The Reploid Research Lavatory

I’m sure by now that all of you with an iPhone or iPad followed my advice about picking up the Mega Man X app while it was on sale. (Let us pretend this is so.)

One of the first things you may have noticed as you started up story mode is that the game’s script is a little different than the SNES Mega Man X. Starting with the redone intro and continuing throughout the game, some new dialogue has been added. Perhaps because the game allows you to choose from 6 different languages (something I wish EVERY Mega Man game did), the scripts have been evened out so that they all have roughly the same length and flow. That means that extra lines spoken previously only in the Japanese version have now been added to the English game. The Japanese script also has a few minor differences, mainly that Dr. Right now instructs the player how to perform the hadouken and how to change the inputs for the dash. (Protip: do it.) This time, I’m focusing on the English version only.

For a game with little dialogue as it is, a considerable amount of new text has been added. But you don’t have to take my word for it. See below and compare for yourself.

First, a few bunch of notes:

• This transcript was made from Mega Man X iOS Ver 1.03.20.
• Script portions that have been significantly changed are in yellow so one can easily see what’s new. (Not including minor punctuation or grammatical changes like “Thanks for playing!!” to “Thank you for playing!”)
• The portion of text in red was taken verbatim from the game Maverick Hunter X.
• Some text sections from the original game are missing: The intro with X’s specs, Light’s warning intro, the minor enemy cast list and the staff roll at the end.
• The Mega Man X Collection version of X1 added one word of dialogue for X. His first (and only) line was changed to “Damn! I guess I’m not powerful enough to defeat him…” This was adopted from the Japanese version, where X curses his own weakness (“Ku, kusou!”). Now the “Damn!” is gone again (from the English).
• The name “Boomer Kuwanger” was changed to “Boomerang Kuwanger” in Maverick Hunter X, but he’s back to just being Boomer in this game.
• In the original game, the leg parts can’t be avoided. In iOS, X can climb over the capsule and skip getting the parts (but must still listen to Light’s speech first).
• There are two versions of Zero’s “death” scene; one where he gives X his arm cannon, and one where he does not. Zero will bequeath the buster upgrade unless X got it from Light’s capsule already, or if X went the entire game without picking up any armor parts, heart tanks or sub tanks. This makes it possible to clear the game without accepting a single power up!
• The largest difference may be the dialogue from the Hadouken Capsule. It was always longer in the Japanese version, but trimmed to just two sentences in the original English ver. Dr. Light’s “Hachoo-ken” joke is brand new. The Japanese version has a different joke that only makes sense in Japanese: Dr. Right tells X he trained at the “daibakufu,” which can mean either a giant waterfall (yes) or the Great Shogunate Edo of feudal Japan. Realizing the ambiguity, he adds “and by bakufu, I don’t mean the Edo Shogunate!” (Come on kid, I’m not that old!)
• The demo version of the iOS Mega Man X included 20 challenges for the Intro Stage. If you cleared them all, a special image was unlocked and a message from Dr. Light would appear, encouraging the player to purchase the full game. All of these are still present in the full version. You’ll find this message at the bottom.
• In Easy difficulty mode, the game returns to the title screen right after the Ending scene on the cliff. Normal and Hard mode players get the full ending, cast and all. Another bonus image only appears at the end when clearing Hard mode.

———————————————————————————————–
Prologue
———————————————————————————————–

In the year 20XX, self-aware robots
called “Reploids” were created, and
man and robot began to live in a
peaceful co-existence.

Unfortunately, as robot society spread and prospered, there was an
increase in criminal incidents involving Reploids. To combat this new
wave of crime caused by these “Mavericks”, a special investigations
and security organization consisting entirely of Reploids was founded.
They are the Maverick Hunters.

Their commander was Sigma, who was the most advanced Reploid of his
time, but one day, he became corrupted himself and turned Maverick,
plunging the world into an era of terror.

This is the story of the Maverick Hunter known as X.

———————————————————————————————–
Intro Stage
———————————————————————————————–

Vile:
You worthless piece of scrap
metal, did you think you could
defeat me?

What a waste. All this just to
throw your life away… But who
am I to judge? Hahahahaha!

X:
I guess I’m not powerful
enough to defeat him…

Zero:
X, you shouldn’t expect to
defeat him, he is designed
to be a war machine.

Remember, you have not
reached full power yet.

If you use all the abilities
you were designed with, you
should become stronger…

You may even become as
powerful as I am.

I’ll scout ahead and collect
as much information on Sigma’s
fortress as I can.

I’ll meet up with you when you
get there.

See you later!

X, I know you can do it!

———————————————————————————————–
Leg Parts Capsule
———————————————————————————————–

Dr. Light:
So you’ve come…

X, I gave you the ability to
choose your own path in life,
and I hoped the world would
allow you to choose a peaceful
one.

But now it seems that you are
destined to fight.

Because I thought the world
might need a new champion,
I have hidden capsules like
this one.

If you find and use them you
will be able to increase your
powers beyond anything the
world has ever known.

Step into this capsule and
receive an acceleration system
to boost your speed.

When you wish to activate it,
simply press ↓.

Alternately, you can change
the activation command
through the Options screen.

Good luck, X!

———————————————————————————————–
Head Parts Capsule
———————————————————————————————–

Dr. Light:
This capsule contains an
enhancement for your helmet

which will allow you to break
some ceilings with a headbutt.

———————————————————————————————–
Arm Parts Capsule
———————————————————————————————–

Dr. Light:
This capsule contains a
part which will increase the
capabilities of your X-Buster.

You can use it to fire all
types of weapons, and even
perform powerful charged
versions of them.

———————————————————————————————–
Body Parts Capsule
———————————————————————————————–

Dr. Light:
This capsule contains a
new type of body armor.

