Mega Man X2 Review - Quickies Don't Cut It 

The sequel is, unfortunately, very overlooked.

X2 is by far my favorite Mega Man game. I even loved the side quests, and the soundtrack is pretty underrated 4 Year Later Update: X4 is my new favorite as of May 2020. But X2 is a very strong second. I just enjoyed playing as X and Zero in X4.

No you didn't! You didn't just exclude Flame Stag on the OST showcase!

imo x2 and x4 are totally best ones in the series, x1 and x3 are tied for for third, though.

Really love the in depth lengthy reviews. seems that a lot of other game reviewers are content to keep vids as short as possible and that drives me bonkers.

Ahhh, it's actually really nice to see such love given to the somewhat-under-recognized SNES sequels. X2 and X3 were never talked about on the playground and no one really knew how to get a hold of them -- where I grew up, at least, despite seemingly infinite copies of X1 floating around, 2 and 3 were just nowhere to be found, at any rental place or retailer at all. One time in the late 90s I found a lone, beat-up copy of X3 at supermarket and grabbed that thing instantly, no regrets. I actually never got a chance to play 2 until discovering emulation a bit later (though I do own them all on VC nowadays). I actually really, really love both the games, even if I do find X1 the absolute best still, partly from nostalgia and partly from just how much it did fresh for the series and so well at that, but there's a lot to love about the next couple. I do often wonder if I'd have been able to play X2 when it was brand new, if I'd hold it in as high or even higher regard as X1. Honestly aside from the soundtrack, which I DO like a lot but doesn't really compare to X1's imo, and arguably the maverick designs overall, it's kind of just a superior game in many ways, as you outlined in the video. Great taste with the favorite music tracks too, though I'd have added Overdrive Ostrich and the short-but-sweet Zero theme personally. The only thing missing a bit form this review I might have touched on is the really crazy unique weapons X2 has. While they don't feel nearly as powerful for combat as X1's on the whole, nearly all of them have some kind of cool non-combat usage. There's also the really cool little touches you might not even notice at all for your first several playthroughs such as how Silk Shot actually creates different projectiles that look and sometimes even act differently depending on the stage, and actually all 3 X-Hunters are severely weak to different versions of it. Cool stuff, imo. I also notice you don't talk about the challenge-sapping Hadouken or Shoryuken for some reason... :P

"Deap-See"

Great script, great production effort and execution. My favorite X2 review I've seem so far... by a landslide.

Unpopular opinion, I like X2 more than X1. X2 is also my second favorite X game, my favorite being X4.

The in depth analysis of these games in today's culture is reassuring of their quality to me. I've loved them and I always come back to them once a year. Also another great thing about your reviews in particular is your willingness to share how to even obtain these games. As most reviews go in under the assumption that the audience has played them (which makes sense because they've willingly clicked on the video.) Still it's a consideration most wouldn't give so it is nice to see.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the contributions of the CX4 chip. Contrary to popular belief it didnt JUST render the 3D wire frame objects. The SNES is only capable of sprite rotation and scaling when applied to the background layer, it typically isn't able to rotate and scale sprites in the foreground in real time without the help of an extra chip. The CX4 chip helps to enable this. For example when Overdrive Ostrich jumps from the background to the foreground his sprite scales in, or when Crystal Snail spins in mid-air, his sprite is being rotated. Also smooth animation like the filthy water in Wheel Gator's boss room are enabled with the CX4 chip. So yes it actually did contribute quite a lot to the experience and, when viewed by a player who is equipped with the knowledge of what said device is able to make Nintendo's 16-Bit juggernaut accomplish, still produces an impressive effect to this day.

X2 steals the cake when it comes to the opening stage's theme. It's literally so awesome, the game reuses it for the final stage.

For me X2 has the superior soundtrack. Magna Centipede, Flame Stag, and Overdrive Ostrich have awesome themes. X-Hunter Stage 1 is probably the best final mission theme in the entire series.

3D in a SNES game was impressive back then, even if it only was wireframe.

It really means a lot to know I'm not the only person who realizes X2 was an improvement over X1. Thank you for posting this.

