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Garbage .... well thats an understatement

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: December 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I quit playing Megaman games back at Megaman X3. Not that the games where getting at all bad, just repetitive. X8 keeps it real to the side-scrolling shooting fest. However its far too frustrating. Reason -being all the minigames. I don't know what else to call them. You know how previous Megaman games had a couple of stages where you start off in a ship or something other than the normal routine ? Well now ALL the stages are like that. Sooner or later you'll have to do some petty cheap jump and dodge game. Megaman isn't made for that. He can dash and jump, considering we aren't shooting thats about it. I gave the game an extra star for having tons of cool aspects. But considering the game has no difficulty settings, most will never get to use them.

Nice to have X back

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

What can I say? This game plays like the older SNES games. All the flaws that made X5-X7 so sub-par are gone. A great buy.

I'd also like to remind everyone that the game does come with THREE difficulty settings.

X is back and better than ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD*

GRAPHICS- At first glance, the new art style seems very un Mega Man-like; more specifically, everyone's legs have become much thinner than usual. As much as I prefer that art style, I don't see too many problems with this one. I especially like Alia's new hairdo, which is longer than it has been.

VOICES- Compared to the voices of X4 through X7, these are certainly the best English VAs I've heard. (The Japanese voices of X6 and X7 were the best, in my opinion)

CONTROLS- Mega Man X is back in 2D, and it's a nice thing. The 3D parts of X7 were nice, but let's face it; Mega Man in 3D... isn't all Mega Man. X and his friends run, shoot, dash, jump, climb and all sorts of other neat verbs. Some of the new skills are tricky to get the hang of at first, but when you master then, you'll clobber the Mavericks just that much faster!

MUSIC- It's been a while since the X games have had more than one awesome music track per game. The tunes in X8 are toe-tappin' treasures, from Lumine's eerie church organ theme to the adrenaline-stirring climb up the Jakob Project elevator.

STORY- Ever since the X series was transferred to a different writer since X6, I have worried about various plotholes, such as the rift between the X series and the Zero series; I'm still waiting for Zero to explain exactly how he came back in X6 from his demise in X5, and where exactly Axl comes into play. The romantic aspect is interesting, too; I'm also waiting for Alia and X to officially hook up. Layer, the new navigator, has a thing for Zero, but Zero is still heartbroken by the demise of Iris in X4 and is pretty cold to everyone but X and sometimes Axl. Whether or not these two get together can't be determined yet (though this reviewer personally hopes they don't, since it would totally mess up his "Mega Man Iris" fanfiction stories). Hee hee.

So, there's my review of Mega Man X8. It can be summed up in three words: "pretty dang good." Five stars.

Capcom Does it Right

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

After the tired X5, the frustrating X6, and the "Nice try, but no dice" X7, Capcom went back to the drawing board. The end result is Mega Man X8, a vastly improved title and potentially the best X game since X4.

In the future, the humans are on the losing end of the war between mankind and reploids, sentient robots. To escape obliteration, humanity seeks to establish a moon colony. They embark on the Jakob Project, a program to construct a space elevator to the moon. For whatever reason, the humans decide they need next-generation reploids to complete the project and wouldn't you know it? They go maverick. Enter X, Zero, and Axl to defeat the rebellion and find the source of the evil - an answer long-time fans of the series may find unexpected.

Although X7 took the side scrolling series into full 3D, it was marred by poor camera work, loose controls, and it lacked the fluidity of the classic titles. In X8, Capcom kept the 3D aspect, but locked the camera and combat on a rail. You heard right - this is a 3-D side scroller, a concept visited in other titles like Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Kirby 64.

Graphically, the game captures the spirit and stylized anime designs of the robots nicely. The only real qualm is that early levels, like the gorgeous Noah's Park, look far better than the final levels - which appear rushed.

Audibly, it has a great selection of tunes in the same melodic power rock style other X games have. The voice acting here is vastly improved over the previous title, though still not perfect.

Gameplay, though, is where X8 really excels. This is just like the SNES X games, so expect lots of wall jumping, shooting, and instakill deaths. The controls are razor-sharp. X8 is difficult, but not frustratingly so. If you die, you'll know exactly why you did and how to not die the next time.

X8 is marred by two poorly-executed driving stages. Though better than the driving stage in X7, these are still half-realized ideas. Why Capcom insists on these strange diversion levels is still unknown, but they hurt what's an otherwise strong presentation.

Although X8 does a lot correctly, it ironically loses to itself when it comes to value. X8 pales in comparison to the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, which costs ten dollars less and delivers ten classic Mega Man games. But, if you've played that to death and want more side scrolling action, look no further than X8 to satisfy your hunger.

Better than the last few games, but still old and tired...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: February 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have to shake my head in utter disbelief at how far the Mega Man X series has fallen from its glory days on the SNES and it's first outing, X4, for the PSX. Then again it's really not hard to see why looking at the last few games, but I can't fathom how Capcom let this happen...

