Wow, first of all this game is not like MMX7 which was a waste of $50. The good thing about MMX7 being bad is that many buyers were hesitant to buy MMX8 which allowed for the price to drop down to $20 relatively quickly.

The game play goes back to side scrolling with a 3d rendered background. With the exception of scrolling, I found the view useful and could generally see where I wanted to go next. The three hunters are back, Zero who does high damage a close range, X who does a range of damage at long range, and Axel who does light damage but a superior targeting system (he can aim while X can only shoot forward).

Many people have complained about the spikes (of which there are many), to those people I want to say, have you played the old MM and MMX games? There are countless levels that had so many spikes that if you made a wrong move you were screwed. Its annoying but hardly something new to the series. I suppose they could have given X an armor which could walk on spikes (I think he had one in X 5), but the fact that spikes are so dangerous simply makes the game more challenging.

My only real complaint is another Megaman tradition which I find even more troublesome than a wall of spikes, non-traditional levels. Since Megaman 7 or so, there have been levels where your riding some kind of bike, or hover-cycle or jet, or submarine, and all your hard earned weapons and armors are useless since your at the mercy of whatever vehicle they put you in. I’ve never enjoyed these levels and I never will. I this game, Gigavolt man-o-war’s level is particularly annoying because your basically forced to shoot and maneuver randomly while the jet arcs you in random directions. Worst of all, the level has a time limit for no particular reason so if your random movements aren’t good enough you simply die.

That having been said the rest of the game is pretty solid, I do miss ducking, but it felt good to be slashing away at machines with Zero’s saber again. Speaking of which the game also has some codes, including one to give Zero the option of buying Sigma’s blade. While some find these codes cheep, I like them since they save me hours of pointless game play trying to unlock a single item. I won’t post the codes here for now, but look them up, their worth using.

Basically the game is worth $20 and is the best Megaman game to come out since X4, which is saying a lot. Go buy it, and post your thoughts here. And if your stuck, I’d be happy to tell you how to get past something.

Sounds like the first decent MegaMan game to come out in awhile. I think I just might go buy it. Personally, I haven't bought one since MegaMan X4, but this one actually seems like it'll be worth the money. Thanks for the review.

well i prefer old school megeman to all these new ones, don't need so many buttons to jump and shoot.

Wow, I know what you mean, I bought X8 at full price and still love it tho X8 was in the shadow of the horrible X7 and barely got noticed...

i like megaman so much, but i never have finished one mega man or mega man x game, that's because i'm not a amateur at all, but is good for you