Before we proceed, can we just take a moment to appreciate that absolutely incredible variant cover? A perfect homage to the box art of the original Mega Man X video game (shown below for reference, it’s a perfect showcase for why the license is in safe hands with Udon.

In this issue, X and Zero continue their mission to track down former hunters who have turned to the dark side. It follows on from Mega Man X Timelines #1 and Mega Man X #0, opening with an unexpectedly lengthy few pages of exposition in text.

Though a bit of an unwieldy way to deliver the ‘story so far’, it does add weight to the story. Udon are known for their incredible visual aesthetic, and Mega Man X #1 is definitely very strong in that regard. Though heavy on the action, as you’d expect, it’s also surprisingly good in terms of character development too.

The prior issues have done a good job of recreating the story of the first video game, and though there’s a bit of that here, it does go above and beyond. There’s a good look at X’s moral code, and the issue’s big bad even gets a decent send off, tying into the hero’s sense of justice.

We’re slowly seeing X power up too, and the way that the games empower the player with extra abilities, once they’ve defeated a boss, is handled well here as well.

It’s not as if it’s the deepest of narratives, but as a great expansion and adaptation of a very simple video game story from decades ago, it delivers on everything that fans could want, and it’s hugely entertaining too.

Udon have clearly perfected their approach from many years of adapting other Capcom games such as Street Fighter, Darkstalkers and Final Fight; though the Mega Man Timelines crossover was ultimately a bit disappointing, this first issue of X’s ongoing series hits all of the right buttons.

Hi! I’m Jason, and I write for midlifegamergeek.com, every single day. If you’re interested in supporting original, regularly published, human created content (which has never been plagiarised or otherwise copied from the hard work of other writers), you can donate and help me to keep this site running.

Not only do I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages; as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from these links), but it seems that my work has, at times, been stolen and re-used by lazy, morally bankrupt idiots.

There’s no pressure of course, but I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: Ko-Fi.com/geekmid or PayPal.

Any donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles. Remember: this whole article was by Jason Brown, and appeared on midlifegamergeek.com. Take that, Skynet!