@@LavaCreeperPeople And then there are X6 and X7, which are terrible. Sadly only a few of the games can be called good which pains me to say cus i used to be a massive X fan before I accepted just how bad nearly all of the post-SNES games are.
@@panthekirb7561 X6 was objectively terrible but it's... kind of grown on me? There were some genuinely great ideas explored in its level design, if the devs had bothered to actually polish the game beyond its 8 months of development. Gate is also one of the best villains in *any* Mega Man game and the soundtrack is among the top in the series. X6 is the type of game where, through many hours of agony and grit, you eventually reach a state of higher understanding and the bullshit the game throws at you now becomes a challenge to overcome (also Metal Shark's stage is peak level design I don't care what anyone says)
McWhalen's stage gets me thinking: *Why the hell didn't they just remove the submarine after beating it once, and just make the whole thing scrolling?*
After messing around with gamedeving myself I'll just assume it was engine jank and they couldn't figure out how. No way they didn't know how lousy it felt on repeated playthroughs.
@@KieranHarris44 prob not back then they cared alot about replayablity more than anything just look at ps2 and ps1 era games they reuse alot of content
Outside the submarine, the stage is pretty much... nothing. Other than the short sunken ship with lots of spike, the stage is just: go straight, drop down, the ship, climb up
@@chomik172 i sat down for several hours a few months ago and made a tier list of my favorite classic megaman stages, and it really made me question how i ever got into the series. i hate most of them lmao
Just started watching the video, already glad to see Duff McWhalen's stage next to dead last. It's one of the first stages I'd associate with the sentence "This level ****ing blows."
I went into this video thinking "If the whale's level isn't dead last, or pretty damned close, I'm going to write a novel of a comment explaining why it should be" hahaha
I'm pleasantly surprised to see Sky Lagoon so high on the list as it's always been my personal favorite opening level in the series, though admittedly I might be biased because of its top tier music.
Same. Believe it or not, I still think X4 is the definitively best X game. That was where they peaked in graphics and gameplay; it was all downhill from there lol.
Honestly, I think that Zero dying in Sigma Fortress 1 from MMX was more effective in terms of the story, it represented that X now had to face everything by himself.
I went straight to Top 10, and boy, I agree with many things you said. But, for me, X Sky Lagoon is easily the best level ever made. Playing Mega Man since it's humble beginnings, I was in awe when i played Sky Lagoon for the first time: The graphics, the scale, explosions! Everything was perfect, than comes the music: X Intro Stage music is ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!
Honestly, i came for the bad ones, and was delighted/shocked to find that not all of X6 was at bottom, its bad but people give it more crap than it deserves
Amazing video from start to finish, i was honestly surprised to see X3's levels get so high and not see many of X2's levels higher up than they were, considering they were my favorite levels out of the X series. Neat thing about Boomerang Cutter from MMX- if you're falling when you use it, it goes down with you, but if you're standing still or jumping, it'll go up with you.
@Josuh Yeah it's behind a wall. What Plum was referring to is if you can grab the Sub Tank without shooting Boomerang Cutter downwards, as in shooting it upwards. It's precise but it's possible
It is incredible how much you love this video game franchise. An immense work has been done by you, thank you! Now ranking all of the bosses should be a no brainier 👌
@@helmeren3828 Central White is okay, but what makes it worse is that the Light Capsule had you play as Zero & X, but you also needed Axl for the Rare Metal, luckily the Character Switch exploit exists
You actually don't need all 3 characters to get every secret in Avalance Yeti's stage without the switching glitch. You can just combine Zero's airdash and Raikousen EX skill to get enough distance to make the jump. It doesn't make the miniboss any less tedious, but you do at least only need to experience it once.
Despite it's NUMEROUS flaws, Mega Man X 6 opening level is one of the most memorable for me. And Volcano from X4 was a thrill even though I always had trouble with the Ride Armor. I just sucked back then. But the music?! Oh my God I love it.
@@Alejandro-er7rp It was apparently in the Rockman X6 version and then was used in the English release of the Legacy Collection (and I assume in the Japanese release of LC as well)
Was extremely happy to see Cyber Peacock's stage in the top 2, cause it's easily my favorite Mega Man stage of all time for numerous reasons. Really good video! Definitely looking forward to the Classic Mega Man retrospective
20:08 - X's Shining Ray also melts the ice. The reason you need Zero is to double jump up there in the first place. Also you can use Zero's Raikousen from an airdash to get over to the platform on the left without using Axl or the air tag exploit. X8's stages are definitely its biggest problem, for sure, but it does a lot right in other areas.
Great rankings all around. I did find it entertaining watching through the whole video just to see how far each X game will last throughout the rankings and while wasn't a surprise seeing the first 4 X games outlast the rest, X5 and X6 surprisingly made it farther onto the list than I expected.
You ranked Squid Adler higher than Jet Stingray??? I agree with most of the rankings, but this? Adler's bike segment is beyond frustrating, especially if going for the barrier jewels, not to mention the insanely slow level afterwards with the colored locks.
Pretty much the only decision he made that made me say "wtf". I mean, sure, its only half the stage, but its sooo bad that that i would have placed it near dead last on the whole list
Stingray is still a pretty easy level compared to Squid Adler. Not the best X4 level, given the bike's speed and limited reaction time, but hardly an infuriating one. Enemies and mines do little damage. No worse than X2's Ostrich level bike section. At worst, it requires a revisit or two to get the poorly placed heart and E-Tank.@@symphomaniac
This was an absolute treat! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on all of 'em, though it makes me a little bit sad realizing that X6 could have been pretty good if it hadn't been a messy rush job. Also, I think the hype of X8 is because it's a game that's pretty okay... that was the follow-up to X6 and X7, so I think for a lot of people, the fact that the series was starting to reorient itself at all ends up making it stand out positively to a lot of people
I don't think this "X6 and X7 sucking balls helped X8 to stand out" is the main reason, since everything that has this reputation, breaks when many years already passed, and gets accessible to wider audiences Both happened to X8, almost 2 decades since it released and is now available through the Legacy Collection 2, and is still mostly a well received game I just think the "hype", despite still not being nearly as praised as the first 4 games, for X8 is simply because it changed a lot of what the previous games did, and it worked well for most fans, maybe only we'll know if this is true if X9 will exist
Much of X8's praise comes from its array of new features and improvements to things previous games struggled with. The ideas X8 does well being carried into another, overall better game are a big part of what drives the craving for X9. It keeps the 2 armour set idea from X5 and X6, but lets you use each piece immediately, and mix parts from both sets together. It keeps the navigator, but they're generally more helpful and fun, give you two more to pick from with unique dialogue, and give you the option to not have them at all. Axl's a big improvement from X7, able to shoot in 7 directions to make him more distinct from X, while keeping his A-Trans, hover and dodge roll (down+dash, goes through some attacks similarly to X's shadow dash he gets from the Hermes Feet parts) from X7 as well. Tons of secrets and upgrades to find, which is cool, even if getting all of them is quite a daunting task. Continuing from X7's introduction of it, X8 also has New Game+, including bonus content with an Ultimate form for all 3 characters, and the three navigators being playable as well, among other things. Voice acting is also genuinely quite good, said voice cast carrying over into Maverick Hunter X as well. Going up to the moon is a cool setting, plus seeing Sigma finally go out leaves intrigue for where the series could have gone.
X5 developers: "Let's have a capsule in Tidal Whale's stage only be obtainable through his weapon, and then have you go through the first half of the stage again".
It's really amazing how much more positive your recent megaman x videos are when compared to your old videos, it's so refreshing to just listen to someone who has the same love for these games that I do
Since you asked, here are some of the reasons X8 is looked upon (overall) favorably by many: - Probably the most animate game in the series. From the freaking title screen to UI to enemies to boss introductions to the backgrounds of stages. Seriously, it's amazing how much goes on in this game. Swaying foliage, coursing rivers/waterfalls, birds in flight, computer monitors etc. - Dynamic lighting and camera angles. X7 may have had those first, but the execution was botched as opposed to X8. - Great sound design, which usually goes unappreciated. - Best English voice acting in the series FIGHT ME. - Dynasty might be terrible due to depth perception problems, but you can actually see what is up ahead, unlike the 2D games which with the exception of X2 hit you so often with insta death scenarios you absolutely couldn't have seen coming. - An air dash for every character by default. The freedom of movement and maneuvering this provides is awesome both for platforming and combat. - Best ride armor in the series. No debating. - *Best controls and physics in the series* FREAKING FIGHT ME. No matter how interesting or good you make the mechanics, stages, bosses and whatnot, having controls that don't measure up will always deduct major points. X8's dashing, jumping, attacking, and how all of that flows into each other is simply splendid with minimal lag and virtually no jank. - The tag team mechanic. Seriously, this is so underrated it's crazy. Gone are the days of struggling with X against crawling enemies cause Zero and Axl can easily attack those. The freedom and variety provided by this game and only this game's tag mechanic (X7's botched execution doesn’t count) is beyond awesome. - The balancing of the three characters is simply amazing. All of them have strengths that make them worthwhile and fun to play with. - The neutral armor is functionally the best X armor in the series. FIGHT ME. Great/Good effects, the ability to mix and match, you name it. - Enemies don't respawn infinitely if they go offscreen. Seriously, that was one of the most annoying aspects of previous games. And you don't need to worry about filling subtanks cause in addition to the usual way, you can charge them at the lab. - New Game Plus. Enough said. And much more. I can write a college essay on the great things X8 has. Don't get me wrong, it has a long list of problems and I can write another essay on those, but I genuinely believe the pros definitively outweigh the cons.
