Mega Man hasn't had much luck branching out from 2D side-scrolling games -- a mediocre board game for Famicom that never left Japan, a terrible soccer game for SNES, and a kart racer whose U.S. release was cancelled at the last minute. Even the 3D adventure games of the Legends series were met with relatively lukewarm responses (despite actually being pretty good, Legends 2 especially). With this track record, it's understandable that one might be skeptical at the thought of a Mega Man RPG.

I know I wasn't expecting too much out of Mega Man X Command Mission, especially after the last X title, the disappointing Mega Man X7. So I toss in the disc and load up this odd new entry in the series. The intro plays, and it's pretty cool looking. It starts off showing X and Zero asleep in some sort of stasis chamber as several large, spider-like robots invade their base. The cel-shaded graphics and mech designs give the game a very anime-like feel, which has always been a big allure of the X series.

AniMega Man

I also like the use of dull, washed-out colors. They add to the gritty realism and make any sources of light (from spotlights, sunlight steaming in through windows, the glow of X's Buster or Zero's sword, etc.) seem that much more brilliant.

It's good that you "failed to steal item." Stealing is wrong.

Once the game begins, you're controlling X as he roams through a 3D environment (much like X7). Later on, other familiar characters (like Zero and X7's Axl) will join your party. There are four new playable characters as well: Spider, the suave robot who attacks with playing cards; Machimo, a big dude with an ax; Marino, who has ninja abilities; and Cinnamon, the healer.

Since this is an RPG, you can't do any of the standard action game maneuvers like jumping or shooting. X does have a dash move for getting around faster, though. The game is broken up into chapters, each one having a specific goal to complete. The first mission is to infiltrate a large enemy base called Giga City.

As you roam around, you'll find crystals that can be shattered with the dash move. These are Command Mission's equivalent of standard RPGs' treasure chests. They contain a wide variety of helpful items for your adventure. Of course, you can't have an RPG without a lot of random battles. At any point when you're walking around, you can get pulled into a fight.