Mega Man Xtreme

Fans of the Mega Man X series could take the Blue Bomber literally into their pocket for the first time in 2000 — Mega Man Xtreme brought the essence of the SNES action platformers to the Game Boy Color. Capcom drew on material from the X1 and X2 installments, reworked the levels and bosses, and squeezed them into a format that endures play on the go without losing that characteristic speed and precision.

The core stays faithful to the source: you play as the Maverick Hunter X, tackling levels in any order, defeating a boss at the end of each and taking over their weapons, which then serve as the weakness of the next opponents. The iconic movement elements such as the dash and the wall jump aren't missing either, making movement fluid and combat a matter of reflexes and timing. The move to weaker hardware required concessions in resolution and scope, but the gameplay essence of the X series remained surprisingly intact.

For retro gamers, Xtreme is intriguing as a clever distillation of the best of the first SNES installments into a pocket form. Anyone who enjoys demanding but fair action with upgrades and replayability will find a solid portion of fun here, even away from the home console.