Deep but true its the most overlooked of the series the one thing I hate is the rise chaser stages *cough cough dynasty* only reason is blind pits and wonky camera angles
As someone who found X2 and X3's level designs too difficult and unfair (for context, I'm good at most of the other X games and REALLY good at the Zero and ZX games), you're *really* making me wanna play X2 and X3 again.
@joester4life IMO the first MMX is pretty different to compare for difficulty progression compared to the rest of the series, since it's built around the likelihood that people won't immediately grab the dash from Chill Penguin's stage. Honestly I love that the stages manage to be fun both with and without the dash, though! Aside from that, I agree that X2 is pretty easy.
I'm not a fan of X3 at all, but to be fair my issues were less with the core level design and more with the upgrade system. For starters, the game locks literally almost every upgrade around whether or not you figured out ONE FUCKING JUMP in the ice level. X1 also tied all of it's secrets behind you getting the dash, but you unlock that literally just by getting halfway through Chill Penguin's stage. X3 has you jump to some offscreen corner in it's ice level. If you don't figure that out, then exploring in ALL the other stages to find upgrades will give you jack shit. Then, they tried to justify wanting two armor upgrades that reduce damage, by making you die in 2 hits without any armor upgrades. X1 and X2 enemies were not made to do that much damage in one hit armorless, and classic Megaman enemies aren't built like that either. This isn't a series where enemies are built to be doing as much damage as most of the enemies or hazards in X3 do. If you DO actually try and get every upgrade, then the game just becomes super easy when you can just sit still and wait for the consequences of your mistakes to slowly disappear while you go and make a sandwich, or one shot Sigma with the Z Saber. It's not fun without upgrades and getting all the upgrades just made me feel like I won't be punished for making mistakes, and finding literally any upgrade was inherently frustrating because they were ALL tied to requiring you to have found a secret that I greatly disliked. I can at least see some of the appeal behind X3, but I think it's more appealing to people who've known about it for a long time and are more looking for a set of familiar stages to blitz through upon collecting all the upgrades. But I don't think it's a fun game to try and explore for the first time. X2 was "easier", especially since X1 and X2 don't outright hate you for playing without any upgrades the way X3 does, but it was also just a much more well designed and properly challenging game than X3 was, imo. It's weird because I normally really like big dick-sucky upgrade fests and I think X3 is sort of like a big playground, but I didn't find it a fun game to try and explore. And I first played it at an age where I'm more critical of games for making me feel that way on a first playthrough.
Fun fact: In X1 you can use boomerang cutter on launch octopus and cut off his tentacles. This prevents him from using his homing missiles and his tornado attacks. You can also use it on flame mammoth to cut off his trunk. This prevents him from spitting out oil and changing the direction of the conveyor belt.
Anima Gate of Memories and its sequel, the nameless chronicles are games developed by Anima project studios. They are inspired by the Witcher, nier Automata, zelda and devil may cry. I think I distinctly remember you saying that one of your favorite series is the devil may cry games. Well the combat of Anima takes heavy inspiration from devil may cry. You also shown interest in zelda in the past and this games approach towards having a grand adventure is inspired by that series. It's on Playstation, Xbox, the switch and pc, and a video on the two games in the series would be really cool. Thanks!
This was a great list! I really agreed with the majority of things. Really looking forward to the Classic Retrospective. I think I'm most looking forward to Rockman & Forte, Mega Man 7, and the Game Boy titles. Best of luck!
About Crimson Palace, you don't have much health in the B-Roll. Also, something really weird about it is how at the junction you can go to either the long platforming segment with the turtles and the sonic towers that knock you over, or you can just go the other way for a short beat down room with a bunch of Ride Armor dudes that's way shorter. That said, I'll gladly take it over basically any of the auto-scrollers if time isn't a concern. It would be so nice if there were a hack of X5 that at the very least makes it so that if you re-enter Duff's stage after clearing the boss, you just enter at the non-autoscrolling section to bypass the first two parts. Funny thing about Palace Road is that Mole Bore is absurdly weak to Explosion. Recycle Lab is a right hassle without Hyper Dash. Something helpful to know about Dynasty is that your amount of boosts are increased with Weapon Energy upgrades, so getting those first can make it easier to ram your face into Man-O-War and close it in under a minute. Damage boosting is frankly just what you do in X7 since Triple Barrier is so ridiculous and Shock Buffer also helps. Voluntary invincibility is also just a thing that significant enemies should not be able to do, relating to Radio Tower specifically. X can get past that Gate's Lab 2 gap without parts, but it really seems like he's not supposed to be able to. I think Shadow Armor also can, but again if it can it really doesn't seem like it's meant to. One of the reploids in Cyber Field is annoying for having a Weapon Energy Up but being past one of the walls that Axl needs to A-Trans to go through, so if you want X or Zero to have it then you need to go through the wall, wait for A-Trans to fizzle out, switch, grab the Reploid, then switch back and get A-Trans again. Very annoying. In Lava Factory, Leon is an annoying one to get ahold of if you don't just face tank something small and rush in with Triple Barrier. Something good to know about Hyenard, while the antlers of his mech cannot be targeted that doesn't mean they can't be destroyed. Get rid of both of them and it'll stop firing missiles which makes Hyenard less cumbersome to fire at. In Air Force, most reliable way I've noted to get that Heart Tank is to stand on the right yellow/orange bar on the center of the craft. The collectibles do make a noise, just a very quiet one. Jakob is really stupid to get an AAA on if you don't know to stack No Damage Clear and EX Finish to inflate your rank. Speaking of No Damage Clear, getting that on Central White is one of the worst things in the series. Don't do it. Inferno is the worst autoscroller in terms of presentation because of how you can fall off the bottom of the screen, your character explodes, and then a platform rises up from the bottom of the screen in the exact vertical position where the explosion occurred such that you obviously would've just landed on that platform if it weren't autoscrolling. No excuse for that, not at all. Something you didn't mention is that in order to get the Rare Metal that requires Zero, you also need another Rare Metal. Which one? The one you need Axl for in the same stage. It's X5 all over again, is what it is. Acknowledgement of Central Museum being bad. Quick Lasers did not need not being able to see the entire screen at once. Regarding Primrose, I'm pretty sure you're meant to get to the Light Capsule by stacking boxes rather than trying to air dash or whatever. Planetarium actually doesn't have slowdown on the X Collection, go figure. You can also absolutely use the Falcon Armor to bypass the platform, there's enough space to reset your flight without it being too tight. That snail shaft is the worst thing in X3. Literally at a snail's pace. Booster Forest has an easier No Damage Clear by the game's standards than it seems at face because the Ride Armor getting damaged doesn't count so you can just plow through with that. Regarding Hornet's X3 stage, I genuinely find it faster to just do Beetle first because backtracking for that Heart Tank actively takes less time than sitting through the box loading segment, or at least it feels like it does. My hot take is that Central Highway kind of sucks. It's too long for never being able to dash, and I wouldn't dissaude anyone who's already seen it through from just using a password to skip it. Regarding Central Computer, pop the robot with with Speed Burner a few times. That helps.
48:00 I'd actually disagree. Zero dying in sigma stage 1 gave the following sigma stages in X1 a more somber tone. Having him die in the last sigma stage sort of destroys the vibe and mood the sigma stages in the original game had.
X-Cellent job! The production value on this is very high and is just such a beefy video that clearly took a lot to make! The classic Mega Man retrospective will surely be awesome as well, and I'm looking forward to it!
10:48 The first time I played this stage, I went down the bottom path, and I honestly thought that that was the main route! I didn't realize until I got to the end. And then when I did meet the actual boss, my reaction was "Wait a damn minute! Is this stage really that short!?"
