All spoilers for Mega Man X2 to Mega Man X3 may be unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
"One day, the readings of Reploids had instantly vanished. A lot of Reploids were erased! What happened in this island...? Maverick Hunters, X and Zero received the orders and head into action!"
— Opening narration, Mega Man Xtreme 2.
Mega Man Xtreme 2 is the second and last entry of the handheld spin-off Mega Man X series, and was released on the Game Boy Color on July 2001 in Japan, October 2001 in North America, and February 2002 in Europe. Chronologically it takes place between the events of Mega Man X3 and Mega Man X4, and includes elements from the first three games.
In the year 21XX, a mysterious phenomenon occurs wherein Reploids have their personalities seemingly erased, leaving them hollow and lifeless shells. This phenomenon gets the name "Erasure" and comes under heavy investigation. When a mass Erasure incident occurs on the remote Laguz Island, X and Zero are deployed to figure out what's going on.
With assistance from newbie navigator Iris, X and Zero discover a number of past Mavericks have been mysteriously revived as guardians of Laguz Island. The Hunters are then confronted by Berkana and Gareth, self-proclaimed Soul Erasers who have been using the DNA Souls of Reploids to boost their own power and are eager to test the strength of the legendary X and Zero.
This game's eight Mavericks are the resurrected guardians of Laguz Island. They are divided in half: X and Zero each face a different set of four depending on the player's choice. There is also the unlockable Extreme mode that lets the player take on all eight Mavericks while switching between X and Zero, similar to the future Mega Man X7. The bosses are borrowed from X1, X2, and X3:
Mavericks in X Mission:
- Neon Tiger, who gives Ray Claw to X, and Rising to Zero.
- Launch Octopus, who gives Marine Tornado to X, and Fish Fang to Zero.
- Volt Catfish, who gives Tri-Thunder to both X and Zero.
- Flame Mammoth, who gives Fire Wave to both X and Zero.
Mavericks in Zero Mission:
- Wire Sponge, who gives Strike Chain to X, and Lightning to Zero.
- Blast Hornet, who gives Bomb Bee to X, and Earth Gaizer to Zero.
- Overdrive Ostrich, who gives Sonic Slicer to X, and Dash to Zero.
- Tunnel Rhino, who gives Tornado Fang to X, and Drill Crush to Zero.
By beating Extreme Mode, Boss Attack Mode becomes accessible, in which X or Zero can face all the Maverick bosses of this game, or the eight Maverick bosses of Mega Man Xtreme, in succession while being timed.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual:
- Haruki Suetsugu designed Gareth to have a Reploid lion companion that was never featured in the game. The designer jokingly begs the audience to just assume the lion follows Gareth around faithfully, but not in any way that is visually confirmable within the game.
- The Compendium of Rockman X source book (
released only in Japan) reveals that Gareth was created by Berkana.
- Animal Motifs: The Final Boss has a lion motif.
- Back from the Dead: Eight Mavericks from the first three games have been resurrected to guard the island from intruders.
- Bag of Sharing:
- Played straight and averted. Upgrades and Sub-Tanks are usable by both X and Zero, however special weapons are only gained by whichever one lands the finishing blow on the enemy Maverick.
- A variant during a regular run's New Game Plus, where the 4 Maverick weapons of a previous mode transfers over to the next character from the start of his mode (X getting the weapons from Zero's Mavericks, and vice-versa).
- Barrier Change Boss: Sigma can change his defenses so that he is either invulnerable to X's attacks but susceptible to Zero's, or vice-versa.
- Battle Ballgown: Berkana sports a full-length gown, complete with golden spikes along the trim and hover technology. Justified in that she's a Reploid made to look like a witch.
- Black Knight: Keeping in the medieval theme set with Zain and Geemel in Xtreme, Gareth is crafted to look like a classic knight.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: "Reploid Research Lavatory," anyone?
- Boss Rush: In Extreme Mode, as well as in Boss Attack Mode, in which X and Zero can fight all the Mavericks from this game, or its predecessor, Mega Man Xtreme.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Sigma's colors change based on his current vulnerability to attacks; green means he is susceptible to both X and Zero, blue means he can only be damaged by X's weaponry, and red means he can only be harmed by Zero's attacks.
- Continuity Nod:
- The Maverick Hunters and Repliforce working together, as this game is set between Mega Man X3 and Mega Man X4. Repliforce's Iris is working as X and Zero's navigator on her first assignment, and at the end of the game, Zero mentions Colonel.
- On the other side, despite being a spin-off franchise, the "ERASURE" incident is mentioned in Mega Man X6.
