Old Video Game Reviews: Mega Man X 5

Mega Man X 5 was released in 2000 for the Playstation.  It follows the events of Mega Man X 4, and the continued struggle of X and Zero against Sigma.  It plays pretty much like any other mega man game.  It’s a platformer where you battle your way through enemies until you get to the boss.  Once you defeat a boss then you get a powerful new weapon.

An interesting thing about X 5 though, is that you have a time limit, in which you have to defeat bosses to not only get their techniques, but also certain items you need to stop the space station that will crash into the planet due to Sigma.  You don’t have to beat every boss, but the more you defeat, the easier it will be to stop the station.  You have two weapons to use against the space station, the Engima cannon and a shuttle.  Depending on whether or not you stop the crash, the storyline will change.  This in turn leads to several different endings.  Whether you use X or Zero to defeat Sigma will also affect the ending.

I found that the stages in this game were varied and a lot of fun.  The bosses themselves were a lot cooler and more fun to fight than their counterparts in X 4.  The game is pretty challenging, and it is much harder than the following game, X 6.  It isn’t as hard as X 4 though.  I have beaten this game several times, as the stages offer plenty of replay value.

One thing I didn’t like about X 5 was the fact that it was difficult to use Zero.  He is fine for the entire game, until you get to  this weird sludge boss.  He only has one weak point, and the only way to hurt it is by using the electric weapon given by Squid Addler that you beat.  The problem is that it is a direct attack, and if you touch it then you take a lot of damage.  This makes it almost impossible to hurt the thing without taking damage.  X on the other hand, can breeze through this boss.  For this reason, I have never beaten the game with Zero.  Though perhaps I will go back and play through it again after all these years.  Now that I’m a better player it might not be a problem.

I would recommend Mega Man X 5 to any mega man fans.  It is an old game but it is definitely one of the best games in the series that I played, and I have played it many times.  So check it out if you have a copy or are feeling nostalgic.  It won’t be disappointing.

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