If you are a person who has kept track of all the Mega Man games of any series to come out over the years, I commend you. Few other series in gaming history have spawned such a labyrinthine web of games. One of the more popular of these series is Mega Man X. Having been around for a little over a decade now, many of the Mega Man X titles have become extremely difficult to find. With the release of Mega Man X Collection, that will no longer be a problem. Containing the first six Mega Man X games (seven and eight are PS2 games and still, relatively, new so they were not placed on this collection), as well as an extremely forgettable PS1 racing game, Mega Man X Collection is sure to please all the fans out there.

Back when they were released, the Mega Man X games all boasted very attractive graphics. Sure, some of these games are 10 years old and debuted on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but one has to keep a historical perspective. The transition to PS2 has not harmed the visuals of the games in any way. Everything looks to be picture perfect.

The same cannot be said of the sound. Now, don’t get me wrong. The sound aspect of a Mega Man X game is generally one of its greatest strengths. The sound tracks are, in general, almost always phenomenal, and each has made a clean transition to PS2. Unfortunately there are a number of anomalies, intentional or otherwise, that have snuck into this compilation. Some examples are: X no longer says "Hadoken" when he throws a fireball, sound effects that don’t turn off or lower in volume during event scenes like they should, and the voice acting from Mega Man X6 has completely disappeared.

One final aesthetic aspect worth mentioning is that the version of Mega Man X3 used in the compilation is the PSX/Saturn version, not the SNES version. This means there are some minor differences like animated robot intros, animated cutscenes (though the quality is abysmally poor), and some major differences like remixed musical tracks.

If you’re familiar with the original Mega Man series, Mega Man X games are roughly the same at the core. After an introductory stage, you are offered the choice of 8 stages to enter, in any order of your choosing. At the end of each stage is a robot boss. When you defeat the boss, you gain their weapon. Some weapons work better on different bosses, so part of the fun is figuring out the best order to tackle the stages.

However, Mega Man X takes this basic formula and ramps it up a notch. The games offer some non-linear aspects that will have you searching through stages for power-ups. Also, fighting bosses isn’t usually so simple. While in a Mega Man game, you just fire away with the correct weapon and watch it obliterate the boss’ health, things are usually a bit more complex when fighting an X boss, particularly in the later games.

Mega Man X games also carry more involved storylines than traditional Mega Man games. While the storytelling itself is generally pretty lackluster, they deal with some pretty meaty issues when you get beneath the surface like racism, genocide, fascism, the nature of consciousness, ethical use of police power, etc… The games do have a cohesive, if tentative, story connection between them that culminates in the final encounters of Mega Man X5. Since this was when the series was intended to end by its creator, the story of the later games doesn’t tend to mesh together as well.

A warning for the uninitiated, Mega Man X games are hard. The wide range of abilities and weapons at your disposal can make them extremely complex and difficult, especially in the later games. While Mega Man X is comparatively easy, Mega Man X6 can make even the most hardcore gamer throw his controller across the room, even going so far as to letting you wander into boss fights you cannot possibly win because you lack the proper weapons. You’ll pretty much have to play the games in order, to a certain extent. The later games require that the basic skills learned in the earlier titles be second nature.

Aside from certain sound issues, the other area where Mega Man X Collection falls flat on its face is in the extras. While Mega Man Anniversary Collection featured goodies like series and character themes, making of videos, and cartoon episodes, Mega Man X Collection only offers some minor artwork and hints on how to obtain secrets in the first three games. Additionally the unlockable racing game offered, Mega Man Battle & Chase , is pretty crummy and lacks any real fun or merit.

There are really only two groups of people who need to pick this title up. If you’re a die-hard Mega Man X fan who is missing a game or two, or if you’ve always wanted to try the series out but the lack of availability of the games has always put you off. If you love robots and enjoy a good challenge, Mega Man X Collection is for you.