Mega Man X
The Mega Man X series was the second Mega Man franchise which debuted in 1993 on the Super Famicom/Super NES. It is one of the spinoffs of the Mega Man series from Capcom.
Series History
Capcom released a more action packed Mega Man X for the Super NES to give a new image to the Mega Man game series. There are a total of eleven games in the Mega Man X series. Mega Man X1-3 on the Super NES (with ports of X1 and X3 to the PC), Mega Man X4-6 on the PlayStation (X4 also being on the Sega Saturn, and X4-5 being ported to the PC), Mega Man X7-8 on the PlayStation 2, the RPG Mega Man X: Command Mission on the GameCube and PlayStation 2, and Megaman Xtreme 1-2 on the Game Boy Color.
Gameplay
Similar to the original series, the Mega Man X series features a formerly peaceful robot who, after a disastrous betrayal, begins fighting to save the world. This robot, named X (hence the series name), is Dr. Light's final creation; he was the most advanced robot ever created, and the first truly free-willed robot. As part of a testing procedure to prevent him from becoming dangerous, X lay dormant for thirty years, during which Dr. Light apparently died (though he lives on in the form of a sentient hologram) and the events of the original series were forgotten. In 21XX, X was discovered and awakened by a scientist named Dr. Cain, who used X's design and numerous modified versions to create a race of sentient robots known as "Reploids." However, a mysterious computer virus, apparently contracted from a Reploid-like robot named Zero, spread amongst many of the Reploids, and convinced of their superiority, these so-called "Mavericks" began to terrorize the human race. A task force was created to silence the uprising, and a strong, brilliant Reploid named Sigma was created by Dr. Cain to lead the newly-formed "Maverick Hunters." Sigma managed to defeat Zero in battle, after which he was rebuilt and became a Maverick Hunter himself. Sigma later contracted the Maverick virus and took most of the Hunters with him, leaving X and Zero responsible for defeating the Mavericks and protecting Reploids and humans alike.
Upon his defeat in Mega Man X2, Sigma mentions that Zero was "the last of the doctor's creations." To support this theory, Wily, in his later years, was said to have worked on a robot to counter both Mega Man and his own renegade creation, Bass, who described its plans as "girlie-looking" and "long-haired". Zero also has memories of a human resembling Dr.wily in Megaman X4 and X5.
Despite the different storyline and characters, gameplay is very similar to the original series, with several exceptions (most notably, X and Zero can cling to walls, and Zero is armed with a beam saber rather than the traditional "buster" gun.) Mavericks replace the Robot Masters, and Sigma replaces Dr. Wily. The Mavericks all take the form of robot animals instead of "men." For example, instead of "Flame Man" there is "Flame Stag," instead of "Spark Man" there is "Spark Mandrill" etc. Though some Mavericks have new, never before seen powers, such as "Toxic Seahorse," most have the traditional elemental based weapons of the past games, such as fire, water, air, earth, etc.
Notes
There seem to be running jokes with this series in the form of references to Star Wars; in the first game in particular, Zero played a role similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi (including dying and his body disappearing) and Sigma fighting with a light saber (Zero, who returned in the second game, gained such a saber himself in the process). The most prominent resemblance is that Vile (known in Japan as VaVa) wears something very similar to Boba Fett's distinctive "T" helmet.
It should be noted that the relation of X to the original Mega Man is under dispute. Some fans believe X is an upgraded form of Mega Man; others believe he is a totally different robot who simply has a similar design. Comparisons between the two in terms of personality and technical parameters, as well as X's lack of any memories of the 20XX era, seem to indicate that the two are separate. Keiji Inafune, the man generally associated with being the creator of Rockman, expressed in an interview that Rockman and X are two different robots entirely. Finally, the fact that the X series premise is essentially Blade Runner taken to the next level raises the spectre that X, at conception, might have been totally unrelated to Mega Man, with Capcom executives pinning the two together later.
In Mega Man X5, it should be noticed that almost every new Maverick had some relation to members of the band Guns 'N Roses. (Note that in the Japanese X5, there were no such Guns 'N Roses allusions. With the possible exception of the guns in the background of Spike Rosered's stage.) Also, in Mega Man X3, Neon Tiger's stage uses a non-lyrical and simplified SNES version of the Guns 'N Roses track: "My Michelle".
Mega Man X5 also contained many allusions to past games in the series. Some of these connections are certain boss fights (Rangda Bangda from Mega Man X, brought back as Rangda Bangda mk II), Duff McWhalen's stage music (Bubble Crab from Mega Man X2), and the first Sigma Stage, which is an almost exact replica of Quickman's stage from Mega Man 2. Along with this, the boss of the first Sigma Stage is based on the "Devil" monsters from the earlier Mega Man Games, and in the boss rooms, a faint, distorted logo of the antagonist of the original series, Dr. Wily, can be seen in the background.
Mega Man X Command Mission is said to take place in the year 22XX. Therefore, the Zero series may not take place in 22XX as once thought. All official game information simply stated "100 years after the X series". Seeing as it is unsure of when the X series actually ends, it is impossible to guess the century in which the Zero series takes place.