After the success of last year's Megaman collection, Capcom has delivered what fans have asked for in droves: a collection of games from the Megaman X series. For the most part the collection does a nice job of presenting six classic games in their original condition complete with a few cool extras that fans will surely appreciate. Playing through these games makes me recognize why Capcom and many like minded fans continue to be in love with this popular character.

The Megaman X series chronicled a later generation of the popular Blue Bomber, a direct sequel that allowed Capcom to start a new series even while the original series was continuing to be made. In the X series, it is nearly 100 years after Megaman was the hero of the day; Dr. Light had created a more advanced prototype of Megaman called X and had stored it away to help future generations. The plan turned out to be a prudent one as another scientist named Dr. Cain finds X and reactivates him to help take out some rather nasty Mavericks, or rogue robots bent on the destruction of humankind.

The X story arc is a good one that takes the Blue Bomber into a darker and more in-depth plot and develops the character and several new friends into more mature heroes. The first game in the series is probably the best of the six games included in the collection, with a nod going to the three following. As we inch towards the last two titles, things go downhill, but overall the collection is well rounded. The collection includes Megaman X, X2, X3, X4, X5 and X6. It's pretty obvious why Capcom didn't include the latest PS2 games (X7 and X8) - considering that they are still readily available at retail..

As we mentioned, the X series has always been a darker, more mature arc from that of Megaman. The art style is a tad bit influenced by anime and X looks like a teenage version of the Blue Bomber. The gameplay, at least, is similar : it's all 2D side scrolling action with sprite based effects, animations and cute robot enemies. The plots in all of these games is a bit more complex, with robots (reploids), Mavericks and humans all at odds and all fighting for their various goals - somewhat delusional as they may be at times. Much like the original games, you'll notice the same maniacal enemy forces rising from the grave to take over the world and make X's day got to hell in a hand basket.

The X series also introduces new characters like Zero, more challenging bosses, new game features like health upgrades, armor, mech suits, helpful programs and robots that X can use to accomplish varying tasks - all while maintaining the original feel of the Megaman series.

All of the games in this collection look pretty sharp no matter what platform you pick it up for and the controls work pretty darned well to boot. The overall presentation of the game - from graphics to the original musical scores - are maintained so that gamers get to plunge themselves into these games as they were originally released. These games also offer the old password system, allowing all the original codes you might have saved in your earlier days to work - or you can simply go and find them online and punch them in for a more advanced start..

The icing on the cake for the X collection is the PSOne action racing title Mega Man Battle & Chase, which lets players slug it out (well two players at least) in an action racing experience similar to Mario Kart complete with Megaman universe power-ups, settings and the rather cool ability to steal parts from other racars' cars (great fun!). The game holds up well despite its slight dated polygonal look and really is a bonus because it was never released in North America.

In the grand scheme of things, this collection of X is quite good, though I prefer the original series for its curtailed story and straightforward gameplay. For fans of the X series or anyone looking for a retro game fix, you can't go wrong with picking this up for your Gamecube or PS2 and the free racing game truly is the icing on the cake.