iPhone monstrosity is anything more than a protracted practical joke), there was a time

when Mega Man was still very much in Capcom’s good graces... wait. Didn’t I just say that?

Y’mean there’s another remake of the first game in a particular Mega Man lineage, interpreted

in 3D, released on the PSP in or around 2006, with multiple new features, voice acting,

and the occasional animated cutscene? Huh. Well, okay then. Let’s do it. Mega Man Maverick

Hunter X, mission start.

Now, Mega Man X and I go way back. I believe I have actually beaten the original game in

my sleep (back in high school when I suffered from somnambulism). So in playing this new

interpretation, I came in with detailed mental maps of every area, down to the locations

of each parts upgrade and heart tank... only to learn that, while the general layout is

a nearly-identical copy of the Super NES classic, there are just enough changes to stymie the

unprepared player. The boots upgrade right in the middle of Chill Penguin’s stage,

AKA The Reason You Do Chill Penguin First, are no longer there. You’ve gotta go find

all those again. Good luck. It’s a little touch that keeps the game fresh while being

faithful to the original; there aren’t any gross changes like altering the optimal boss

order or anything. The most drastic changes aren’t seen until the Sigma stages, which

are in fact completely rebuilt. Much like Powered Up, the music consists of remixes

of the classic tracks with the occasional quote unquote “witty” banter between X

and whatever maverick has gone maverick and has to be maverick hunted. By Maverick Hunter

X.

But it wouldn’t be a 2006 PSP remake of a Mega Man game without letting you play as

a different character, now would it? I know, you were hoping to beat the game as Storm

Eagle, spitting eggs at jerks from every angle, well too bad. You get Boba Fett... I mean,

Vile. Who, as explained in this piece of animation that seems like a shot-for-shot reenactment

of a scene from Evangelion, is released from captivity by Sigma and sent out to destroy

Maverick Hunter X and the rest of the Maverick Hunters who Hunt Mavericks... but who immediately

decides he’s going to double-and-or-triple-cross everyone, because he can. Vile plays significantly

differently from X, with three weapons systems equipped at any given time, selected from

a lineup of 45: fifteen each of arm cannon, shoulder cannon, and leg parts. And they all

have ridiculous names like Infinity Gig, Bumpity Boom, and Quick Homesick. Cannot make this

up. Still, even to someone like me who’s beaten Mega Man X more times than you’ve

had hot dinners, it’s enough of a shakeup to completely justify this game. And to leave

me hungry for more, which will never happen.