Protoman 21XX is a slick Mega Man X romhack that swaps out X for his mysterious older brother, and honestly? It works way better than it should. The first thing you’ll notice is Protoman’s moveset—he’s got this quick-slash buster shot and a dash that feels just a little tighter than X’s. The levels are remixed just enough to keep you on your toes, throwing in new enemy placements and some sneaky shortcuts if you’re paying attention.

Boss fights are where it really shines, though. They’ve tweaked the patterns, so even if you’ve played the original a hundred times, you’ll still get caught off guard. The alpha tag means there’s some jank here and there (expect a weird sprite or two), but the core gameplay is solid. If you’ve ever wanted to see Protoman actually get his own game, this is the closest thing we’ve got.