Video Game / Mega Man Xtreme

"In order to put the past data back, we need to fix a data in the "core" of the Mother Computer... But the way to the core is "protected." Unless you clear the protection, you can't enter the core. The guardians of the protection is the boss data of the past."

— Middy, Mega Man Xtreme.

Mega Man Xtreme is the first in a handheld spin-off of the Mega Man X series, and was released on the Game Boy Color on October 2000 in Japan, January 2001 in North America, and August 2001 in Europe. Chronologically it takes place between the events of Mega Man X2 and Mega Man X3, and includes enemies from the first two X games. It was rereleased on the 3DS Virtual Console in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in other regions.

In the year 21XX, the Mother Computer of the Maverick Hunters’ headquarters is hacked by an unknown source, scrambling the Hunters' networks and causing worldwide chaos. Resident computer genius Middy offers to transmit X into the Mother Computer to fight his way through the hacked data and find the culprits in person, while Zero deals with the Maverick riots in the real world.

As X fights data of past Mavericks within cyberspace, he meets the two Shadow Hunters and discovers that they are working with Middy's twin brother, Techno, to pull off the hack. However, it also turns out someone else is pulling their strings behind the scenes...

The game is split into Normal and Hard difficulties, each with their own set of four Maverick data bosses. There is also the secret Extreme difficulty that lets the player take on all eight Maverick datas in a single playthrough. The Mavericks are a mix from X1 and X2:

Normal Mode Mavericks:

• Chill Penguin, who gives X Shotgun Ice.
• Spark Mandrill, who gives X Electric Spark.
• Storm Eagle, who gives X Storm Tornado.
• Flame Stag, who gives X Speed Burner.

Hard Mode Mavericks:

• Wheel Gator, who gives X Spin Wheel.
• Magna Centipede, who gives X Magnet Mine.
• Armored Armadillo, who gives X Rolling Shield.
• Morph Moth, who gives X Silk Shot.

This game was later followed by a sequel, Mega Man Xtreme 2, also on the Game Boy Color.

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Tropes:

• All There in the Manual: Who Zain and Geemel are is left a complete mystery in the game proper. Material such as the official Japanese website and the book Mega Man X Maverick Hunter Field Guide reveal that they are elite combat Reploids known as "Shadow Hunters" who master weaponry for selfish gains, and who were defeated by Sigma and persuaded to help him take on the Maverick Hunters.
• Artistic License – Engineering: Middy and Techno somehow share the same CPU because they are brothers, despite the fact that a CPU is a physical piece of hardware and the two are not at all connected, and in fact spend most of the game miles away from one another.
• As Long as There Is Evil: Sigma claims this as his reason for always returning.
  Sigma: "Bwah ha ha ha. Your efforts are futile... I will never be defeated!! As long as Mavericks exist... As long as evil exists in the minds of humans... I'll come back again and again! X, Zero. I'll pursue you to the end of the world! Bwah ha ha ha! Farewell! FOR NOW!! Bwah ha ha!"
• Assist Character: Zero can be summoned with Data Chips found in Hard Mode.
• BFS: Zain's weapon of choice, complete with Spin Attack.
• Back from the Dead: Serges returns.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: X calls Vile his Japanese name, VAVA.
• Blood Knight: Zain is only interested in defeating X... although it's also entirely possible this is a result of him being a Flat Character.
• Bottle Episode: With the exception of Zain and Geemel, every level and boss is recycled from X1 or X2.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Techno by Sigma.
• Cain and Abel: Techno and Middy, although it wasn't Techno's fault.
• Cutscene: The opening intro to the game, which has text so exceedingly slow that it runs for a whopping five minutes. Fortunately, it can be skipped.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: If you're used to the controls from the Super Nintendo Mega Man X titles or the games from the Mega Man Zero/Mega Man ZX era, playing this game on the Virtual Console can and will trip you up at times, since you have to remember that you no longer have a button to dash^Note Dash can be set to Start of all places, but that's it. and the fire/jump buttons are in different places.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Techno dies in his brother's, Middy's, arms, right before Middy dies as well due to them sharing a CPU.
• Easy-Mode Mockery: Beat the game on Normal Mode and Sigma just chuckles at X and retreats, telling him that this is not the end.
• Flash Step: Geemel's usual mode of transportation, when he isn't flying on a giant kite.
• Fuuma Shuriken: Geemel's weapon of choice.
• Giggling Villain: Geemel, kekeke!
• Heroic Sacrifice: Middy almost tells X that Techno is his brother, but decides not to at the last minute, knowing that X might not be able to do what needs to be done if he knew. The sacrifice comes from that when Techno dies, Middy dies as well, due to a shared CPU unit between them.
• Hijacked by Ganon: As it turns out, Techno is being mind-controlled into hacking the Maverick Hunters’ computer by Sigma.
• Hollywood Hacking: The entire game's premise is X digitizing himself to enter the computer world to stop a Maverick hacker.
• Interface Spoiler: Not that it's much of a surprise, but the icon for the final stages on the stage select is literally Sigma's face. Keep in mind that he hadn't been mentioned at all up until this point.
• New Game Plus: To unlock Hard Mode, you have to beat Normal Mode, but in Hard Mode, you keep all weapons and upgrades you obtained in Normal Mode. Extreme Mode averts this, having the player start over fresh with all 8 Mavericks to fight in any order they wish.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Techno's design is considerably more simple than everyone else in the game, and everyone else in the X series for that matter. He looks like he'd fit well in the Classic series.
• Skippable Boss: You can encounter Zain and Geemel in the Maverick stages via an optional side-path. You get no apparent reward for fighting them this way, however.
• Skyward Scream: Middy gets an emotional one after his brother, Techno, dies in his arms.
• The Social Darwinist: Played straight by Sigma, but verbally averted by X, who claims he is tired of a world where only the strong survive and the weak (in this case, Middy and Techno) have to die.
• Spell My Name With An S: Vile, encountered at the end of the intro level, is referred to by his Japanese name, Vava.
• The Stinger: After the credits, Middy lets you know that you can now play Hard Mode.
  • After clearing Hard Mode, Techno reveals that Extreme Mode is unlocked.
  • Upon beating Extreme Mode, Sigma shows up to taunt you.
• Summon Magic: X can summon what is either Zero or just Zero's data to perform one of several powerful attacks.
• Theme Naming: The fact that Techno is named after techno music actually isn't obvious until one realizes that Middy is a corruption of midi, a type of sound file.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: Mega Man XTREME! Obviously a play on the word "Extreme" and the fact the main character is named X.