Mega Man X5 Review - Quickies Don't Cut It

[@LAZY-RUBY]

16:30 Fun Fact: X6 was likely going to have a fully customizable armor system, but it was dropped due to time constraints.

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

There is even some sprites in the beta.

[@obheadboomer4304]

which got implemented later in x8 right?

[@ClintonKE]

X6's unlock system is flawed as well. You can unlock black zero if you fight the zero ghost at level 4. Problem is fighting the ghost at level 4 requires 4000 nightmare souls. At 3000 you get put into the final stages and lose the ability to unlock zero. Wish there were hacks that fixed the flaws of these games out there, cause under the rough patches there are I feel good games. But at least x5 is passable, x6 requires you to force yourself to like it.

[@shotgunmasterQL]

Clint S Wait, are you saying the black armor is impossible to unlock through normal means even though its technically implemented into the normal gameplay? I have only ever played through X6 once and dont remember such details

[@ClintonKE]

Thewonderjam Yes I'm saying that, isn't that sad a big oversight like that could happen?

[@regionlocking]

16:24 “It would be super annoying to have to revisit the stages as X just because Zero couldn’t accept the Armor Parts for him.” Foreshadowiiiiiiiing.

[@ryuujikohsinskishinigami4384]

Victor Manchola you mean 16:19

[@sev3896]

Quickies do cut it opposite of the series

[@mmoarchives2542]

X: hey zero, while you're going after the mavericks, you mind getting the energy tanks, hearts, and weapon tanks zero: sure buddy X: nice, no work for me, and by the way zero, you've been labeled a maverick, so now you must die zero: wait? wha?

[@MariusUrucu]

You know what puzzles me about Megaman X5? Duff McWhalen. I know, Duff McWhalen is a clear reference to Guns n' Roses. But what does Guns n' Roses have anything to do with Megaman X5? Nothing. It's got nothing to do with Megaman. His name is Duff McWhalen. His stage is an underwater scrolling stage. So you already have an underwater stage and a scrolling stage. And his name is Duff McWhalen, BTW. And you know what, Capcom got really lazy here. You know what you listen to when you are in his stage? You listen to a remix of Bubblecrab from Megaman X2. And you know what? The guy's name is Duff McWhalen. When you actually get to fight Duff... McWhalen, he's really fucking easy. His stage is a total POS to get through, but then you get to fight Duff McWhalen. And you know what Duff McWhalen's fight is? Really freaking easy. His name's Duff Mc-fucking-Whalen, BTW. So once you beat Duff McWhalen, you know what you get, you know what you get, you know what you get? You get a shitty weapon. A shitty, stupid weapon, that has absolutely no effect on you. HIS NAME IS DUFF MCWHALEN... HIS NAME... I LIE AWAKE AT NIGHT THINKING ABOUT THIS. HIS NAME IS DUFF MCWHALEN. WHAT IS THIS? *HIS NAME IS DUFF MCWHALEN!!!* Oh, awesome review, BTW. :3

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

Actually he has an exclusive song in the beta.

[@MariusUrucu]

Thanks for the reply. But what I wrote was just me joking around. :))

[@DracoSuave]

Well, remember that the real name of the game is Rock Man, with a plethora of characters pulled from musical puns. Rock man, Roll, Blues, Bass, and so on. So to reference this, X5 named ALL its Mavericks after Guns n Roses. Axl the Rose, Iggy Glow, Grizzly SLASH, MATTrex, and so on.

[@FireBomberBassist]

Duff had his own stage theme which wasn't too bad. You can find it on youtube, came across it before. I wonder what made them go with this remix of Bubble Crab instead? It's a badass remix yeah but it's just Bubblecrab again.

[@FireBomberBassist]

Drakkan Possibly. I kind of like it. Seems more fitting for a whale.

[@FusionArmorX]

I've done a bit of digging into the game and I've found out the reason why all four pieces of an armor have to be collected. The complete explanation is a bit long winded, but read on if you wish. Capcom had 3 distinct methods of making an armor work. For the SNES games, every one of X's frames had some extra tile data accompanying every single animation frame off to the side for armor parts unless said animation is not meant to happen outside of a particular armor part's use. Such as the dual buster shots in X2 and X3. There are variants in the tile data that have X with no other armor parts equipped for that animation besides the arm parts just because Capcom thought that it could happen. Then there's the X4 method, used only on the Fourth Armor and partially for the later Blade and Shadow armors. This method has every single armor piece loaded into memory at the same time for every single frame of animation X has, with the exception of the new animations in X5 which will use the following method I talk about after this. Having the Falcon and Gaea Armor parts ready to use after entering a capsule would mean having ALL of their sprite data loaded at the same time due to how the armor system is set up engine-wise. That would get in the way of loading the unique graphics for subweapons and however many tiles are needed for a particular animation, not to mention the immense amounts of objects Capcom would probably need to program for. There's a second method that's utilized by X4, and it is much cheaper by comparison. The Falcon and Gaea Armors need to have all four pieces collected because their tile data has their armor parts as simple one-sprite overlays for all of X's basic animations, along with SNES-style optimizations for the armor exclusive animations, meaning that all that exists of X underneath the armor are the bits between armor pieces and his face. The reason why you have to game over in order to use the Ultimate Armor as X but not as Zero? Next paragraph, please. In X4, a developer commented that the alternate palettes for X and Zero were supposed to be indications of successful code entry. Zero's is a simple palette swap, but with X you're technically playing as a third character, which is a clone of X with an alternate palette and a single "armor part" to collect that every capsule is rigged up to give you. Yes, I am talking about the Ultimate Armor code in X4. Continuing on from what I mentioned in the previous paragraph, technically speaking every single armor of X's is a separate character, and the armorless X is a version of the Fourth Armor X. As for why it works for Zero, all that is happening to Zero is a quick palette change while flipping on some basic armor abilities while also enabling the Tenkuuha from X4, or at least it's color. With that said, fun fact time. The Neutral Armor as it is presented in X8 could be done on the PS1, and probably fully-featured at that.

