Mega Man X6

Overview

Mega Man X6 (known in Japan as Rockman X6) is a side-scrolling action platformer developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation on December 4, 2001.

The sixth main installment of the Mega Man X series (and the sequel to Mega Man X5), Mega Man X6 is the last game in the franchise to feature a 32-bit style (in both graphics and gameplay).

Set in 21XX, the game takes place three months after the events of Mega Man X5 (where Maverick Hunters Mega Man X and Zero prevented a massive space colony from fully destroying Earth and eliminated Maverick Sigma yet again, with Zero sacrificing himself to save X). A new and mysterious virus, known as "Nightmare", is turning Reploids into crazed Mavericks. When Reploid scientist Isoc (along with his subordinate, High Max) identify the cause as the "ghost" of Zero, X (now brandishing Zero's Z-Saber) must investigate the Nightmare phenomenon (while encountering infected researchers of the virus, who were created by lead researcher Gate) and stop Zero's Nightmare doppelganger.

The game was later released for the PC in different parts of Asia sometime in 2002-2003 and is included in the Mega Man X Collection compilation for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube (released on January 10, 2006).

Gameplay

The game starts off with X, but Zero can be unlocked later. The game features a "Nightmare" system, which makes it so that when X or Zero defeats a Maverick, their icon on the level select screen will become red, which means that certain environmental hazards will be added to the level to increase difficulty. This is important because this game has many more hidden secrets to find than the other games in the X series.

Ranking System

Mega Man X6 offers a leveling system, and the way a character can level up is by obtaining souls from certain Mavericks. Once the player collects enough, the character's ranking will go up, which allows the characters to have access others special parts that are obtained from missing Reploids, found in various locations throughout the game's eight Maverick stages.

Reploids/Parts

The game has over a hundreds missing reploids in the game's levels - some of the Reploids offer specials parts that X or Zero can use. The special parts can help X & Zero in certain ways. For example, one of the parts can allow X or Zero jump higher, or some can increase the power of the X-Buster or the Z Saber.

Armors

X has a total of four armors in the game, and each armor has certain abilities.

• Falcon Armor: Available from the start of game, the Falcon Armor gives X the ability to perform a dash in mid-air that will also damage enemies, perform the Giga Attack that damages all enemies on screen, and use special charged versions of the weapons obtained by the Maverick bosses.

• Shadow Armor: The Shadow Armor has the ability to touch spiked areas with no consequence, take less damage, dash vertically by pressing up and jump, shoot Shurikens that shoot in random directions, and perform a special charged slash with the Z Saber. The one downside to this armor is that it prevents air dashing and weapons obtained from defeated Mavericks.

• Blade Armor: The Blade Armor has the ability to perform a powerful slash attack by pressing up and the attack button with a full weapon charge, and the ability to dash in any direction and stop in mid-air. While dashing, X will be invincible to all attacks.

• Ultimate Armor: Only accessible via a cheat code entered at the title screen, this incredibly powerful armor has the ability to use a special move called Nova Strike at any time, which rockets X forward and does a great deal to normal enemies and bosses. It also has a conventional air dash and the same charged shot received with the Ultimate Armor in X4 and X5.

Bosses

Name: Blizzard Wolfang

Level: NorthPole Area

Weapon: Ice Burst (X) Hydroga (Zero)

Weakness: Magma Blade (X) Shoenzan (Zero)

Name: Commander Yammack

Level: Amazon Area

Weapon: Yammar Option

Weakness: Ray Arrow

Name: Infinity Mijinion

Level: Weapon Center

Weapon: Ray Arrow

Weakness: Guard Shell

Name: Ground Scaravich

Level: Central Museum

Weapon: Ground Dash (X) Sentsuizan (Zero)

Weakness: Yammar Option

Name: Rainy Turtloid

Level: Inami Temple

Weapon: Meteor Rain (X) Ensuizan (Zero)

Weakness: Ice Burst (X) Hydroga (Zero)

Name: Metal Shark Player

Level: Recycle Lab

Weapon: Metal Anchor (X) Rakukojini (Zero)

Weakness: Meteor Rain (X) Ensuizan (Zero)

Name: Blaze Heatnix

Level: Magma Area

Weapon: Magma Blade (X) Shoenzan (Zero)

Weakness: Ground Dash (X) Sentsuizan (Zero)

Name: Shield Sheldon

Level: Laser Institute

Weapon: Guard Shell

Weakness: Metal Anchor (X) Rakukojini (Zero)

Soundtrack

In 2005 Capcom released a 5-disc box set called Capcom Music Generation Rockman X1~6. It contains the original music of Mega Man X through Mega Man X6 as well as some unused tracks. Mega Man X6 tracks span most of the fifth disc with the last few tracks on the disc being opening and ending themes from X3 through X5. The track listing is as follows: