It is a sub-series of the Mega Man franchise previously developed by the same group with Keiji Inafune acting as one of the main staff members.

When these reploids begin to go "Maverick" and start to rebel against the humans under the command of Sigma, X decides to make up for his creations by joining the Hunters.

[4] Sigma continues using his power and a virus to create more conflicts with the Maverick Hunters and attempt to destroy the planet in the process.

[8] Capcom expressed their desire to portray X and Zero as stronger versions in this spin-off of their previous incarnations even if they come across as out-of-character to the audience.

[59][60] Rockman XZ: Time Rift was first revealed in September 2020 on NebulaJoy's official website, which included the game's logo.

Shortly after footage of the game leaked online,[62] it was announced that the title was cancelled in August due to the underperformance of Devil May Cry: Pillar of Combat.

[63] The original Mega Man series on the NES consisted of 2D platform games that focus on run-and-gun gameplay.

[68] Upgrades common to each game are increased maximum hit points, "sub-tanks" which can be filled with surplus health pick-ups and then used at any time to refill the character's hit points, and the ability to charge weapons earned from bosses, which gives them an enhanced secondary fire mode.

Rather than acquiring weapons from the bosses (with the exception of his Giga Attack), Zero learns special techniques that do not require ammo such as the "Hienkyaku" air-dash and "Kuuenbu" double-jump.

[20] In the original Mega Man series, Inafune typically designed the protagonist while his protégé Hayato Kaji handled the supporting characters.

Inafune felt that Mega Man had always represented a classic action game formula in which the hero earns his defeated enemies' abilities; the armor parts were added to supplement this concept.

[75] Starting with Mega Man X2, Inafune wanted to use a computer virus as a plot device, something he considered a more interesting idea than a tangible villain.

[76] Originally, the Mega Man X3 team had no plans to provide a sequel until their superiors from Capcom aimed to try the X series on new hardware.

In order to get the approval to make Zero playable, the developers gave him special moves based on the Street Fighter fighting game series to compensate for lacking X's powers.

[77] Instead of presenting Repliforce as blatantly evil villains like Sigma, the writing staff decided to leave them some "moral leeway".

[79] Suetsugu believed that the navigator Alia might be the most fitting heroine in the series in contrast to the tragic Iris from Mega Man X4.

[81] Kitabayashi explained that transitioning the character models of Mega Man X from 2D to 3D graphics was a challenge, but that including both 2D and 3D gameplay was not, as they had planned to have them in equal amounts for the game.

[82] The development team took into account the less-than-favorable reception for Mega Man X6, but instead of simply trying to make the next game new and fresh with 3D graphics, they decided to focus on "getting 3D right".

Similar to his previous work in X7, Yoshikawa wanted the designs to pander to his feelings about the first Mega Man X game while still following his own ideas too.

[83] The three main characters were revised for Mega Man X8 as Yoshikawa planned to give them more unique features to contrast their personalities.

[84] In Maverick Hunter X, the player can unlock an OVA called The Day of Sigma that details the events leading up to the first level, including Sigma turning Maverick;[85] it was produced by Xebec (who also produced MegaMan NT Warrior and Mega Man Star Force)[86][87] and later included in the Legacy Collection.

[91] An original story featuring elements from the first Mega Man X game called Irregular Hunter Rockman X by Shigeto Ikehara ran from 1994[92] to 1995 and was collected into two volumes.

The magazine also published several one-shots, including one based on the Mega Mission carddass series by Hitoshi Ariga[93] and an original self-contained story called Team X Shutsujin seyo!!

[128][129] Mega Man X5 was generally well-received as an appealing sidescroller, although several sites commented that it did not contribute new major ideas to the franchise.

The SNES version sold 1.165 million copies worldwide as of 2001[update],[142] IGN's Jeremy Dunham speculated that the game's more mature storyline and its inclusion of numerous gameplay extensions over the original Mega Man series helped create a "unique cadre of fans".

[143] The story is notable for being more violent than the predecessors with stages and bosses also looking scarier[144][145][146][147] Capcom producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya played the first Mega Man X in his youth, enjoying the successor to the first Mega Man character, X, due to he having new unique skills, helping to popularize the "golden age of action games".

[148] X's characterization was often praised for coming across as a unique tragic hero similar to Hayao Miyazaki's works as well as dystopian works in general, compared to Ghost in the Shell, Casshan,[149] as well as other famous gaming icons like 2B from Nier Automata, and Raiden from Metal Gear, who question the nature of his missions.

Alexander expressed feeling guilty upon completing the game as the final narration highlighted X's depression over the chaos of war.