[@RetropolisZone]

Wow, thanks for this! Very interesting read. So it would seem that the reason for not being able to equip Parts on the fly was actually engine limitations. Never would have thought. You'd think it was some kind of design decision. Now, I don't know precisely about the very specifics of the PS1's transfer rate to the RAM, but couldn't this have been resolved with better programming? When the animations are happening on the capsules for example (the blinking, the lights, the electricity, etc.) it feels like some quick data swapping would have been possible? I imagine these tiles wouldn't take long to carry over to RAM.

[@FusionArmorX]

Retropolis Zone I'm not knowledgable about the exact RAM transfer rates, but I can explain some of those animations. What isn't done in the tiles through sprite animation is done in the palettes. First is the stage palettes, which are, well, the colors the stage uses. Palette animation is handled there by just cycling through a bunch of palettes and applying them to VRAM in real-time by replacing them as needed. Notably just about every palette cycling instance in X5 is bugged. The training stage's floor lights don't cycle correctly and hang on one palette for too long although there's data for smooth transitions, the puslating lights on the wall flicker to their brightest color when they should be at their darkest, and that kind of animation problem shares with every object that animates in that manner. I think Capcom did try to set up for allowing you to use armors you didn't have all the parts to yet, and perhaps switch them on the fly. First, there's a lot of copies of X's default palette from X4-X5, which possibly could've been used as temporary swapping space for an in-engine character change masked up by some special effects while X was in the capsule if necessary. As well, I did mangae to glitch how the game loads armor graphics and I found that the Falcon Armor still has all of the sprites for it's abilities from X5. I'm not sure how far they were pushing the PS1's RAM, I don't have anywhere near the tools that I need to analyze that, but I do know that whatever loading they do, they do in 2 "stages" on every loading screen that leads up to a stage. The first stage loading the main stage & player graphics and sound effects, the second stage loading and executing code. It's worth noting that I couldn't trick the game into loading X's graphics with Zero's programming, but it's easy to trick the game into loading the Fourth Armor ability set with the Falcon Armor via gameshark codes, just be ready for some crashes since the Falcon Armor doesn't have all of the Fourth Armor's spriteset in it's code.

[@joshuagiron1922]

FusionArmorX well that may be the technical side of it, but lore wise the game explains why. Dr Light says that because of the virus he cant equip it cause the data could get corrupted. And also that each part separately won't do anything since they where built to work as one. So at the very least the game itself gives the player a reason why it cant be worn.

[@milltonmanakeeper53]

FusionArmorX can you give a source. not because i don’t trust you but because i want read more in-depth if there is any source.

[@PassportBrosBusinessClass]

They just wanted to pad the game length. There's no reason you need to find several parts for two separate armors instead of finding a SINGLE CAPSULE with an ENTIRE ARMOR in it. You have to get the Falcon Armor to get the Gaea armor. Without both armors, you won't be able to get all the hearts and tanks. It's length-padding. That's why in the newer games, that system was completely abandoned.

[@wesleybcrowen]

Despite many shortcomings, this is the game that made me a Megaman fan.

[@Silph_Co]

I had a similar situation as well, except I was introduced by the GBA version of Mega Man and Bass (which I could never beat, and probably still can't).

[@wesleybcrowen]

I was introduced to series with Megaman X3 (not just X series but entire franchise) and that game was hard as frick as a kid and wasn't interested in beating it. X5 however was much more passable to my Mega-skills and made me interested in the rest of the games. Also, Megaman & Bass.. gosh darn, that's an even harsher introduction than X3!

[@leonardoh94]

Same here

[@videogamefan9637]

My introduction to Mega Man was Mega Man StarForce 2.

[@tristanshivers2975]

My introduction was megaman 11

[@OmegaEnvych]

I hope that you'll also give a Megaman Zero and Megaman ZX series a proper treatment. I find sad that those games are often left forgotten.

[@RetropolisZone]

Probably in the future. Not anytime soon since I am not even close to done with the X series yet. Haha. Sorry :/

[@youmeltube]

Retropolis Zone X8 when?

[@tahamohammad8842]

@@youmeltube it's out now

[@youmeltube]

@@tahamohammad8842 Ya think I didnt notice?

[@alimations5226]

@@RetropolisZone Welp they're done, any plans?

[@LightningCayo]

X5 has its flaws, but X5, X8 and X2 are some of my favorites in the series. At least X5 is a step up from X6

[@sophiebubbles07]

We don’t talk about X6

[@Aaaaaaaa-ix4rp]

No it’s not..

[@PrevTsukasaRui]

Lol X6 wasn't that bad for me

[@tdawgmaster1729]

X6 is actually my second favorite game in the X series after X3. Pretty much everything that X5 got wrong, X6 fixed. If it had more time in the oven, though, it would probably have been the best game in the whole X series

[@KBXband]

In what way is it a step up from x6? Because the music, pacing, and levels are way better. The only thing X5 has going for it is it explains the beginning of x6. That being said neither game is my favorite in the series. But at least they're both better than X7

[@breninho353]

X Vs Zero theme is the best

[@PrinceSilvermane]

My biggest complaint that you didn't cover is the virus mechanic. In nearly all of the stages there's not even enough Sigma viruses to inflict the Virus state on either character! And then the upgrades that affect viruses, because of that make them kind of pointless. There's no reason to ever equip them on Zero. They just should have been a much bigger threat since this is supposed to be the game where the Sigma virus is at its strongest. It could have been much more interesting to design more stages around the idea of avoiding the viruses. As they are they're kind of just stuck in at random intervals. And/or making the virus status stay inbetween loading zones/levels. Imagine if you went through an area quickly and got into the Danger state, and had to stay with that in the next stage?

[@RetropolisZone]

I totally agree, actually. In fact, I had trouble finding the clips for getting infected because of how rare it is and I think I, in fact, triggered them on purpose if I remember correctly. I just wanted to give the game another positive remark before moving on and I thought the video was really, really pushing it in terms of length. I cut some corners here and there in an attempt to keep the video as '''short'' as possible. In hindsight, that perhaps wasn't the best thing to do.

[@BigBossMan538]

RNG for whether you get the good ending or not? Who's brilliant idea was that?

[@UmbreonAnimate]

Dinkelberg

[@sophiebubbles07]

Yusuke…

[@valentinobisaccia1258]

Almost as great as needing to buy a DLC to get the true ending to the game, such wonderous game design

[@cryguy0000]

@@valentinobisaccia1258 What game did that?

[@gegor41311]

@@cryguy0000 The Binding of Isaac and Hollow Knight both did that... But Isaac just straight up doesn't have a story and the God Master ending in Hollow Knight seems not canon.

[@Monroah]

X5 is the epitome of a love/hate game for me. Great graphics (at some points), music, level of true difficulty, and level design (minus Adler and McWhalen), but its gimmicks shoved down my throat and cumbersome backtracking make it hard to fully enjoy.

[@misaeltoral508]

The difference in quality between this game and X4 always reminded me a bit of the difference in quality between Spyro 2 and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Even the health bar and the menus in X5 make the game look cheaper somehow.

[@187Wretched]

+RedBlueGiG Spyro 3 was just more of the same, how does it mop the floor with 2? it was just an uninspired rehash besides adding in some boring new characters that nobody asked for.

[@madrums007]

I prefer the health bar of x5 muuuch more

[@MallyPureSmooth]

Misael Toral Spyro 3 was the game dawg. Both 2 and 3 are tbh

[@agreedboarart3188]

@@MallyPureSmooth Spyro 3 is the best! I actually got bored of the second game rather quickly.

[@megabuster3940]

Are you going to do the Zero games as well? Those ones are amongst my favorites in the whole franchise!

[@RetropolisZone]

Probably in the future, but not anytime soon since I am not even close to done with the X series yet. Of course I also don't want to dedicate my entire channel to just Mega Man. Sorry, man. :(

[@megabuster3940]

It's okay. Take your time.

[@megabuster3940]

Love your reviews by the way. They're right up my alley.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks for understanding and I'm glad you enjoy the reviews!

[@7standdad]

z buster is broken on bosses, no invincibilty buffer, good damage, and i'm pretty sure it can stun certain enemies

[@GarryDumblowski]

X5 feels like one of those games which you can seriously enjoy if you know what you're getting into. Most of its shortcomings (The weird system with the Enigma and the Shuttle, the parts system, the force beams section) CAN be overcame, but you have to know what's coming before hand, and be able to prepare for it. It's different from X6 in that regard, which has many sections which are only really passable with either decent luck or absurd cheese. This game is one of the best examples of the idea that one's personal opinion don't need to match their views on objective quality. I love this game, but I just can't defend it.

[@DuoDynamo]

29:20 Wait, the slowdown is a gimmick? I always thought it was just the game straining.

[@RetropolisZone]

I am pretty confident it was intentional, yeah. It seems very convenient that Dark Dizzy possesses the Dark Hold and that the game slows down exactly when the background warps up.

[@DuoDynamo]

Hmm, makes sense. Though in that case I suppose it would be nice of them to include a sound effect or something.

[@Focalors21]

Retropolis Zone 29:20 that slowdown was fixed in the megaman x collection, so it wasn't a gimmick.

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

@@Focalors21 bet

[@milltonmanakeeper53]

Renato Acevedo it might as well be that they removed it because it was not a good gimmick. it happens in remasters you know

[@theguardian8317]

yay! finally a video in youtube that doesn't refer to Keiji Inafune "the father of megaman" or "the creator of megaman". extra symbolic thumbs up for that

[@redblack8766]

But refers to him as Kai-ji. You know, reading the name like a German name.

[@lapzidorus1786]

While I do see how reusing the same background over the final stages can validly be considered lazy, I do like the way it's color-value progressively leans away from blue to red; it sort of helps convey a sense of diving into multiple layers of this "cyber-realm" before reaching what looks to be the core.

[@Supersonic6427]

Or to reference X and Zero

[@mathewroman1630]

I'm bored at work and I just ran through the entire review... wow. I can tell you, as a Megaman series fan (Both Lore and games from all sagas) you just gave the ultimate review of the game and in a professional way, a Capcom Megaman game designer or a fan making a game from the blue bomber can really take what is good amd bad and polish it to make an 10/10 game that this times lacks off. You are the man! Keep up the good work and waiting for X6 review haha

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks for the support and positive comments, man! Glad I could spice up your workday!

[@reviewdle6173]

Check out J's Reviews on the X series as well. He's buddies with RZ, and has some great reviews as well.

[@breatheintheair165]

Mega Man X4 is best game for the X series on the PlayStation. The rhythm, the pace and the presentation of the game is great and very fun and replay ability is high.

[@DEADPOOL9AND]

I love X5, and along with X4 it's my favorite entry in the series. Despite that, I have to agree with you, the game falls short of the polish and game design of its predecessors. And I have to say you're probably the best game reviewer in youtube, you truly go in depth and your videos are both entertaining and informative.

[@RetropolisZone]

Well damn, thanks a lot for telling me this! I am really flattered. The best game reviewer on KZbin is quite a huge statement. :o

[@DEADPOOL9AND]

Retropolis Zone Thank you for making this amazing content, I have learned a lot about game design, and personally, understanding how a medium works makes me enjoy it more. I don't think any other game reviewer has made me love games more than I already do.

[@RetropolisZone]

I am flattered by your comment. Thanks! If you're interested in these types of videos, I highly suggest checking out Matthewmatosis, Novacanoo and KingK, all on KZbin. They also make in-depth reviews. :)

[@Shadsilvson11]

Whilst I personally put this game in the top half when ranking the X series it does seem to be a let-down coming after the fantastic X4, still a pretty good game though. All I can say with regards to X6 is good luck, that's where it all came crashing down.

[@RetropolisZone]

Yeeeeep. X6 isn't the next video, but it will probably be done after the next video. I am mentally preparing myself.

[@derpboyzero7669]

"It's better than nothing" damn straight, Keiji. But eh result. Eh.

[@Noncod]

I thought you said Kaiji but you didnt :v

[@TurtleTitan03]

As a fan of every Mega Man series, Can I just say that I think the X series is overrated? Don't get me wrong I like it, but I only found X1,X2, and X4 to be really amazing titles, X8 is good just not in the same league, and everything else is either meh or worse tbh. The MMX spin-offs are solid though, Maverick Hunter X, Command Mission, and Xtreme 2 are all experiences I enjoyed. I just find the other series' to be far more consistent than X. Classic ,Battle Network and Zero all have many titles I'd consider just as good as some of the X series' finest and don't have a drop-off like the X series did. While Star Force, ZX, and Legends have a notably shorter amount of games, I will say that the Star Force games rank among my favorites in the franchise, and I had a great time with the ZX series same with Legends. I don't hate MMX, I just get really baffled that most people find it to be the best Mega Man series sometimes, I can live with it I'm just saying I don't see it.

[@RetropolisZone]

I agree with you there. While I haven't played the Zero, ZX or one of those other series, the X line-up feels inconsistent in quality compared to the Classic series. I am exactly the same as you; I think X1, X2 and X4 are great, while X3 and X5 are meh and X6 is just plain bad. Haven't played X7 and X8 yet. At the same time, I think when the X series has a great game, they are really great and better than Classic Mega Man. Again, that is pretty much X1, X2 and X4.

[@TurtleTitan03]

Retropolis Zone Classic is my favorite of all the series' overall, but I do believe when X is at it's best it's better than a lot of Classic MM, or at least just as good. Still I honestly feel the other series deserve the same kind of respect X gets, while very different in execution Battle Network and Star Force do a fantastic job at converting Mega Man into a unique set of tactical action card games with lite RPG elements, and both have a ridiculous amount of depth. It really shouldn't work as well as it does, and you'd be surprised at how all the elements of the sidescrollers are kept intact in them, despite the genre shift. Zero and ZX carry on the 2D Mega Man formula and actually take it to great heights on occasion. Legends at least IMO feels the furthest from the usual stuff expected from Mega Man, but still it's very fun regardless, plus non-linearity and fun special weapons are still the name of the game, so it doesn't feel completely foreign. I dunno over the years I've had to put-up with people saying Mega Man went downhill after X, and that only the Classic and X series were worth anyone's time, and I just don't buy it especially with the quality drop the X series goes through, the other series may come off as experimental sure, but I feel they found their footing quickly and were generally well made games, that got criticism for either not appealing to nostalgia, and/or releasing yearly(which is a lazy criticism tbh.) I honestly think they fare better as a whole than the X series did, and I think Mega Man never really went downhill, and tbh if it ever did, it would've started with X3 or X5.

[@felipetartas5434]

Because of dash, wall jump and armor upgrades. I have played X before any classic main series and after you experience the most skilled Megaman X, you can adapt to the classic scheme, seems like it lecks something. And that is why Megaman 7 was so hated.

[@Arisius13]

30:34 There is a Trophy called "You're Quick, Man" in the Legacy X Collection 2 where you have to get through the entire stage of lasers without the use of Dark Hold. It took so much muscle memory and trial/error just to get that achievement to pop. Goddamn.

[@joshuaeatonroblox]

not too hard in rookie hunter mode

[@erubielhernandez5931]

9:50 "very skilled players..." TELL ME IF ANYONE OF YOU CAN COMPLETE THE SHADOW DEVIL WITHOUT HIS WEAKNESS OR EVEN ARMOR. THE BOSS CAN KILL YOU IN 3 HITS!!!

[@killerbouquet3220]

Honestly pal, I couldn't now. But my kid self put HOURS, DAYS even into that final chunk of this game. And after a couple aneurysms, I managed to get him with only 1 hit 😂

[@orlanzo2621]

Great review man, excellent stuff! While X5 is my favorite in the series,i have to admit it does have some pretty major flaws as well. Looking forward to whats next.

[@lite64]

Even if I like X5 about as much as most of the other games, yeah, it needed more polish in a lot of areas (especially in the whole RNG of the story and the parts system, I don't know what was going on there). X6 suffers from the same thing, only worse, so you're probably gonna hate it. But hey, at least you won't be reviewing X7, that game could kill you. Haha Oh, and of course, good job on the review. :)

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

If Crapcom continued his plans to do a X2-X6 remake, if think X5 and X6 would be the most improved, Imagine playing X5 without RNG, The X6 Parts System, a mix of armors, a better time count, etc and X6 with a better story, improving the parts system, rebuilding Gates 1 and 2, Ground Scaravich and Blaze Heatnix Stage.

[@lite64]

Carlos Eduardo Aguiar​ Yep, I always thought of that too. To be honest if I had some knowledge of programming I'd make a fan remake or at least a DX version of X1-6 and fix all the problems and adding new content and such.

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

Sometimes I feel more games deserve the same thing as Sonic CD, a remake that fan made and Sega financed, I was not the biggest Sonic CD fan, but now it is on my top 10 Favorite Sonic games.

[@lite64]

I agree. I wish more companies did the same thing.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks! Glad you liked the review!

[@wesleybcrowen]

42:39 Oooh, I almost forgot Hidden Block took this victory jingle for themselves. Also, nice reference.

[@ThrillingDuck]

I literally thought that I had somehow accidentally opened a Hidden Block video in another tab when it kicked in XD

[@RetropolisZone]

And I literally thought that I had somehow accidentally opened a Hidden Block video when I was actually playing the game for the first time. Hahaha.

[@tahamohammad8842]

@@RetropolisZone question. Do you actually watch hidden block videos? Personally I love space hamster

[@sophiebubbles07]

@@RetropolisZone haha, I was so confused.

[@TransformersFanCo328]

Excellent review! This is my personal favorite entry in the series, and all of your points were very well presented and either stuff I couldn't agree more with(Like Dynamo and the tone of the story, including the RNG) or at least understand where you're coming from(such as your analysis of the level design and bosses). I may just check out your other stuff sometime later, but you've made a great first impression.

[@RetropolisZone]

Wonderful comment. People who don't necessarily agree with everything but can still appreciate and respect different perspectives; it's perhaps one of the biggest compliments you could get. Thanks! :)

[@asbebers001]

Life is simply unfair...don't you think?

[@RetropolisZone]

Yep, a fact of life, init?

[@thegreatestpretender7649]

There are moments when a single snail can make the world go extinct.

[@Phentes-t7o]

...Honestly through out all my playthroughs of X 5 I never got that "bad" ending. That caught me off guard completely.

[@Jackelbeaver]

I find the Z Buster gets more useful tactically if you equip it with the Buster+1 upgrade, giving zero a 2 damage shot that pierces enemies instead of a less useful 1 damage shot.

[@jaredhussell]

I take back what I said about your last video this is definitely your best.

[@RetropolisZone]

Haha, thanks man!

i love how x say to zero " if i become a maverick take off me" (or something like that in x ending x4) and at last x have to defeat zero for that reason in the future :D

[@Yura-Sensei]

Two things I hated about this game was constant exposition and confusing mechanics

[@jogsosog]

Surprised how quickly you managed to make such a long video. Despite not agreeing on many of your points, this is a very enjoyable review nonetheless. Keep up the good work!

[@RetropolisZone]

See, this comment kicks arse. We may disagree on things, but there's mutual respect regardless of such. If only more people could bring to be so reasonable!

[@niemand7811]

Also keepnote that the "bad ending" is canon. That means the game directing you towards the bad ending, even if you collected all the parts to maybe trigger the happy one, is the actual prefered way. Hencemy lack of interest to make it a X & Zero game. Zero is meant to vanquish. Only in X6 is where Zero is meant to be foundand used as a playable character. Playing as Zero in X5 is badly communicated fan service at best.

[@tsubasasupremo]

the weird thing is that the bad ending never occurred to me when i had my ps one, only until i bought the megaman X collection i knew that it had a bad ending

[@freshlybakedfeline]

The fact you have this small amount of subscribers astonishes me. Your reviews make my day!

[@RetropolisZone]

I appreciate your comment, man! I am glad they mean something to people. :)

[@Ghaleonh41]

Good review! Honestly, X5 is one of my favorites. My God, this game is sloppy. I usually have a lot of fun running through it as both X & Zero. I think your idea of having the Virus fully infecting Zero would have been better story-wise for sure. Also, THANK YOU for pointing out my biggest complaint with the game at 12:08. Zero is the main character for this game. Why can't he get all of the Heart Tanks? That makes NO sense at all! BTW, at Dr. Glow's stage, Zero can get that Tank if he has the Hyper Dash equipped. Thank God they fixed the Power-Up System in X6. And honestly, the fact that destroying Eurasia is completely random REALLY hurts the game. For me, I always manage to get the Shuttle to work when I get all the parts. The Enigma? HAHAHA, no. When I'm in the mood to try to get it to work, I always fire it before I get all the parts since it works better for me. And yes, I do reload in order to do so, BUT I shouldn't have to do that to begin with!

[@koopakape]

And here we get to start the oft-considered worst trio of games in Mega Man history, X5-X7. As much as I wanted SO bad to love this game, as it fixed several of the biggest issues in "atmosphere" from X4 with a way better soundtrack IMO, well-done still-image cutscenes instead of that cheesy compressed-video game with terrible voice acting, and a REALLY cool story that's probably my favorite in the series, the game itself just left so, so much to be desired. I've always felt like it stage layouts on the whole felt incredibly gimmicky with very few stretches of just good ol' dash-and-shoot Megaman X action, there are TOO many horrible parts I dread every time I play like Squid's and Dark Dizzy's first halves and most of the endgame stages, and just thinking about putting up with stuff like all of Alia's pointless interruptions and the bizarre, uncomfortable way the slottable upgrades are handled makes me shudder. Not to even mention the idiotic RNG with the cannon/rocket, uncomfortable, mostly-pointless time system, just plain stupid high-level healthbars in the boss rush, and so on. You laid it out very well in this video and hit pretty much everything spot-on, and I find myself agreeing with you here the most completely of any of your reviews so far. I DO think there are some awesome things about the game aside the aforementioned atmosphere like multiple armors and the idea of the slot-upgrade stuff at least, but honestly I have to say for me it's my second-least-favorite of the whole series over only X7. Yes, I'd say X6 is better, and again I'm excited to see what you have to say about that one, since it's probably the most severely divisive and has some of the lowest lows but some very high highs. And you might not even loathe X7 nearly as bad as I do, I have a huge pet peeve against clunky 3d adaptations of 2d series' but it's not like it's the worst game ever made, so perhaps you're already past the worst of it now. ....Perhaps. Probably not. But we'll see! (Also, did you notice some of the laziness of how the Maverick bunch are almost copy-pasted from X4? Of course they have unique fights and different enough stages but the designs / overall shape/size/'element' of the bosses, plus elements of their stages, are identical. Slash Beast - Grizzly Slash, Split Mushroom - Izzy Glow, Jet Singray - Squid Adler and so on, going on for EVERY maverick. Plus, you didn't mention the TERRIBLE naming conventions they got in English this time, but I guess everyone's gone over that by now :P)

