Mega Man X (SNES) review "War is bad, but X is more dangerous than war."

This was the one that Capcom has been chasing since they redefined our expectations of what a platformer should be doing in 1993, one year after Nintendo laid the groundwork with its now classic titles become major franchises. It was a formula that players of the earlier games knew all too well, buffed and polished until no one could tell if the shine was perfect or if there was no topcoat left.

Topcoat Man? Thankfully, no.

Capcom knew they’d worn down the surface of The Blue Bomber. The radical advancements of the new console necessitated an upgraded treatment. What we got was every bit as awesome as we thought it was, and what it did best is quite well understood. Novelty wasn’t the only spark that led to lightning in a cartridge, and on our screens.

Megaman X was decidedly hardcore, and hardcoated, compared to his relatively thin skinned progenitor. Where Megaman dabbled with upgrades, allies as accessories and suits like costumes, X dives in head first, making long term changes to his body that will impact future titles, the story and lore. Instead of animal allies, X has a new friend who shows him up right out of the gate.

Just about everything you need to know is dropped on you right at the title screen. A hard rock opening, big metallic text, and a menu navigator that gives the promise of power. Wait too long and you’ll be presented with a dramatic animation that outlines just how much things have advanced since ol’ Megaman. You’ll even be treated to a warning with the backing of a siren.

Is it safe to proceed? Who cares! Let’s find out! This looks awesome!

I’m sure that’s the testosterone talking, but the developers are right on point, because once you start the game, you’re teleported directly into the action. You’re standing on a bridge and nothing is explained to you and without a manual you get to explore what he can do all on your own. You learn the hard way, though you’ve got a few opportunities to make mistakes.

Holistic tutorials, gotta love ‘em. The music is pumpin’ and it won’t be long before you’ve got a solid grip on how X handles. Wall jumps, buster shots, being shot at, escaping death. Or rather, learning that you’ve got extra lives. Again, plenty of room for mistakes. By the time the twist at the end of the level drops on you like many tons of crates, you know where you stand:

You suck. The best a Megaman has ever been and you’re completely outclassed by everyone.

In spite of this, you’re confronted with the promise of potential, and then presented with eight levels to choose from. Each has a distinct, animal themed boss, and what’s more, things you do will impact the environmental condition of other levels. That’s all for you to experiment with, and what a promise to deliver! It wasn’t until a friend pointed this out many years into my relationship with this game that I came to understand that clever interplay.

As mentioned before, you’re outclassed, and if you can make it to a boss, there’s not much chance you’ll last very long against them. Bare metal X doesn’t have much to offer in offensive power, manoeuvrability or resilience. Give it time, and effort, because you’re going to find the answers and the fulfillment of that potential given to you hand and foot. And head. And torso.

He makes changes to his body, remember? Or rather, someone else does. This is where that game mechanic kicks in; a certain creator from your past grants improvements that level the playing field against these (mostly) more difficult and varied foes. All of these are optional, and drastically increase the difficulty of the bosses and level traversal, as one of the abilities greatly improves that particular ability.

If you claim them all, the end is in sight, provided you can work your way through the levels and collect – if you so choose – all the goodies that will extend your health and grant you other useful abilities. The story of Megaman X has more dialogue and nuance than its NES outings, and also some more emotional context as well. The point is clear that X has feelings and can choose for himself. It’s written plainly in the opening scrawl.

War is bad, but X is more dangerous than war. It’s not a perfect message, and not one the game overtly delivers, because the reality is that war doesn’t stop until someone puts down their weapons. X accepts this reality, and Capcom will use that to launch sequels. Many, many sequels. The tail Capcom chases for the next few decades.

All the usual concerns, tightness of controls, precision of collision, quality of music are all on point. The graphics are far and above anything we’ve seen on the NES at this point. New console, new interpretation of old rules. As has been pointed out before, the most significant change to the Megaman style of play is the addition of vertical scrolling. That’s right, we’re not just walking in that direction anymore. We’re also climbing and jumping over open pits in that direction, too.

Capcom transformed the way the game played in a step that may seem incremental and obvious, but was in fact freeing and distinctive, especially early in the life of the SNES. They made some mistakes along the way; framerate problems in scenes of high sprite density, a boss that would spark a trope, a main character with wishy-washy determination. Doing the right thing isn’t always founded on the certainty that it is the correct action to take, but it must be done.

These are questions we’ve asked ourselves as gamers over the years in addition to watching the franchise pursue them as well. The pursuit has been...imperfect, to say the least, but the new formula is a thrill to play, no matter how you interpret its morality. X and his ally Zero begin a journey that begets a franchise of many titles. A struggle that seems to have no end.

Which, naturally, is good news for us because we like helping them explode bad robots.

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Community review by hastypixels (August 16, 2025) Wisdom comes from effort and mistakes.