Several months have passed since the events of Mega Man X4. The series' primary antagonist, Sigma, has been revived once again, and conducts research on the origin of the "Maverick Hunter" Zero. He decides to attempt to unlock Zero's true power, hoping to destroy X in the process. Sigma attacks the Hunters directly, but intentionally loses, thus spreading the Sigma Virus across the Earth and throwing it into chaos. Meanwhile, a Reploid mercenary named Dynamo is hired by Sigma to cause a space colony, Eurasia, to collide with Earth in 16 hours. To prevent Eurasia from striking the planet, the Hunters pursue two options: fire a powerful cannon called "Enigma" at Eurasia and vaporize it, or if the Enigma fails, launch a space shuttle and pilot it into the colony, destroying it. To maximize their chances, X and Zero are dispatched to collect parts for the two devices with the aid of their new teammates Alia, Douglas, and Signas. The necessary parts to upgrade the Enigma and shuttle are held by eight Mavericks, and X and Zero must defeat them to claim the parts.
Whether the Enigma and shuttle succeed or fail is randomly determined by the game. From this point, the story diverges into different subplots:
Once X and Zero recover the four parts for the Enigma, it is fired and will either succeed and completely destroy Eurasia, or fail and only destroy part of it. If the Enigma fails, Eurasia's orbit will shift slightly and its impending impact will be delayed. In this scenario, Signas will begin the space shuttle plan, and X and Zero are dispatched to recover the parts.
Like the Enigma, the shuttle can either succeed or fail.
If the shuttle succeeds, 86% of Eurasia is destroyed and Earth is no longer in danger. Zero, who pilots the shuttle, safely returns, but some remains from Eurasia still crash into Earth, devastating its ecosystems and spreading pollution all over the planet. (The events of Mega Man X6 show this is the scenario that happens).
If the shuttle fails, only part of Eurasia is destroyed and crashes into Earth. Zero becomes a Maverick.
If time runs out, Eurasia crashes into Earth, and the planet barely survives. Zero becomes a Maverick.
Whether the Enigma/shuttle succeeds or fails, a new virus appears on the Earth, dubbed the "Zero Virus" by Alia. The location of the virus' origin is discovered, and the Hunters investigate a bizarre underground fortress (if Zero became a Maverick, only X is playable for the remainder of the game). Deep inside the fortress, X and Zero cross paths, where mutual suspicion and mistrust leads to a duel between the heroes.
After the duel, Sigma appears to try and take advantage of the situation, and the story diverges slightly.
If Zero became a Maverick, he sacrifices himself to save X, and X continues on alone to defeat Sigma.
If Zero did not become a Maverick, he saves X and himself from Sigma, and both have a chance to confront Sigma.
Mega Man X5 has three possible endings:
If Zero became a Maverick, X defeats Sigma alone, but is badly damaged. Dr. Light appears and repairs him, but deletes all of his memories of Zero.
If Zero did not become a Maverick, Sigma tries to make the Hunters' victory for naught by taking them both down with him. Zero manages to finish Sigma off, and the endings diverge again depending on the player character.
If X defeats Sigma, he inherits Zero's beam saber and continues to fight as a Maverick Hunter. (The events of Mega Man X6 show this is the scenario that happens).
If Zero defeats Sigma, he reflects on his origin and life, with visions of a blurred Dr. Wily and Iris, before dying.
Gameplay
The main gameplay remains similar to previous installments. Unlike X4, the player can freely switch between both the shooter X and the swordsman Zero while playing through the game. Depending on which character the player uses to start it, the other one will be affected negatively with X losing his X4 armor and Zero losing his buster. There are four armors for X—his Ultimate Armor, the upgraded armor from Mega Man X4, and two others that must be assembled from capsules. However, X cannot wear parts of these armors separately. X can also no longer shoot his buster through walls, and each character has the ability to duck. Zero is able to find and enter Dr. Light's capsules, however, he cannot use the armor parts given, instead retaining the part to bring to X. However, if Zero reaches the capsule that contains X's Ultimate Armor, Dr. Light will offer the "Black Zero" Armor instead of the Ultimate Armor that enhances his abilities. Besides regular enemies and bosses, X and Zero can be chased by a phantom virus that will try to infect the characters. If X is sufficiently infected by enough viruses, he will enter a state where his health rapidly declines. However, if Zero is sufficiently infected, he becomes briefly invincible, with increased attack power. At any point between levels, the player has the option of firing the Enigma at the Eurasia. If the Enigma misses, then the player has the option of launching the shuttle. Whether the crash is prevented or not is determined by random chance. If the crash is not prevented, the course of the story is changed. Due to the nature of the storyline, there are multiple endings. Whether X or Zero is used to defeat the last boss also affects which ending is seen.
Reception
Mega Man X5 was generally well-received, with IGN giving the game an 8.5 out of 10. However, they added that though the game was fun to play, it was "more of the same" from Capcom, and that Mega Man, like many other series made by Capcom, was being milked for as much as it was worth. GameSpot similarly commented that "Fans of the classic 2D games will no doubt find much to love in X5, while those who can't get into the aging conventions and mechanics probably won't care a great deal for it." The Official UK PlayStation Magazine said that the game was "unforgivably primitive".
According to the Japanese publication Famitsu, Mega Man X5 was the third best-selling video game in Japan during its release week at 46,033 copies sold. It placed at number eight the following week with an additional 22,963 copies sold. Media Create sales information showed that the game was 96th best-selling video game in Japan during 2000. Dengeki Online reported that Mega Man X5 sold a total of 215,687 copies in Japan by the end of 2001, listing it as the 132nd best-selling game of the year in the region. The game was eventually re-released as part of Sony's PlayStation The Best for Family range of budget titles in Japan. Toy Retail Sales Tracking (TRST) sales data showed that Mega Man X5 was the fifth best-selling PlayStation game in North America for the month of February 2001. The game was included on the North American Mega Man X Collection for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2006.
