire your X- Buster and hug the opposite wall. If he fires his spark attack, drop down ( as it can traverse walls) fire your X-Buster and climb the same wall again. He should drop in no time. * He won't be as hard as CHILL PENGUIN in Hard Mode since he doesn't have any additional attacks. Note though that while you can afford to get hit a couple of times in Normal, in Hard Mode, avoiding hits is much more critical as damage taken is much larger. = MINE RUINS ================================================================== * For miners, charge your shot. As he throws his pickaxe, fire the shot and step forward (or backward) a bit (enough that it misses you) and fire multiple single shots. * Be careful when riding the train. You will always fall in a pit at the end of a ride if you just stay put. Jump at the last second. Also, just keep firing single shots especially. Be careful with the third (last) train sequence. The end is a real doozy. * The best way to deal with the mining tanks is to use either FIRE WAVE or STORM TORNADO on it. If you don't have this, use one charged shot followed by a quick barrage of single shots. It should go down before long. ITEMS: * SUB TANK * You should see a mining tank during one of the longer drops. Quickly climb back up the wall and let it go past you. The SUB TANK is right behind it. * HEART TANK * At the second long drop, you will find yourself right behind another mining tank. Quickly release a fully charged shot (you did charge before hand did you) and barrage it with quick single shots while following a short distance hind it, being careful not to run into it. It should die before it reaches a hole in the ceiling holding the HEART TANK. If you lack the dexterity, just go back later when you have FIRE WAVE or STORM TORNADO. It will go down easily with either. * HADOUKEN UPGRADE (need everything!) * Just go through this entire stage with full SUB TANKS and without taking any damage. After the last train ride, time a jump to get above the entrance to the boss fight. You should see the capsule there. To get past this test easily, charge up your ROLLING SHIELD and you should be nigh invincible. Spam a STORM TORNADO on stronger enemies to beat them easily. BOSS: ARMORED ARMADILLO * If you have ELECTRIC SPARK, use it else, use Charged Shots. Either way the pattern is the same. * If you have ELECTRIC SPARK, immediately fire it at him and he will drop his ARMOR, then go to the side wall. If not, immediately climb the side wall. Now he will shoot you a few times. Keep on the wall ignoring these rounds as they won't hit you. He will then roll into a ball and bounce around the screen. When he first rolls into a ball, he will hit the ground below you and ricochet well away from you missing you completely. Immediately drop down and position your self such that his bounce path will miss you, it's not that hard believe me. After going from left to right a couple of times, he will unroll himself. If you don't have ELECTRIC SPARK, immediately fire your charged shot (else he will block it). If you have it, just fire away. Either way, go back to the wall and repeat the process. When he reaches less than 50% his life, he will have a new attack. He will roll into a ball again but this time, he will roll in place for a few seconds. This is your cue to drop down as he will roll around walls and ceiling instead of bounce around it as before. Now just time your jumps carefully (he will gain speed continually while rolling). Hit him again when he unrolls. He should die soon enough. * Like CHILL PENGUIN, ARMORED ARMADILLO also has a special attack that is nigh unavoidable. His attack is one where he bounces around the screen but instead of at 80 angles which is very easy to avoid, it will be at 30 degree angles! He will also be firing blasts on all four cardinal directions. If you are presented with the option, get hit by his blast instead of ARMORED ARMADILLO himself as damage is much less. Stock up on upgrades and power ups first if this is your first Maverick. = SUBTERRANEAN BASE =========================================================== * To beat the turtles, just fire you charged shot, wait for him to fire off BOTH missiles then walk forward (or backward) then fire again. Rinse and repeat. * You can charge up your ROLLING SHIELD here to prevent the rolled shrimps from harming you. * The round fish will suck you in, they are mostly harmless but try not to drop on the spikes when you destroy them from the inside. * You will soon meet up with a large submarine like fish. To beat it, charge up your shield for protection against the smaller eels (if you don't have it doesn't matter). Then just fire away at the thing on its head (a search light of sorts). It will eventually drop off along with its shield. Now just continue firing its main body and it should die without any troubles. Note that one of its attacks involves firing off a small whirlwind (similar) to Storm Eagle's. This is mostly harmless for the first sub at least. * You will meet up with a second sub, except with this one you have to deal with having a relatively small place to stand on with either side having spikes. Just repeat the process above but this time jumping when he fires off his wind attack. To avoid getting pulled/pushed to the spike pits. * You will encounter a big dragon type robot. Just keep firing at his head or tail and it should drop sooner or later. Keep to the sides and you should be safe. ITEMS: * HEART TANK * Around the middle of the stage, you will find missiles dropping from above. Go back until you find a sort of whirlwind device. Hop on it and it will take you to a large boat type robot. Hop on it and fire at its core (its big and blue you can't miss it). Sooner or later, it will drop down taking you along with it and break through the blast doors below and into a large area. Moving forward you will meet up with a dragon type robot. Just keep firing at his head or tail and it should die soon enough. Keep onto the side walls to be safe. When he dies move to the right side of the room to receive the HEART TANK. BOSS: LAUNCH OCTOPUS * If you have BOOMERANG CUTTER, keep firing on him until his tentacles drop off disabling his absorb attack. * If you have ROLLING SHIELD just keep to a side wall and keep pelting him with it when he comes in