I think Chill Penguin's stage becomes SO much better when you're doing a run of Mega Man X where you try and avoid getting the dash for as long as possible, or at the very least for some of the stages. Keep in mind, the game starts with it's cursor on a different stage, and there's nothing IN GAME that tells you about Chill Penguin's stage. And because of that, what blows my mind with Mega Man X1 is how not only was every stage built to be fun and fair with the dash, but they're all fun WITHOUT the dash as long as you're used to the classic Mega Man game's difficulty curve. And you just end up getting better at it, because of Zero's words of encouragement. But even if you can't do a level, you always have another level to try. So, after checking out each level and maybe succeeding with a few, and generally just playing the whole game like a classic Mega Man game but with the wall jump and an occasional permanent health upgrade being the big distinctor... out of NOWHERE, the game puts an item capsule in the middle of a random level, revealing a HUGE amount of lore that COMPLETELY recontextualises X as a character, but also reveals that all over the game there were even MORE powers that you missed and can get now. Zero's words of encouragement weren't metaphorical, they were shockingly literal. Suddenly, the world is your oyster, and waiting for the reveal makes this feel like SUCH an awesome and significant moment that doesn't impact the player nearly as hard when you go for Chill Penguin's stage first. Mega Man X1's structure feels incredibly underappreciated, if you ask me. Or at the very least, it's not talked about enough considering how everybody talks about the game like players will or should go to Chill Penguin's stage first. The game does such an awesome job showing the player the strength and potential of the new gameplay ideas, not just through a tutorial level, but by demonstrating it's potential with how the game feels to play. And it does it by taking the really fucking hard route and making it's levels fun both with and without a major control option. No shortcuts taken, they just did it with raw good level design. If you want more platforming challenge in X1 levels, then do the game without the dash! It's why the game doesn't have a focus on it, since the game's hard jumps are made easy with the dash. And just as much as I find it incredible that the game is fun without the dash, I find it amazing that the dash doesn't completely ruin the level design, since platforming wasn't the biggest focus anyways. The levels still have a huge sense of identity and purpose, and I honestly love it. Once you have the dash, levels are focused on trying to maintain flow and not run into enemies, which is perfectly fair and fun if you ask me. And it wasn't a big enough part of the game's identity for the dash to completely ruin it, because if anything a lot of the bigger challenges just play differently. For example, Storm Eagle's stage demands more precision since using the dash you can overshoot due to how narrow the platforms are and how you've spent less time taking out enemies. But using it also cuts down on wait times for the platforms. And Armor Armodillo's stage doesn't HAVE platforming challenge without the dash, but it does when you don't since the spike pits become jumps you gotta think a little bit for. Less platforming precision, and more about maintaining flow and not running into enemies like a moron. And there are even levels that give the challenge of maintaining the flow of the dash even WITHOUT that upgrade! I think it makes Sting Chameleon's stage and Armor Armodillo's stages more fun to play, since both of them give challenges that foreshadow how the game plays without the dash. The ride armor is awesome in Sting Chameleon's stage since with it you can dash despite not having the upgrade. And Armored Armodillo gives you an extreme version of how Mega Man X1 plays with it's dash with how the minecart segments make you move fast against a bunch of enemies that you don't want to run into. Giving Chill Penguin's stage more complexity than being simple and linear would have taken away from its purpose, and I think people miss how awesome the stage's actual purpose is when they miss the dash. Subsequent Mega Man X playthroughs for me have focused on clearing the game with as few upgrades as possible, and I think it's actually super fun. It easily should have ranked higher just for how much of a game changer it is. The later games were probably right to make the dash standard, but X1's general design is honestly just so cool to me. That part of its design deserves more attention, and so do 0% runs. Also, for some reason I find Storm Eagle's first fight to be way easier when I don't have the dash. When you know his pattern, just walking is all you should really need to be able to avoid his attacks, as long as you're smart enough to know when to jump. So using the dash actually makes my positioning less precise and it tends to make me make mistakes more. It's not the same story for his rematch, oddly enough, since the arena is placed higher and you HAVE to dash to avoid his swoop move there. Which is fair to do because the dash is mandatory there. But everybody loves Storm Eagle.
Only gotten 20 in so far, but seeing how every level so far is from the latter half of Megaman X, it really shows the difference in quality in X Legacy Collection volumes 1 and 2.
One of my favorite things in frost walrus’ stage is seeing blizzard buffalo & chill penguin frozen in the background. A pretty neat thing to spot whenever you do
Beautifully done on this list j ❤🙂 must've been a grueling task upon replaying every stage in this series, I was honestly surprised that the first X hunter stage of X2 ranked very high, just goes to show how well made X2 is *again I'll admit it's me being biased since X2 was not only one of the very first mega man games I ever played, but also one of my very first video games i ever played, along with super Mario world* on another note I know you mentioned very briefly that once upon a time that you enjoyed classic mega man 7 more than X1, 🙂 I actually typed about mega man 7 as one of the game's that saved me from 2020, I would honestly like to share it with you, mainly because I feel that game does stand tall with the snes X trilogy 🙏🙏
I think Flame Stag’s stage is one of my personal all-time favorites. It’s a short level but there’s something about it that just makes me run and gun and feel awesome. The music, the volcano exploding. It’s just an awesome level!
Spark Mandrill's stage has always been my favorite. I just really love the music and the sections where you have to shoot the flying security mechaniloids while platforming.
not gonna lie, from the first x game, that stage was by far my least favorite. i hated all the lightning all over the place, and the heart piece(or was it the energy tank?) that you need to boomerang was always either a first try or lots of minutes lost, trying to get the perfect angle.
Honestly X4-X6 had the best in my eyes, alot of variety and uniqueness, cool enemies and bosses, Decent challenge etc... Yes, even X6, Gate's laboratory is one of my favorite still. And recycle lab wasn't bad at all, It is pretty unique and allowed for more strategic approach, It's not great but not at the bottom tier.
Not really relevant to the video at all but I just wanna say J's reviews is so amazing to me because we're both the same age and had all of the same media interests as me growing up (minus JRPGs) and its also just nice to see one of my peers give such well executed critical commentary on topics I was never really able to discuss as a kid ,because everyone I knew only played a handful of video games for fun and I was considered a hater if my opinion on a game wasn't just its good or bad.
Hell yeah! This is awesome! Btw, for the downward sections in inferno you can spam tap Axl’s guns in the air to slowly move down and avoid all the platforming, making it way easier. Edit: why didn’t you cover Vile’s stages in MHX? aren’t they different than the normal ones?
51:19 I have played X3 THOUSANDS OF TIMES, it has always been my fav X game of the franchise BUT I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS SECTION, IN THE 10 YEARS I HAVE BEEN REPLAYING THIS I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS "PLANE" IN THE GAME
My personal favorite level of all time is Jungle Facility from X5, Axle the Red stages. This stage has just about everything going for it. I love rose aesthetics, the music is great, I love Axle the Red’s design, I love that it’s set at sunset which is rare in video games, his fight is hard but in a genuine way and not a bullshit way, and he’s named after my favorite Guns N’ Roses member 😅
When I watch a longer video like this I usually just have it run in the background and do something else, but ur video was really interesting so I stop what I was doing and actually paying attention. Good job man.
I'm not going to watch the whole video for a lack of interest, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I took a look at the top 10 and I can't say I agree with Storm Eagle's stage as number 1. This level has one of my biggest pet peeves with platformers, which are moving platforms. In most games, which includes X1, moving platforms require you to sit down and wait while doing nothing until the platforms align in a way that allows you to progress, and it's so, SO BORING. It's especially frustrating when you have to wait until two vertical platforms line up so you can kill the turrets on the other side. I cannot understand at all how this stage can be more fun than Cyber Peacock's stage, which has much more dynamic level design that allows you to rush through everything non-stop if you're skilled enough.
Cyber Peacock's stage being so high threw me for a loop since that's my least favorite of the Maverick stages in X4. But pretty much everything else I can agree with
It is actually fun stage to play if you not going for the heart tank and the sub tank there now if you are going for 100 percent then I understand ya frustration
Would you believe me if I told you I've watched the entirety of this video more than 10 times? Game Design is something that deeply fascinates me, Mega Man is one of my favorite franchises, and I find it extremely interesting to hear the opinions of a massive fan of the game such as yourself. It is a very thorough breakdown. Truly impressive and praiseworthy. If you do a similar video for 2024, I personally would vote for a Ranking of all bosses. Though I would understand if that is an unreasonably long project. In any case, I thank you for producing this content, as well as your reviews. I hope you have an excellent day, week, month and year.
If I had to pick my favorite stage of every Mega Man X game: X: Flame Mammoth's stage / Storm Eagle's stage X2: Morph Moth's stage X3: Blast Hornet's stage X4: Magma Dragoon's stage X5: Axel the Red's stage X6: No X7: God, no X8: Bamboo Pandamonium's stage
I always do wheel gator first and get the arm upgrade and heart tank while i'm at it too. The trick to dash wall jump to the arm upgrade area is to look at the rivets at the wall, that way you can find a spot that works every time.
The devs I think the way they designed to collect the Heart Tank is to use a Charged Strike Chain or Speed Burner. But the Problem is, is that the Platform is too high. You can get the Heart Tank by using the Speed Burner in Mega Man Xtreme.
@@kolkagaming1234 the heart tank is easy to get by damage boosting anyway. I always did the heart tank and the arm upgrade that way, seemed like the easiest ways to me.
Hey. For a little bit lore. Storm eagle was the onely one who was reluctant to serve Sigma but since he was the commander under Sigma force. He challenge X for a duel to death to keep his pride Another lore from X4 forst walrus. At the entrance of the stage, you will see blizard buffalo frozen. In X3 we didn't killed blizzard buffalo and blast hornet. They joined maverick hunter but blast hornet die during the encounter with the dragon intro stage. After return X and Zero fight because of thr conflict idea. X want to confront repliforce and Zero want a peace talk with them. They separate and buffalo join either who you are playing with to confront frost walrus, frost walrus threatened to destroy maverick hunters and try to kill X/Zero. Buffalo sacrificed to save X/Zero. The stage play after to revenge for blizzard buffalo
A long side of blasting Hornet and blizzard buffalo. Neon tiger also joined the maverick but he is nowhere to be found. Volt catfish we spared him to continue his work at electric tower
There is a Playstation trophy for beating Zero Virus 1 from Megaman X5 without using the time stop. That's one of the hardest things I ever done. Not just in a Megaman in gaming in general. Btw. you should add the music for each stage too, but still a fun list. Thanks for this
30:52 So about the slow motion thing, this is actually unintentional. The Mega Man X Collection on PS2 fixes the slowdown from the PS1 version, which served as the base for the new collection, which brings the slowdown back as a result.
