Rate and Discuss: Eagle Ride Armor

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Offline AquaTeamV3

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on: November 20, 2009, 03:15:07 AM


Welcome to the 7th topic in the 'Rate and Discuss' series.  This topic is about a Ride Armor that really lives up to it's name, the Eagle!

The Eagle Ride Armor made it's first (and only) appearance in Megaman X4.  It was available in 2 stages; Storm Owl (Part 1) and Final Weapon (after defeating Double/Iris).  It pretty much had the same basic appearance as Raiden did, with a few differences here and there; it was blue in color (instead of pink), with two rather large wings behind it, and it also had a rather large buster on it's left arm.  

True to it's name, the Eagle had very advanced aerial capabilities.  It was capable of both an air-dash and a hover, like X's foot part, but the abilities here were much more advanced.  The Eagle's hover was infinite, and it even lasted if you were to get hit, although you would lose a little altitude.  This was particularly useful when you simply wanted to fly over minor enemies below, or over a pit.  The air-dash was pretty nice as well; it traveled farther than X/Zero's and was surprisingly quick despite the bulk of the armor.  This was a pretty decent way to get around, and was particularly useful when you didn't want to find yourself roasted by one of Storm Owl's ships.

The Eagle wasn't without a good offense, as it had plenty of power to back itself up.  The standard attack of the armor was to fire moderately sized pink shots.  These were pretty handy on their own, but the real beauty of this armor was the charged shot.  It fired 3 homing plasma shots that more or less tore through any enemy.  They were pretty accurate in terms of homing; if there were no enemies on screen, the shots would simply spin around a bit before flying off, as if they were just waiting for something else to show up.  You could even charge and fire the shot while hovering, which gave you a considerable amount of power from the air.

Overall, the Eagle was a pretty solid Ride Armor, IMO one of the best in the series.  A couple of the Ride Armors had given X aerial capabilities before (Hawk and Rabbit), but the Eagle felt a lot more fleshed out overall.  It's a shame you weren't able to bring this thing into battle against a Maverick like you could with Raiden, would've been a blast.  I'd have to give the Eagle a perfect 10!

Post your opinions/ratings/thoughts here!

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Offline Black Mage J

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Reply #1 on: November 20, 2009, 03:17:53 AM
Ah I remember that armor, ducking under the cannons then blasting them with the laser. It was pretty easy getting through with that armor, in the end I liked it, which reminds me they should really get megaman X4 on the PSN.....
In the end, cool armor.



Offline Flame

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Reply #2 on: November 20, 2009, 04:37:28 AM
Most underused Ride armor ever. Also, it wasnt prior do fighting Double Iris, it was after. Before fighting General. It was in the second half of the stage, in the lower split route.

I wish they'd use it again. I mean, hell, X7 had the Raiden ll. I want an Eagle ll. :(
But yeah. very usefull. The only downside it had, but which wasnt relly significant, was that if you charged while on the ground, you were immobile, just like all ride armors. (except Cyclops) But it didnt matter, since if you charged while hovering, you could still move around.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline AquaTeamV3

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Reply #3 on: November 20, 2009, 05:19:50 AM
Most underused Ride armor ever. Also, it wasnt prior do fighting Double Iris, it was after. Before fighting General. It was in the second half of the stage, in the lower split route.

My bad. For whatever reason I thought 'prior' referred to after instead of before.

Speaking of Iris, wasn't she using a modified Eagle armor? (It sure looked like one.)  It was a lot more overpowered, obviously, and some details were changed (color, wing style is more dragon-like), but it still seemed a lot like it.

Quote
I wish they'd use it again.

That'd be pretty nice.  Despite X3's flaws, I did love it's Ride Armor system, and it would be nice to see it return, particularly if they brought some of the armors back in a future game (or some kind of remake).  It's a shame you didn't get to use this one more often, as it's a lot more fun to use than Raiden, which says a lot considering how useful Raiden is.



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Offline Nekomata

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Reply #4 on: November 20, 2009, 05:22:39 AM
you missed the con of being unable to move while charging on the ground D:



Offline AquaTeamV3

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Reply #5 on: November 20, 2009, 05:27:05 AM
you missed the con of being unable to move while charging on the ground D:

For some reason I never really thought of it as too much of a con, as Eagle's a sitting duck on the ground, anyway.