range. Then keep him stunned using buy firing the ROLLING SHIELD in time with the end of his stun animation. * If you don't have ROLLING SHIELD, keep on the ground and keep your X-Buster charged up. Fire at him when you can and recharge. If he fires his missiles, jump to avoid them. If he fires fish, fire you charged shot at them and then jump over what's left. When he starts spinning, that's your cue to run. Make sure that you are not in the middle when the whirlwind forms as this not only damages you greatly, it also heals him! He'll die before long. = FORTRESS TOWER ============================================================== * Slowly make your way up. This is not a very difficult stage for X. If you have rolling shield, have it up at all times so you don't need to worry about the flyers in this stage. * When you get to the part on the elevator going up, always have your X-Buster charged up and kill the wheel robots ASAP. Use STORM TORNADO if you have it. ITEMS: * HEART TANK (needs BOOMERANG CUTTER or ARM PARTS + SHOTGUN ICE) * After the elevator, you will be climbing up a series of ledges with guns coming out of the left wall. When you get to the top, you will see the HEART TANK on a ledge. This is very easy to get if you have BOOMERANG CUTTER, just aim it correctly and you should get it in one or two tries. With SHOTGUN ICE, you need to be a bit more agile. Charge it up to create an ICE BLOCK. Ride the ICE BLOCK and immediately jump up to the ledge. BOSS: BOOMERANG KUWANGER * If you have HOMING TORPEDO as it stuns him. Note that you can't keep him stunned though. * Climb the wall on the side of the room opposite him. If he fires his boomerang, drop down and fire whatever weapon you are using then when it is safe, climb back up (if you are using your X-Buster, charge it up again). If he rushes towards you, go over him to the opposite wall. You won't be able to avoid his boomerang otherwise. Rinse and repeat. = RECON BASE ================================================================== * Again, mostly weak enemies. Just spam you Buster shots and they should go down without a problem. * For woodcutters, remember to charge up first and destroy the blocks that he lobs at you. * On the cave with the falling rocks, walk slowly and keep fire HOMING TORNADOES every few paces to root out the robots. Don't worry about the rocks as your helmet should block them (that is if you have the helmet already). The robot will drop easily by spamming your HOMING TORNADO. * You will soon get some ride armor use it. * You will have to contend with other ride armor enemies here, 3 punches from yours should flatten them though. If not, a charge shot plus a steady shot of normal shots should do them in. ITEMS: * ARM PARTS (need LEG PARTS) * After the first "green area", you will find a cave. You should recognize it by the low ceiling and the pit at its entrance. Dash Jump to reach the upper ledge. Here you will fight a rather large (about the size of FLAME MAMMOTH) robot. Just keep firing charged shots (or STORM TORNADOES) on his head and dash-jumping over him when he gets close. Once you beat him, you will gain access to the ARM PARTS. * HEART TANK (need LEG PARTS, and have beaten LAUNCH OCTOPUS) * Starting from the same cave entrance, drop into the pit. The screen should scroll down (else wrong pit and you just died, sorry about that). You have to break a few bricks, do so by climbing up them (you need the LEG PARTS to break them). Now do a dash-jump right and you should reach the an upper ledge to the right. Note that this would be flooded if you defeated LAUNCH OCTOPUS already giving you the ability to reach that said ledge, else you'll most likely come short though I was able to reach it once (in the original) before without beating him though I don't know if that's possible now as I haven't been able to do so. BOSS: STING CHAMELEON * This is one easy Maverick to defeat even without BOOMERANG CUTTER so it is a good first level choice. * If you have BOOMERANG CUTTER use it. It will stagger him giving you some breathing room and preventing him from using his more lethal attacks. = NEW-TYPE AIRPORT ============================================================ * This is a relatively easy stage, but you need to be alert since even though you don't take much damage, it doesn't matter if you fall off a ledge or platform. * Shoot the grabbers immediately. If you are captured, time your shots so that they don't drop you off the to a premature death when they blow up. For other enemies, use the same strategies as before (as they are mostly the same). * Again don't rush it especially in the jumping areas, patience is a virtue in Megaman. ITEMS: * HEART TANK (need LEG PARTS) * At the very beginning, you will be riding a set of moving platforms operated by pulleys. At the very top of the platform (you won't be able to go up anymore at this point), do a dash jump towards the left. You should land just above the starting position. The HEART TANK should be there. * SUB TANK * Near the middle, you should see a gun situated on a rising pillar. Destroy the gun and ride the pillar up. You should see a large glass room. Shoot the glass to break it and go through. The SUB TANK is on the far side of the room. * BODY PARTS (need HEAD PARTS) * Near the middle of the stage, you will climb a tall pillar to a set of ledges above. Note that at the top, you will see that you can drop down the other side of the pillar. Jump across to the other side of the small room and you will find some breakable walls above you. Break through these and you will find the capsule where you get the HEAD PARTS. BOSS: STORM EAGLE * I usually give strategies not requiring any special items but for this one, having the LEG PARTS (or CHAMELEON STING) would save you from much anguish. * Use CHAMELEON STING if you have it. It always staggers him and breaking his attack sequence. Note that most (some are though) of his attacks are passive and as such won't damage you. They will push you down the side of the ship though and that will kill you. * As always keep your X-Buster charged (if you're not using CHAMELEON sting). If you don't have the LEG PARTS or CHAMELEON STING, keep very close to him. If he does his normal wing buffet type move (he uses his wings to create a relatively mild wind to push you