Amazing content, really fun to watch, it really shows how much you love the X series, and that makes your videos even more enjoyable, thanks mister J sir
Lol, you made me remember from X5's Jungle Facility area where I thought the Vine enemy were cheap and unfair BUT it was because that time we would have square TVs, and it was set to "fill the screen" (whatever it means) instead of showing the normal 4:3 entire screen, so in that level I wouldn't normally see the tips of the spikes because they were off screen for me, LOL. Not many years after, 16:9 would arrive but my family would always set the screen on Widescreen because it was "pretty" (and you know not many games or shows were made for those screens so it would look stretched to the sides). I would set it to 4:3 whenever I play or watch something that's originally for it, but my family would bother me for changing it and saying that I liked "small screens". Smh
i think leaving the soundtrack and presentation out of the equation was a mistake, it really can elevate a lot of stages, weapon center x6 is a great example, it's really not complex or somenthing like this, but the epic sounstrack and the massive robot in the background and the beautiful images really elevates the experience above some others that had a better score
Kinda disagree. While level music helps make a stage stand out, it's not that big of a factor and would make certain stages rank higher than it ever deserves to be. X6's music is some of the best in the franchise but that's no good excuse to bump up their score.
yeah we'll have to agree to disagree then, i definitely would prefer to play a not so complex level but with awesome presentation, than a more complex one with boring music and presentation, that definitely would impact the score for me@@dnmstarsi
Fair enough, @@ericvargas5362 . Besides, it's just a fun list video so we shouldn't be too serious about how J ranked these levels when the best ones show that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to best stages in MMX.
X7 is a game I know is bad. It has fundamental flaws that are hard to ignore. And yet, despite all of that, I played it yesterday out of curiosity, and I don’t know why, but I actually genuinely enjoyed playing the game a bit. I am not that critical when it comes to games. I like most games I play, I’m probably one of the only people who actually liked Mighty No. 9, so I don’t call games bad often, and the few I do aren’t too many. I only played a few stages before I stopped to play X1 again because I did get a bit bored and wanted to play something else, but of the stages I played, most of them were just meh. No real general problems besides being too short. However, Central Circuit, for me, is the most conceptually interesting vehicle level in the series. I’m standing by that. I never like vehicle levels in these games much. I haven’t touched them often over the years, but I do know I wasn’t a fan of them for the most part. I played Central Circuit, and while objectively it absolutely sucks, the idea of a slower Ride Chaser stage dedicated to beating the time limit and collecting bombs is honestly quite clever, and probably my favourite inclusion of the Ride Chaser yet, just needed better execution. Also, the stage gets unrelated bonus points for hitting the boss with his weakness because I found it really funny. That’s all, just wanted to comment my strange thoughts about X7.
Love the X3 appreciation, i agree Toxic Seahorse's stage is a fantastic level, and i also agree with your top 1 when i think of Megaman X i think of Storm Eagle, the music, the level, and the boss fight. It's interesting how X5 is all over the list lol. Also props to the editor for their great work on this.
Holy shit, the editing really improved. This was a fun video to watch, and while I disagree with some placements (like all of X8's), it was fun to watch a video like this, especially since it's not a type of video you make often. oh also first
Beautiful video. The criteria shifts some things around that I didn't expect, but I think overall you had a good blend of personal opinion and systematic evaluation for each stage.
Mmx4 volcano level should be higher for the fact you can fight magma dragoon in a ride armor (in the PC version on steam you get an achievement for beating him in it. "Brought fists to a mech fight")
This video was just so good to watch. Gonna take a while to finish, but man it’s making me want to replay the games all over again, except X7. X6 I have a huge soft spot for. One of the first I played to completion. Crazy right? Considered one of the worst. But I loved it as a kid, and still play it a lot.
I think if I had to say what stages I enjoyed the most, X3 would definitely be up there. I remember being frustrated at the game as a kid, but found more fun later in just blitzing through every level, getting the collectibles, then going back to beat them as a stronger X. I remember even Tunnel Rhino forced me into using Zero because things were getting dire! I'm not the most skilled player, but I think the lack of skill also made some levels more memorable for me.
I think X3 is just a really tough game to try and explore in, in general. Enemies do so much damage with no armor upgrades, since there's two damage reduction upgrades. And they lock most of the upgrades behind a wall in the ice level. Exploring it for the first time is harsh.
It would've been interesting to see how you would rank the various chapters of MMXCM as levels in tandem with the levels on this list just to see how you would rank them among all these levels as well.
One thing I loved about Toxic Seahorse level in X3 is that the frost-shield from Blizzard Buffalo appears GIGANTIC underwater, it’s a super nice detail to make that weapon behave differently under the surface, aside from the charged up version that creates a floating ice block.
It's videos like these that helped me decide whether or not to buy MMX collection 2 on steam when there was a sale recently. Only got collection 1 and I'm absolutely loving it without regretting skipping collection 2 at all.
Let me start by saying how much I love and appreciate your videos. I discovered you when I was starting to go through the X Legacy Collections, which has been on my goals for quite some time. It was super helpful to see the no-backtracking and minimal backtracking guides for X2 and X3 respectively. That out of the way, I personally would have put Central Museum lower on the list. But to be fair... I didn't learn until about 2 hours later that you could destroy those damn metal blocks with an anchor attack... The Museum took me about 2 hours of grinding, and that was with me getting the lucky all collectibles on the first run. This was simply due to me getting into one of the rooms, crushed by a super narrow gap of the metal block. Then trying to climb through the block but instead clipping through it to take another big hit to my health, and repeating. I still didn't end up hating X6 as much as I thought I would... but when the stages were bad... hoo boy were they bad.
The gap in quality between the good stages and the bad stages is just staggering.
I guess they never miss, huh?😅
Half the games are mid, sadly
@@LavaCreeperPeople And then there are X6 and X7, which are terrible. Sadly only a few of the games can be called good which pains me to say cus i used to be a massive X fan before I accepted just how bad nearly all of the post-SNES games are.
@@panthekirb7561 yes
@@panthekirb7561 X6 was objectively terrible but it's... kind of grown on me? There were some genuinely great ideas explored in its level design, if the devs had bothered to actually polish the game beyond its 8 months of development. Gate is also one of the best villains in *any* Mega Man game and the soundtrack is among the top in the series. X6 is the type of game where, through many hours of agony and grit, you eventually reach a state of higher understanding and the bullshit the game throws at you now becomes a challenge to overcome (also Metal Shark's stage is peak level design I don't care what anyone says)
McWhalen's stage gets me thinking: *Why the hell didn't they just remove the submarine after beating it once, and just make the whole thing scrolling?*
And you need to replay it 3 times in order to get armor upgrade and heart tank.
It's clear that the devs stopped caring about MMX during 5's development
It feels so cheap all around
After messing around with gamedeving myself I'll just assume it was engine jank and they couldn't figure out how. No way they didn't know how lousy it felt on repeated playthroughs.
@@KieranHarris44 prob not back then they cared alot about replayablity more than anything just look at ps2 and ps1 era games they reuse alot of content
Outside the submarine, the stage is pretty much... nothing. Other than the short sunken ship with lots of spike, the stage is just: go straight, drop down, the ship, climb up
I'd love to see a list like this for the zero/zx series.
Why not classic series?
@@mohdadeeb1829They're all bad
I'm just joking, tho
We*
Fuck that underwater labyrinth stage in Zero 4, that was the worst.
@@chomik172 i sat down for several hours a few months ago and made a tier list of my favorite classic megaman stages, and it really made me question how i ever got into the series. i hate most of them lmao
Just started watching the video, already glad to see Duff McWhalen's stage next to dead last. It's one of the first stages I'd associate with the sentence "This level ****ing blows."
Duff Mcwhalen stage is hurt so bad but having to do it three times
I went into this video thinking "If the whale's level isn't dead last, or pretty damned close, I'm going to write a novel of a comment explaining why it should be" hahaha
I'm pleasantly surprised to see Sky Lagoon so high on the list as it's always been my personal favorite opening level in the series, though admittedly I might be biased because of its top tier music.
I thought the same thing lol. That opening stage and theme from X4 is peak nostalgia for me
Same. Believe it or not, I still think X4 is the definitively best X game. That was where they peaked in graphics and gameplay; it was all downhill from there lol.
Honestly, I think that Zero dying in Sigma Fortress 1 from MMX was more effective in terms of the story, it represented that X now had to face everything by himself.
I went straight to Top 10, and boy, I agree with many things you said. But, for me, X Sky Lagoon is easily the best level ever made. Playing Mega Man since it's humble beginnings, I was in awe when i played Sky Lagoon for the first time: The graphics, the scale, explosions! Everything was perfect, than comes the music: X Intro Stage music is ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!
Honestly, i came for the bad ones, and was delighted/shocked to find that not all of X6 was at bottom, its bad but people give it more crap than it deserves
Amazing video from start to finish, i was honestly surprised to see X3's levels get so high and not see many of X2's levels higher up than they were, considering they were my favorite levels out of the X series. Neat thing about Boomerang Cutter from MMX- if you're falling when you use it, it goes down with you, but if you're standing still or jumping, it'll go up with you.
