Topic: Maverick Hunter X: SUPER hard mode save now available:

[bowsersenemy]

First off, i used action replay to pull this off. second, no, it's not a new mode, but a specialy done version of hard mode.

you can fight all the bosses, from the first vile to sigma.
you have NO heart tanks
you have NO sub tanks
you have Dr. Light's buster upgrade (weaker of the two)
you DO NOT have the leg upgrade
you DO NOT have the helmet upgrade
you DO NOT have the armor upgrade
you have all enemy weapons (although, for more challenge, don't use them)
The save takes up slot 6, but you're welcome to change it

HAVE FUN!

http://www.box.net/shared/lhcbz24d6d

[Hiryu]

It says corrupted data whenever In try to access it.

[Satoryu]

So it's just hard mode without collecting anything other than a mandatory buster upgrade. Why would you Action Replay that? You can do that yourself with the main game. It ain't that easy, but you can do it.

[bowsersenemy]

possible? i'd like to see someone pull it off. to my knowledge, the ONLY way to do it, is if you get zero's buster. to my knowledge, you NEED the leg upgrade to reach Dr. Light's buster upgrade. it's the weaker one, so that's the one i went with. hence the need for action replay. granted, if i could have found a way to dissable even that, i would have. but you'd probably be forced to take zero's upgrade.

now then. an issue with corrupt data? i may have a fix. for one, try downloading it from the saves section at gamefaqs. i got it put up there. second, try downloading it to one spot, then leave it there, download it to the same spot again, overwriting the old file. i know it sounds crazy, but i had to do that once to get a save file for Full Auto 2 to work.

[Satoryu]

Hmm. I thought you could get up there without the dash boots. Maybe from enemy knockback? Or maybe I'm getting it mixed up with Vile, who can make it up there unassisted.

[bowsersenemy]

hey, can someone test my gamefaqs file to make sure it works properly? after hearing about the one version of the file not working, it makes me wonder. i'd test it myself, but i accidentaly dropped my PSP, and well... may it rest in peace. i plan on getting a new one, of course, but in the mean time, it'd be nice to know my gamefaqs file isn't corrupted. oh, and like mentioned in an above post of mine, you may need to download a copy of the save over another copy to make it work. i've had that trouble from gamefaqs before on a Full Auto 2 save file.

[Hypershell]

to my knowledge, you NEED the leg upgrade to reach Dr. Light's buster upgrade.

Correct as far as I know.  None of X's weapons will stall him in midair, so you can't physics-exploit your way there in Vile/PS1 style.

However...

it's the weaker one, so that's the one i went with.

Now that I'm finally equipped with a PSP myself, I feel compelled to point out that this is a glaring half-truth.  The Spiral Charge and Z-Buster are in fact equal in total attack strength.  The only difference is that the Spiral Charge divides that strength into two shots, giving the Z-Buster the advantage against bosses (barrier mechanics allow only one shot to hit).  But the Spiral Charge's spread can be useful against stage enemies.  Either way, pit both against a Mega Tortoise, and they'll do the exact same damage (sadly you'd need both COMBINED to match the SNES original ).

For practicality's sake, the Z-Buster doesn't really make the game any easier.  First of all it can only be obtained extremely late in the game, when you have only D-Rex, Velgauder, and Sigma left in your way.  By comparison having the Spiral Charge the entire game would be much easier (ESPECIALLY from the standpoint of charging special weapons; charged Rolling Shield is positively broken in this game).  Second, while the Z-Buster technically out-damages weakness weapons against bosses (4 vs 3), the extremely long charge time diminishes its usefulness.  It will only save you three hits (8 vs 11), and you will spend much, much more time charging for those 8 Z-Buster hits than you would rapid-firing your 11 special weapon hits.

And since that's your only reason for having to hack the save file...yeah.  A legitimate Z-Buster run otherwise devoid of power-ups would actually be far more difficult, seeings how your arms are unenhanced until the second to last stage in the game.