back), just keep running forward and keep shooting. CHAMELEON STING would stop him from doing it but its not really that important to do so. If he fires up his tornado attack, keep dashing forward else you'll get pushed off the ledge. If you don't have the LEG PARTS yet, you need to watch out for this attack and jump over him to get behind him (even if it means taking some damage) else you will die. If he flies up, he will either throw an egg which releases 4 homing birds (easy to kill with one perfectly aimed charged shot), or he will fly further up. If he flies up, keep on running in one direction. He should either attack you flying diagonally in your direction (he won't hit you unless you stand still) or by flying along the ground (this will hit you so JUMP!). Now if you don't have either of my recommended equipment, try to have a few 1-ups :-). It would be much easier just to come back when you have either. = PROTOTYPE WEAPONS PLANT ===================================================== * This is a bit easier if you already defeated CHILL PENGUIN as all flames would have been extinguished already. * Again, being aggressive will get you killed and fast! Take your time. Hmmm, there seems to be a common pattern with all my strategies :-). * The moving platforms will cause you a lot of pain if you try rushing it. Take it slow, there is a bit of wait time in between junk drops so you don't need to rush it. * At some point in the stage, you will encounter a small hall with motion sensors. Note that if you move, the cubes right next to the sensors will each fire on shot at you. Note that you can hang on to these cubes without any trouble so use them to traverse the sensor area. ITEMS: * LEG PARTS * This is very hard to spot at first (if you're the type who just runs in with guns blazing :-)) but when you find it, you should go here first in every game. Near the start of the stage, right BEFORE the area with ledges and pickaxe throwing miners, you will pass through an area with a relatively low ceiling. Around the middle of this area, the ceiling will suddenly become higher and you will see that there is a wall to your left that is rather easy to climb up on. Go up and you should get the LEG PARTS. * HEART TANK (defeat CHILL PENGUIN or not but you'll die after getting it) * Right near the beginning where the ground is on fire and with miners throwing pickaxes at you, try to stay at the bottom most ledges at all times. You should see the HEART TANK on the ground next to a wall under one of the longer ledges. Just dash to it and you should reach it before you die. With CHILL PENGUIN defeated, the fire on the ground will have been extinguished already making it possible to get it without dying. * SUB TANK * This is in the same general area as the HEART TANK except instead of being in the bottom right part of the area, the SUB TANK will be in the upper left area. Go up this area (if you have CHAMELEON STING and ARM PARTS, charging it up will make this much easier) to the upper left area of the room. When you get to the top left ledge, do a jump to the left wall. Slide down and you should see the area where the SUB TANK is stored. BOSS FIGHT: FLAME MAMMOTH * Use STORM TORNADO if you have it. Else, charge up your X-Buster once again. * Unlike other bosses, you should stay a bit close to him. This is because he will start lobbing balls of fire at you (like throwing a grenade). When he does this, run back a bit and shoot him. If he throws another one, run back again and shoot again. Keep doing this until you get to the wall, in which case wait for him to be right below you then jump over him (this can be tricky as he is a lot bigger than most other bosses), and repeat the same process going in the opposite direction. If he lobs a black glob at you keep well away from it as, if he throws a ball of fire on it, it will create a much bigger fire that is relatively hard to avoid. Also, if he jumps, jump as well, timing your own jump such that you are be airborne when he lands. If not, you will be stunned and open to attacks. He should die in no time. * He has one hard mode attack (you will notice this one immediately as it is blue and not red). This is similar to a fully charged FIRE WAVE. It is, as its name states, a wave of fire propagating forward. Simply do a dash-jump over the fire before it gets to high to avoid it. = POST ACTIVITIES ============================================================= * This is a good time to review the FAQ and check what items you don't have yet, say the HADOUKEN UPGRADE for example. * In between the last few stages, you might want to revisit ARMORED ARMADILLO's stage to fill up your SUB TANKs and stock up on 1-ups. This is the best place to do this since (1) you are totally safe, and (2) 1-ups drop once in every 1 or 2 minutes. To do this, charge up your ROLLING SHIELD. Now just run back forth between the first train and the first ostrich destroying all the bats (they should die upon contact with your shield) and collect the items they drop. This second or third bat drops 1-ups so frequently that you will find you have 9 lives (i.e. full) before your four SUB TANKs are filled up. jaypangilinan27 further confirms this info. = SIGMA PALACE 1 ============================================================== * The first part of this level is relatively easy. Just use STORM TORNADO and you should be fine. Keeping ROLLING SHIELD up makes this a bit easier as well, conserve it though since you'll need it soon. Note that this is like a shorter but harder version of LAUNCH OCTOPUS' stage so just use the same strategy as there. * You should encounter the same big robot fish sub thing as before. This time, you will have to fight him with a relatively small ledge to stand on (making his whirlwind attack especially deadly). Use STORM TORNADO to make short work of him. If he does fire his whirlwind, make sure you jump and not dash as dashing room is not that wide. * You will now fight LAUNCH OCTOPUS once again. Use the same strategy as before. * Now you will have to go up a series of ledges (similar to BOOMERANG KUWANGER's stage). Take it slow and you should get there with little trouble. ROLLING SHIELD helps in this area as well. * You will now fight BOOMERANG KUWANGER. Use the same strategy as before. * Take it slowly through the next area