Mega Man X8 does manage to make many improvments over it's prevoius predecessors. First and most notably is the revamping of the tag team system started in X7. Now when one of your characters bites the big one, the other jumps in and continues the fight (which didn't happen in X7), and the ability do tag team moves (which includes a impressive ripoff the Matrix movies due to its look) and revive fallen comrades through use of the attack gauge which fills when you combo, is a welcome change.

X8 also ditches any attempt of going into full-out 3D gameplay like X7 (which we all know was a complete failure). Only two stages (the hover bike levels) break the 2D game with 3D graphics design. The voice acting is also a huge improvement over X6 (which didn't include english voice acting at all) and X7 (which had english voice acting but was horrid).

Unfotunately, these improvements can't hide the fact the rest of the gameplay has been recycled over half a dozen times. Almost all of X8's stages can be compared to level concepts in previous games, which is only natural considering the series is over ten years old, but it's just a little too obvious when you get that feeling of deja vu, or when your asking yourself why your even playing this game in first place.

This feeling is enforced further by the fact Capcom went to the trouble of ressurecting one of the more "classic" and "cooler" Mega Man X villians (I'm not gonna tell you and ruin it for you, but who really cares at this point?) for this installment, but you'll ultimately realize bringing this character back from the junk heap (for the second freakin time mind you!) is just another sorry ploy to arouse player interest and avoid having to put to much creativity and thought into creating new villians. Storywise, X8 has a better plot than many of the prevoius games, but that really doesn't matter as Capcom never really gave any of the X games a truly great story or a twist you talk about for years to come (well they did come close in X5 with the whole Zero thing, but they screwed that up in X6).

X8 is not a bad game, but it definaitely is not a great game in any way, shape, or form. If your just getting into Mega Man X, do yourself the biggest favor (and save some money) and buy Mega Man X4 for the PSX (which is the best game in the series in my opinion, and is a greatest hit - I wonder why that is?) If your a fan, you probably already have that, but I honestly can't recommend buying X8 for it's retail price of $40 (no, wait, $39.95). The game is honestly not worth buying for that much. Wait for price to come down, buy a used one, rent it, or borrow it off a friend that bought it.

Hopefully X9 will be the last game in the series (cause their was only nine original Mega Man games, excluding the Game Boy games and side games - it would make sense). If Capcom is not going to let the game evolve beyond it's tired and true boundries, or even add somekind of two player mode, then I rather the series be put out of its misery that countinue making so-and-so sequels.

Better than X7, But Still Not As Good as it Could've Been

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It's sad to watch a series that was as good as Mega Man X slide into the ruin it's been sliding into for the last few years. Mega Man X8 works hard to revive what was once a great series. The problem is, the series may be a bit too tarnished after the last three installments. That means Mega Man X8 has to work hard for forgiveness. The good news is that it is better than X7. The bad news? The game could've been so much better.

The Jakob Project, an effort to get humans to the moon away from the repolid war, is in danger. Sigma (it's always Sigma) has threatened the leader of this project, Lumine. As usual, it's up to X and company to stop him.

The Mega Man X series has never been much for plot, and in X8 it's no different. While there is story, and it tries hard to be a satisfying one, it just isn't all that great. If you've been with Mega Man X since the first one, you probably aren't as interested in the storyline as you are in the actual action of the gameplay. Newcomers to the series might like the story telling aspect, but for those who've been with Mega Man in general since the 80's know that a game can hold together if it's a lot of fun.

Mega Man X8 has unique gameplay mechanics. It's really no different than the basic gameplay presented in the very first Mega Man X game. It's basically run and gun. Anything that's in your way you shoot and kill. You'll select a level to go into, march your way through and defeat the big bad boss at the end. The difference is you can do this in a tag team style way. Before each level you'll be given a choice of two characters you want to take into a level and a navigator. There's X, Zero and Axl, and they all have their own distinct abilities. X is no different than he has been in previous games. Zero has his Z-Saber as well as a multitude of other weapons and Axl has a rapid fire weapon and can hover in the air. Unlike previous games, the characters begin with abilities they'd otherwise have to acquire. For example, Zero begins the game with his double jump rather than you actually having to acquire it.

In each level you can switch between your two characters at the click of a button. If one character is low on health, you can switch. Likewise, if one character dies, the other steps in and fights the rest of the battle out. The only time this doesn't happen is if it's a one hit kill.

There have also been some unique changes to the gameplay. You now collect metals in each level. Similar to the Mega Man Zero games, you can exchange them for items. Energy bottles to restore health, powerups for your characters and more. The game also has rare metals. These are metals that will let you purchase bigger and better abilities for your characters. One, for example, might be another weapon for Zero. Another might be a sub tank. You'll also spend metals to increase a characters health or weapon capacity.

