Armor Soldier using a Ride Armor
Ride Armor (ライドアーマー) is a giant mechanical armor that Reploids such as X, Zero, Vile, and Axl can ride in the Mega Man X series. Originally intended for civil engineering and transportation, it is also used for combat due to its strength and endurance. As the series went on, combat Ride Armors were also developed, each with different strengths and uses.
The player's character is safe in a Ride Armor, with the armor taking damage in their place. However, Ride Armors are not invincible, breaking down and exploding after taking several hits. In most appearances, Ride Armors can only be used in specific areas that ends with an obstacle impeding its passage, requiring the user to leave the Ride Armor behind due to it being unable to fit through a gap or climb a wall.
Appearances[]
Mega Man X[]
X can find two variations of civil engineering Ride Armor (土木作業用ライドアーマー)[1] to pilot: a green version in Chill Penguin's stage, and a red version in Sting Chameleon's stage and Sigma Stage 2.
This Ride Armor can walk, dash, and jump, but cannot climb walls. Since it wasn't created for combat, it can only attack with punches. It can take a maximum of 16 hits before breaking down; this makes the Ride Armor begin flashing white, until it eventually explodes and leaves the player unscathed. No more damage can be taken while flashing, meaning it is a good opportunity to "go berserk", as nothing else can negatively affect the Ride Armor.
The Armor Soldier enemies pilot Ride Armors as well, though with much less health. If the player destroys an Armor Soldier from afar before it can enter its Ride Armor, they can hijack it for themselves.
Vile also uses his own Ride Armors in boss battles. See the Vile's Ride Armors section for details.
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X[]
Ride Armor in Maverick Hunter X.
In Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, the Ride Armors are redesigned to resemble the ones from Mega Man X8, utilizing piston punches similar to the Ride Armor Cyclops. They have the same orange color in all stages. Once their energy is depleted, they stop moving instead of going berserk, leaving X no choice other than abandon it to explode.
Vile also pilots his own Ride Armor as a boss in Central Highway, and has access to a unique Ride Armor as a playable character. See the Vile's Ride Armors section for details.
Mega Man X2[]
Mega Man X2 introduces the Ride Armor type EG-2 custom "Rabbit" (ライドアーマータイプEG-2カスタム ｢ラビット｣), also known as Mobile Attack Armor,[2] a modified mining Ride Armor model once used for rock drilling.[1] Due to its higher destructive power and short-range flight, it was deployed for combat by Sigma's Mavericks, being used by the Rideroid G enemies.
The Ride Armor Rabbit is also available in both Mega Man Xtreme and Mega Man Xtreme 2, and as enemies in Mega Man X DiVE.
Mega Man Xtreme and Xtreme 2[]
The Ride Armor Rabbit from Mega Man X2 also appears in both Game Boy Color games. In Mega Man Xtreme 2, a new enemy Ride Armor that resembles the Ride Armor Hawk from Mega Man X3, but without the jet on its back. In addition, Sigma's final form the Sigma Beast, is a large Ride Armor.
Mega Man X3[]
Mega Man X3 takes the Ride Armor system further than any other game in the series. The Ride Armor type DRA-00[3] was developed for general purpose in the Hunter Base[1] and can be customized by finding three upgrades scattered throughout the stages that allow X to use a new model of Ride Armor: Chimera (キメラ Kimera), Kangaroo (カンガルー Kangarū), Hawk (ホーク Hōku), and Frog (フロッグ Furoggu). In the North American SNES manual, Ride Armor is named Robot Ride Armor, and the four Ride Armors from the game are said to be creations from Dr. Light that he set out alongside the Armor Parts from his capsules.[4]
Ride Armor can be deployed at a Robot Ride platform,[4] a large transfer device found in several stages. When X steps on one, he is prompted to choose from the Ride Armors available. Recalling a Ride Armor in the transfer device restores its energy; a new addition is that the Ride Armors have visible life gauges, making it easier to keep track of their energy. If a Ride Armor is destroyed, another one cannot be recalled until the player leaves the stage. All Ride Armors except the Frog short out upon entering water.
There are also Ride Armors used only by enemies: the DRA-00 and Goliath used by Vile MK-II, and the REX-2000 used by a Mad Joey.
Mega Man X4, X5 and X6[]
Ride Armor Raiden
Ride Armor Eagle
The Ride Armors in these three games is the same, and developed by the Repliforce.[1] There are two types, Raiden and Eagle, but only the Raiden appears in all three games, while the Eagle can only be used by the player in Mega Man X4.
Raiden (ライデン) - A melee combat Ride Armor. It is also used by enemies in Mega Man X4 and X5.
Eagle (イーグル) - A flight type Ride Armor that has higher stability in the air than the Ride Armor Hawk. A modified version named Eagle G appeared as an enemy in Mega Man X5.