Is it possible to get the sub tank in Spark Mandrill stage without using the downwards one
@@PlumEXEIt's possible but it's really precise
Yeah X3 levels feel pretty bland imo, like they're long but but the mechanics don't really build up on themselves and feel pretty random.
@@chewymew isn't the thing literally behind a wall?
@Josuh Yeah it's behind a wall. What Plum was referring to is if you can grab the Sub Tank without shooting Boomerang Cutter downwards, as in shooting it upwards. It's precise but it's possible
The fact it takes 12 minutes to get to the doughnut stage's rank is kind of terrifying in regard to the quality of everything that came before.
The music carries that stage so hard lol (that and spamming screen wipes is kind of fun to do)
It is incredible how much you love this video game franchise. An immense work has been done by you, thank you! Now ranking all of the bosses should be a no brainier 👌
Pov ranking hynard (pain)
X5, X6, X7 and X8 have a big competition where they each try to come up with the most shitty idea for a level
X5 at least is playable unlike the other 3
@@DIRTYSOUTHSHINOBIso is X6. At least for the Opening stage & 3 of the Maverick Levels.
x8 is good too, except for the vehicle levels
I feel like 5 and especially 8 are being done dirty here
@@helmeren3828 Central White is okay, but what makes it worse is that the Light Capsule had you play as Zero & X, but you also needed Axl for the Rare Metal, luckily the Character Switch exploit exists
You actually don't need all 3 characters to get every secret in Avalance Yeti's stage without the switching glitch. You can just combine Zero's airdash and Raikousen EX skill to get enough distance to make the jump. It doesn't make the miniboss any less tedious, but you do at least only need to experience it once.
finally, someone who knows this!
Despite it's NUMEROUS flaws, Mega Man X 6 opening level is one of the most memorable for me. And Volcano from X4 was a thrill even though I always had trouble with the Ride Armor. I just sucked back then. But the music?! Oh my God I love it.
Infinity Mijinion is my all time fave on X6 because of the music ❤
@@lonewo1f045 For real. Very atmospheric
I really hate that they used the version without the guitar for the legacy collection. I grew up with that since X6 was my first game in the series.
@@CreativityNullI thought the version without the guitar went unused
@@Alejandro-er7rp It was apparently in the Rockman X6 version and then was used in the English release of the Legacy Collection (and I assume in the Japanese release of LC as well)
Was extremely happy to see Cyber Peacock's stage in the top 2, cause it's easily my favorite Mega Man stage of all time for numerous reasons. Really good video! Definitely looking forward to the Classic Mega Man retrospective
Storm Eagle truly has best everything. Best stage, best music, best boss fight, best weapon, its all there😊😊😊😊
Him and Sting Chameleon are my favorites X1 stages
@@williamwhite1036 excellent choices
YES SO TRUE I LOVE YOU RANDOM COMMENTER
(platonically)
@@SwordMaster3000 thank you kind sir
20:08 - X's Shining Ray also melts the ice. The reason you need Zero is to double jump up there in the first place. Also you can use Zero's Raikousen from an airdash to get over to the platform on the left without using Axl or the air tag exploit. X8's stages are definitely its biggest problem, for sure, but it does a lot right in other areas.
I find it fascinating that the X subseries seems to contain both the best and worst of the Mega Man franchise. Great video as usual!
Great rankings all around.
I did find it entertaining watching through the whole video just to see how far each X game will last throughout the rankings and while wasn't a surprise seeing the first 4 X games outlast the rest, X5 and X6 surprisingly made it farther onto the list than I expected.
X7 on the other hand just stayed in the trash where it belongs
@@ProtectorOfMemes true
@@ProtectorOfMemes
😂😂😂
You ranked Squid Adler higher than Jet Stingray??? I agree with most of the rankings, but this? Adler's bike segment is beyond frustrating, especially if going for the barrier jewels, not to mention the insanely slow level afterwards with the colored locks.
Pretty much the only decision he made that made me say "wtf". I mean, sure, its only half the stage, but its sooo bad that that i would have placed it near dead last on the whole list
The Squid Adler bike section is short.
Jet Stingray was terrible and it was the ENTIRE stage
Stingray is still a pretty easy level compared to Squid Adler. Not the best X4 level, given the bike's speed and limited reaction time, but hardly an infuriating one. Enemies and mines do little damage. No worse than X2's Ostrich level bike section. At worst, it requires a revisit or two to get the poorly placed heart and E-Tank.@@symphomaniac
@dudujencarelli I'll take a slightly harder bike section than an entire bike stage
(Also it has much better music like most X5 stages)
This rules man, would love to see you do this for zero! I’m sure that’d be exhausting to do, especially soon after this though.
This was an absolute treat! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on all of 'em, though it makes me a little bit sad realizing that X6 could have been pretty good if it hadn't been a messy rush job.
Also, I think the hype of X8 is because it's a game that's pretty okay... that was the follow-up to X6 and X7, so I think for a lot of people, the fact that the series was starting to reorient itself at all ends up making it stand out positively to a lot of people
I don't think this "X6 and X7 sucking balls helped X8 to stand out" is the main reason, since everything that has this reputation, breaks when many years already passed, and gets accessible to wider audiences
Both happened to X8, almost 2 decades since it released and is now available through the Legacy Collection 2, and is still mostly a well received game
I just think the "hype", despite still not being nearly as praised as the first 4 games, for X8 is simply because it changed a lot of what the previous games did, and it worked well for most fans, maybe only we'll know if this is true if X9 will exist
Much of X8's praise comes from its array of new features and improvements to things previous games struggled with. The ideas X8 does well being carried into another, overall better game are a big part of what drives the craving for X9.
It keeps the 2 armour set idea from X5 and X6, but lets you use each piece immediately, and mix parts from both sets together.
It keeps the navigator, but they're generally more helpful and fun, give you two more to pick from with unique dialogue, and give you the option to not have them at all.
Axl's a big improvement from X7, able to shoot in 7 directions to make him more distinct from X, while keeping his A-Trans, hover and dodge roll (down+dash, goes through some attacks similarly to X's shadow dash he gets from the Hermes Feet parts) from X7 as well.
Tons of secrets and upgrades to find, which is cool, even if getting all of them is quite a daunting task.
Continuing from X7's introduction of it, X8 also has New Game+, including bonus content with an Ultimate form for all 3 characters, and the three navigators being playable as well, among other things.
Voice acting is also genuinely quite good, said voice cast carrying over into Maverick Hunter X as well.
Going up to the moon is a cool setting, plus seeing Sigma finally go out leaves intrigue for where the series could have gone.
X5 developers: "Let's have a capsule in Tidal Whale's stage only be obtainable through his weapon, and then have you go through the first half of the stage again".
It's really amazing how much more positive your recent megaman x videos are when compared to your old videos, it's so refreshing to just listen to someone who has the same love for these games that I do
Since you asked, here are some of the reasons X8 is looked upon (overall) favorably by many:
- Probably the most animate game in the series. From the freaking title screen to UI to enemies to boss introductions to the backgrounds of stages. Seriously, it's amazing how much goes on in this game. Swaying foliage, coursing rivers/waterfalls, birds in flight, computer monitors etc.
- Dynamic lighting and camera angles. X7 may have had those first, but the execution was botched as opposed to X8.
- Great sound design, which usually goes unappreciated.
- Best English voice acting in the series FIGHT ME.
- Dynasty might be terrible due to depth perception problems, but you can actually see what is up ahead, unlike the 2D games which with the exception of X2 hit you so often with insta death scenarios you absolutely couldn't have seen coming.
- An air dash for every character by default. The freedom of movement and maneuvering this provides is awesome both for platforming and combat.
- Best ride armor in the series. No debating.
- *Best controls and physics in the series* FREAKING FIGHT ME. No matter how interesting or good you make the mechanics, stages, bosses and whatnot, having controls that don't measure up will always deduct major points. X8's dashing, jumping, attacking, and how all of that flows into each other is simply splendid with minimal lag and virtually no jank.
- The tag team mechanic. Seriously, this is so underrated it's crazy. Gone are the days of struggling with X against crawling enemies cause Zero and Axl can easily attack those. The freedom and variety provided by this game and only this game's tag mechanic (X7's botched execution doesn’t count) is beyond awesome.
- The balancing of the three characters is simply amazing. All of them have strengths that make them worthwhile and fun to play with.
- The neutral armor is functionally the best X armor in the series. FIGHT ME. Great/Good effects, the ability to mix and match, you name it.
- Enemies don't respawn infinitely if they go offscreen. Seriously, that was one of the most annoying aspects of previous games. And you don't need to worry about filling subtanks cause in addition to the usual way, you can charge them at the lab.
- New Game Plus. Enough said.
And much more. I can write a college essay on the great things X8 has. Don't get me wrong, it has a long list of problems and I can write another essay on those, but I genuinely believe the pros definitively outweigh the cons.
Deep but true its the most overlooked of the series the one thing I hate is the rise chaser stages *cough cough dynasty* only reason is blind pits and wonky camera angles
I mean having the best voice acting in this series isn't much to brag about.