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Offline Flame

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Reply #6 on: November 20, 2009, 05:53:45 AM
you missed the con of being unable to move while charging on the ground D:
Probably because every armor with the exception of Cyclops cant move while charging.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


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Reply #7 on: November 20, 2009, 05:56:27 AM
Sorry, but I must respectfully disagree here.  For PB does not want Ride Armor that shoot things.  PB wants a Ride Armor that, when an enemy approaches, he can PUNCH THE [tornado fang] OUT OF IT!



Offline Flame

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Reply #8 on: November 20, 2009, 05:59:52 AM
:\ well you have the rest of the X series election barring Frog, Hawk, Eagle, and the blue X7 one for that. But shooter or not, the Eagle is underused. it had potential. would have made some interesting segments in X5. along with a lava area that requires a ride armor on you, there could have been a sky area that requires the Eagle to cross.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline AquaTeamV3

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Reply #9 on: November 20, 2009, 06:29:16 AM
But shooter or not, the Eagle is underused. it had potential. would have made some interesting segments in X5. along with a lava area that requires a ride armor on you, there could have been a sky area that requires the Eagle to cross.

That could've been an interesting take on Mattrex's stage.  The top portion could've been given the Eagle armor, and you'd get to do aerial battle with that dragon.  That'd actually be kind of fun!

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Offline Flame

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Reply #10 on: November 20, 2009, 06:37:23 AM
No, I meant as in lets say- Skivver's stage. instead of that diagonal lift, it could have been straight and had you use the Eagle over a large basically, bottomless pit.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline AquaTeamV3

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Reply #11 on: November 20, 2009, 06:57:13 AM
That could work too.  I guess if that was the case, you'd probably have to avoid being hit too much as you could potentially lose too much altitude, provided the Ride Armor doesn't explode outright.  Still, it could be an interesting challenge. 

Too bad they ditched the armor and stuck with Raided for 3 games (4 counting X7); I'm pretty sure they could find some other applications for Eagle, seeing as how they've pretty much shown us how resilient these things are.  Raiden's been tested against stuff like compactors and extreme temperatures, so I'm pretty sure there could be some future application for it.  I wonder how it would fare in a Megaman 8-like Rush Jet scenario, where you get to fly it long distances.

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Offline Hypershell

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Reply #12 on: November 20, 2009, 06:39:02 PM
Great ideas, for sure.  But I think to give an Eagle-required segment any depth, at least one major enemy you face should have some sort of counter-attack if you hit them at the wrong time.  Otherwise the hover/charge spam is pretty much unbeatable.

As for Mattrex's stage, as bizarre as it sounds that's probably the only phenomenon in all of gaming that has ever made me miss auto-scrolling.  Ordinarily my feelings towards auto-scrolling range from indifferent to annoyed, but when a giant dragon is behind you, the fact that it moves with you kinda kills the atmosphere.

Speaking of Iris, wasn't she using a modified Eagle armor? (It sure looked like one.)  It was a lot more overpowered, obviously, and some details were changed (color, wing style is more dragon-like), but it still seemed a lot like it.
Well, considering how similar Eagle and Raiden look, it'd be hard to say.  The only thing that distinguishes Eagle from Raiden, visually, is the wings which Iris does not share, and the buster.

Technically she's not supposed to be using Ride Armor at all but rather became the "ultimate soldier" by installing her brother's chip.  But yeah, most of that body save wings and head is obviously lifted and recolored from Ride Armor.

Sorry, but I must respectfully disagree here.  For PB does not want Ride Armor that shoot things.  PB wants a Ride Armor that, when an enemy approaches, he can PUNCH THE [tornado fang] OUT OF IT!
I dunno.  In X3 I'd have said the same thing.  But a 3-spread-seeker charged shot from an infinite hover is damn awesome and wonderfully broken no matter how you look at it.

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Offline Protoman Blues

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Reply #13 on: November 20, 2009, 11:50:37 PM
I dunno.  In X3 I'd have said the same thing.  But a 3-spread-seeker charged shot from an infinite hover is damn awesome and wonderfully broken no matter how you look at it.