Really like you reviews man, you really have different opinions in relation of the others reviewers, so there's always something new to hear about some games that the 90% of the opinions are the same

According to my 25th anniversary collection book (its like a Megaman bible) X2 was a good portion completed when they finished a new chip for the SNES cartridge that allowed for those wire-frame type enemies. Capcom approached the team and stated that they needed this feature included in Megaman X2 and thats why you have that very noticeable random placement of a wireframe baddie (The sword, Sigma)

Did you know that in X1 you can get all the armor parts without getting any weapons odd isn't it

15:20 deap see base lol

Honestly I was one of the ones that found X2 to be not as good overall as X1. I mean, X2 is fine. It's a good game. It just seemed a bit more drab.

X2 was good, but I just find the first X a lot more fun. I really didn't like the whole X-Hunter sidequest with Zero, and personally I thought the locations and music were more bland in X2. I can't defend the dash upgrade in X1, or the fact that not every Maverick is realistically beatable from the start, but overall I find it just a more memorable and fun experience. The fact that I think the first game's soundtrack is loads better than X2's probably has a lot to do with it as well.

I'm glad you mentioned the component video issue! I actually play the X Collection with a SCART to HDMI converter.

Dude I absolutely love your content. You are better than most of those other critics you are both unbiased sand charming. Wish you luck in the future bro can't wait for you to hey big

''Nothing remarkable in my eyes'', i really did not know you could see the music, but anyways good review ! :D

x2 is my favorite of them all. I was just as zoned into the first one, but I was so young to understand my attachment. When you first see X make his badass entrance along with the mood of X2; made a permenant mark in my childhood. What isn't noted, every time you kill 2 bosses before taking on an X-Hunter, one of them dissapears and you can not rebuild Zero for the rest of the game. The 'meta' for a casual play; is the taking on Wire Sponge first and Wheel Gator second. It is the fastest way to get all the armor pieces.

I owned both x1 and x2 as a kid (only managed to rent x3 a couple times) and even when I had access to both, I found myself playing and beating x2 more often than x1.

the Cx4 chip actually also performs sprite rotation. the SNES natively can only do that sort of thing to a background layer, and even then, only in a special graphics mode.

X2 was my very first video game. Ever. I was just a baby, practically, when I first inserted it into my mom's SNES. Because of that, it will always be my favorite X game, and easily one of my favorite games of all time. So many memories with this.

Terrific review! I like how you compared and contrasted X2 with X1 through the entire video, with a good mix of objective and subjective observations. Since everyone watching this has probably played X1, it makes it very easy to understand what X2 is all about. Anyway, like always, very enjoyable watch, thanks!

I never played through X1 back in the day, growing up as a Genesis guy and moving onto the PS1 after that. But I recently grabbed X1 for my SNES and loved it. So much, in fact, that I just spent the cash to grab the SNES X2 cart and, man, what a great game. As you said, it pretty much improves on the first in every way. I personally really do like the use of the wire-frame tech in X2 as, growing up in the 8 and 16 bit eras, those kinds of neat graphical effects were pretty darn cool. When X2 came out at the end of 1994, I was more concern with the Sega 32X and the 3DO. But man am I glad I'm finally getting into these games. Absolutely awesome stuff.

Great video, but I like X2 a lot. I'd say it's almost as good as X1, but X3 doesn't really do it for me. Those are just my thoughts, though. Also, you misspelled "Deep-Sea Base" as Deap-See Base", just thought I'd point that out lol

I usually dont watch let's plays, but I would gladly watch your let's plays of Megaman X-X5

Very good review for the this game. I just wanted to add some interesting facts about the game and the use of the Super FX. The wire-frame is the obvious use of the chip, but many of the effects in the game use the chip over actual animation spirits. Examples of the can be seen when using the Dragon Punch. The embers that appear behind X use the chip for the effect. Another example is when the bosses change the patterns mid fight. It's not done by all of them however. A large amount of the effects are mistook for the Mode 7 effect. The Super FX chip is also the reason why the original game is so expensive on the market. Very few games were made with it and many modders like to play around with the chip and copying it maybe useful in mods for the SNES later on.

Nice review, I will give the game a try sometime.

I actually enjoyed X2 more than the first.

