Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X review

Much like Hollywood, remakes are becoming more and more commonplace in games. On the one hand we have compilations released for many old-school classics to be revived on modern consoles, on the other are complete revamps like Resident Evil (GC) that manage to improve on a well-established original. But with the good also come the bad, and the recent Sega Ages compilation is considered a disgrace with the reputation of the great classics found on the disc tarnished. Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X luckily falls into the first category of doing the original justice and also managing to improve on it in a number of subtle ways.Essentially a remake of the 1993 classic Mega Man X (which we awarded a 9/10) Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X sees the player again control the Blue Bomber as he attempts to stop the evil Mavericks led by Sigma from ruling the world. Maverick Hunter X manages to grab the story from the original and flesh it out with a number of sub-plot points. Sigma's second-in-command, Vile, is no longer just your standard evil henchman as he was in the original: in this version the reason he has joined forces with Sigma is to overthrow him and become the lone ruler of the planet. This plot is revealed not just by the brand new, and impressive cut scenes, but the fact that you can now play through the game as Vile upon completing the main story. After the opening level eases you into the game, you get to choose which boss to fight. Tactics come into play as each boss is best fought with a specific weapon that can only be obtained from another character's stage. While some are quite simple to figure out ,others require you to try everything you can before you find the proper combination.While gameplay remains the same (much like all Mega Man games) the graphics have been given a major overhaul. Maverick Hunter X has moved from being a straight 2D platform romp to a 2.5D adventure with a number of impressive 3D effects. Best of these comes at the final boss. Without spoiling too much- just to say that the original 'wall with moving hands' villain has been replaced by a fully 3D creation that blasts its way through a solid wall. Your jaw will hit the floor, especially those that remember the original X fondly. As mentioned earlier, brand new anime cut-scenes have been implemented, these scenes help explain the story of X more deeply than the SNES original ever could. In addition to this, upon completing the game you unlock a full 30 minute long animated prequel further expanding the Mega Man legacy. Like the rest of the game the music has been completely re-mastered. Catchy and excitement-inducing, the songs are enough to make an avid fan weep. More emotionally charged than the SNES original, guitar and drum beats are centre stage making an excellent soundtrack. Each character now comes with additional voices, from the hard-as-nails vocals of Sigma and Zero to the comedy squawking of Chill Penguin. None are quite as badly acted or annoying as you'd find in your typical Capcom game, but the voice acting only really happens at the end of each stage as X comes face to face with each boss.There are two downsides to an otherwise amazing platformer. The first being slowdown; unfortunately when the action heats up the gameplay slows to a snails pace, which does seem odd as at its heart X is still a simple 2D platformer. The other is that this is probably one of the easiest Mega Man titles ever: definitely one for beginners to the series, but veterans (particularly ones familiar with Mega Man X) may find too little of a challenge. With that said though, certain items have been moved, so even people who have played the original X to death may still need to go exploring for the last elusive upgrade.These minor faults still don't stop Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X being the defining platformer on the PSP. Like a lot of the output on the PSP it may still just be a remake/sequel, but that is inconsequential when it plays and looks this good. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.