Pretty good; it's a really impressive remake for something like MegaMan X1. X is just as fun to control as the original. X is finally able to skip dashes like in the original SNES games instead of the sluggish dash they gave him after X3. His weapons have a massive amount of options compared to X1's. You can use a charged weapon ability while also being able to switch to a different weapon and fire it. Like Sting Chameleon's invincibility, Armored Armadillo's shield, and Spark Mandrill's weapon which is finally useful and its charged version can make a decent screen nuke. The armor parts are the same here, though you can get Zero's unique buster that can deal 1 or 2 bars more of damage, but X is only able to obtain at Sigma's 3rd palace so it's not really that worth getting. If you struggle with Sigma save Electric Spark for the 1st phase and then use Rolling Shield for the 2nd phase. All of the level design (layout, backgrounds, Light capsules, and enemies) are altered and it works kind of well except when the leg parts are not a free upgrade and are in Sting Chameleon's. Vile is added as a character after you beat the game, he’s neat. I don’t like that his gameplay feels like you’re controlling a boss and not a playable character because most of his attacks are very delayed. You have to switch between different angles your weapons can aim at. It's a bit iffy getting both the timing and the shot to land where enemies are. There is also a huge variety of alternate projectiles you can choose for Vile in his campaign. They’re not major but they’re okay to just keep you entertained for the lack of upgrades and different weapons. After completing his mode I think he doesn't work as a character like X or Zero. If he has significantly faster movement and a decent range for his weapons I would like him in any X game. The rocket punch missiles are what I'd recommend when you get them in this mode, they are more fun to use than the machine gun.
The remixed music tracks are done by X4's composer and it feels really good hearing the soft synths and dark ambiance X4 had with its soundtrack again, and also feature pretty cool guitar riffs used in the music. All of them are pretty fantastic renditions of the original themes. Although some tracks really over-synthesize the music, in particular I don't like Launch Octopus Stage’s theme because I can barely telegraph out the original music because of the synths blurring it out.
The story is actually good!! I really like the concept that this game introduces with X about his potential to rationalize in a higher comprehension to normal reploids and Sigma's angle was only seeing it as to further advance reploid battle potential. Basically his worrying and caring instinctively would get him the drive to get stronger every time and Sigma manipulates him as much as possible. The only time MMX made me delve into the story without splitting hairs. The maverick dialogue is also worth listening to, at least this over the generic grunt dialogue before this point. Boomerang Kowanger was the one that pointed out that Sigma sees that potential in X actually. I like that the mavericks all have a reason to join Sigma besides just hating X when they were Maverick Hunters or something similar. The fact that this game acknowledges the boss rush in a meaningful way to showcase that Sigma is just manipulating the empty shells of the mavericks to fight for him elevates the story a bit. Vile’s side of the story is pretty average. It’s just Vile being edgy and salty for the rest of the run but it’s not fun as it sounds. He forces all the Maverick reploids to fight him for no reason, gets shot down by X and Zero and is forced to become a Sigma reploid at the end. The whole point of it is that Vile doesn’t need to be a Maverick to be evil and it’s corny.
The voice acting is some of the best in the series, not a high bar but it’s really good, although I don't like the forced delivery in the maverick reploids’ voices. It sounds straight out of a 4kids dub sometimes and it kind of kills the impact of the dialogue. Also I don’t like how Zero sounds, he sounds like the most average dude you could think of and I think they should’ve gone for a better tone for his voice. All of that aside, when it’s good it goes insanely hard. This cutscene of X and Sigma SHOCKED me when I heard it. There’s a lot of attention put into the dubbing and I don’t think it deserved to be overshadowed by knee-jerk jokes about X4’s voice acting.
Overall, great game. It’s not a replacement for X1, but it’s a great compliment for people that played it. It might be better if I gave it more time than X1 but I’ve only done my first playthrough.
The remixed music tracks are done by X4's composer and it feels really good hearing the soft synths and dark ambiance X4 had with its soundtrack again, and also feature pretty cool guitar riffs used in the music. All of them are pretty fantastic renditions of the original themes. Although some tracks really over-synthesize the music, in particular I don't like Launch Octopus Stage’s theme because I can barely telegraph out the original music because of the synths blurring it out.
The story is actually good!! I really like the concept that this game introduces with X about his potential to rationalize in a higher comprehension to normal reploids and Sigma's angle was only seeing it as to further advance reploid battle potential. Basically his worrying and caring instinctively would get him the drive to get stronger every time and Sigma manipulates him as much as possible. The only time MMX made me delve into the story without splitting hairs. The maverick dialogue is also worth listening to, at least this over the generic grunt dialogue before this point. Boomerang Kowanger was the one that pointed out that Sigma sees that potential in X actually. I like that the mavericks all have a reason to join Sigma besides just hating X when they were Maverick Hunters or something similar. The fact that this game acknowledges the boss rush in a meaningful way to showcase that Sigma is just manipulating the empty shells of the mavericks to fight for him elevates the story a bit. Vile’s side of the story is pretty average. It’s just Vile being edgy and salty for the rest of the run but it’s not fun as it sounds. He forces all the Maverick reploids to fight him for no reason, gets shot down by X and Zero and is forced to become a Sigma reploid at the end. The whole point of it is that Vile doesn’t need to be a Maverick to be evil and it’s corny.
The voice acting is some of the best in the series, not a high bar but it’s really good, although I don't like the forced delivery in the maverick reploids’ voices. It sounds straight out of a 4kids dub sometimes and it kind of kills the impact of the dialogue. Also I don’t like how Zero sounds, he sounds like the most average dude you could think of and I think they should’ve gone for a better tone for his voice. All of that aside, when it’s good it goes insanely hard. This cutscene of X and Sigma SHOCKED me when I heard it. There’s a lot of attention put into the dubbing and I don’t think it deserved to be overshadowed by knee-jerk jokes about X4’s voice acting.
Overall, great game. It’s not a replacement for X1, but it’s a great compliment for people that played it. It might be better if I gave it more time than X1 but I’ve only done my first playthrough.