One other note about the MegaMan X Collection on PS2: MegaMan Battle & Chase can be unlocked! While that one doesn't have much to add to the story of MegaMan or MegaMan X, it is a fun, challenging, and at times frustrating but satisfying game to play. It was supposed to come out in 1997 on PlayStation 1 along with MegaMan 8 and X4, but Sony pretty much told Capcom that there were already too many "mascot racing games on the market", which is too bad because I certainly would have bought it for PS1 if it was available.

I loved playing 1. Playing 2 was painful, but I did love everything else about it. The music, the biker guy, and the Maverick x hunters

Good to see you again. Keep up the good work.

we have very similar tastes in games please do a mm7 review im loving these videos i started with gunstar heroes

Not counting Maverick Hunter X on PSP, Mega Man X2 is my favorite Mega Man game and I have started the Mega Man franchise on the first Mega Man X on SNES.

I never understood why the X collection didn't have X7 and X8. Coulda done extra CDs...

This was always my favorite in the x series

X2 is such a good game...I was never able to beat the Maverick Hunters as a kid, but I came back years later and was able to do it. Very satisfying. Dinosaur Tank is probably my favorite level, and I think you're right on the money in terms of better theming, balance, etc., all around.

Best tracks from X2: Intro stage, Magna Centipede, Crystal Snail, first X Hunter stage

The first game dropped at the perfect time. In 1994 everyone was focusing on Snes and Genesis which were pushing the limits. By 1995 there were a lot of titles out there that overshadowed X2 as well as the PSX being on the market. This would be an issue for titles released in 1996 too. Gamers had to choose between Yoshi's Island, an rpg or one of many other titles all of which were 65 to 80 dollars with the chip upgrades in the cartridges necessary to bring you the continual bigger and better experiences on the aging hardware, or gamers could buy a new console. X2 and 3 were so hard to find for so long. I remember seeing them at rental stores when they first dropped but was playing other stuff when they came out. Gamers that wanted to go back and play later were faced with steep prices even in the 90s if you could find the game's. Luckily X3 was released on PC and this version in my opinion is perfect.

I don't find X2 to be nearly as polished as X or X3. A lot of the weapons are bland, and upgrades are located in some pretty cheap spots like the Heart Tanks in Ostrich, Gator, and Snail's level. I do like how there are multiple way to get upgrades in this game.

this guy deserves more subsribers

I wanna get the X collection, but I'm very skeptical about the ebay offers. A decade old game available in mass quantities and many still sealed? Sounds to good to be true to me. Did they over produce the PS2 or something? The Gamecube version on the other hand seems to go for a lot more. I'm just worried that I might end up with a bootleg. Can you recommend a certain seller?

I think, from a compositional level, even though tracks are shorter, they are beautifully composed and beautifully executed with the snes sound chip. I belive that Mega Man X2 has the best OST in the Mega Man series, period. This is subjective, since I have a big affinity for non-linear and complex music, similar to jazz or prog, so X2's soundtrack is just up my alley in this regard. So much so, that I believe that Mega Man X2 is the one of the best VG OSTs ever produced, and I actually think that this game made a big impact on my music tastes. It is definitely a masterpiece and one of my favorite songs is on this game, the X-Hunter Base 1 theme. Even though it's basically a short 1 minute looping track I think it's the best sound, apart from Chrono Trigger's theme, to ever come out of the snes. Just my 2 cents, tho.

X2 is my favorite of the SNES trilogy.

0:00 - 0:44 background song is so badass (anyone know its name?)

15:25 … wow what a good song! … wait.., deep SEE base? *TRIGGERED*

That Zero pun Bruh

It's the last of all the megas with a good sound track.

The main difference in controls is that you don't have to charge a shot to dash wall jump in X2.

Personally, I think X2 is the best of the original trilogy. X1 gave us the X formula for gameplay, physics, and style. X2 refined all of those and made the gameplay more smooth, as well as giving expansions to the previous armors and abilities. X3 went to the logical extreme and granted a much better engine to work with, but it didn't have the balance and subtle difficulty curve of either game before it. My ranking of the trilogy from best to worst is X2 X3 X1

Excellent analysis! Suscribed.

what song is this in the background at the beginning?

Thankfully, the MMX Legacy Collection has all 8 X games so X2 is as popular as the others. Also, I think Capcom should've just made the X games les often.