It will reduce damage to your
systems by fifty percent.

———————————————————————————————–
Hadouken Capsule
———————————————————————————————–

Dr. Light:
Well, what do you think, X?
Now I’ve got the body of
a warrior, too — just like
you!

See those waterfalls way
off in the distance? I sat
under their cold torrents
for days on end meditating
and training.

But that’s enough out of this
old man. I hereby give you a
special present. Now, enter
the capsule, please!

I’m about to teach you a
secret technique I developed
through all that training!
Press ↓→ + Fire when
you have all of your health.

It’s called a “Hadouken”.
I was actually going to call
it a “Hachoo-ken” in honor
of the terrible cold I caught
while I was training, but…

In any case, give it a try,
but you may need to do
some training of your own
first to get it down pat.
Good luck, X!

———————————————————————————————–
Sigma Stage 1
———————————————————————————————–

Zero:
Finally! We’ve found Sigma’s
fortress!

Let’s go in and put an end to
his war against the humans!

———————————————————————————————–

Zero:
Let’s split up.

I’ll go in first and then you
can slip in while I keep the
main defense force busy!

———————————————————————————————–

Zero:
Stay back, X.
I’ll take him on!

———————————————————————————————–

Vile:
Heh heh heh. Come to save
him, have you, X?

Well, you can forget about it.

Do what I tell you or he’s
history!

Zero:
Don’t listen to him, X!
Go ahead and blast him!!

Vile:
Dream on Zero!

X knows he can’t defeat me!
My armored carrier is more
than a match for his ancient
weapons!

But he’s more than welcome
to try!

———————————————————————————————–

Zero:
Nice try, Vile, but I’m not
through yet!

Vile:
What a worthless gesture!
I can’t be defeated so easily!

So X, it’s just you and me now!

Vile:
What the…!? Where did that
energy come from??

It really doesn’t matter how
much energy you absorb X,
you are still far too weak!

Prepare to be terminated!

———————————————————————————————–
Fall of Zero V1
———————————————————————————————–

Zero:
You are more powerful than
you were before,

but Sigma is much more than
he appears to be.

You’re going to need an edge.

Take my arm cannon and your
attack power should increase.

I always figured it would be
of more use to you than me.

Good luck, X…

I’m counting on you……

———————————————————————————————–
Fall of Zero V2
———————————————————————————————–

Zero:
X, I’ve taken too much
damage……

Auto-repair systems can’t
handle it… My power is fading
fast…

Your power is greater than
I thought.

Maybe you… can
des…troy… Sigma…

———————————————————————————————–
Sigma Stage 4
———————————————————————————————–

Sigma:
Welcome! I see you managed to get here
by yourself. Very impressive!

I could destroy you, but I would not
rob my pet of that pleasure.

He knows how to deal with betrayers.

Should you live, I will be waiting for
you. Don’t disappoint me, X!

———————————————————————————————–

Sigma:
Excellent job, X! I see why Zero
counted on you. You are almost
as good a hunter as I was.

But, the time of your destruction has
arrived! You shall regret ever having
defied me!

———————————————————————————————–

Sigma:
No!!! It’s not possible!

I’m a Reploid!
I can’t be destroyed by you!

Why, X!?

Why have you done this to us!?

Without the humans, my Reploid brothers
could have ushered in a new age……

———————————————————————————————–
Ending
———————————————————————————————–

THE WAR HAS ENDED FOR
NOW AND PEACE HAS BEEN
RESTORED. BUT THOSE WHO
SACRIFICED THEMSELVES
FOR THE VICTORY WILL
NEVER RETURN.

EXHAUSTED, X GAZES AT
THE DESTRUCTION HE
HELPED CAUSE AND
WONDERS WHY HE CHOSE
TO FIGHT. WAS THERE
ANOTHER WAY?

STANDING ON THE CLIFF,
THE ANSWERS SEEM TO
ESCAPE HIM. HE ONLY
KNOWS THAT HE’LL FIGHT
THE MAVERICKS AGAIN
BEFORE HE FINDS HIS
ANSWER.

HOW LONG WILL HE KEEP
ON FIGHTING? HOW LONG
WILL HIS PAIN LAST?
MAYBE ONLY THE X-BUSTER
ON HIS ARM KNOWS FOR
SURE……

———————————————————————————————–

CAST

CHILL PENGUIN

LAUNCH OCTOPUS

STORM EAGLE

ARMORED ARMADILLO

FLAME MAMMOTH

STING CHAMELEON

SPARK MANDRILL

BOOMER KUWANGER

VILE

SIGMA

ZERO

AND YOU
AS
MEGA MAN X

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!

———————————————————————————————–
Epilogue
———————————————————————————————–

Sigma:
YOU HAVE WON A TEMPORARY VICTORY, X!
WHAT YOU DESTROYED WAS ONLY A TEMPORARY
BODY — MY SPIRIT REMAINS INTACT.
IN TIME, I WILL FIND OTHER BODIES STRONG
ENOUGH TO DO MY BIDDING. I WILL RETURN.
I SHALL SEE YOU SOON, X. VERY SOON…

———————————————————————————————–
20/20 Intro Stage Challenges Completed
———————————————————————————————–

Dr. Light
How wonderful! It appears you’ve
completed all of the Challenges.

There are 60 more unique
Challenges awaiting someone
of your skill in the full version.
Why not give them a try?

X, I believe that you will do what
is right and fight for the future.
Unfortunately, I must be off.
Good luck, X!

---

Even though I miss the old intro quite a bit, I am generally happy with the changes to the script. The epic-feeling lines I remembered as a kid are intact, but at the same time it’s all a bit more fleshed out. The lines give off a little more character, and I like that. What do you think?