As someone who found X2 and X3's level designs too difficult and unfair (for context, I'm good at most of the other X games and REALLY good at the Zero and ZX games), you're *really* making me wanna play X2 and X3 again.
That's very interesting. I found X2 to be the easiest game in the series.
just play zero project for x3 or something
@@ModelJames13 Always thought MMX was the easiest. X2 just had most amazing music!
@joester4life IMO the first MMX is pretty different to compare for difficulty progression compared to the rest of the series, since it's built around the likelihood that people won't immediately grab the dash from Chill Penguin's stage.
Honestly I love that the stages manage to be fun both with and without the dash, though!
Aside from that, I agree that X2 is pretty easy.
I'm not a fan of X3 at all, but to be fair my issues were less with the core level design and more with the upgrade system.
For starters, the game locks literally almost every upgrade around whether or not you figured out ONE FUCKING JUMP in the ice level.
X1 also tied all of it's secrets behind you getting the dash, but you unlock that literally just by getting halfway through Chill Penguin's stage.
X3 has you jump to some offscreen corner in it's ice level. If you don't figure that out, then exploring in ALL the other stages to find upgrades will give you jack shit.
Then, they tried to justify wanting two armor upgrades that reduce damage, by making you die in 2 hits without any armor upgrades.
X1 and X2 enemies were not made to do that much damage in one hit armorless, and classic Megaman enemies aren't built like that either. This isn't a series where enemies are built to be doing as much damage as most of the enemies or hazards in X3 do.
If you DO actually try and get every upgrade, then the game just becomes super easy when you can just sit still and wait for the consequences of your mistakes to slowly disappear while you go and make a sandwich, or one shot Sigma with the Z Saber.
It's not fun without upgrades and getting all the upgrades just made me feel like I won't be punished for making mistakes, and finding literally any upgrade was inherently frustrating because they were ALL tied to requiring you to have found a secret that I greatly disliked.
I can at least see some of the appeal behind X3, but I think it's more appealing to people who've known about it for a long time and are more looking for a set of familiar stages to blitz through upon collecting all the upgrades. But I don't think it's a fun game to try and explore for the first time.
X2 was "easier", especially since X1 and X2 don't outright hate you for playing without any upgrades the way X3 does, but it was also just a much more well designed and properly challenging game than X3 was, imo.
It's weird because I normally really like big dick-sucky upgrade fests and I think X3 is sort of like a big playground, but I didn't find it a fun game to try and explore. And I first played it at an age where I'm more critical of games for making me feel that way on a first playthrough.
Now I need a ranking of the music from every Mega Man X level.
@ #1, *BLAZE HEATNIX*
That would be too difficult to do, lol
Almost 1 ½ hour?
This video surely needs tons of effort.
Nicely done!
Fun fact:
In X1 you can use boomerang cutter on launch octopus and cut off his tentacles. This prevents him from using his homing missiles and his tornado attacks.
You can also use it on flame mammoth to cut off his trunk. This prevents him from spitting out oil and changing the direction of the conveyor belt.
Good list!
I do agree the X1 to X4 levels just had a magical element to it.
Anima Gate of Memories and its sequel, the nameless chronicles are games developed by Anima project studios. They are inspired by the Witcher, nier Automata, zelda and devil may cry. I think I distinctly remember you saying that one of your favorite series is the devil may cry games. Well the combat of Anima takes heavy inspiration from devil may cry. You also shown interest in zelda in the past and this games approach towards having a grand adventure is inspired by that series. It's on Playstation, Xbox, the switch and pc, and a video on the two games in the series would be really cool. Thanks!
this is the kind of video I know I'll love before even watching, keep up the good work
OMG! Finally a new content of Mega Man X! Love your videos man! I often put your reviews when I go to sleep and listen.
This was a great list! I really agreed with the majority of things.
Really looking forward to the Classic Retrospective. I think I'm most looking forward to Rockman & Forte, Mega Man 7, and the Game Boy titles. Best of luck!
About Crimson Palace, you don't have much health in the B-Roll. Also, something really weird about it is how at the junction you can go to either the long platforming segment with the turtles and the sonic towers that knock you over, or you can just go the other way for a short beat down room with a bunch of Ride Armor dudes that's way shorter. That said, I'll gladly take it over basically any of the auto-scrollers if time isn't a concern.
It would be so nice if there were a hack of X5 that at the very least makes it so that if you re-enter Duff's stage after clearing the boss, you just enter at the non-autoscrolling section to bypass the first two parts.
Funny thing about Palace Road is that Mole Bore is absurdly weak to Explosion.
Recycle Lab is a right hassle without Hyper Dash.
Something helpful to know about Dynasty is that your amount of boosts are increased with Weapon Energy upgrades, so getting those first can make it easier to ram your face into Man-O-War and close it in under a minute.
Damage boosting is frankly just what you do in X7 since Triple Barrier is so ridiculous and Shock Buffer also helps. Voluntary invincibility is also just a thing that significant enemies should not be able to do, relating to Radio Tower specifically.
X can get past that Gate's Lab 2 gap without parts, but it really seems like he's not supposed to be able to. I think Shadow Armor also can, but again if it can it really doesn't seem like it's meant to.
One of the reploids in Cyber Field is annoying for having a Weapon Energy Up but being past one of the walls that Axl needs to A-Trans to go through, so if you want X or Zero to have it then you need to go through the wall, wait for A-Trans to fizzle out, switch, grab the Reploid, then switch back and get A-Trans again. Very annoying.
In Lava Factory, Leon is an annoying one to get ahold of if you don't just face tank something small and rush in with Triple Barrier. Something good to know about Hyenard, while the antlers of his mech cannot be targeted that doesn't mean they can't be destroyed. Get rid of both of them and it'll stop firing missiles which makes Hyenard less cumbersome to fire at.
In Air Force, most reliable way I've noted to get that Heart Tank is to stand on the right yellow/orange bar on the center of the craft. The collectibles do make a noise, just a very quiet one.
Jakob is really stupid to get an AAA on if you don't know to stack No Damage Clear and EX Finish to inflate your rank.
Speaking of No Damage Clear, getting that on Central White is one of the worst things in the series. Don't do it.
Inferno is the worst autoscroller in terms of presentation because of how you can fall off the bottom of the screen, your character explodes, and then a platform rises up from the bottom of the screen in the exact vertical position where the explosion occurred such that you obviously would've just landed on that platform if it weren't autoscrolling. No excuse for that, not at all. Something you didn't mention is that in order to get the Rare Metal that requires Zero, you also need another Rare Metal. Which one? The one you need Axl for in the same stage. It's X5 all over again, is what it is.
Acknowledgement of Central Museum being bad.
Quick Lasers did not need not being able to see the entire screen at once.
Regarding Primrose, I'm pretty sure you're meant to get to the Light Capsule by stacking boxes rather than trying to air dash or whatever.
Planetarium actually doesn't have slowdown on the X Collection, go figure. You can also absolutely use the Falcon Armor to bypass the platform, there's enough space to reset your flight without it being too tight.
That snail shaft is the worst thing in X3. Literally at a snail's pace.
Booster Forest has an easier No Damage Clear by the game's standards than it seems at face because the Ride Armor getting damaged doesn't count so you can just plow through with that.
Regarding Hornet's X3 stage, I genuinely find it faster to just do Beetle first because backtracking for that Heart Tank actively takes less time than sitting through the box loading segment, or at least it feels like it does.
My hot take is that Central Highway kind of sucks. It's too long for never being able to dash, and I wouldn't dissaude anyone who's already seen it through from just using a password to skip it.
Regarding Central Computer, pop the robot with with Speed Burner a few times. That helps.
48:00 I'd actually disagree. Zero dying in sigma stage 1 gave the following sigma stages in X1 a more somber tone. Having him die in the last sigma stage sort of destroys the vibe and mood the sigma stages in the original game had.
X-Cellent job! The production value on this is very high and is just such a beefy video that clearly took a lot to make! The classic Mega Man retrospective will surely be awesome as well, and I'm looking forward to it!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That pun gets a Zero from me.
10:48 The first time I played this stage, I went down the bottom path, and I honestly thought that that was the main route! I didn't realize until I got to the end. And then when I did meet the actual boss, my reaction was "Wait a damn minute! Is this stage really that short!?"
I think Chill Penguin's stage becomes SO much better when you're doing a run of Mega Man X where you try and avoid getting the dash for as long as possible, or at the very least for some of the stages.
Keep in mind, the game starts with it's cursor on a different stage, and there's nothing IN GAME that tells you about Chill Penguin's stage. And because of that, what blows my mind with Mega Man X1 is how not only was every stage built to be fun and fair with the dash, but they're all fun WITHOUT the dash as long as you're used to the classic Mega Man game's difficulty curve. And you just end up getting better at it, because of Zero's words of encouragement. But even if you can't do a level, you always have another level to try.
So, after checking out each level and maybe succeeding with a few, and generally just playing the whole game like a classic Mega Man game but with the wall jump and an occasional permanent health upgrade being the big distinctor... out of NOWHERE, the game puts an item capsule in the middle of a random level, revealing a HUGE amount of lore that COMPLETELY recontextualises X as a character, but also reveals that all over the game there were even MORE powers that you missed and can get now. Zero's words of encouragement weren't metaphorical, they were shockingly literal. Suddenly, the world is your oyster, and waiting for the reveal makes this feel like SUCH an awesome and significant moment that doesn't impact the player nearly as hard when you go for Chill Penguin's stage first.