In addition, though not referred as a Ride Armor, Iris' final form shares basic design with the Eagle.
Mega Man X7[]
Mega Man X7 features two Ride Armors, Gouden and Raiden II, that can be used by the player. There are also enemies with Ride Armors known as Proto Ride, and Vanishing Gungaroo uses a boxing Ride Armor, Kangaroo Ride (カンガルーライド), in the battle against him, modeled after a mother kangaroo and used in boxing competition.[5]
- Raiden II (ライデンII) - An improvement of the Raiden from Mega Man X4-X6. It has four legs and a drill arm, increasing its power.
- Gouden (ゴウデン) - A long range combat Ride Armor equipped with a cannon in the left arm and missile launchers in the back.
Mega Man X8[]
Mega Man X8 has five Ride Armors, two of which can be used by the player:
- Cyclops (サイクロプス) - A blue Ride Armor located in Bamboo Pandamonium's stage. It is a Ride Armor used to control electronic disasters in large facilities, being equipped with an "electromagnetic napalm gun" (電磁ナパーム砲) on the shoulder that can disable the EMC of electronic devices.[6][7] In combat it can be used to temporarily paralyze enemies. It can also hover for a short time, use powerful piston punches, and destroy enemies with its weight by stomping on them.
- Golem (ゴーレム) - A green Ride Armor used by enemy Guardroids in Bamboo Pandamonium's stage. It is similar to the Cyclops, but lacks the electromagnetic napalm gun on the shoulder. It is instead equipped with a drill as its right hand and a claw on the left hand. There is a small chance of only the pilot being destroyed, allowing the player to use the Ride Armor.
- Devil Bear[8] (デビルベア[9][10]) - A modified Ride Armor Golem used by Vile.
- Dice[11] (ダイス[12][13]) - Small Ride Armor used by the Metall Ride enemies in Earthrock Trilobyte's stage. It is used for civil engineering work. Naturally, this Ride Armor cannot be used by the player, since it is too small.
- An unnamed Ride Armor that appears in the background of Earthrock Trilobyte's and Gigabolt Man-O-War's stages. Its physical structures are similar to Golem, but equipped with claws on both arms to help with excavation and construction.
Mega Man X DiVE[]
Mega Man X DiVE features a variation of the Ride Armor Golem from Mega Man X8 with two shoulder-mounted missile launchers. While using the Ride Armor, the default attack is a punch with the claw arm, the first skill is a dash punch with the drill arm, and the second skill fires two missiles from the shoulder cannons. The weapon switch button is replaced by a button to leave the Ride Armor.
The Hunter Program (playable character) Vile MK-II can temporarily pilot the Goliath by using one of his Active Skills, and Tron Bonne's Gustaff functions similarly to a Ride Armor. Their victory animations change when they complete a stage riding the vehicle.
The normal Golem (without cannons) appears as Maverick Data (enemy character), and in later updates the Ride Armor Rabbit was introduced as Maverick Data. Additionally, REX-2000 appears as a mid-boss and boss in the game, and Vile, with his original appearance, pilots the Goliath as a boss character.
In the Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak event stage, "Tremble under the King of the Blood Moon!", the player can ride a Tigrex variant of REX-2000.
Additionally, the weapon Beam Machine Gun, known as Gouden Rifle (ゴウデンライフル Gōden Raifuru) in Japanese, is based on Gouden's weapon; while the weapon Light Wave Cannon, known as Ride Launcher (ライドランチャー Raido Ranchā) in Japanese, is based on Cyclops' electromagnetic napalm gun. The missile launcher of the Mega Man X DiVE Ride Armor is featured as the standalone weapon Energy Cannon, known as Common Launcher (コモンランチャー Komon Ranchā) in Japanese, which fires an energy shell instead of a missile.
Other appearances[]
- Ride Armors appeared in Battle Memory from Rockman Xover.
- Ride Armors appeared in several cards from TEPPEN. Besides Mega Man X characters, Momo and Nico repaired and used a Kangaroo and Chimera Ride Armor, respectively, the latter customizing her Ride Armor.
- The Ride Armor Rabbit appeared as a Support Card in Dragon Poker.
Vile's Ride Armors[]
Vile is infamous for using Ride Armor throughout the series. His very first appearance in Mega Man X is in a near-indestructible blue Ride Armor that can grab and destroy Reploids with ease. However, Zero blasts the arm off this one, forcing Vile to retreat into the Death Rogumer. Vile uses another Ride Armor against X and Zero in Sigma Stage 1, this one with a dark purple chassis. He captures Zero and overpowers X, but Zero breaks free and destroys this armor too by self-destructing.
In Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, Vile's usage of Ride Armor as a playable character differs from X. His custom Ride Armor, scattered throughout stages, is equipped with a powerful machine gun on the left hand similar to the Vulcan Triple 7; the trade-off is that Vile is can only pilot the armor for 32 seconds. The timer gauge depletes faster when the armor takes damage, but can be extended by collecting Weapon Energy. If the timer runs out, or if Vile jumps out of the Ride Armor, it self-destructs.
When Vile is resurrected as Vile MK-II in Mega Man X3, X can warp to his stage from capsules hidden throughout three Maverick stages. There X faces Vile, who pilots Ride Armor DRA-00,[14] a black Kangaroo, for the first bout. Once it is destroyed, Vile fights X on foot. If Vile is not destroyed with his weakness in this battle, he reappears in Doppler Stage B with a powerful new Ride Armor called Goliath (known as Brown Bear in Japan). X must destroy the Goliath Ride Armor before fighting Vile on foot once more.
Vile V uses the Devil Bear in Mega Man X8, a modified black Ride Armor Golem, when the Hunters face him in the Sigma Palace's entrance hall. The Devil Bear armor is indestructible, but executing a Guard Break temporarily knocks Vile off of it, allowing the characters to fight him normally until he returns to piloting it again. In Hard Mode, Vile and his Devil Bear preoccupy the reserve character after the boss battle, forcing the other character to traverse the rest of the Sigma Palace alone.
When appearing as a boss in Mega Man X DiVE, Vile pilots Goliath to fight the player. As a playable Hunter Program, Vile MK-II is also able to summon Goliath and pilot it as one of his Active Skills.
Other media[]
Ride Armors appeared in the Rockman X manga series, Irregular Hunter Rockman X and Rockman X7 4Koma Manga Kingdom.
Rockman X Mega Mission 4[]
Zero's Gazelle Custom
Rockman X Mega Mission 4 features Gazelle Custom, a Ride Chaser able to transform into a Ride Armor. There are two variations piloted by X and Zero respectively.
Confuse A Stoner Himmel and Berg are capable of combining into a Ride Armor for Grow X.
Merchandise[]
Ride Armor Chimera from Super Minipla series
Vile's second Ride Armor from Super Minipla series
- The Chimera and Hawk Ride Armors from Mega Man X3 were made into a single convertable model kit for Bandai's Mega Armor model series.
- An apparent prototype for a D-Arts Ride Armor modeled after Vile's original Ride Armor from Mega Man X was displayed at a convention, but ultimately no toy was ever released.
- Bandai has released miniatures of Ride Armor in various toylines: Rockman Machine (regular version packed with X and Vile's Ride Armor packed with Vile), Rockman Ride (featuring all player's Ride Armors from the first three games), Rockman Select (Rabbit, packed with X).
- In September 2018, the Chimera and Kangaroo Ride Armors from Mega Man X3, along with Vile's second Ride Armor from Mega Man X (which also comes with Hawk Ride Armor parts) were made into convertable model kits for Bandai's Super Minipla series. They are compatible with X and Vile minifigures from the 66 Action Dash Volume 2 set.
- In June 2019, Good Smile Company released a Nendoroid version of Ride Armor Rabbit.
Trivia[]
- In the iPhone port of Mega Man X, the player can earn an achievement for hitting Vile's blue Ride Armor 32 times.
- Vile's Ride Armor in Mega Man X8, the Devil Bear, is shown to be capable of movement without Vile physically sitting at the controls. Vile spends the entirety of his time controlling the Devil Bear standing atop its cockpit, and rising on its own to return to him after it has recovered, implying a remote-controlled connection.
- In Mega Man X8, the Ride Armor has its own theme, which plays for as long as the player controls it.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Compendium of Rockman X pages 184-185
- ↑ Mega Man X2 SNES manual of North America version
- ↑ Staff roll of Mega Max X3
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mega Man X3 SNES manual
- ↑ Rockman X7 Official Guidebook - pp. 130-134
- ↑ Compendium of Rockman X page 140
- ↑ Rockman X8 Kyūkyoku Complete Guide - p. 58
- ↑ Sepelak, Greg (2004) Mega Man X8 Official Strategy Guide. pg.90. BradyGAMES Publishing
- ↑ Rockman X8 Kyūkyoku Complete Guide - p. 179
- ↑ Rockman X8 Hisshou Kouryakuhou - p. 24
- ↑ Sepelak, Greg (2004) Mega Man X8 Official Strategy Guide. pg.107. BradyGAMES Publishing
- ↑ Rockman X8 Kyūkyoku Complete Guide - p. 155
- ↑ Rockman X8 Hisshou Kouryakuhou - p. 116
- ↑ Rockman X Chō Hyakka (ロックマンX 超百科), page 59.