Third time really is the charm. The first time I tried to run this game, it was rejected due to half assed gameplay. The second time didn't even make it to the verification stage because I taped over a segment and had already deleted the backup save file. But now, all is well.

For those of you who think this is just Mega Man X with beefed up graphics, you're wrong. While this is closer to the original than Powered Up, this game still differs somewhat from the SNES game. I'll go into detail further down.

• INTRO HIGHWAY: This stage didn't change much. The only things here are more lag (which is seen throughout the game) and a modification to the fight with Vile. You can actually win against him now. In fact, you have to. I got some pretty awesome placement on the last hit. The screen barely had to move to initiate the cutscene.

• FLAME MAMMOTH: Some might be thinking "Why the hell isn't he doing Penguin first?" There's one of the game's biggest changes. X's upgrades have been swapped around. Where the Pink Shot used to be, the Dash Boots are now. They are now optional, but the Buster is still required. And it is very simple to get this. No block breaking or tricky dash jumps. Other than that, this stage didn't change much either. Late in the stage I got hit by a green spiky thing. It wasn't intentional, but it ended up working out. Normally I'd take a hit on the Mace Joe trying to jump over it. Mammoth himself is a little easier, and fatter. I let off one shot early, otherwise the fight was great.

• BOOMERANG KUWANGER: There's a weird change. He's not Boomer anymore. This stage seems a lot harder. Probably due to the PSP's screen ratio. The long climb up halfway through is the worst. It seems that the platforms with the turrets are always in the worst possible positions. Despite a rocky stage, the fight went very well. He didn't warp around too much.

• STING CHAMELEON: The Pink Shot is now where the Armor used to be. And the fat green robot is a complete joke now. He goes down even quicker with Storm Tornado, but I didn't have it at the time. The rocks always fall for some reason. The trees with the woodpeckers have to be destroyed now. Lag ensues. Chameleon is also easier to fight. My performance was perfectly fine; no comment.

• STORM EAGLE: Call me crazy, but I think those platforms in the beginning are shit slow. And the ones with the turrets on them suck. They never cooperate. Luckily, there's something that helps. Charged Chameleon Sting. Not just for the temporary invincibility, but also you can use other weapons while you're invincible. Eagle's fighting style has changed somewhat. You won't get to see much of it cause I killed him too quickly.

• CHILL PENGUIN: Yes, I will be using CS for the rest of the game. This stage is probably the one that changed the least. You'll notice that there's no capsule in the way. They put it in a small alcove in the zig zag part. I nearly fell down a cliff at the end. Whoops. Penguin's fighting style didn't change, though his looks did. He jumped once, but okay.

• SPARK MANDRILL: It must be the Camera-and-Mirror-in-a-Box I'm using that makes this place seem so damn dark. I delayed a couple of times to charge CS. Worth it. The miniboss isn't as vulnerable to Storm Tornado now, but charged ST followed up by Shotgun Ice does the job pretty well. No problems on Mandrill.

• ARMORED ARMADILLO: This stage is really laggy. Otherwise, it didn't change much. I had some trouble jumping onto the second cart, but whatever. The final jump is in fact longer than it used to be, but whatever. Armadillo got a complete makeover. And he's a bitch to fight now. He just doesn't like to cooperate very much. This was the best I got.

• LAUNCH OCTOPUS: The stage itself didn't change. The minibosses are a little different. Electric Spark doesn't work that well on the subs, but Storm Tornado works wonders. As for the sea serpent, you no longer have to wait for him to dig out of the ground. Octopus is now an art fag. And he's way easier than before. Flawless victory.

• BOSSPIDER: Here's where really big changes start. The Sigma stages have been completely redone. Vile is no longer in this stage. Instead, Octopus again. He's less prone to cooperate, so I let one whirlpool slide. The path to Kuwanger is long and annoying. But I did okay. Bosspider is also way easier than before. Noticeably slower too. This segment was giving me a hard time. Despite him spitting out the little spiders twice, this was the best I came up with.

• RANGDA BANGDA: Same thing as the last stage: complete overhaul. Armadillo is still a bitch. Some how I missed a bunch of shots on him, but okay. He's not my main concern. The path to Eagle looks familiar, doesn't it? Short path for Mandrill. And then there's RB. He's a little wider than usual, but just as challenging. I missed a few times, but CS is a very inaccurate weapon. This went okay.

• DREX: Right off the bat I stop to charge CS. Trust me: it's worth it. Penguin jumped once. I nearly missed on Chameleon, something that never happens. En route to Mammoth, I took a little shortcut off the platform enemy. I wasn't even trying to do it; it showed up so I took the opportunity. Mammoth can no longer be hit twice by normal Storm Tornadoes. Charged however...yeah. Now we come up to Vile. You don't have to fight him in his Ride Armor. On the down side, his fighting style is completely different. Even with charged CS active in the beginning, he still destroyed one of my Rolling Shields. Oh well. DRex takes more hits to kill I believe, and I did okay.

• SIGMA: The caterpillars that pop out like to hit me on the way up, so I jumped to the opposite side once. On the dog you can see charged CS in full force. I was able to spam Shotgun Ice into the dog for a quick kill. My Sigma strategy might use some work, but this went pretty well. Sigma's final form has been made really easy this time around. I got him into a lock during the beginning where he just slammed the ground repeatedly. Gotta look into manipulating him.

There's room for improvement, but I'm glad with the results of this. Will I go back to it? I don't know. I'm getting tired of running Mega Man games. I tried running Curse of Darkness and Symphony of the Night segmented, but neither worked out. The DS Castlevanias are a definite possibility though. Just gotta get the right stuff for it. Until that day, enjoy Maverick Hunter X.