Mega Man X1's structure feels incredibly underappreciated, if you ask me. Or at the very least, it's not talked about enough considering how everybody talks about the game like players will or should go to Chill Penguin's stage first.
The game does such an awesome job showing the player the strength and potential of the new gameplay ideas, not just through a tutorial level, but by demonstrating it's potential with how the game feels to play. And it does it by taking the really fucking hard route and making it's levels fun both with and without a major control option. No shortcuts taken, they just did it with raw good level design.
If you want more platforming challenge in X1 levels, then do the game without the dash! It's why the game doesn't have a focus on it, since the game's hard jumps are made easy with the dash. And just as much as I find it incredible that the game is fun without the dash, I find it amazing that the dash doesn't completely ruin the level design, since platforming wasn't the biggest focus anyways.
The levels still have a huge sense of identity and purpose, and I honestly love it.
Once you have the dash, levels are focused on trying to maintain flow and not run into enemies, which is perfectly fair and fun if you ask me. And it wasn't a big enough part of the game's identity for the dash to completely ruin it, because if anything a lot of the bigger challenges just play differently.
For example, Storm Eagle's stage demands more precision since using the dash you can overshoot due to how narrow the platforms are and how you've spent less time taking out enemies.
But using it also cuts down on wait times for the platforms.
And Armor Armodillo's stage doesn't HAVE platforming challenge without the dash, but it does when you don't since the spike pits become jumps you gotta think a little bit for.
Less platforming precision, and more about maintaining flow and not running into enemies like a moron.
And there are even levels that give the challenge of maintaining the flow of the dash even WITHOUT that upgrade! I think it makes Sting Chameleon's stage and Armor Armodillo's stages more fun to play, since both of them give challenges that foreshadow how the game plays without the dash. The ride armor is awesome in Sting Chameleon's stage since with it you can dash despite not having the upgrade. And Armored Armodillo gives you an extreme version of how Mega Man X1 plays with it's dash with how the minecart segments make you move fast against a bunch of enemies that you don't want to run into.
Giving Chill Penguin's stage more complexity than being simple and linear would have taken away from its purpose, and I think people miss how awesome the stage's actual purpose is when they miss the dash. Subsequent Mega Man X playthroughs for me have focused on clearing the game with as few upgrades as possible, and I think it's actually super fun. It easily should have ranked higher just for how much of a game changer it is.
The later games were probably right to make the dash standard, but X1's general design is honestly just so cool to me. That part of its design deserves more attention, and so do 0% runs.
Also, for some reason I find Storm Eagle's first fight to be way easier when I don't have the dash. When you know his pattern, just walking is all you should really need to be able to avoid his attacks, as long as you're smart enough to know when to jump.
So using the dash actually makes my positioning less precise and it tends to make me make mistakes more.
It's not the same story for his rematch, oddly enough, since the arena is placed higher and you HAVE to dash to avoid his swoop move there. Which is fair to do because the dash is mandatory there.
But everybody loves Storm Eagle.
but it kinda does feel like the developers wanted you to get the dash. Its the only armor that you cant avoid
Only gotten 20 in so far, but seeing how every level so far is from the latter half of Megaman X, it really shows the difference in quality in X Legacy Collection volumes 1 and 2.
Great video and analysis! Also a blast to the past to compare all the MMX games next to each other like this.
One of my favorite things in frost walrus’ stage is seeing blizzard buffalo & chill penguin frozen in the background. A pretty neat thing to spot whenever you do
Beautifully done on this list j ❤🙂 must've been a grueling task upon replaying every stage in this series, I was honestly surprised that the first X hunter stage of X2 ranked very high, just goes to show how well made X2 is *again I'll admit it's me being biased since X2 was not only one of the very first mega man games I ever played, but also one of my very first video games i ever played, along with super Mario world* on another note I know you mentioned very briefly that once upon a time that you enjoyed classic mega man 7 more than X1, 🙂 I actually typed about mega man 7 as one of the game's that saved me from 2020, I would honestly like to share it with you, mainly because I feel that game does stand tall with the snes X trilogy 🙏🙏
My guy really does NOT like X7
No one does
Nobody does.
He's being too nice to X7 imo
Yeah but who does like X7????
I mean your not wrong
I noticed how there are more X4 levels on the high end. Well done, you passed the test
I think Flame Stag’s stage is one of my personal all-time favorites. It’s a short level but there’s something about it that just makes me run and gun and feel awesome. The music, the volcano exploding. It’s just an awesome level!
I haven’t watched yet, but I love that you did this because I know Nico Evaluates never will 😂
Ikr now we need him to make a list for the bosses and the special weapons
Simp
Spark Mandrill's stage has always been my favorite. I just really love the music and the sections where you have to shoot the flying security mechaniloids while platforming.
not gonna lie, from the first x game, that stage was by far my least favorite. i hated all the lightning all over the place, and the heart piece(or was it the energy tank?) that you need to boomerang was always either a first try or lots of minutes lost, trying to get the perfect angle.
Honestly X4-X6 had the best in my eyes, alot of variety and uniqueness, cool enemies and bosses, Decent challenge etc...
Yes, even X6, Gate's laboratory is one of my favorite still. And recycle lab wasn't bad at all, It is pretty unique and allowed for more strategic approach, It's not great but not at the bottom tier.
_"So you like Rockman?"_
*_"Name EVERY stage."_*
I've been patiently waiting for more Mega Man content and this did not disappoint. I'm PSYCHED for the Classic review series!
Not really relevant to the video at all but I just wanna say J's reviews is so amazing to me because we're both the same age and had all of the same media interests as me growing up (minus JRPGs) and its also just nice to see one of my peers give such well executed critical commentary on topics I was never really able to discuss as a kid ,because everyone I knew only played a handful of video games for fun and I was considered a hater if my opinion on a game wasn't just its good or bad.
Great vid man, been watching your content for years, sometimes i watch your megaman x vids as bg noise despite their length, love em.
Hell yeah! This is awesome!
Btw, for the downward sections in inferno you can spam tap Axl’s guns in the air to slowly move down and avoid all the platforming, making it way easier.
Edit: why didn’t you cover Vile’s stages in MHX? aren’t they different than the normal ones?
This strat is why I always pick Axl for Inferno, it doesn't make the level better, but at least makes it less unfair
@@ayrtonjogaexactly.
51:19 I have played X3 THOUSANDS OF TIMES, it has always been my fav X game of the franchise BUT I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS SECTION, IN THE 10 YEARS I HAVE BEEN REPLAYING THIS I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS "PLANE" IN THE GAME
My personal favorite level of all time is Jungle Facility from X5, Axle the Red stages. This stage has just about everything going for it. I love rose aesthetics, the music is great, I love Axle the Red’s design, I love that it’s set at sunset which is rare in video games, his fight is hard but in a genuine way and not a bullshit way, and he’s named after my favorite Guns N’ Roses member 😅
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Great video as always! Perhaps a boss weapon tier list would be nice? Just a suggestion for your future content.
*YEEEEESSSS*
When I watch a longer video like this I usually just have it run in the background and do something else, but ur video was really interesting so I stop what I was doing and actually paying attention. Good job man.
This video was great.
Now rank all MMX stage songs from worst to best.
I'm not going to watch the whole video for a lack of interest, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I took a look at the top 10 and I can't say I agree with Storm Eagle's stage as number 1.
This level has one of my biggest pet peeves with platformers, which are moving platforms. In most games, which includes X1, moving platforms require you to sit down and wait while doing nothing until the platforms align in a way that allows you to progress, and it's so, SO BORING. It's especially frustrating when you have to wait until two vertical platforms line up so you can kill the turrets on the other side.
I cannot understand at all how this stage can be more fun than Cyber Peacock's stage, which has much more dynamic level design that allows you to rush through everything non-stop if you're skilled enough.
Super awesome video, dude! Very enjoyable watch! Great pick with Storm Eagle stage being first too!
Cyber Peacock's stage being so high threw me for a loop since that's my least favorite of the Maverick stages in X4. But pretty much everything else I can agree with
It is actually fun stage to play if you not going for the heart tank and the sub tank there now if you are going for 100 percent then I understand ya frustration
Just goes to show X1-3 are top shelf
Would you believe me if I told you I've watched the entirety of this video more than 10 times?
Game Design is something that deeply fascinates me, Mega Man is one of my favorite franchises, and I find it extremely interesting to hear the opinions of a massive fan of the game such as yourself.
It is a very thorough breakdown. Truly impressive and praiseworthy.
If you do a similar video for 2024, I personally would vote for a Ranking of all bosses. Though I would understand if that is an unreasonably long project.
In any case, I thank you for producing this content, as well as your reviews.
I hope you have an excellent day, week, month and year.
If I had to pick my favorite stage of every Mega Man X game:
X: Flame Mammoth's stage / Storm Eagle's stage
X2: Morph Moth's stage
X3: Blast Hornet's stage
X4: Magma Dragoon's stage
X5: Axel the Red's stage
X6: No
X7: God, no
X8: Bamboo Pandamonium's stage
Surprised ya didn't mention how in the Snow Base, you find frozen "corpses" of Blizzard Buffalo and Chill Penguin.