[@RetropolisZone]

There is a great game in here with neat ideas, but the execution fails to do them justice way too many times. The end result is just sloppy mess that isn't bad persay in my eyes, but just not as good as X1 to X4. And yes I did kind of notice that but I wasn't very bothered by it. I was pushing the length of the video which is why sometimes I don't mention certain details or skimp over them if I don't consider them very important. The naming convention of the Mavericks is another one of those points.

[@felipetartas5434]

"Also, did you notice some of the laziness of how the Maverick bunch are almost copy-pasted from X4?" Not only X4.

[@MrCalverino]

This was the beginning of the ending for the X series

[@MisterX867]

MrCalverino Well it actually was supposed to be the last X game

[@jaretco6423]

It's good at least. But X8 was the last good X game IMO.

[@xebenatrosxeracroft5178]

There are too many things with game that ruin it, the RNG of the destruction of the space Colony, the bosses are dull and boring and if you play on a standard or hard setting, the bosses all have HP Bars that are ridiculously long, drawing those fights out for no reason, especially Shadow Devil at Lv.99. The Armors for X are both complete junk, the Gaea Armor only serves 2 purposes, gathering any remaining upgrades only X could get and maybe using it to burn down Bosses, but I value X's mobility too much to care for the Armor, while the Falcon Armor, although nice in mobility is overall pointless, sticking to the Fourth or Ultimate Armor would be better. Many of the stages are also just horridly designed, Duff McWhalen's, Squid Adler's & Dark Dizzy's stages are just a damned grind to go through, especially Duff McWhalen's stage, having to re-visit that stage 3 times to finish it 100% is just bull. As for Sigma, I sort of liked his 1st form but they could have animated him better, compared to his 4 past incarnations, this model is so stiff....his 2nd form is a joke, much like X2's and X4's. Cannot wait to see if you see any of the issues or reasons why X6 isn't as bad that people make it out to be.

[@kehyzisa]

Xebenatros Xeracroft Wow...just...wow. You essentially summed up almost exactly why this game grates on my darn nerves. I just recently finished it and felt as if I was giving myself a root canal. I legit had to force myself to get through X5 because after a few stages, I was so done with this game. You pinned down all the fine details that made me despise this game. Heck, I was looking forward to X6 (assuming that if the predecessor was such garbage, then sequel HAS to be good because the devs OBVIOUSLY learned from their mistakes). But after reading YT comments/reviews of X6, I kinda don't even wanna finish the rest of the MMX series. I really do appreciate that someone else noticed how poor the level designs were. I was bored to tears running through them.

[@hexjoemax]

I thought this was going to be yet another X5 fanboy review, but you were so objetive that I felt absolutely satisfied at the end of the vid. Awesome job! Can't wait for the X6 review!

[@RetropolisZone]

Awesome, man. Thanks! Hope I can deliver on the X6 review when that comes out!

[@jonesthemoblin1400]

I actually like the randomness with the Enigma and the shuttle. It makes the whole scenario remain stressful even if you have all the parts because even with your best laid plans, you could still fail. Plus, if you do want a particular ending, its not hard just to reset your save and run the scene again. It's also really fun just to fire the enigma right at the beginning of the game and blow up the space colony. I had that happen once, and it was pretty glorious. lol

[@blu_wraith6693]

Welp retro, you know what games next...... I can smell the salt already if you thought this game felt rushed in some areas ._.

[@hiruma4142]

Funny thing about X vs Zero is: if you fight X, it uses X4's charged attacks. It almost feels like it was going to be a battle added in Zero's Story on X4.

[@utopua4all]

Can I ask a question? How in the heck do you know who composed what on this soundtrack? I do not know of a legitimate composer breakdown on any of the main databases on the internet. Well, that would be the English ones. But seriously, if you could show me where this information came from I'd be very thankful. I mean the only songs I know the composer for sure are the reprises and the x6 reprises.

[@smitty1647]

pretty sure you can get the heart container in duff mcwhalen's stage with zero's lightning uppercut thing

[@admiralstiffplank]

42:52 you can keep kicking the wall on the top right or left corner to avoid Shadow Devil's flying blocks

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

I know this game is pretty mixed, but I dont care what anyone says, I think is the best in the entire series (unless you count Megaman Zero Collection as a 1 game), it has the second best soundtrack in the series, I personally find the graphics stellar, awesome weapons, the best bosses in the series, the story is by far the best in the X series (Zero series still have better stories), personally only dislike one level (Duff McWhalen) and even than it is not that bad, the rest is amazing, some people dont care about story, but I think it is one of the best things about the X series, I love the references to the past games, it really feels like the epic ending, but I think it deserves a remake to fix all the problems (in my opinion are only nitpicks), my 3rd favorite plataformer game, I still prefer some Metroidvanias, DKC2 and Yoshi Island, but this is close, defenely in my Top 25 games, but I respect your opinion, you are talking with the guy that doesnt likes the majority of the Sonic games and consider Megaman 2 the worst in the classic series. About your review, I really like it, while I disagree with many of your opinions, but it is the best I have watched in my opinion and I hope this review have many views, you deserve more.

[@bloody4558]

I agree, the only thing I disliked about X5 was the fact that the new characters were never properly introduced. Aside from that, the game was a total improvement all around(nope I don't look for UI criticism as a valid point to judge a game, and nor do I think that the RNG in it was also a bad point). X4 still has the best characters, though. At least the new characters will eventually grow on you if you manage to not drop the series after x7, and play x8, one of the best games and by far the most underrated Megaman game ever.

