Mega Man Xtreme
A handheld spin-off revisiting SNES Maverick battles.
Mega Man Xtreme is a 2000 platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Game Boy Color. A spin-off in the Mega Man X series, it follows Maverick Hunter X as he enters cyberspace to stop the Shadow Hunters from destabilizing the world's networks. The game reuses stages, enemies, and bosses from the SNES titles Mega Man X and Mega Man X2.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Capcom
- Director
- Koji Okohara
- Producer
- Tatsuya Minami
- Designer
- Shino Okamura
- Artist
- Haruki Suetsugu
- Composer
- Toshio Kajino; Saori Utsumi
- Released
- October 20, 2000 (JP)
- January 10, 2001 (NA)
- August 24, 2001 (EU)
- Genre
- Platform
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In the 22nd century, humans and intelligent androids called Reploids coexist, threatened by rogue Mavericks. Maverick Hunters X and Zero, led by Dr. Cain, suppress uprisings, especially those led by Sigma. In normal difficulty, a hacker named Techno of the Shadow Hunters breaks into the Mother Computer, destabilizing networks and letting Mavericks cause chaos. X awakens on a simulated highway from his first adventure and meets Zero, who explains that the Hunters have partnered with computer genius Middy. With Middy's help, X enters cyberspace to erase battle data of four Maverick bosses. After defeating them, he reaches the Mother Computer core and defeats Shadow Hunter Zain, but Techno and Geemel retreat, and Sigma reveals himself as the mastermind. Dr. Cain locates Sigma's base, and X warps there. X confronts Techno and destroys the computer used for the hack; Techno reveals he uploaded his CPU into it. Middy arrives, revealing Techno is his twin brother. Controlled by Sigma, Techno regains his senses and dies. X defeats Sigma, and the core begins to detonate. Middy stays, sharing a CPU with his brother, and perishes. In hard mode, Zero informs X that someone has illegally accessed records and reproduced more Maverick data; Geemel and Sigma are again responsible and are dispatched.
Gameplay
Mega Man Xtreme is an action-platform game with gameplay matching the Mega Man X console titles. The player controls X through selectable side-scrolling stages, using run, jump, wall-scaling, and a chargeable X-Buster to defeat enemies. Each stage ends with a boss; defeating it adds its weapon to X's arsenal. Power-ups include health, weapon energy, extra lives, life-extending tanks, surplus health storage, and armor parts granting abilities like damage resistance and dash-jumping off walls. Bosses are weak to specific weapons, encouraging a particular stage order. The game borrows content from Mega Man X and X2, plus new material. It offers three difficulty levels: Normal and Hard each feature four main bosses and form the main narrative, while Xtreme mode is a bonus scenario with all eight bosses available from the start.
Development and release
Capcom developed and published Mega Man Xtreme. A playable demo debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2000, and the game appeared at the Tokyo Game Show that fall. Haruki Suetsugu, the sole artist for character designs and cover art, had previously worked on Mega Man X4 and Mega Man X5. He designed twins Middy and Techno so that rotating one's helmet 90 degrees shapes it like the other's; Middy had soft, round lines and Techno sharp angles to reflect their personalities. Zain and Geemel were contrasted with heavy and light armor plating. Suetsugu felt his illustrations might be too complex for the Game Boy Color but was satisfied with the graphics designers' outcome. The game released in Japan on October 20, 2000, and in North America on January 10, 2001.
Reception and legacy
Mega Man Xtreme holds an aggregate score of 79% on GameRankings. Critics generally saw it as a compact version of the SNES titles. Allgame's Jon Thompson noted graphical cutbacks due to system limitations but found levels colorful and enemies clear. Frank Provo of GameSpot and Marc Nix of IGN praised the protagonist's animation. Provo called backgrounds neither garish nor ugly but cited frame rate, control, collision detection issues, and flicker. Nix noticed these only on original Game Boy or Game Boy Pocket hardware, alleviated by using a Game Boy Color. Associated Press writer William Schiffman found controls relatively easy. Thompson and Provo liked the background music, though Provo deemed the sound instrumentals laughably tinny.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed Mega Man Xtreme?
Mega Man Xtreme was directed by Koji Okohara.
Who designed Mega Man Xtreme?
Mega Man Xtreme was designed by Shino Okamura.
Who composed the music for Mega Man Xtreme?
The music for Mega Man Xtreme was composed by Toshio Kajino and Saori Utsumi.
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