Granted, but you still had the option of Punching the [tornado fang] out of something!  X3 has the best Ride Armors, IMO.



Offline Hypershell

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Reply #14 on: November 20, 2009, 11:58:52 PM
you still had the option of Punching the [tornado fang] out of something!
That's my point; in X3 I tend to take Kangaroo over Hawk.

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Offline AquaTeamV3

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Reply #15 on: November 21, 2009, 12:07:18 AM
Great ideas, for sure.  But I think to give an Eagle-required segment any depth, at least one major enemy you face should have some sort of counter-attack if you hit them at the wrong time.  Otherwise the hover/charge spam is pretty much unbeatable.

Yeah, at least with Raiden you had competition from those enemy Ride Armors in X4/5, although they weren't too much of a threat, either.

Quote
As for Mattrex's stage, as bizarre as it sounds that's probably the only phenomenon in all of gaming that has ever made me miss auto-scrolling.  Ordinarily my feelings towards auto-scrolling range from indifferent to annoyed, but when a giant dragon is behind you, the fact that it moves with you kinda kills the atmosphere.

With the high amount of nostalgia packed into X5, it makes me wonder if they were going for a MM2 Mech Dragon scenario, although they'd be doing it wrong due to lack of auto-scroll as mentioned.

Granted, but you still had the option of Punching the [tornado fang] out of something!  X3 has the best Ride Armors, IMO.

Kangaroo was pretty much superior to all of the other ones IMO, as it rendered Chimera useless, and I didn't find Hawk all too attractive outside of getting a certain item.  Frog was pointless even while underwater, as that irritating hopping just killed it for me.  I'd have to give X8 the prize for best Ride Armor if only because it was the first one to successfully capture the 'feel' of being inside of an armored mech.  Bullets bouncing off of you, crushing things underfoot; that's what Ride Armors are made of!

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Offline Protoman Blues

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Reply #16 on: November 21, 2009, 12:12:09 AM
Also, there's nothing wrong with Broken Ride Armors.  I still say Rush Jet needs to go back to it's MM3 Broken roots!



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Reply #17 on: November 21, 2009, 12:58:17 AM
I still say Rush Jet needs to go back to it's MM3 Broken roots!

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Offline Flame

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Reply #18 on: November 22, 2009, 12:50:08 AM
Frog was only useful to get close enough to the surface of the water so you could get X to splash jump to that (was it item or capsule? dont remember)

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Nekomata

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Reply #19 on: November 22, 2009, 12:53:58 AM
i think it was a subtank and an option part.



Offline Hypershell

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Reply #20 on: November 22, 2009, 12:55:40 AM
Not quite.  Kangaroo's on left side of the water and the Leg Hyper Chip is on the right.  And you don't really need Frog for that; charged Frost Shield works just as well.

The main point of using Frog was breaking the fans causing the current in that area.  And possibly Ride Armor for the sake of Ride Armor in Doppler's Lab, IF you already killed Vile.

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Offline Flame

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Reply #21 on: November 22, 2009, 01:06:53 AM
The doppler segment can be cleared sans Frog though. Actually, it only is useful if you want to destroy the turtles.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Nekomata

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Reply #22 on: November 22, 2009, 01:08:41 AM
Not quite.  Kangaroo's on left side of the water and the Leg Hyper Chip is on the right.
they look like subtanks >>



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Reply #23 on: November 22, 2009, 01:11:15 AM
Frog is just crap. Obviously it's worthless outside of water, but even in water it's horribly limited, only possibly saved by being an actually working ride armor underwater and homing projectile attack. The "swimming" ability is wonky to control and very restricted in length/height/direction.



Offline AquaTeamV3

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Reply #24 on: November 22, 2009, 03:45:28 AM
Frog is just crap. Obviously it's worthless outside of water, but even in water it's horribly limited, only possibly saved by being an actually working ride armor underwater and homing projectile attack. The "swimming" ability is wonky to control and very restricted in length/height/direction.

I don't see why they didn't just give it a swimming ability and leave it at that.  It feels more clunky to control than Bitfrost, and that's pretty clunky!  As Hyper said, the charged Frost Shield remedies this problem entirely, until you realize that the buster part is pure garbage, and now you're back at square one.

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