Capcom made Mega Man fans wait a long time for the arrival of X. The whole experience was all wrapped up in a package that included slick visuals, beautifully tight controls and a killer soundtrack. Furthermore, Mega Man could now increase the length of his health meter - and he could upgrade his suit piece by piece to complete a set of all-new armor. It further distanced itself from the franchise's past with an all-new arch-nemesis named Sigma and a fresh, sword-wielding supporting hero named Zero. Mega Man X also remixed the roster of expected robot foes, turning the stage-end bosses into animal cyborgs instead of just themed 'men.' Old Mega Man fought against Flame Man, for example, but Mega Man X got the elephantine Flame Mammoth. The core of the design was still focused on running, jumping and blasting enemies through a set of eight stages you could play through in any order you wished, but X also introduced more advanced maneuvers like dashing, wall-jumping and on-the-fly weapon-swapping. And the gameplay got some significant changes too.

Sleeker, faster and edgier than the original blue bot, he introduced long-time Mega Man fans to a grittier, more futuristic version of the cartoony world they'd come to know on the NES. This wasn't just another Mega Man game with better graphics, it was a complete reinvention of the franchise.

Mega Man X finally launched for the SNES around two and a half years after the system's debut, and the reason for the extended wait became clear.

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