[@entertainer_ev2747]

32:21 I know I'm late to the party, but "before" should be "in front". Before and After is in time while front and back deals with the person/thing physically

[@allseason08]

23:47 how were you facing Magma Dragoon in X5?

[@RetropolisZone]

It's a part of the training stage.

[@allseason08]

Retropolis Zone, it makes sense he of all X4 mavs were used for it.

[@AniGaAG]

I love that thrown in "But you can savescum!" argument. ... _how in the world_ does the possibility of savescumming justify bad design? xD

[@agreedboarart3188]

I'm new to the X series and I'm still kind of in shock at that design choice, so maybe it's denial. 😆

[@Maxodex]

just watched all your mmx reviews, and i'm surprised at how spot on and detailed these are considering you apparently never played them until this year. so kudos sir.

[@RetropolisZone]

Muchos gracias! I am glad you enjoyed the videos. :)

[@SQGReviewShow]

There is ONE good thing about X5: It has an excellent remix of Bubble Crab's theme from X2 in Duff McWhalen's stage

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

And a great Quick Man, Yellow Devil, X1 Capsule, etc, X5 is the second best soundtrack in the Megaman series.

[@RetropolisZone]

X2 fanboy alarm!

[@JsReviews]

One good thing? Oh side quest, so gae

[@GoldenHay1]

yea, the music was the best thing about x5

[@princemanu1650]

whats the name of the ost starting at 20:00???

[@iggyminious]

Dark Dizzy/Dark Necrobat

[@Silph_Co]

I'm just curious to know whether or not you've played or know about Astro Boy Omega Factor on GBA, since it was developed by Treasure (and Hitmaker as well). Astro Boy was probably the game that defined my childhood gaming experience, and I'm wondering how it holds up today. I'm also looking forward to that Crash Warped review (and X6 when you get to it), but then again, I'm always looking forward to reviews from this channel ever since EPG recommended this channel a few months back. I really enjoy all of these reviews, and especially recent reviews have been fantastic.

[@RetropolisZone]

I have never played Astro Boy Omega Factor, no. I have heard of it, though. Anyway, thanks a lot for the positive comment! Glad you enjoy the videos. :)

[@CrossKaizer17]

i wonder if they will fix the outcut of the fire in the legacy collection version, hopefully so

[@AniGaAG]

"Kaiji Inafunei" ... Y'know what? Close enough! :D

[@balmain2496]

I used to cry over this game’s ending a lot as a kid. It probably is my favorite of the X series even though X4 is technically superior.

[@ryuujikohsinskishinigami4384]

Did you know that sigma phase one sometimes uses the Yammar Option like in X6

[@williamng1720]

Some heart tanks that you thought zero couldn’t get, it’s actually possible with zero. Hyperdash and zeros lightning ability opens those opportunities.

[@NYCHeavyHitz212]

I just knew you were gonna touch on pretty much all of the things that pissed me off about this game. It'd be great if they remade this game to make the difficulty more smooth. As much as this game copied from past installments, they really did away with some of the things that shouldn't have been changed. Like the way they name the bosses. It used to be simple: animal/element name. It just feels so weird seeing this and that was the biggest sign that something was really fucked up about this game. But X6 dropped the ball completely. My main gripe was up + attack move on there while at the same time you need up to hang on the bars while you're battling enemies. It was instant death all the time.

[@robertmoore5002]

This is so well done. Not just this review, but your entire series. I actually hope you get to X6 soon!!

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks a lot man! I do plan on getting to X6 soon, yes, but it is not the very next video. I need a short break from this Blue Bastard. haha

[@GHNeko]

THE TIME HAS COME AND SO HAVE I. brb watching

[@atlus3669]

For the effort you put in to these videos, i would expect you to get more views, like what the hell, this is top quality content!

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks man! I am flattered! Sadly, getting yourself out there on KZbin is a time-consuming procedure and isn't the easiest to begin with. Haha.

[@pepekovallin]

I've heard that if you complete the first stage, save and then watch the demo of the main menu, and then return to the game and activate the cannon it has a guaranteed chance to blow up the space station

[@tobythelion7051]

I love your review, cant wait to hear your opinion on X7

[@sophiebubbles07]

It wasn’t very good

[@fishactivation5087]

Your review doesn't count because you didn't make a joke about Squid Adler's stage killing you during the _READY_ sequence.

[@EduFlash007]

Can someone explain to me why the subtitles for this video are disabled?

[@Noodle1423]

This is pretty insightful. And X5 was the first X game I ever owned.

[@Hadmin]

Z-buster is a good bosskiller IIRC, it deals as much damage as a full 3 slash combo, but I'm not sure on the damage. But I do remember it doing good damage

[@WhiplashPuppet]

And now I wait for X6. Only just found this channel a day or two ago, but I already like what I see. You deserve more subs, for sure. Keep going, you're definitely going places.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks for subscribing and the positive comment, man! I am pretty far into the next video, although it won't be X6. X6 is probably coming after the next video. :)

[@MonsterVisionNB]

What can I say about X5? I enjoyed it more than X4, and consider it a VAST improvement over its aforementioned predecessor. I do so hate that the infamous rider level concept returned from X4, though the Rider itself at least has a higher threshold for damage than last time. In X4, I'd swear that damned Rider was made of porcelain, so easily was it destroyed. That was always my problem with that stage. It wasn't navigation problems. I navigated that level like a champ. It was that the f***ing Rider kept getting destroyed. In X5, I never had that problem. I love that the villains of X5 are named for members of Guns N' Roses. LOVED THAT. The interesting thing about X5 is that they crammed an overwhelmingly time-consuming amount of backtracking into a time-sensitive story. I was on hands and knees thanking God that Capcom finally instituted an Easy difficulty level. Having it actually let me sit back and enjoy the experience for once. I also like that this game gave you the option to finish the game with the Ultimate/Nova Armor without having to enter a code, though it was MADDENING that it wasn't equipped to you right then and there in the armor capsule (but Zero's was).