Mega Man X 2 is actually better in a lot of areas, I will acknowledge a lot of the zones were much more fun to go through then in X1, however a lot of the bosses were far too easy, easy enough that the Buster is your best option against most of them, although Magna Centipede can be an issue sometimes, graphically the game hasn't improved all that much except by adding minor background details. Difficulty wise, the game is like I said, too easy, even the later bosses pose little threat, doesn't help most of the weapons aren't very powerful, your best weapon, Wheel Gator's Spin Blade destroys most enemies and devastates mini-bosses without effort, and is needed to find most of your upgrades, making Wheel Gator almost a mandatory first boss pick, the Body Parts this time around are way much more useful, Double Charge Shot, Air Dash, a screen clearing nuke, which makes a certain boss much easier and a radar that......is I guess better then the X1 Head Part. I consider X2 to be the worst of the 3, weapons felt lacking, stages were fun and more varied then X1's, the bosses were just too easy, including last stage bosses, story wise it is an improvement, especially if your going for the good ending.

Ah, another favorite game of mine haha. Thanks for the awesome vid :)

X2 has to be my favorite megaman game

I wish there was a way to fight fake zero!

X1 has an opening when you start the game.

0:20 is that symphony of the night on snes ??????? pli answer T_T

The bosses and weapons of this game are undeniably better than the ones in the first. This is something I took a lot of years to realize.

I can buster only all 8 mavericks in X1 though.

Great guy, congratulations!

X1 informed the player in the manual a bit more. Thats why the game didnt really say much i think.

do you have a setup video?

I'll be honest with you all, the Second Armor (I think it's called the Giga Armor) makes X look really fucking stupid. Glad they fixed that in X3

Ive argued with so many people saying i think X2 is the best of the original trilogy. Music & stage alterations are the only things X1 does better to me. X2 looks better, plays better, has side objectives, & is overall just more fun imo. I still love the other entries minus 5-8, but i think X2 is the best of the series. The double charged shot is so satisfying too. Way better than the others. X4 has a great mega buster shot too but they ruined the double shot in X3

I only had X2, not X, as a kid ironically

15:17 ....Deap See Base ..

I agree

Crystal snails power is to slow down the game.....

Wait....deep-see base?

The Japanese version of X2 is by far the cheapest option for getting it as a cartridge. Just got to mod your snes a bit.

can you do mega man zero series

X1 have some good music X2 they good for some people X3 the same

First comment. now seriously, I am agreement with your opinion, this game I like more than the first and the reasons but a like are similar to yours, but I did not give attetion for the history, after all, what I played in those years they did not understand much English (I am Colombiano). ps: you plan to play the x8, which does not become as good as it is x4 or this, but I think it has interesting ideas but dont forget where it came from, a difference what was the black sheep of the saga, who dont be mentioned. pd # 2 I apologize for my awful english.

How about RockMan Dash (Mega Man Legends)?

I like x2 the best tbh. Then 1 then 3

X2 is about 80 bucks on ebay.

I think that the only fault of this game is the soundtrack, and how many weapons start with S. The soundtrack is like MM5, it is good, but doesn't quite belong.

X2 is my second least favorite X title. The gameplay is fine, but the soundtrack isn't all that great. I love the three songs you've added to the video, and other than those three I only like at most two other tracks. The boss theme is the worst out of all the X games, Wheel Gator's theme is the goofiest sounding track I've ever heard from all the games in the X series. Again though, like you said music tastes are different for everyone. I'm glad I got a copy of X collection for my 15th birthday brand new and I still have my copy. Still have yet to unlock Mega Man Battle & Chase though...

17:33 you know you can play every snes, even psx game online right? jaja :v

I like these reviews, but i really disagree with all of your complaints about MegamanX. The bosses are not too hard, they're supposed to be hard. And the background art is not boring or static, they're awesome! don't forget to compare it to what was out at the time, specifically the nes Megaman series.

