Poll of the Day > Which series is better: Mega Man or Mega Man X?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like the topic says, which series do you like more: the vanilla Mega Man games or the Mega Man X series?

Part of the reason why I'm asking is that I haven't played a Mega Man game outside of the Battle Network series, and I'm considering dipping my toes into other parts of the franchise. I'm curious if I should give the originals a chance or jump straight into X.

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The originals are better as a whole because they're consistently good. X series has better highs, but they have pretty low lows. If you want a series that has high highs, but also no real low points, you should give the Z series a try.
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Mega Man original had 3 great games. X only had one.

So Mega Man X 1 is one of the best games ever made. I'd say anyone who is interested in video games, MMX1 is an essential game. Everyone should play it through at least once. That being said. Only the first like 4 MMX games are any good. After that things get very dire very quickly. The original Mega Man series on the other hand is much more consistent. Sure not every game is a smash hit, but they're all enjoyable in their own ways.

I'd say play at least the first 3 Mega Man games, or first 6 if you want the entire original series before X. Play MMX1-4, watch a summary of what happened in MMX5, completely ignore MMX6-8, then play the Mega Man Zero series.

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Mega Man for the most part is kind of a repetitive series. Other then a couple of upgrades, it doesn't really do anything unique from game to game. The first 3 are the most unique, but the series basically follows the same formula after that.

Mega Man X is one of my favorite series, but it is also inconsistent. Some games are excellent (1, 3, 4), some games are meh (2, 5, 8), and some games are horrible (6 and 7). Also, while they are technically different series, Zero and ZX take place in the same "timeline". Yea, the original series kind of does as well, but Zero and ZX actually have returning characters from the X series. Honestly, both series are excellent and I highly reccomend playing them.

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Both are great. Maybe X series is better due to the fast paced, wall jump, armors, ...

Mega Man.

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Original series was hard
X series was easy

*shrugs*

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Probably classic. The first few X games were good, but they kinda drop off whereas the classic had a bunch of good games, fell off, but came back.

As noted, MMZ was more consistent, but there were only four games.

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I haven't played a Mega Man X game in a while, but playing MM1-4 recently, I was not terribly impressed. they're ok, but really reek of just walling content off with difficulty and not very interesting gameplay. they were good for their time but have not aged well. not sure about MMX but I suspect it has fared a bit better.

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Sahuagin posted...

I haven't played a Mega Man X game in a while, but playing MM1-4 recently, I was not terribly impressed. they're ok, but really reek of just walling content off with difficulty and not very interesting gameplay. they were good for their time but have not aged well. not sure about MMX but I suspect it has fared a bit better.

MM1 kinda sucks (very off-balanced content). 2 is good, 3 is great, 4 is pretty good, Then the series was kinda here and there for a while until MM9.

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Zeus posted...

MM1 kinda sucks (very off-balanced content). 2 is good, 3 is great, 4 is pretty good

for me 2 > 1 > 3 (4 I didn't get far enough (or else remember well enough) to judge)

I don't know why people like 3. both 1 and 3 have a couple parts where health is extremely limited and you have to play nearly perfectly for a half a level or so; at these points, the shallowness of the gameplay really sticks out. this felt especially the case in 3.

instead of sections like that, 2 has parts that are more "puzzley" which I appreciate a lot more.

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X because of Duff Mcwhalen

Sahuagin posted...

for me 2 > 1 > 3 (4 I didn't get far enough (or else remember well enough) to judge)

I don't know why people like 3. both 1 and 3 have a couple parts where health is extremely limited and you have to play nearly perfectly for a half a level or so; at these points, the shallowness of the gameplay really sticks out. this felt especially the case in 3.

instead of sections like that, 2 has parts that are more "puzzley" which I appreciate a lot more.

3 has more content than the other titles, for starters. It's also where they added the slide. Difficulty-wise, it's probably a bit easier than 2 (overlooking the OP Metal Blade).

1 was back when they didn't know what they wanted to do with the franchise, so it has weird shit like a points system. And iirc there's no way to bypass the annoying vanishing blocks, whereas MM3 had Rush Jet.

While I like 1's robot master set (from a character design standpoint), the game is a pain.

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lihlih posted...

The originals are better as a whole because they're consistently good. X series has better highs, but they have pretty low lows.

This. The only really bad classic game is Mega Man 8. X 1-3 are fantastic, 4 is good, 5 is meh, 6 is bad, 7 is awful. 8 is okay though.

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Mega Man X

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Thanks for the replies, everyone.

JixHedgehog posted...

Original series was hard
X series was easy

In that case, might it make sense for me to start with the good ones in the X series and then go back and play the original series?

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Tails 64 posted...

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

In that case, might it make sense for me to start with the good ones in the X series and then go back and play the original series?

I mean there is an overarching "plot" to Mega Man, and it does exist during the classic series, but it doesn't really become the focus until the X and especially Zero series. Oh also in the classic series, 9, 10 and 11 are all worth playing too. But those were made years later, after X, Zero and even ZX had wrapped up. And there's also the Legends series, which are cannon, but those are very VERY different from the rest of the series.

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I like the Zero series more thatn x5-whatever it whet to

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Dmess85 posted...

I like the Zero series more thatn x5-whatever it whet to

I like the Zero series more than the X series. Possibly more than the Classic as well.

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Dmess85 posted...

I like the Zero series more thatn x5-whatever it whet to

The Zero series was great because it had a vision from beginning to end. The problem with the X series is it was supposed to end after X5, but they kept it going. In fact, Zero basically retcons the entirety of X6-X8, even though they were going on at the same time.

So yea, Mega Man basically pulled a Zelda and split the timeline...

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Dikitain posted...

The Zero series was great because it had a vision from beginning to end. The problem with the X series is it was supposed to end after X5, but they kept it going. In fact, Zero basically retcons the entirety of X6-X8, even though they were going on at the same time.

So yea, Mega Man basically pulled a Zelda and split the timeline...

I mean that already happened with the Classic/Battle Network split

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X Series

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papercup posted...

I mean that already happened with the Classic/Battle Network split

And now I'm remembering I still haven't played MMBN6 or MMSF3 =x

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Battlenetwork

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Battle Network

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Both. X series probably is more fun.

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papercup posted...

I mean there is an overarching "plot" to Mega Man, and it does exist during the classic series, but it doesn't really become the focus until the X and especially Zero series. Oh also in the classic series, 9, 10 and 11 are all worth playing too. But those were made years later, after X, Zero and even ZX had wrapped up. And there's also the Legends series, which are cannon, but those are very VERY different from the rest of the series.

Hmm. Since Mega Man Legacy Collection adds some things to help casuals, like a rewind feature, I might try playing it first to uphold the sequence.

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Dikitain posted...

The Zero series was great because it had a vision from beginning to end.

Not really. 3 was intended to be the end, they only made 4 because Capcom wanted it.

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I think the X series has higher high's but the original series is more consistently good.

Mega Man X1 might be the best game every attached to any Mega Man game.

Mega Man Xavier is the overall better series of the two, as long as you don't go any farther than X5 (which, incidentally, was where the series was supposed to end - and also where it absolutely should have ended).

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