The game isn't without fault, and unfortunately, despite all the unique treatment the game has gone through that could make elements better, the faults of this game are more than enough to frustrate gamers. For one, the game is very challenging. Difficulty usually makes a game a lot of fun to play. The problem with Mega Man X8's difficulty is that too much of it derives from trial and error. In one instance you're supposed to jump into a pit, but you'll meet an untimely death because of the spikes below which there's no foreshadowing. In previous Mega Man X games, this was not a problem. They were hard, but not unreasonable, and I never had to go through several trial and error moments. The difficulty doesn't help the game, it only frustrates. Mix that with the unreasonable "retry" system instead of actually having lives. You only get five retries (and you have to buy three of them) and if you use them all, then you have to re-enter the level and start from the very beginning. This didn't bug me as much, seeing as how most levels are short anyway, but with the trial and error moments, you'll blow through most of your retries.

The level design of most of these levels is also not up to par. The main problem stemming from the levels where you ride vehicles. They move fast, and you don't. It's too easy to fall into a pit and die in one of them. Again, there are also plenty of trial and error moments there too, and these moments really degrade the game. Finally, the bosses aren't creative enough. Many of them just aren't really fun to battle against, and the abilities and weapons you get from them aren't exciting. Most of these weapons (save perhaps for some of Axl's) aren't going to be of much use to you. You're better off using your default shot than anything you'll get from the bosses.

Graphically, Mega Man X8 doesn't look too bad. Not the best graphics out there, but the game is still nice to look at. It's also fast paced with few frame rate issues (they don't come until the last level). If you're looking for a 3D side scroller that looks good, you've certainly found it for Mega Man X8. I can't say the same for the music unfortunately. Most of the voice acting is bad. At least Mega Man actually sounds like a guy in this one. This doesn't mean other voices are good. All the main characters have fairly good voices. Other characters, such as the bosses, have terrible voices. The minor characters didn't seem to be of any importance, and it shows in their voices. The level music isn't all that exciting either. There are maybe one or two good tracks (Sigma's Palace, for instance), but nothing remarkably special. Which is strange seeing as how even the Mega Man X games that aren't well liked (such as X5) even had good music.

As unique as Capcom made Mega Man X8, it can't quite live up to previous installments. The game serves its purpose as fan service, but doesn't have enough quality. From the trial and error moments to the not so special story, Mega Man X8 is only sending the series further into ruin. It's much better than Mega Man X7, and has a lot of secrets to unearth (more than even Mega Man X3), but it's just not a satisfying experience.

The Good
+The game, for the most part, doesn't look bad
+Some tweaks to the gameplay are very helpful
+Tag teaming works
+Plenty of extra secrets to unearth
+For a Mega Man game, the length is pretty satisfying, actually taking more than ten hours to do everything there is to be done.

The Bad
-Frustrating difficulty
-Way too many trial and error moments
-Level design isn't good
-Lame bosses
-Lame voices
-The music isn't really all that great

So while there are some pretty neat tweaks to the gameplay, it can't save Mega Man X8. What had potential to be a truly remarkable game, is nothing of the sort at all.

Can't think of a good title

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I will start by saying is not as bad as some say. Most they do have a point the spikes that automatic kill are getting old fast. 2 of my stars came the boss battles. Though they names are silly like Optic Sunflower who can't tell is a boy or a girl. A half a star came the music and graphics. They are good don't get me wrong but they are not that important to me. The last little bit came from the villians, the story which I get why the largest elevator is so important,the metals which are expensive but some are worth it, and the longivty because I think this the longest on in the series. I never played x4 so I don't know if this the best. Well is all folks. Later.

The best Megaman x game yet

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this game is better than the last x games, but this isn't the best Megaman game ever. The game has a decent diffulculty, but some people may find that they die all the time which may ruin the fun. The game has somewhat decent replay value, but you may get tired from all repetition. Overall, this is the best x game yet and Capcom should keep making all of their x games this good.

For those who think the X games are getting old, grow up

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I haven't yet played this game, but I have completed X1-X7. From what I've been told this game is supposedly better than X7, which is nice to hear, because I REALLY enjoyed X7, unlike many other fools out there... I absolutely love the classic Megaman formula; fighting the 8 bosses and using their weapons against each other, etc. Ever since X8's been released, I often hear people complaining that the X series is getting old and recycles many features from the previous games. I say screw those people. I'm planning on picking up X8 next month, and I'm sure it will be great, regardless of what these people say. Many fans often whine about X7 and X8 because they didn't get exactly what they wanted in the game. WELCOME TO THE WORLD! These people need to grow up and stop badmouthing a series which other people, myself included, find very entertaining.

Recommended for 8 and under

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: August 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The game wass short lived, my son completed the game within a couple hours of receiving it and has not played it since. However, he stayed with it until he finished it.

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