Maverick Hunter X

[Double]

The first, and easier to rate of the two PSP MegaMan games, MHX is a remake of MegaMan X, which to this date has the highest score of any game I have ever reviewed. Can this remake do the original justice?

Gameplay: The Gameplay in X mode is roughly the same thing as it was in the original, the major gameplay elements of the original all return unhindered, the only real thing of note in X mode is there is now a difficulty setting (see difficulty for more information) and some item's where swapped around (see Retcon for that).

Vile Mode, however is where most of the new gameplay features are located. After beating the game once with X, you unlock this mode where you can play as the first 12 stages as Vile. Vile cannot dash, but instead uses all the buttons besides jump for various attacks, a Shoulder Attack, a Leg Attack and an Arm Attack. You equip these before going in each mission, and they consume a small amount of energy from your weapon gauge which refills automatically. However, until you beat the game you are limited to which combinations you can use as each weapon costs a certain amount. In each stage there is also your famous Ride Armor which can only be used for 32 seconds and then it explodes, you'll need it to get a few items. Speaking of items Vile also can get 8 Heart Tanks and 4 Sub Tanks, but his are a tad harder to get or are in weird places. The level layouts for Vile are the same geographically, but the enemies are changed and some other things are different, such as in Armored Armadillo's stage there are no Mine cart thingies, and instead a floating platform jump to his room. It should be noted that most bosses keep there weaknesses, that is if you hit Chill Penguin with a Flame based attack it will do more damage, same goes for using a cutting weapon on Sting Chameleon, et  cetera.

Overall I find the gameplay to be as good as the original version.
20 out of 20 (AGAIN!)

Music: Ok, major issue here, in Vile Mode all of the Maverick stages have the exact same fucking theme. It gets a tad annoying fast, and changing it wouldn't have hurt. In addition to that, most of the themes sound a little more technoish then their SNES counterparts, but still not necessarily bad. The Password theme is nowhere in the game nor is the old ending music or credits which struck me as a tad odd...
14 out of 15

Translation: The now infamous Horming Torpedo was renamed, ZOMG. I cannot find anything else wrong with the translation. It should be noted I think the voice actors for X, Zero and Vile are the same ones from X8, just so you know.
10 out of 10

Length: X Mode is the same length as it was in the SNES version, which got a perfect rating, if you forgot. However, Vile Mode is short a stage, for some odd reason it ends at Sigma Palace 3. While not a bad place to end it, I think he should have got to fight Sigma, seeing how that mode is obviously not cannon anyways. Hell, if FireMan can beat Wily's ass in Powered Up, I think Vile should be able to take on Sigma.
14 out of 15

Rehash Factor: Well, technically speaking with this being a remake it should be through the roof... but I'll use its old score as a basis. This game's new material didn't rehash (unlike Powered Up which rehashes things from its sequels technically), and the old material still remains so I'll give it the same score.
15 out of 15

Plot: Despite the noticeable plot changes (see Retcon), this has the same basic plot as the SNES version. You no longer need the instruction book to get the whole plot which is nice and the boss dialogue sequences are also a good touch to explain why the bosses got involved in Sigma's Rebellion.
10 out of 10

Difficulty: A tad easier than the original game, as you can now tell what bosses are doing easier, which must be why Capcom altered a few bosses attack patterns. Vile Mode starts out a tad tough with the 3 weapons you start with and what not; so many people get frustrated with it and don't bother. The difficulty setting is a nice touch, but all it really does is increase damage and give bosses a new attack... If you've played the SNES version you know it enough to not have it bother you.
13 out of 15

Retcon: The premier of this section, sexy isn't it? This game was largely responsible for the creation of this in the first place. Anyways, to the changes,
-The most famous, Dr. Cain dies in the OVA which creates a noticeable conflict with X2, X3, Xtreme 1, and sort of makes me a pointless character. In MMX4 I was introduced as a reploid supposedly created by Cain to help X, now that Cain is dead my cover no longer works... I find this to be a very stupid move.
-Vile's reason for fighting was changed from that of a servant of Sigma to a dude who just really hates X and wants to change the world instead of him. This sort of fits in with X3 and X8 I guess... but his hate for X there was that whole him dying in this game thing...
-In the original Light put X away fearing he could hurt someone, in this he did because he was afraid the world was not ready for X.
-The upgrade capsules were swapped around, the Leg Upgrade was moved to Flame Mammoths stage from Chill Penguins, which now has the Head Upgrade in it, which was in Storm Eagles which now has the Armor Upgrade in it, which use to be in Sting Chameleons stage but now the Buster Upgrade is there, which use to be Flame Mammoths. Got that?
-The Buster Upgrade that Zero gives you is now different from the Light one, and is a tad stronger.
-The conditions for getting the Hadoken upgrade were changed slightly.
-The Heart Tank in Spark Mandrills stage now requires usage of Boomerang Cutter.
-Defeating the Rock Crusher boss in Sting Chameleons stage no longer stops rocks from falling in that cave.
-To screw with your head, Storm Eagle has a slightly new pattern, he now flies back upwards after doing his 45 degree dive, has a new straight dive, and can also shoot out feathers when using his wing flapping move.
-Armored Armadillo has a move where he rolls around the perimeter of the room.
-Most bosses have new moves in Hard Mode. He also parries more efficiently.
-There's a Navigator, now that only shows up in a few scenes. Originally called Pink Haired Chick by most fans, who are attempting to make her into a second GBD...
-Boomer Kuwanger was renamed Boomerang Kuwanger.
-The boss repeats in the Sigma Stages are tossed around a bit, Launch Octopus shows up two stages before he should. Armored Armadillo and Spark Mandrill are both a stage before they should be. And Chill Penguin was thrown a stage ahead of where he should be.
-Bo-spider is pathetically slow.
-Sigma's final form had some noticeable attack changes no longer having the electric spark like move, instead has a move that hits the whole screen save the areas under his hands.
-You can actually beat Vile in the intro stage. Which makes Zero blowing up in kind of pointless...
-Vile was moved to Sigma Palace 3.
-The Sigma Palace stages are for the most part totally different, the exception being Sigma Palace 4, for obvious reasons.
-Sigma just abruptly explodes at the end without his traditional speech. Likewise he does not appear after the credits.
-Storm Eagles stage is shorter as the part where you fought things on his plane was cut. You also don't get to blow it up either, and fight on the plane intact this time.
Well that's all I can think of. There are a few other minor cosmetic changes, and a few other things. For the most part they weren't bad, but going against existing cannon isn't particularly smart in my eyes...
7 out of 10

Total: 103/110 = 93.636363636363636363636363636364 &

Not as good as the original, but that was a hard game to top. If you have the original there's really no sense in purchasing this, unless you REALLY want to play Vile Mode, or an intense MMX1 junkie. If you never played X1, and happen to own a PSP, I'd recommend it though.

Positive: It's still a pretty bitching game.

Negative: Some of the voice actors seemed inappropriate for their characters, Sting Chameleon's come to mind.