[@Takato2527]

31:01 wait a min. How can dat laser shoot thru wall? HOW CAN DAT LASER SHOOT THRU WALL?

[@donskiver]

X5 is definitely a mixed bag. But at least it's not a half baked mess like X6. I still enjoy X5, whereas I don't particularly enjoy X6.

[@spineknife2386]

I really enjoyed watching your coverage of the x series. Thank you sir.

[@Ph4ntom0]

3:35 I See What You Did There. But you Gottah love Dr.Light's pronunciation of Dr.Wahwee

[@mregasi]

Maybe you're aware of, but the Ultimate armor appears for first time on MMX4 (with a code in the char sel room). The same with Black Zero's armor.

[@RetropolisZone]

I am aware, hency why I said ''without cheat codes'' in this video.

[@mregasi]

Oh Misheard that, my bad.

[@RetropolisZone]

No problem. :)

[@blockhead10]

26:02 If you look closely, you can see the mech dragon from mega man 2.

[@gustavomarambaia6061]

What a fantastic review ! Keep up the great work !

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks a lot. :D

[@truenightmare6665]

Any tips on how to gain the falcon armor head part

[@korruption6]

Great timing on that bomb at 8:15 X looking at the screen, thinking "Oh shit...!"

[@zeshukitagora7694]

a glitch i think happened to my x5 that i selected zero but i didnt get the zbuster but i got the fourth armor i dont know if this is a glitch or not but i remember all i did was ignore the enemies and just finish the intro stage

[@Jdeadevil]

Wait, the slowdown in Dark Dizzy was a feature? I thought it was a bug, lol.

[@trainmoremoretrain961]

IDK if this is also applied for the ps version but in the pc port, whenever you pick energy/health, it always refills tanks so I think redo the boss rush to backup our tanks shouldn't be an issue.

[@Adam-jo3tr]

So first of all, MMX5 was my favorite MMX game growing up. Unpopular opinion, I know, and while it may be misguided by nostalgia, I believe that there are still so many endearing qualities to the game, such as its amazing music. On that note, I played through it recently and noticed all the trash features that you talked about throughout the video, such as the enigma RNG and being stuck with ass X if you played with zero and got the bad ending. I also love how MMX lore is such a maze and 8 year old me playing this definitely had no idea what was going on. On that note, well done on the video! I hope there's others out there who thoroughly enjoyed the game as much as I did growing up :)

[@adamhernandez7183]

Quickies don't cut it Me: (laughs in rookie hunter mode)

[@chokoon21]

to add on that, X5 most frustrating part to me has got to be the fact that the Stage Selection screen does not show any of the Stage/Boss names (This is similar to other X games but worst). So every time I read up the guide on the internet, I have to specifically Google either the stage or the boss name to see which area is the guide talking about (As you know the game requires so many Stage returns so that's how many times I have to reGoogle the damn names). Even worst, X5's Bosses really love having indie names like "Izzy Glow, Mattrex, Axle the red, and Duff frickin' McWhalen" the names which don't resonate with their appearances shown on the Stage Selection screen like whatsoever. The game has absolutely zero visual cues. You couldn't tell the species of the boss from their portraits nor define any of the stage names.

[@youwayo]

Guns n Roses maverick names

[@joelcruz-ip2hj]

Well what i would try is for the shuttle to keep zero is get the first part from a boss, save and activate the shuttle. If that doesn't work reload the save file and get another part from a boss and save, launch the shuttle, and if that fails just do the same thing with the third and fourth shuttle part.

[@justinanaya5834]

X5 is actually my favorite mega man game

[@MongooseDave2]

I must have encountered a bug or something when I first tried using the Time Stop ability to get past those insta-kill lasers. Back when I was a young'in I had the idea of stopping time to just fly past the lasers but they still activated and killed me, so I never tried it again. Now I clearly see it's supposed to work and I'm massively confused.

[@Thinkableness]

it took me 10 years to find out you can duck in mmx. The whole time I dashed instead of ducking

[@RetropolisZone]

If only the overly tutorialized nature of X5 explained THAT to you, but no the game likes to tell you to watch out for enemies already on screen. ;)

[@SlashXel]

From i did read The ending of the game is determined with who do you start the game with and then who do you pick during the rest of the gameplay so it only appears to be RNG

[@CrissAssasin7]

I think the Ultimate Armor capsule was added to the first Sigma stage to migitage the losing Zero issue

[@CrissAssasin7]

15:30 No you cant the game decides about the result the moment you get the final part for the shuttle/laser, youd have to repeatedly clear the level and maybe that wont work either.

[@Mikey64]

I must be really lucky because the first time I played and beat the game, the Enigma failed but the Shuttle succeeded and I got the good ending.

[@carloseduardoaguiar8712]

Me too.

[@philviewer9906]

Me too!

[@Dominus396]

For me it was asthetics.. the levels and backgrounds feel so poorly set and look like cheap screenshots made for a crappy windows game. There are many instances where platforms don't look like platform. The intro stage looks horrendous. There is so much unfinished grey... At the end of the day where X4 and X6 look believable (looks like i am standing on something..) X5's world and stages look like a cheap computer simulation. Lastly why did they change the charged shot? This charged shot animation looks like a cheap 2d layer.

[@axelz7]

Haha, that Brutalmoose reference. I thought I opened a video of Ian on another tab

[@RetropolisZone]

Nice, I did mah job, then. :D