4/5 ★ – Pencil_Nexus's review of Mega Man X.

This has been a long time coming. I wanted to do a full playthrough of X at some point. I wanna get my complaints out of the way first since I believe the game still holds up fantastically well overall. My complaints stem from some minor stuff. Stuff like enemies respawning when you enter and exit the screen can be both an annoyance, but advantageous as well. Some of the collectibles and secrets are a bit mean or lack some conveyance. Couple of the heart pieces come to mind in the wood stage and bird stage. Getting the hadouken was also admittedly pretty fucking stupid. The final boss also caused some frustration. It's not objectively bad by any means, but the final phase on top of two boss fights, it feels as though if you aren't stocked up, good luck, lol. In terms of good, pretty much everything else. The classic Mega Man formula, but with the sexiest game feel for the time. Fluid controls, with a solid gameplay loop, as a majority of the stages are really well detailed and enjoyable to traverse. All the robot masters have great designs, and some decent challenge to them, except Spark Mandrill, his meme lives on. The visuals are top notch, and the music is so fantastic. Overall, it's a popcorn classic for a reason. Was there frustration here and there? Absolutely, but it's still a great romp from start to end. I'm excited to try out the rest of the series.