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The spiritual successor to the original Mega Man series of platformers, Mega Man X features a more technologically advanced hero and a darker storyline (set a century after the adventures of the original Mega Man).
Mega Man X (known in Japan as Rockman X) is a side-scrolling action platformer developed and published by Capcom for the Super Famicom in December 1993 and on the US Super Nintendo Entertainment System on January 1994.
The spiritual successor to the classic Mega Man platformers (for the Nintendo Entertainment System), Mega Man X reinvents the series by introducing players to a faster, more technologically adept hero (Mega Man X, known simply as "X") set in a brand new (and darker) storyline (which is further expanded by numerous sequels).
Set in the year 21XX, a century after the adventures of the original Mega Man, players control Mega Man X, a highly-advanced android (with the unprecedented ability to think as a human) developed by Dr. Light and incubated in a large capsule for a 100-year diagnostic program (to help X understand sanity and morality). He is found by roboticist Dr. Cain, who uses Dr. Light's design notes to replicate X into a new generation of androids (known as "Reploids"). When certain Reploids mysteriously became a threat towards humanity (becoming known as "Mavericks"), the government creates an elite Reploid police force (known as "Maverick Hunters") led by Dr. Cain's latest design, Sigma. However, Sigma (along with the majority of the Maverick Hunters) defects and becomes a Maverick, and it's up to X (who feels guilty for being the prototype behind the Mavericks) and Zero (the new combat-savvy leader of the Maverick Hunters) to infiltrate and destroy Sigma's forces (including eight Mavericks and the mercenary Maverick Vile).
X has a variety of new abilities (not used by the original Mega Man), including the ability to cling onto walls (slowing his descent while allowing him to walljump), quickly switch to a new weapon (without having to pause the game), use a mechanized combat vehicle (the "Ride Armor"), and find unique upgrades to his armor (boosting his vitality and attack capabilities while giving him the ability to perform a fast dash, rather than the original's slide, and supercharge his X-Buster). Despite these additions, the game uses the same progression, as players guide the hero through each themed level (in any order), led by a boss that grants a new weapon when defeated (and is weak by a specific other weapon), before infiltrating the major antagonist's fortress.