Part 1 of 5.
This is one I've meant to do for a long time, and never got around to practicing. ZX, although it's popularly passed over for its more polished sequel, is still my favorite of the two and one of my all-time favorite Mega Man games. It has a sense of style similar to X1, my all-time favorite game in the franchise. There's a real mood of the underdog standing up to a cloying threat, as opposed to the more 'can't-touch-me' badass going-through-the-motions that most latter games in any of the recent series have. The action is frenetic, the HX model is one of the single greatest mechanics to come of a Mega Man game, the stage design is big, non-linear and awesome, and the background/graphic design is gorgeous.
More importantly, it poses something the Zero series forgot about in the latter games; a real challenge. This game's Hard Mode ranks up there with the worst the franchise has to throw at you. It brings some seriously threatening boss fights to the fray. The awesome introduction of weak-points means even the most pattern-heavy boss will make you sweat, and what's more, it just feels badass to slice a boss up tactfully and see that Level 4 Victory flash across the screen.
This is a by-the-books boss rush for me, which means the game is gutted to its essentials. Aile remains in the ZX armor (after it becomes available) and uses only the saber (because the buster is one overpowered motherfucker, and because I said so). Bosses are fought on Hard Mode (for the putzes, differences are a nice speed boost (worst part), more damaging attacks, and some nastier patterns here or there), and no damage is taken. Additionally, Level 4 victories are earned. For the uninitiated, this means you never so much as brush a boss's weak points. And believe me, some of them make the battles a whole new pain.
On with the show.
Individual boss comments:
Giga Aspis: Giga Ass Piss (the wit) breaks long-standing Mega Man tradition by being a challenging... dude, it's an intro boss. He blows up in roughly 40 seconds and we move on.
Rayfly: moer liek raydie
Giro: This fight is simple as it gets but loads of fun anyway. I wish the ZX model picked up some of those fancy moves...
Hivolt the Raptoroid: Sooner or later Capcom is going to degenerate to the point where bosses' names are just long strings of consonants that stretch for eight pages. Fortunately, Hivolt the 'Raptoroid' (the WIT!) makes up for things by looking and acting cool as shit. He's quite reminiscent of Storm Eagle in looks, except for the part where he's actually troublesome. All of his attacks are very scripted, but that doesn't stop one or two from being a pain to dodge. Since his weak points are those glaringly in-the-way wings of his, you put more concentration in slashing well below him than you do avoiding his nonsense. The fact that he likes to wantonly throw his wings in every which direction during the animations for some attacks is not helpful. He also has a ridiculously rare attack I didn't wait for. Spoilers: it's boring.
Lurerre the Abysroid: I love playing with this boss. The lure is destroyable by overloading it with damage, you can fire that damned beam back at her (hard as sin with the saber, but so worth it), and you can even pull a ninja and sneak hits on the angler's mouth. Hard Mode is disgusting for one reason; three ice daggers instead of two. The beam is also a pain to avoid any way you approach it with model ZX.
Also, I didn't leave in her melodious voice acting. Terribly sorry about that.
Sparkroid the Mandrill... I mean Purprill the Mandroid: Ooh, but this one is AGGRAVATING. Puprill is a jackass. He's all over the cramped room, and all of his attacks can be chained together in 'gotcha' moments, especially when you're dancing around a wall trying to hit him without bruising THOSE GIGANTIC FUCKING ARMS THEY CALL HIS WEAK POINTS.
Fistleo the Predatoroid: My favorite boss. This guy is badass. What kind of animal is he? He's a fucking predator, that's as detailed as you need to get. He's also an antsy little bastard. His weakpoint is his head, like Lurerre, although since he loves to jump around like a coke fiend it's more problematic. His attacks follow patterns, but are frantic. An intense, awesome boss. Also, he can heal. Automatically gains two free dick points right there.
Tracks used, in order:
DJ Taka - Lower World
buttyakegarusan - MMX Intro Stage Remix
SGX - Lofi Attitude
Dj-Rec0il - Guitar VS Piano 2.0
Ian Slider - Midnight
Dr. Lefty - Ah Shwe Bah
DJ Café - Hard of Flames
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