A great game, but not as good as X or X4.

Mega Man X2 starts up where Mega Man X left off, with a six month gap between them. Sigma's armies are being hunted down by the Maverick Hunters and the game opens up with Mega Man X attacking a factory and ultimately destroying the weapon stored there. From here the game reveals three X-Hunters who have acquired the parts of X's fallen comrade and ultimately wish to challenge X for these parts. In typical fashion, there are eight main bosses to fight and each of them have a themed level. Much like in X there are various power ups to obtain and armor for X to collect. One of the major improvements of Mega Man X2 is that X's dash is now integrated, which remains true for the rest of the X series. Ultimately the new foot part integrates the Air Dash which is how it sounds and ultimately makes parts a lot easier. The Giga Attack is also included for the first time and ultimately attacks everyone on screen, which is nice. These parts get refined throughout the series. For the most part, the items are a bit harder to get, with the Air Dash and the Speed Burner's charge dash ability, several items (two Heart Tanks in particular) are placed over instant death spikes which makes them rather difficult, especially with the awkward controls of having the shoot, jump and dash being placed where they are. However, with some slight re-configuring, it becomes better. Mega Man X2, like is predecessor features fully customizable controls which is nice. The bosses themselves are pretty much the same in terms of difficulty. Initially one or two may give you trouble, but they're nowhere near as hard as X3's bosses. Their weapons are useful but three ultimately shine. The first of these is the Silk Shot. This fires a small grenade that splits into four parts. When charged, it fires a massive blast that fires in all eight directions. This can make parts of the X-Hunter base a breeze with sections where an enemy can close the walls. Not to mention in several areas (namely Bubble Crab's stage) it can spawn a large number of health items which makes grinding for them easy. The Spin Wheel is great because it deals constant damage to enemies. Finally the Crystal Hunter is also quite useful because it can not only freeze enemies but when you break them with a dash, they will spawn an energy tank, which is VERY useful for getting the secret item. Like in Mega Man X, there is a Street Fighter move, this time the Shoryuken. While the Hadouken was tedious to get (but a lot better than in Maverick Hunter X), the Shoryuken is legitimately hard. You have to master the Speed Burner's charge attack and the air dash. At least the Crystal Hunter can generate Energy and there's a life before the spike corridors. It's also not as useful as the Hadouken namely because X leaps up into air. It takes a lot more practice to use but you don't need to beat the game to get it. Ultimately Sigma is easier than in Mega Man X. While there are technically three fights (if you don't rescue Zero's parts by fighting the X-Hunters) they are easier than Velguarder, Sigma and Wolf Sigma. Also Sigma's viral form doesn't have invincibility frames meaning its a lot easier to beat it. Consequently this game is a very good X game, better than it's sequel and really on par with X5, but it's not as groundbreaking as Mega Man X. It's a solid platformer and is a great addition of the series.Read full review