and you should reach this stage's Maverick without any problems. BOSS: BOSSPIDER * This is a relatively simple boss to defeat. Use either SHOTGUN ICE or the good old charged shot. * He has only a couple of simple attacks. His first one is to lob four spiders at you which, upon landing will go in your direction. Jump over them or fire a well timed charged shot (or STORM TORNADO) to destroy them all in one shot. * His other attack starts of with him creating a series of horizontal "webs" between the 5 pillars behind you. These represents the possible paths he can take from the top-down. To get his actual path, start where he is and always take the first web left or right until you reach the bottom. Position yourself as close as possible to him while still being out of his reach. He will only be vulnerable for a very short amount of time so being near him gives you a bit more leeway. He should die without you taking much damage (if at all). Note that SHOTGUN ICE works well against him. = SIGMA PALACE 2 ============================================================== * The first part shouldn't present any significant challenge to you. Use STORM TORNADO and you'll breeze through unscathed. Watch out for the mining tanks though. The second one, in particular, will drop right behind you and this usually means a one hit kill. Good thing you have Ride Armour here. Time it such that it when it hits the miner (and explodes in the process) you are clear of the spikes when you become vulnerable. There is a big hole in the ceiling where he drops, use this knowledge to your advantage. * You will soon meet up with ARMORED ARMADILLO. Use the same strategy as before. * You will now reach an area with floating platforms. Charge up your ROLLING SHIELD once again and cruise through this part unscathed. Don't fall though. * You will be fighting STORM EAGLE once again. Use the same strategy as before. * Pass through the next (relatively short area) and you should be fighting SPARK MANDRILL. Use the same strategy as before. * Another short walk, if you need to fill up your Sub Tanks here. BOSS: RANGDA BANGDA * This boss looks like a big face with both eyes and the nose capable of attacking you, albeit one at a time. * His eyes will do the most damage at you as they are hard to avoid. They will appear in either of the 3 colors, RED, GREEN and BLUE. When RED, it will fire 3 fire balls that are pretty much hard to avoid but doesn't damage you much anyway. When GREEN it will fire a single shot which is easier to hit as well. When BLUE, it will throw its entire weight on you. Note that keep moving as it will do this a couple of times before returning to the socket. Shoot each eye when as often as you are able to. Use CHAMELEON STING or a charged X-Buster against the eyes. * The nose is much easier to avoid as it follows a clear pattern (you did ARMORED ARMADILLO right, so this shouldn't be a problem to you). You will know he is coming when the walls suddenly close in to you leaving only a quarter of the original screen length, and no room on the floor (falling means death because of the middle spikes). What I did to hit it is throw ROLLING SHIELDS from above him. This seems to be the safest and easiest method. Note that don't get hit, or if you do, make sure you go back up the wall again immediately. Falling means instant death. = SIGMA PALACE 3 ============================================================== * The whole stage is easy so I won't give details on the enemies anymore albeit annoying (especially the FLAME MAMMOTH one). I'll go straight to the Mavericks you'll be fighting. * Here you'll be fighting CHILL PENGUIN, STING CHAMELEON, and FLAME MAMMOTH. Beat them using FIRE WAVE, BOOMERANGE CUTTER and STORM TORNADO (BOOMERANG CUTTER if you want to cut his trunk off) respectively. BOSS: VILE * Learn his moves. By default he will fire CHERRY BLAST which, though hard to dodge, is not that damaging. His BANGAWAY BOMB attack is very damaging but easy to avoid as well. His laser attack is easy to avoid as well, just stay at the far end of the screen when he fires so you have enough space and time to dodge it. His PEACE OUT ROLLER attack will often catch you off guard so be careful. Use ROLLING SHIELD to damage him more. Try to conserve your SUB TANKS because you'll be facing another boss in this area. ITEMS: * Z-BUSTER (need to NOT have ARM PARTS) After you beat Vile, Zero will give you his Z-Buster, but you need to not have upgraded your own X-Buster with the ARM PARTS. IMHO, its not worth it but you might want to do it a second time just to have this (for bragging rights). BOSS: D-REX * You'll be facing a large tank that looks like a T-Rex's head. It is composed of two parts that move independently of each other. The bottom part is invincible so don't bother trying to hit it. * The bottom part only has one attack and that is to rush the left wall. when it hits the wall with you on it, you will fall down, but thankfully it won't damage you (though it will leave you stunned leaving you open to attacks). * The upper part will glide back and forth and diagonally up and down. Be sure you don't get squashed between the two parts as will damage you significantly. * The best way to beat him is to stay on the ground and jump-firing BOOMERANG CUTTERS. If the bottom half is getting precariously close, just jump through to the other side (being careful not to get squashed.) * He will also sometimes fire a large electrical ball at you. You will no this immediately as the charging sequence is very noticeable. If this happens, do a carefully timed dash jump over the ball. If done correctly, you shouldn't receive any damage. Use SUB TANKS as needed. = SIGMA PALACE 4 ============================================================== * Were finally at the last stage. This part is composed of 3 bosses in succession. BOSS: VELGUARDER * When you get the timing right, you won't get hit a single time against him. * He has three basic attacks. First he will try to fire a sort of flame thrower at you. Second he will try to fire a few ice bolts at you. You can either try to avoid them (the first by jumping over, the second by positioning yourself correctly). Both can be stopped by firing a fully charged X-Buster (or Z-Buster) shot at him right before he gets a shot off. The latter is the better