Cant see how anyone has X2 over the total package 1 is. Maybe you guys have played the games to death and 2 is more of a challenge but to me as a newby it isn't as consistently great.

if the x series didn't follow the megaman format it would of been better .

a buster that gets a badass purple crossing shot in x1 very cool a helmet that shoots a cross that's mostly useless throughout the whole game ehhh whatever there i used the same thing you did, compare them fairly a helmet that breaks the ocasional block in x1? it is kinda neat since everytime i see a block without i i'm confused but once i get the helmet and get the animation of x breaking the blocks gives me an AHA moment that is cool beacuse i now have the motivation to keep exploring. a helmet that shoots a cross that reveals hints to some secrets in x2? this is mostly useless since usually you will be too concentrated in battle or planning your next jump to think about using your helmet skill (that to be honest could have been placed in the x button since its awkward to have to use it as a weapon) and even when you do use it it can help you find some items it sometimes leads you nowhere like in crystal snail's stage where it leads you to a square where there is NOTHING and gets you surrounded by bats and when i see the animation of the helmet in action i don't think of anything previous and more than getting me excited for exploring it makes me think it will be so tedious to go around spamming the helmet skill searching for crap when i could be blasting robots and getting powers. a buster that gives me a cool cross shot when i charge it more in x1? preety cool it gives you a more powerful shot then before and it looks badass as well as looking like Zero's buster which is the whole purpose of the game to become as strong as Zero to beat Vile and why you are motivated to get upgrades since the game taught you that x is weak and needs to improve to be able to beat the bad guys (another reason of why the bosses are so tough without any upgrades... THEMING) a buster that lets you shoot a double charged shot with an added effect in x2? even better than the first one since now it doesn't obligate you to keep the shoot button pressed through out the whole stage to optimize your damage now you can charge it once let it go and have a powerful shot in your reserve not only does this add to your power but helps with strategizing your shots even more than before. an armor that reduces by 50% the damage taken in x1? preety neat now you can be more relaxed when going through stages and bosses and not be as stressed when having low health as well as giving every single health upgrade more weight. an armor that reduces by 50% the damage taken and gives you a definitive attack in x2? this is just superior since now it even gives you a panic button for emergencies or for when you wanna try to be fast on going through stages (preety useless on most bosses though) and the theming of being charged when you get hit makes sense and its cool boots that let you dash giving you improved movement in x1? this is masterful since all we had before were the megaman classic series where megaman had his regular walking speed that was perfectly fine but now as a surprise for most we get a whole new mechanic to explore which is dashing with wall climbing making this an armor pickup is great for thhhhhhh THEMING beacuse its a whole new upgrade to the weak "megaman" we knew that will help him improve himself for the future and it will be essential to beating vile and his other rivals. boots that let you dash in the air for even more agile movement in x2? this is great since again it adds another whole new layer of strategy to the gameplay of when do i use my air dash for this or that its not as important as the other boots were in terms of theming or gameplay innovation but its still an upgrade THERE.

camo on we all no day all are great but sad x 7 and up day f up

Ok, no offense, but watching this video on 1.25 speed makes your speech so normal

You can use an emulator to play this game😊😊

X2 is better than x1 imo because A)The dash is available from the start so theres no bs fights for first time players. B)The platforming is more engaging. C) The set peices like the volcano in flame stag or running from the crystals in crystal snail. D) the bosses are fun and suffer less from spark mandrill syndrome. E) Finally the route for least backtracking is more intresting because it can be done in more ways than 1 and there is no backtracking. Also the 2nd armour is just better than the first especially the arm parts.

X2 >> X1. Prove me wrong

quickies do cut it.

... umm ... why did you not talk about fighting Zero if you dont get all his parts? you said it just changes the ending but it dose WAYMORE! *DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY THE GAME YOURSELF* *DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY THE GAME YOURSELF* *DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY THE GAME YOURSELF* *DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY THE GAME YOURSELF* ~After collecting all Zero parts~ once you get to the last stage of sigma you see that he brings up a black zero and says "look who i brought back from the dead" but then the real zeeo jumps in and fucks the fake one up. you dont fight zero and you go on to the final boss. ~Failing to collect all Zero parts~ Sigma comes in and throws the real Zero. you will have yo fight the real zero (with a song that i love) and then once you get his health down to low, he will snap out and let you go to the final boss.

X2 soundtrack sucked.. Be honest

I have no problem with X2, it is a great game. BUT X1 is better for me because of 2 reasons: 1. Violin and Surges could easily be my least favorite Boss designs and battles EVER (srsly, those two are shit) 2. The scene you showed at 9:28. I hate this moving Bullshit platform, it ruins the flow of the game for me and is just straight bad level design.