Mega Man X6 (PlayStation) review "The overall vibe of this game is that it didn't have to but did anyway."

This was the one that left it all behind. Zero is gone, X now has his saber and the world is once again in peril. Alia’s old Maverick Researcher partner has slipped out of an unnoticed crawlspace and after reclaiming a suspicious piece of tech, decides that all “low grade” Reploids are to be brought into submission. Anyone who opposes his work will also be subject to his whim to control the world.

Not exactly a charm offensive.

X6 brings the story, this time, in a deft attempt to have some substance, and so help me if it isn’t a complete failure. Player feedback, once again, leads to some practical changes in the old as your grandparents game mechanics. As with the rest of the Mega Man titles, X is on a crusade for peace, and must investigate the strange appearance of his deceased friend.

He is opposed by Gate, who secretly orchestrates a plan to dominate the world, and the eight Zero Virus Investigators who decide for one reason or another that X must be stopped. Violently. The weapons you acquire from them aren’t in any way integral to the story, which would have been a overall of the baseline game mechanics. Probably a step too far.

Oh yes, if you played the previous game, Mega Man X5, then you’ll notice that this is a direct continuation. Instead of complicating the mechanics of this title, Gate simply says “they might as well have failed.” That’s tidy, but a bit of a downer. Not only was your effort a waste, but the potential for branching stories was wasted, as well.

A less damaged Earth would have been too upbeat for this series, anyway. What is it about robots and apocalypses being welded together at the hip joint? While we’re on the subject of atmosphere, the developers are very much “on” here. Instead of 3D renders of short animations, we’re treated to loads of impressive sprite work.

The opening level gives us no option: We’re given control of X in the Falcon armour, and Alia explains right away that the dash function is busted. That resets traversal back to zero, functionally speaking. We’ve got the usual: A ground dash that doubles as an air dash; X’s long range buster shot, which is small but powerful; the aforementioned Z Saber for close range combat. Naturally X doesn’t have Zero’s flare, so X just swings the thing around like a bat hoping to do some damage. It does create a neat looking arc, though.

The level layout tries to teach you the fundamentals of its platforming play style, and it’s kinda dry. The enemies are large and easy to avoid if you exercise some patience. Alia is present but not insistent, unlike X5. A small icon will appear at the bottom right of the screen, and pressing the Select button will bring up any advice she has to share, if you so desire.

The one curiosity, once you’ve finished off the level boss, is High Max. Stylistically taking after Anubis, he warns you not to get involved, and then toys with you a bit. It’s a plot battle, so even if you’ve only got one hit left, you’re in no danger of losing here. He’ll call off the attack before it lands and disappear, leaving X questioning everything, as he does.

Fully voiced cut scenes have their perks, and the passion of the Japanese actors is impressive. The story does a fair job of pushing Gate’s agenda and Isoc’s “good for all” speech. Naturally, you’ll pursue your own course because that’s just what X does. Fortunately for us, the good stuff has returned from X5, but wrapped in difficult to open packaging. I suppose when you’re a developer you don’t have to explain why game mechanics have changed. You just hope they do it for the betterment of the game in question.

About that. You might recall Parts from X5 as items collected from Reploids stranded randomly throughout each of the eight levels you explore in your play through. Explore is a strong word for a linear platformer, but some levels will have you scratching your head or throwing the controller in their navigation options. It can be unreasonably difficult to rescue these idiots, and some of the reasons are maliciously not your own.

I mean, what sort of moron get himself stranded midair with a demonic looking octo-robot hovering over his head? Oh, they’re absolutely everywhere. Behind hard to reach barriers. Under crushing ceilings. Et al. The laws of physics don’t apply to them, but so help you if they get caught by the evil looking floating octopus robots. Yeah, I know, not octopus, but what would you call them?

Anyway, if you don’t rush over to these stranded Reploids toot sweet, they can’t be rescued. Period. You get one shot at saving them. Swell! Well, that’s nothing a bit of save scumming can’t resolve. The implementation of this mechanic is pretty kludgey, and the bane of any completionists who happen into this game.

The amount of depth this game has could be considered a small iceberg. Zero may be gone, but of course no hero stays dead for very long, and there are ways—sush—of bringing him back. Once you’ve done that, he’s interesting to play but winds up being pretty useless thanks to another new game mechanic that hobbles him almost completely.

The aforementioned devil octopus fellas have “DNA soul” that needs to be harvested in order to increase X and Zero’s hunter rank. Your rank will determine which of the boosters you can equip. The list of options is much the same as X5, and many of them are quite useful, particularly for Zero, who is decidedly underpowered this time around.

I suppose the developers were leery of the idea of Zero becoming the sole protagonist, but that was going to happen anyway. Let’s just say they weren’t ready for that sort of radical treatment. Consequently, Zero is not only an afterthought, he’s also nearly impossible to rank up, the paper tiger that he is.

The overall vibe of X6 is the game that didn’t have to but did anyway. It shouldn’t be a last mention, but the thing is that the music may be the best part of the entire experience. Smooth electro-jazz might not be the series staple (not counting X3), but boy does it sound good here. If you were looking for that hard rock, then this isn’t going to be your jam.

Which is a rather suitable way to sum up the entire experience of X6. If you’re in the mood for more of the same with some mechanical complexities and a late game Zero, by all means. If not, there are plenty of other world-at-peril adventures to play in the X series.

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Community review by hastypixels (September 01, 2025) Retro, and moreso all the time.