option IMHO. * He will also jump over you to the wall then back down to his original position. Fire another charged shot to stagger him again. (If you have the HADOUKEN UPGRADE, you can wait for him to jump up the wall and trigger it, he should land right on the fireball and die instantly). * He won't put up much of a fight. BOSS: SIGMA 1 * This fight is just as easy if you get the pattern right. * Just get up the left most wall and stay there. He will do one of two things. He will either shoot you with a series of pellets from his forehead (in which case, you should position yourself correctly so that the pellets will hit the wall above and below you) or ricochet from wall to wall then back down (similar to the nose part of RANGDA BANGDA). This is easily avoided by keeping to the top left corner and dropping at the last moment. Note that in hard mode, if you do this, he will sometimes zoom down above you so to be safe, after dropping down, always zoom to the other side and repeating the sequence now from the top right wall. This shouldn't present you with any problems as well. BOSS: SIGMA 2 * You then fight SIGMA's final form. This is easily the biggest boss of the game. If you've played Megaman 3, this boss is strangely familiar to it in structure. It is a very big character with only its head as its vulnerable spot. * Use ROLLING SHIELD on its head to damage it. * It has quite a few attacks. The first one involves it hitting you with either hand (whichever you are closer to). You should be able to dodge it easily once you recognize the animation sequence. You should then ride on top of the hand and hit its head with ROLLING SHIELD a couple of times. * It can also attack via large sparks from his hand combined with sort of flame thrower from its mouth. If he starts his animation, hug either wall. You should be safe from both attacks from there. * It can also fire a laser from its shoulder. This will release a wave of lasers propagating to the opposite wall. Position yourself under the hand near the start of the wave and when the laser on that hand dissipates, jump over it and fire a couple of ROLLING SHIELDs at him. He is vulnerable until the laser reaches the opposite wall. Congratulations, you just beat X Mode. =============================================================================== - 5 - VILE MODE WALKTHROUGH --------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== Similar to the X MODE WALKTHROUGH above, this won't go into much detail regarding the stage layout. I will focus only on problematic areas. I will also give the recommended weapon load out for Vile (at least what I found useful). Again, the route taken in this FAQ is not at all optimal. Now let's begin. = CENTRAL HIGHWAY ============================================================= Recommended Load out: Like you have a choice :-) General Tips: * Familiarize yourself with controlling Vile. Each of the three weapon launchers have particular uses. The ARM TYPEs are for general use. The SHOULDER TYPEs are mainly for airborne enemies and stationary enemies on upper platforms. The LEG TYPEs are mainly for stronger enemies on the ground. Note that for LEG TYPEs, I suggest that you jump attack instead of keep on the ground since firing from the ground leaves you exposed to other attacks. Needless to say that if you do this, destroy all flyers and turrets capable of firing at you when you are in the air first. * Here you will meet up with the most common (and most annoying) enemy in Vile Mode. Those pesky miners are a pain due to their strategic location. As in most other enemies, the basic strategy is wait for them to fire, dodge the projectile and let them have it (if they don't die on the initial attack, just repeat the process). Never fire your LEG TYPEs before the initial fire of an enemy (unless you are sure you are safe). * Turtles are easy once you get the pattern of their attack. * When fighting the giant bee, just continue press and hold the SQUARE. When it starts firing missiles, dodge them by jumping. If it sends out any walkers, fire at them using your SHOULDER CANNON (press DOWN while firing to fire horizontally). * The car type enemies can be defeated easily by jumping over them then shooting from behind. BOSS: X * X is a piece of cake here. He doesn't have much in terms of weapons. His Charged Shot does hurt though so be careful. What I do is I jump over him, then drop a BUMPITY BOOM, timing it such that I not land on him. He sometimes jumps though so be careful. This is much harder in hard mode as damage to you is much higher. = STARTING ACTIVITES ========================================================== * To make life easier, there are a number of HEART TANKS and SUB TANKS readily available to you from the start. If you are having trouble fighting your first boss, take your time to get a few (one SUB TANK does wonders) before retrying the said Maverick. HEART TANKS available in: MISSILE BASE POWER PLANT ENERGY MINE RUINS (easier though after STORM EAGLE) SUBTERRANEAN BASE FORTRESS TOWER RECON BASE RUINS NEW-TYPE AIRPORT PROTOTYPE WEAPONS PLANT (easier though after STORM EAGLE) SUB TANK available in: SUBTERRANEAN BASE RECON BASE RUINS (easier after STORM EAGLE) NEW-TYPE AIRPORT (difficult but obtainable whether you choose to get it at the beginning or near the end) * Note that while these are technically available to you, surviving to the point where you can get them can be a problem, especially in hard mode. = MISSILE BASE ================================================================ Recommended Load out: Following the FAQ, you should have no choice else, WILD HORSE KICK, and DRAGON'S WRATH (the latter is better due to range) works well against CHILL PENGUIN. * Take it slow. Vile's game is not designed for rushing. * The best way to defeat the woodcutter is to jump over him and shoot him from behind. * Use the terrain. If an enemy is above and can't target you, use your SHOULDER TYPE. If he is below, use your LEG TYPE. Your enemies are doing it so why can't you. ITEMS: * HEART TANK * The HEART TANK is inside the first metallic bunker you encounter. Get the Ride Armor at the opposite end of the cave. Make your way back with the Armor to the said bunker. Note that the easiest route is over the cave. BOSS: Chill Penguin * If you don't have either