Ruben Puccinelli Art Process: PLATFORM GAME ANALYSIS

MEGAMAN X

ANALYSIS

MEGAMAN X is an awesome platform game developed by Capcom back in December of 1993. Since then the game and franchise have become staples in video game history, and because of so has been ported to various consoles. I have the pleasure of playing this game on my phone whenever I please.

This game is wonderful for many different reasons and it makes a fantastic great impression. Simply put this game doesn't treat you like a baby incapable of pressing a button. No, this game treats you like an intelligent human being and it even rewards you for such.

MEGAMAN X's intro level drops the player right onto a road/ bridge system with cars driving by. Right in the beginning you aren't in any real danger because the cars are part of the background. Right there is the first seconds of the game you are taught that some of the elements you see on screen aren't harmful to you. The layout of the level helps because you are on a simple bridge where you are able to see the underside of the bridge. There aren't secret rooms or passages you have to find, yet.

The game doesn't try to kill you until you start to move to screen right, so you have some time to press all the buttons to try and see what they do. But something else is happening in the background, X, the character the player is controlling seems to be absorbing some type of blue energy around his body, which then if charged enough turns yellow. After the player shoots their weapon they see a giant blast come from the hand cannon, but then what happens? Now X is only shooting these small yellow blasts, why can't they shoot the big powerful blast? When the player stops shooting they animation of the energy absorption starts over and when the player shoots again they are able to fire the giant blast. The game is teaching the player a very crucial part of the game without you even realizing, charging a move is very useful.

Half Charge

Fully Charged

After the player starts to move to screen right they are presented with a spiked wheel that is headed towards them, if the player doesn't jump or shoot at the wheel it will do damage to X. After that thought there aren't any enemies until you reach the end of the screen and reappear on the next section. The intro level paces itself very evenly, they present an enemy to the player and give them ample time to deal with the threat. When the player learns how to shoot basic spike wheel enemy on the ground they are presented with an enemy that is stationary but fires missiles at them in intervals. The level continues to up the challenge with flying enemies with different attacks, after that they are shown more difficult enemies with more complex movements and more enemies on screen. After some enemies are defeated they will drop a health object that replenishes your health bar according to the size of the object.

Health Item

Spiky Death Wheel

Stationary Missile Launcher

This continues until you reach a mini boss that upon destruction causes the bridge to collapse.

Mini Boss fight with different enemies

Mini Boss collapses and X is trapped

Now this is where this game really makes you feel special. Up until this point you've had to jump and shoot to defeat different enemies and progress forward. The greatest part is that the game didn't have to tell you a single thing for you to figure out what to do. The difficulty was amped up with every enemy at a reasonable pace that anyone can understand. But now you seem to be stuck in a hole, the mini boss is defeated and you are safe but you don't see a way forward, did this game trick you into this inescapable prison? Of course not, the game let's you figure your own way out without any outside help. Eventually the player will jump on a wall and notice that X slides down the wall slowly. What does this mean? Why is he doing that could it be a clue, you better believe it. When the player presses the jump button while sliding on the wall they perform a wall jump that will get them out of the pit. This way the obstacles were presented to the player in a setting that allowed them the necessary time to figure out the full range of X's abilities without spoon feeding them the answers.

WALL JUMPS!?!?!

The player is also rewarded because of their knowledge and discovery. Immediately after the mini boss section they come across a small gap that has a vertical wall on the bottom. Which is strange because its the only gap so far that has that feature. If the player decides to go down the gap they are rewarded with health items that replenish their health meter. Showing the player that there are secret paths hidden in the game and if the player explores more they will find treasure or rewards, which ties into the game later when X has the possibilities of finding upgrades through secret paths.

Secret Path?

Discovery Reward!

Afterwards there are sections where the ground underneath X starts to shake and eventually collapse so the player has to run through quickly to avoid falling to their death. This is also paced out perfectly because the first piece to crumble is on the edge of a gap and has a small chance of actually killing the player. But later there is a whole section of ground that collapses and will kill the player if they aren't fast enough to react. The game is fair on the player, allowing them to make mistakes early on and not die immediately for not realizing they were in danger but then tests them on their ability to react and adapt with harder circumstances.

The ground can crumble?

Later as the player progresses they are challenged yet again by new enemies that drop mines on the ground, showcasing yet again more possible enemy abilities. There are enemies introduced near the end of the level that are riding vehicles, and if the player hits them with a smaller blast they will knock them out of the vehicle but the vehicle stays intact and the player can jump on top of them while they are moving. Essentially just introducing mechanics that will become crucial later in the game.

Finally to really drive the main idea of the game the developers pin X against the real boss of the intro level. No matter what the player does here they will lose. They simply are not meant to be able to defeat the boss yet. X is saved when Zero comes to his rescue, then he tells the player that you aren't strong enough to defeat him yet and you need to power X up to his full potential. This sets the objective for the rest of the game and ties the story into you objective, find power ups to get X to his full power and defeat the boss.