I think it's because that's a well known fact, just as much as "X5 was going to be the end of the X series".
I always do wheel gator first and get the arm upgrade and heart tank while i'm at it too. The trick to dash wall jump to the arm upgrade area is to look at the rivets at the wall, that way you can find a spot that works every time.
The devs I think the way they designed to collect the Heart Tank is to use a Charged Strike Chain or Speed Burner. But the Problem is, is that the Platform is too high. You can get the Heart Tank by using the Speed Burner in Mega Man Xtreme.
@@kolkagaming1234 the heart tank is easy to get by damage boosting anyway. I always did the heart tank and the arm upgrade that way, seemed like the easiest ways to me.
Hey. For a little bit lore. Storm eagle was the onely one who was reluctant to serve Sigma but since he was the commander under Sigma force. He challenge X for a duel to death to keep his pride
Another lore from X4 forst walrus. At the entrance of the stage, you will see blizard buffalo frozen. In X3 we didn't killed blizzard buffalo and blast hornet. They joined maverick hunter but blast hornet die during the encounter with the dragon intro stage. After return X and Zero fight because of thr conflict idea. X want to confront repliforce and Zero want a peace talk with them. They separate and buffalo join either who you are playing with to confront frost walrus, frost walrus threatened to destroy maverick hunters and try to kill X/Zero. Buffalo sacrificed to save X/Zero. The stage play after to revenge for blizzard buffalo
A long side of blasting Hornet and blizzard buffalo. Neon tiger also joined the maverick but he is nowhere to be found. Volt catfish we spared him to continue his work at electric tower
@@エレダーStory is not accounted.
Have you considered ranking the music for each stage? Some of these are real bangers.
The only list where X6 has a chance
@@Red_Biker_DudeX7 as well
There is a Playstation trophy for beating Zero Virus 1 from Megaman X5 without using the time stop. That's one of the hardest things I ever done. Not just in a Megaman in gaming in general.
Btw. you should add the music for each stage too, but still a fun list. Thanks for this
That *IS* tough to do, I think ive gotten really close, but that last section down is really tough
Now I patiently and eagerly await ranking all the bosses of the X series!
Woah such a fantastic video and crazy amount of editing + script writing work! Your video deserves way more views and here's hoping this helps!
Amazing video, thank you for all the hard work into making it, hope you do a lot more of these!
30:52 So about the slow motion thing, this is actually unintentional. The Mega Man X Collection on PS2 fixes the slowdown from the PS1 version, which served as the base for the new collection, which brings the slowdown back as a result.
Amazing content, really fun to watch, it really shows how much you love the X series, and that makes your videos even more enjoyable, thanks mister J sir
Awesome video, J. Looking forward to any others like this. Any reason to dive deep into the X series works for me!
Lol, you made me remember from X5's Jungle Facility area where I thought the Vine enemy were cheap and unfair BUT it was because that time we would have square TVs, and it was set to "fill the screen" (whatever it means) instead of showing the normal 4:3 entire screen, so in that level I wouldn't normally see the tips of the spikes because they were off screen for me, LOL.
Not many years after, 16:9 would arrive but my family would always set the screen on Widescreen because it was "pretty" (and you know not many games or shows were made for those screens so it would look stretched to the sides). I would set it to 4:3 whenever I play or watch something that's originally for it, but my family would bother me for changing it and saying that I liked "small screens". Smh
In case you didn't already know. Those dissappearing platforms are called Yoku Blocks.
i think leaving the soundtrack and presentation out of the equation was a mistake, it really can elevate a lot of stages, weapon center x6 is a great example, it's really not complex or somenthing like this, but the epic sounstrack and the massive robot in the background and the beautiful images really elevates the experience above some others that had a better score
1000%
Kinda disagree. While level music helps make a stage stand out, it's not that big of a factor and would make certain stages rank higher than it ever deserves to be. X6's music is some of the best in the franchise but that's no good excuse to bump up their score.
yeah we'll have to agree to disagree then, i definitely would prefer to play a not so complex level but with awesome presentation, than a more complex one with boring music and presentation, that definitely would impact the score for me@@dnmstarsi
Fair enough, @@ericvargas5362 . Besides, it's just a fun list video so we shouldn't be too serious about how J ranked these levels when the best ones show that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to best stages in MMX.
X7 is a game I know is bad. It has fundamental flaws that are hard to ignore. And yet, despite all of that, I played it yesterday out of curiosity, and I don’t know why, but I actually genuinely enjoyed playing the game a bit.
I am not that critical when it comes to games. I like most games I play, I’m probably one of the only people who actually liked Mighty No. 9, so I don’t call games bad often, and the few I do aren’t too many.
I only played a few stages before I stopped to play X1 again because I did get a bit bored and wanted to play something else, but of the stages I played, most of them were just meh. No real general problems besides being too short.
However, Central Circuit, for me, is the most conceptually interesting vehicle level in the series. I’m standing by that.
I never like vehicle levels in these games much. I haven’t touched them often over the years, but I do know I wasn’t a fan of them for the most part. I played Central Circuit, and while objectively it absolutely sucks, the idea of a slower Ride Chaser stage dedicated to beating the time limit and collecting bombs is honestly quite clever, and probably my favourite inclusion of the Ride Chaser yet, just needed better execution.
Also, the stage gets unrelated bonus points for hitting the boss with his weakness because I found it really funny.
That’s all, just wanted to comment my strange thoughts about X7.
Love the X3 appreciation, i agree Toxic Seahorse's stage is a fantastic level, and i also agree with your top 1 when i think of Megaman X i think of Storm Eagle, the music, the level, and the boss fight.
It's interesting how X5 is all over the list lol.
Also props to the editor for their great work on this.
Great video I loved watching it all and love to see more Megaman rankings
HELL YEAH
First thing that came to mind when I saw the title was the airport from X1. 100%. Cool video.
What a fun and clever way to rank the levels!
Holy shit, the editing really improved. This was a fun video to watch, and while I disagree with some placements (like all of X8's), it was fun to watch a video like this, especially since it's not a type of video you make often.
oh also first
Beautiful video. The criteria shifts some things around that I didn't expect, but I think overall you had a good blend of personal opinion and systematic evaluation for each stage.
Mmx4 volcano level should be higher for the fact you can fight magma dragoon in a ride armor (in the PC version on steam you get an achievement for beating him in it. "Brought fists to a mech fight")
This video was just so good to watch. Gonna take a while to finish, but man it’s making me want to replay the games all over again, except X7. X6 I have a huge soft spot for. One of the first I played to completion. Crazy right? Considered one of the worst. But I loved it as a kid, and still play it a lot.
love the editing here!
Watched the whole thing and really enjoyed the ride. Great work!
Ahh yes about time I been waiting for this
I think if I had to say what stages I enjoyed the most, X3 would definitely be up there. I remember being frustrated at the game as a kid, but found more fun later in just blitzing through every level, getting the collectibles, then going back to beat them as a stronger X. I remember even Tunnel Rhino forced me into using Zero because things were getting dire! I'm not the most skilled player, but I think the lack of skill also made some levels more memorable for me.
I think X3 is just a really tough game to try and explore in, in general. Enemies do so much damage with no armor upgrades, since there's two damage reduction upgrades. And they lock most of the upgrades behind a wall in the ice level. Exploring it for the first time is harsh.
@@MSCDonkeyKong 100%. I remember when I first tried the game I hated it for that reason, but after coming back to it later on, I really enjoyed it.
Always a joy to see new videos from this channel
Toxic Seahorse's stage popped into my head randomly when I saw this title, glad it got high marks!
It would've been interesting to see how you would rank the various chapters of MMXCM as levels in tandem with the levels on this list just to see how you would rank them among all these levels as well.
idk if you made one already, bu i would love to see a boss ranking, or even a classic megaman stage and boss ranking. Anyway great video.
Didn't Nico already did Classic Bosses ranked?
One thing I loved about Toxic Seahorse level in X3 is that the frost-shield from Blizzard Buffalo appears GIGANTIC underwater, it’s a super nice detail to make that weapon behave differently under the surface, aside from the charged up version that creates a floating ice block.
This was a fun watch. Thanks for posting.
The storm eagle should not be one, but everyone has their own picks
It's videos like these that helped me decide whether or not to buy MMX collection 2 on steam when there was a sale recently. Only got collection 1 and I'm absolutely loving it without regretting skipping collection 2 at all.
Let me start by saying how much I love and appreciate your videos.
I discovered you when I was starting to go through the X Legacy Collections, which has been on my goals for quite some time.
It was super helpful to see the no-backtracking and minimal backtracking guides for X2 and X3 respectively.
That out of the way, I personally would have put Central Museum lower on the list. But to be fair... I didn't learn until about 2 hours later that you could destroy those damn metal blocks with an anchor attack... The Museum took me about 2 hours of grinding, and that was with me getting the lucky all collectibles on the first run. This was simply due to me getting into one of the rooms, crushed by a super narrow gap of the metal block. Then trying to climb through the block but instead clipping through it to take another big hit to my health, and repeating.
I still didn't end up hating X6 as much as I thought I would... but when the stages were bad... hoo boy were they bad.