FLAMETHROWER TYPE, immediately grab hold of the wall farther a way from him and wait. Use the same general strategy as X. Expect a harder fight though since you don't have charged shot. * If you have a FLAMETHROWER TYPE, attack him once to burn him, wait for him to be vulnerable again (when he stops flashing) and immediately fire again. If you do it right, this shouldn't take long. Note that after this you will have FROZEN CASTLE which halves the damage you take automatically making the latter stages much easier. = POWER PLANT ================================================================= Recommended Load out: Following the FAQ you should have DISTANCE NEEDLER which works wonders in this stage. * The layout is mostly the same as in X so the same tips apply. * When you get to the large gel type robot, just keep firing your NEEDLER at him from the side wall, remembering to move to the other end if he gets near you. ITEMS: * HEART TANK * You find it in the same location as X's. If you have QUICK HOMESICK, use the same strategy as in X using the BOOMERANGE CUTTER, else just use Dash Jump using the Ride Armor you get nearby, and jump out at the right moment to reach the ledge. Either way is easy. BOSS: SPARK MANDRILL * Use the same strategy as in X without SHOTGUN ICE, using whatever weapon you have. DISTANCE NEEDLER does not freeze but it does the same damage as SHOTGUN ICE. PUNCH TYPEs are now available to you. = MINE RUINS ================================================================== Recommended Load out: Following the FAQ, you should have both GO-GETTER RIGHT and INFINITY GIG, both of which are good options against him, though you should only have enough energy for the former. PEACE OUT ROLLER works well against him as well as it removes his armor. Unfortunately, BALL TYPEs are unlocked only after you defeat him the first time making PEACE OUT ROLLER out of the question at this point. * No train rides for Vile :-). * I never got to destroying any of the tanks. Just avoid them, you won't lose anything by not killing them. ITEMS: * HEART TANK (easier after STORM EAGLE) * This is at the same location as the HADOUKEN upgrade but instead of the train ride, you'll have to traverse a series of floating platforms. at the top right platform, make a leap of faith to the right and you should see another platform. Jump from there to the right wall to get the HEART TANK. Note that after you get SPEED DEVIL you're jumping range will increase significantly making this easier. BOSS: ARMORED ARMADILLO * If you have PEACE OUT ROLLER (FREEPLAY MODE only), just stick to a wall and keep firing, taking care to go down when he rolls. * Use the same general strategy as in X. This shouldn't be that hard for you. BALL TYPEs are now available to you. = SUBTERRANEAN BASE =========================================================== Recommended Load out: following the FAQ, only DEATHSTAR HUGGER is really needed though most BALL TYPEs work well. PEACE OUT ROLLER works well in this stage. * Use the same general startegy as X. * When you meet up with the fish submarine sub boss jump over him and spam your LEG TYPEs from above him (watch your energy bar). * You will meet up with a second fish, except with this one you have to deal with having a relatively small place to stand on. The same strategy works well. * You will encounter a big dragon sub boss. Just keep firing at his head or tail and it should drop sooner or later. Keep to the sides and you should be safe. If you have your Ride Armor, one punch should bring it down! ITEMS: * HEART TANK * Same as X. Pity you can't take your Ride Armor in here to fight this dragon. * SUB TANK * After you Punch the second dragon sub boss (the one above ground) with your Ride Armor :-), go back to the left side pillar and do a dash jump. You should see the SUB TANK floating slightly on the water. You should be able to reach it with the dash jump. BOSS: LAUNCH OCTOPUS * If you have any of the BOOMERANG TYPEs, keep firing on him until his tentacles drop off disabling his absorb attack. * If you have any of the BALL TYPEs just keep to a side wall and keep pelting him with it. * If you don't have a BALL TYPE in hand, keep the ground and keep firing with your SHOULDER TYPE. Use the same strategy as in X MODE. MISSILE TYPEs should now be available to you. = FORTRESS TOWER ============================================================== Recommended Load out: If you followed the FAQ, HUMERUS CRASH and SEROTINAL BULLET should be available to you and both are effective against BOOMERANG KUWANGER though I prefer the former due to its speed advantage. SPLASH HIT will make his stage more than manageable so use it as well. * The Ball and Chain Robots and the Turtles are pain but, with SPLASH HIT they shouldn't pose much of a threat to you as you can blow them up from below. * When you get to the part on the elevator going up, be careful as the thorns mean instant death. Your ARM WEAPONs will be of much better use to you compared to the other launchers. The other launchers have a lengthy animation sequence which makes you susceptible to the spikes. ITEMS: * HEART TANK * When you reach the top of the elevator, you should see a platform very high up. To reach it, jump on the platform near the exit and quickly jump up to the HEART TANK. Do this quickly as the platform will break before the elevator stops. If you are having a hard time reaching it, just go back when you get QUICK HOMESICK and use it to get the HEART TANK. * SUB TANK (needs QUICK HOMESICK) * Use the same strategy as in X's HEART TANK replacing BOOMERANG CUTTER with QUICK HOMESICK. BOSS: BOOMERANG KUWANGER * If you have any MISSILE TYPE use it. * Use the same strategy as in X. = RECON BASE ================================================================== Recommended Load out: MAROONED TOMAHAWK works best but you'll be gimping all of your other launchers to use it. All other BOOMERANG TYPES will work well (with QUICK HOMESICK being the worst). Use a VULCAN TYPE for your ARM WEAPON (though it's not really necessary). * The hardest part here would probably be the one where you face many Ride Armors. They are best dealt with using a VULCAN TYPE as this can keep them away by simply holding the fire button. ITEMS: * HEART TANK * Near the start, you should see a Woodcutter robot on a