Mega Man X6, known as in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sixth main entry in the Mega Man X series. The game was first released on the PlayStation in Japan on November 29, 2001 and was later made available in both North America and Europe. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows in different parts of Asia in 2002.
Like past games in the series, the player tackles a series of stages and adds the unique weapon of each boss to the returning hero X's arsenal who relies primarily on shooting combat and wielding a sword in close quarte. The plot of Mega Man X6 takes place during the 22nd century where humans and intelligent Robots called "Reploids" live together. The game follows shortly after the events of Mega Man X5 in which planet Earth was devastated by an attack by the "Maverick" leader Sigma and the protagonist Zero sacrificed his own life to save it. As the world recovers, a Maverick known only as the "Zero Nightmare" has begun spreading chaos, resulting in X's decisions to investigate him.
Prominent series artist and producer Keiji Inafune was not involved in the game's production, as he had intended the fifth installment in the series to be the last with Zero's death. Critically, Mega Man X6 has received mixed to positive reviews to the point of being remembered as one of the worst games in the franchise. It was also re-released in 2006 as part of the North American Mega Man X Collection for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 and as part of the Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 in 2018 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very similar to Mega Man X5. As an action platformer, the game follows the classic formula of choosing between eight stages in their own order where they face boss characters whom they can copy its weapon upon defeating them. The player can select the returning hero X who is skilled at shooting with his X Buster and can wield the Z Saber in close quarter combat. Like in previous games, the player can use armors with X inheriting his Falcon Armor from Mega Man X5. When exploring, the player can find capsules from Dr. Light who grants X parts of alternative armors, the Shadow Armor and the Blade Armor, which give him unique abilities. Zero can be unlocked after finding and defeating the boss Zero Nightmare, bringing his own weapons and techniques to the fold, including a refined Z-Saber fighting style.
Mega Man X6 has an increased emphasis on rescuing Reploids over previous titles in the series. Whereas previous games rewarded the player with health or an extra life, Mega Man X6 rewards the player with additional parts or other permanent prizes. Rescuing Reploids was made more difficult in this game with the addition of the Nightmare, which makes any Reploid it infects evil, thus rendering the Reploid impossible to save. Both characters can be equipped with various power-up items earned after rescuing certain Reploids. The parts system was altered as well. Rather than attach a certain part to a certain armor, parts are attached to the character itself. The number of parts that can be equipped at once is dependent on the player's rank, which is increased by harvesting Nightmare Souls.
Plot
Three weeks have passed since the events of Mega Man X5 as Zero is missing after he and X defeated Sigma. As a result of the Eurasia space colony incident, Earth's surface has been rendered uninhabitable, forcing the human population to take refuge underground. An intelligent Reploid researcher, Gate, is searching through the ruins of Eurasia and finds something unusual. A week later, Gate goes mad as he completes an experiment, and declares his intentions to turn Earth into a utopia for high-class Reploids.
Meanwhile, Alia sends X to Eurasia to battle an enemy. In the aftermath, he briefly encounters a being reminiscent to Zero. X then meets a scientist named Isoc and his subordinate, High Max, who are in the search of the Zero-like being, which they identify as the "Zero Nightmare". Isoc invites all Reploids to join his cause to destroy the Nightmare phenomena, which is turning the Reploid population into rebellious "Mavericks". X journeys to the suspected areas to investigate the Nightmare phenomena and fight the infected. X can also encounter the Zero Nightmare and defeat him. Following this, the real Zero appears, unaware of how he survived his battle against Sigma. Nonetheless, he reunites with X, and rejoins the Maverick Hunters to continue investigating the Nightmare.