Gameplay
Mega Man X7 differs in a lot of aspects from the rest of the games in the series:
- It's the first and only game in the Mega Man X series where the main protagonist, X is not available as a playable character from the beginning of the game. Instead, the player must rescue 64 reploids (out of a possible total of 128) or defeat the eight main bosses in order to unlock him.
- X7 is the first and only game in the series to have 3D gameplay in addition to the standard 2D style. It is also the only X series platformer where X's buster can be fired directionally.
- Axl, the new playable character, has an ability called Copy Shot. If the player destroys certain types of enemies with said technique, they'll leave an item upon their destruction. If the item (a glowing red sphere) is picked up, Axl will transform into a copy of the enemy he destroyed, with all of its' features (speed, weapon, etc.).
- Both X and Axl gain the same weapon when a boss is defeated, but Axl is also able to wield weaponry similar to the bosses of the game, without energy consumption.
- In this game, Zero's sword deflects enemies' shots and is able to double-jump without any sort of powerup.
- Unlike the prequel, chips must be used immediately after they are gained, can't be deactivated, nor changed from a playable character to other.
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