high ledge. Hop on the metallic wood he shoots at you and you will pass by the HEART TANK. * SUB TANK (easier after STORM EAGLE) * Get your Ride Armor from same location as X's LEG PARTS. Keep it alive until about the middle of the stage (after 3 enemy Ride Armors). You should see a hole in the ceiling. Jump and then jump out of the Ride Armor to reach the hole and the SUB TANK inside. BOSS: STING CHAMELEON * The strategies for X still works well here. = NEW-TYPE AIRPORT ============================================================ Recommended Load out: CERBERUS PHANTOM is all you need here. SEROTINAL BULLETS help as well. * Most tips using X still works here. Again, don't rush it. ITEMS: * HEART TANK * This can be found above the building where you find the Xs SUB TANK. Use the floating platform near the end if you shot the glass. * SUB TANK * Take the Ride Armor in the place where Xs SUB TANK is and go down. Use your Ride Armor’s guns to shoot the flame throwers on the floating platforms before you hop on (or better yet dash jump over them). Don't try to punch any of them. At the end of the second set of platforms, you should see a set of crates below the ledge. Just punch the first one using your Ride Armor to go through. If you find that you are almost out of time, another tactic would be to not destroy the last flamethrower enemy and land just between it and the crates, destroying your Armor. If done correctly, the blast should destroy the crates as well. Go right to get the SUB TANK. BOSS: STORM EAGLE * This is one annoying fight. Aside from the fact that your LASER TYPEs don't stagger him, you don't have dash. This is workable though. * Use the same strategy as X (without the LEG PARTS). Remember to choose to jump over him (even if it means hitting him) than staying put as he will push you off the side. If he tries his dive attack on you, just keep firing your SEROTINAL BULLETS and he will run into them giving minimal damage (better than none at all if you ask me). = PROTOTYPE WEAPONS PLANT ===================================================== Recommended Load out: STRAIGHT NIGHTMARE and BANZAI BEATLE are best against FLAME MAMMOTH. Choosing a BOOMERANG TYPE over STRAIGHT NIGHTMARE is best though to make the level a lot easier. * Same rules apply as in X. Read that part and you should be fine. ITEMS: * HEART TANK (easier after STORM EAGLE) * This is in the same area as the X's SUB TANK. Pretty easy but without SPEED DEVIL, you run the risk of hitting an enemy on the bottom ledge making you miss your mark. One trick I use is to keep firing your current leg types pressing forward slowing your descent somewhat. BOSS FIGHT: FLAME MAMMOTH * Again, same strategy as in X using BANZAI BEETLE instead of STORM TORNADO. = POST ACTIVITIES ============================================================= * This is a good time to review the FAQ and check what items you don't have yet. = SIGMA PALACE 1 ============================================================== Recommended Load out: I suggest a BALL TYPE, a BOOMERANG TYPE (not QUICK HOMESICK please), and a MISSILE TYPE (a fast one is preferred). * You should have developed some strategies now on most enemies. My suggestion, as always is to take it slow. * You should encounter the same big robot fish sub as before. Even though the platform is small, you should still be able to easily defeat him using your BALL TYPE. Just jump on top of him and spam your BALL TYPE from above him and he should go down. * You will now fight LAUNCH OCTOPUS once again. Use the same strategy as before. Plus you have a BOOMERANG TYPE :-). * Now you will have to go up a series of ledges (similar to BOOMERANG KUWANGER's stage). Take it slow and you should get there with little trouble. Your BOOMERANG TYPE will get you out of here without a problem. * You will now fight BOOMERANG KUWANGER. Use the same strategy as before. * Take it slowly through the next area and you should reach this stage's boss without any problems. BOSS: BOSSPIDER * Sorry if this is getting repetitive but the same strategy as in X applies here still. Note that "ice-based attacks" (i.e., distance needler) are useful here. = SIGMA PALACE 2 ============================================================== RECOMMENDED LOADOUT: PEACE OUT ROLLER, RISING SPECTER, and DISTANCE NEEDLER. * Again, the mining tanks are a pain if they catch you by surprise. Otherwise this isn't that hard. Use the same Ride Armour strategy as in X to get through him. * You will soon meet up with ARMORED ARMADILLO. Use the same strategy as before. Note that with PEACE OUT ROLLER, you are now able to remove his armor! * Take it slow through the floating platforms. * You will be fighting STORM EAGLE once again. RISING SPECTER staggers him! * Pass through the next (relatively short area) and you should be fighting SPARK MANDRILL. Use the same strategy as before. * Another short walk, if you need to fill up your Sub Tanks here. BOSS: RANGDA BANGDA * Sorry still same strategy as in X :-) (i.e., use laser based shoulder cannons). * oreyal155 has an alternate strategy: "At the last boss, there IS a better strategy then in X mode (talking about Vile mode) Just use Rising Spectre- It can kill each part of rangda bangda in 2 hits! :)" = SIGMA PALACE 3 ============================================================== Recommended Load out: PEACE OUT ROLLER, INFINITY GIG and METAL CRESCENT (believe me, you shouldn't worry yourself about the bosses here, only worry about X and Zero). * The whole stage is easy so I won't give details on the enemies anymore. I'll go straight to the enemies you'll be fighting. * Here you'll be fighting CHILL PENGUIN, STING CHAMELEON, and FLAME MAMMOTH. In easy mode, use the appropriate weapons and sail right on through. In hard mode, use the strategy without the appropriate weapons and use SUB TANKS when needed. * If you used your SUB TANKS, refill them before heading out. You'll use them all in hard mode the first time you go against X and ZERO and they would most probably be not enough. BOSS: X and ZERO * In this mode, X and Zero share one life bar and once either one of them take enough damage or a relative amount of time has passed, one will warp out and the other will warp in. I will give strategies for both. * ZERO has only a few relatively easy attacks. Either he