- Convection, Schmonvection: An electrified Giant Wall of Watery Doom is instant-death, but the damage done by a wave of molten lava is a minor inconvenience at best.
- Death Course: Several throughout the game, whether it be a Giant Wall of Watery Doom into Death Spikes, or an electrified instant-death version of said water wave. Interesting enough, a wave of lava is not an automatic death in this game.
- Disc-One Nuke: Although it'll take some DNA Soul grinding, X can from the start equip the upgrades of Buster +1, Buster +2, Speed Shot, and the Ultimate Buster. After doing this and turning Rapid Fire on, X can launch an endless stream of superpowered, fully charged plasma blasts that can make short work of just about every enemy in the game!
- Do Well, But Not Perfect:
- To use the aforementioned Disc-One Nuke, X must not complete his armor upgrades, since as soon as he does he is limited to only two additional upgrades instead of four. This does mean skipping the Shoryuken and Hadoken though.
- Giving either X or Zero all the Heart Tanks and Special Weapons while playing in Extreme Mode can leave you with a severely crippled character when you face the Final Boss, which requires both characters to be able to defeat, since it switches immunity/vulnerability between X and Zero's attacks. This is especially true for Zero who, without certain special weapons, cannot obtain his armor defense upgrade or ultimate attack.
- Empty Shell: Reploids who have had their programming/souls erased are described as becoming like hollow shells.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Although Berkana is made to look like a witch, she has several queenly attributes, from sitting on a throne to acting as the self-proclaimed leader of the Soul Erasers. She's also quite unapologetically evil, using the souls of countless Reploids to strengthen herself and her Black Knight.
- Hijacked by Ganon: In Extreme Mode, after beating either Berkana or Gareth, Sigma comes out of nowhere and claims he was the one responsible for the entire "ERASURE" incident. He does, however, admit that Berkana had gone too far, but was fine with that since in the end It Amused Me.
- Hot Witch: Berkana is modeled after a witch of sorts, although a rather good looking one for a Reploid.
- Hover Mecha: Berkana never seems to touch the ground, instead hovering through the use of her Battle Ballgown. She does seem to have legs, however, as one shot of her shows an outline of her legs crossed while sitting.
- For the R25 Complete Works artbook, Haruki Suetsugu includes her in his contribution page. Not only is she drawn with one of her feet visible, but she actually says "I do have legs under this dress, just so you know".
- Interface Screw: Berkana's attacks include projectiles that can disable X's ability to jump or shoot.
- It Amused Me: The reason why Berkana doesn't try and stop X and Zero from destroying the island guardians. Also, the reason why Sigma doesn't stop Berkana, even though she has gone too far and has started acting in her own interests instead of his.
- Japanese Ranguage: The Reploid Research Lavatory is obviously a mistranslation of the Reploid Research Laboratory.
- Javelin Thrower: Gareth's attack of choice, either throwing his Laser Javelin while off-screen, or up close at point-blank range.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me:
- New Game Plus: When either X or Zero complete their mission mode, the save file can be played again through the other's mission, with the previous hero's Maverick weapons unlocked and collected DNA Souls retained.
- Our Souls Are Different: The stolen Reploid programming is directly compared to human souls, and Iris dubs them DNA Souls as a result. They can be used by other Reploids to empower themselves.
- Permanently Missable Content:
- Special weapons can only be obtained by the character who defeats the Maverick, so on any Extreme Mode playthrough, half the weapons are lost forever.
- If Zero skips Wire Sponge's Lightning he can never gain his arm enhancement, which gives him his ultimate attack. If he misses Tunnel Rhino's Drill Crush he loses out on his body upgrade that increases his defense.
- Promoted to Playable: Zero, in terms of the Xtreme franchise, anyway.
- Self-Deprecation: The Big Bad sets up a "game" by placing eight robot masters for the heroes to defeat before he challenges them himself. X replies that the game is pointless.
- Shoot the Dangerous Minion: Sigma thanks X and Zero for taking care of Berkana, saying she went too far and was too greedy with the power she was taking.
- Soul Power: Berkana and Gareth and possibly Sigma are stealing Reploid souls to make themselves more powerful. X and Zero can do the same thing with Maverick souls, turning them into new upgrades.
- Spikes of Villainy: The bottom of Berkana's Battle Ballgown is covered in a row of golden spikes.
- Violence is the Only Option: While X decries Gareth's "silly games", Zero simply points out that "retiring eight may be easier than persuading one". Gareth, naturally, approves of this logic wholeheartedly.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: The Soul Erasers are stealing Reploid programming (their souls) from all over the world.
