Mega Man X6 Masochist Speedrun Part 05: Blizzard Wolfang

After Infinity Mijinion, this stage was a breeze. And don't punch me in the face yet, I could have gone for way worse puns than that.

This is one of my favourite stages, not just in X6, but in the entire series.

A lot of people seem to hate this stage, and tend to include in their "Why I hate X6" whine-o-ramas, but I've understood why. It's tricky, it's challenging, it's different - but never outright heartbreaking in its difficulty.

The big gimmick here is no wall climbing - except for the boss room.

This takes me out of my comfort zone, which is something I'm always looking for in an X game experience. And that's a big reason for these asinine challenges, as well. I guess a lot of players hate being taken out of their comfort zones.

Right off the bat, I can make a decision; whether wait multiple seconds at a time for the boulders to do their cycle - or hop my way through before they have time to appear.

Obviously, the former is not an option, so we go with the latter option.

This is done with a very specific rhythm. One that is pretty unforgiving on Xtreme. But it's nothing that can't be handled through repetition.

The second set of boulders is a bitch, however. I spent a lot of time figuring out a way to bypass them without taking damage, but much to my dismay, came up with nothing.

So, I'm stuck stopping my progress and looking like an idiot every time.

Except for that one boulder rolling towards me down a slope. That one can be zipped through, and it's pretty slick.

The ice cube sections aren't that difficult if you're not going for the Reploids - and even then, it's nothing too infuriating.

This stage - along with stages like Frost Walrus' stage in X4, Mattrex's stage in X5 - are what make these challenges so fun for me. It's endless fun to try and come up with ways to bypass enemies, optimize speed, and avoid damage. A lot of friends and people I know have asked me why I put myself through these stupid challenges. And it's shit like this. The drawing board aspect of this is what I find so fun. It's only the execution part that may cause me to pull my hair out.

But in the end, it's all in good fun. Even when it's Jet Stingray's level in X4, or Infinity Mijinion in X6.

What's not a challenge, however, is Wolfang himself. I've been struggling to come up with things to say about him.

Basically, he shows up, he exists, he gets shot, he dies.

And that's the end of Blizzard Wolfang.

Too bad a stage as cool as this ends with such a lame boss. At least the design is cool.

Next up is my absolute favourite level in the entire game. And it'll probably surprise many.

My video is at DLive