shoots charged shots at you or does a flying kick. Either is easily avoided. Either spam PEACE OUT ROLLER or INFINITY GIGs at him until he warps out (or dies). * X will always warp in with a ROLLING SHIELD equipped. Your first order of business is to destroy it. The best weapon against it is a spammed PEACE OUT ROLLER. Just jump and spam it (you need to jump to avoid his normal fire). If he fires his HOMING TORPEDOES, fire your METAL CRESCENT to cancel it out. If he suddenly changes color to purple, that's your cue to move. He will fire a charged STORM TORNADO on your current position. Once his shield is gone, spam INFINITY GIGs or PEACE OUT ROLLERs. * They will sometimes join forces and both will fire a charged shot. These charged shots will combine and split into four homing charged shots which are unavoidable as far as I know. * After ZERO dies, X will warp in. He will be much more powerful in that he moves around more and he will fire two charged STORM TORNADOES instead of one. Use the same strategy as before and he should go down after a couple of tries. In hard mode, you pretty much need at least two SUB TANKS full at this point. Congratulations, you just beat Vile Mode. =============================================================================== - 6 - Tips and Tricks --------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== * You can fire X's default shots (but not charge it up) even if you have enemy weapons equipped by pressing triangle. * INFINITY GIG can fire on enemies through thin ceilings. Note that while the actual projectile is not able to pierce the ceiling, it should damage the enemy. * Instead of pressing circle to dash, double-tap forward. It's easier to trigger that way. =============================================================================== - 7 - Personal Review --------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== Pros: The game is extremely polished and the production Graphics: 4/5 values are very good. The new features give X a Sounds: 3/5 whole new lease to life. Gameplay: 5/5 Longevity: 3/5 Cons: The game is a bit on the short side. The fact Tilt: 5/5 that its easy doesn't help it much either. Sounds ----------------- could have been better. Overall: 4/5 Megaman: Maverick Hunter X sets the bar high for all remakes. Not only does it bring the Megaman X experience to new gamers, it brings a slew of great new features that makes it a viable buy for older gamers like me. At first, I was kind of sceptical since well, games cost a lot of money and this is a remake of a game I know very well. I was very worried that while I might enjoy it, there might not be enough of it to enjoy it for a long enough time as to make it worth the buy. In the end (and after watching a number of gameplay videos), I decided to shell out the dough and give it a try. The first thing that hit me was how the graphics has been improved. The new style really brings an old game to the present! X even fires from his left arm always irregardless of where he is facing (in the old days, to minimize the amount of memory a game takes up, developers just mirrored a sprite horizontally when a character moves to the opposite direction). Defeating your first Maverick is even more fun since you actually see them crumple up and die before exploding instead of just flashing and disappearing without a trace. There are some significant slowdowns though when you encounter a large amount of enemies and that detracts to the game a bit. Sounds remain mostly the same (though the tunes are remixed to current console standards). Characters are voiced pretty well (except for some of the bosses like FLAME MAMMOTH who seems devoid of emotion). Gameplay sounds do get a bit irritating though (hearing Vile say "Take This" while trying to fill your SUB TANKS can get annoying). Nothing special in this regard though it could be a lot better in my opinion. Gameplay is basically the same one we've known and loved all these years. It is still extremely addictive. It is a bit easy though and average gamers should finish the game in a week tops. Don't flame me. I just have to say that games nowadays tend to be on the easy side. I'd hoped that the developers put in some masochistic hard mode in somewhere for us older gamers but alas, its not meant to be. That's really too bad since this is a very nice game and I'd hoped there were more to it. That said, X and Vile controls very well (I can go further into saying that controls are noticably better than the original). Overall, I can say that the game has been successfully introduced to a new generation of gamers and adds a sufficient amount of content to give older players like me more than enough reason to revisit a franchise that we have grown with all these years. I'm just a bit disappointed that the game was made way to easy now and the fact is that it is just a bit too short. Now, let's hope that Megaman Powered Up! is even better than this. =============================================================================== - 8 - Contact Info ------------------------------------------------------------ =============================================================================== For any questions, clarications or God-forbid violent reactions, please contact e-mail me at techie.pinoy@yahoo.com. Please write the nature of your e-mail in the Subject line. Send in any strategies you have on beating the bosses in VILE MODE. I regret that I don't have time to test all the weapon combinations (especially now since I'm busy with my next FAQ for Megaman Powered Up) so any help will be greatly appreciated. =============================================================================== - 9 - Version Info ------------------------------------------------------------ =============================================================================== 14 March 2006 1.0 First release of the FAQ. 15 March 2006 1.1 Fixed a number of glaring errors in the first FAQ! Added a review and Tips Section. 23 March 2006 1.2 Minor revisions as well as change in email address. 25 April 2006 1.3 Additional strategies thanks to jaypangilinan27 and oreyal155. =============================================================================== - 10 - Legal Info ------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright 2006 Michael Madriñan