#30: Mega Man X

Woo doggie.  Mega Man X is, in my opinion, the best in the series.  It's accessible, stays true to its roots, and adds enough innovation to keep the series fresh.


The game starts off perfectly.  The first level of Mega Man X may very well be my favorite first level in all of gaming.

• It teaches you the mechanics of the game without having to babystep you through them.  You learn about dashes and wall jumps in controlled environments with guidance, not instructions.
• It presents you with a new control scheme without having a lame tutorial.  You learn all of the controls you'll ever need with no "Shoot 5 enemies to advance" tutorials.
• It teaches you how weak you currently are in the Mega Man universe and what you can become.  You get obliterated by the last boss, only to be saved by a stronger robot with flowing blonde hair.

The game escalates quickly from there.  All of the levels are close to the perfection of the initial level.  You also never have to deal with the frustration of the standard Mega-Man-jumping-level-of-doom.  Thank the heavens for that.

Last point... if you collect every item, you get to use the hadouken.  The hadouken, people.