Rockman X i-Mode Port Preserved, Online Leaderboards Revived

Hey, Mega Man fans! This is RockmanCosmo, the leader of SciLab Secrets – the team working to preserve lost Rockman games released on Japanese feature phones (keitai). I’m happy to announce that Yuvi, a member of the SciLab Secrets team, has preserved the Japanese-exclusive i-mode port of Rockman X! More than just a mobile port, it has online leaderboards, which are now revived thanks to Yuvi. Read on for more details and how you can play it right now!

An Overview of the i-Mode Port

Capcom re-released Rockman X for i-mode keitai devices on March 1, 2007, four years before the infamous iOS port. This version faithfully recreates the SNES graphics, with a rearranged soundtrack adapted for keitai hardware. You can modify the controls just like in the original, but the i-mode version offers additional customization options. If aiming on a flip phone is too tricky, the game provides auto-fire and auto-attack features. Interestingly, the iOS port is based on the keitai version, with the tilesets being identical—only upscaled for iOS.

 

Online Leaderboards!

The most notable addition to this port is the online ranked mode, an obscure feature with almost no footage available until now. This mode is entirely separate from the main game. You play through each stage, fully equipped with all special weapons and armor parts, but each stage has a time limit shown by a bar at the top of the screen. After completing a stage and defeating its boss, your score is tallied based on completion time, health, and enemies defeated. Your overall score is the sum of individual level scores, which can be viewed separately in the stage select screen. You can then submit your total score to an online leaderboard, featuring both monthly and overall rankings.

How to Play the Game Today

Yuvi preserved the game from a discarded N904i using the same method we used to dump our Rockman keitai games last December. As an expert in reviving dead game servers, he also brought the i-mode X1 leaderboards back to life, giving you the opportunity to post your score online!

A portable emulator and instructions on getting the ranked mode running can be found here (labeled as “RockmanX_PortableEmulator”). However, it's important to note that the DoJa 5.1 SDK's emulation capabilities aren't flawless, with frequent audio stuttering and performance issues. You can fix the audio bugs by entering and exiting the options menu, which resets the audio track. For a smoother experience, I recommend using a tool like Joy2Key to play with a controller. In the meantime, team member XerTheSquirrel is developing SquirrelJME, an inclusive Java Micro Edition emulator to support DoJa apps. Once completed, all i-mode games will operate on a more stable framework.

I hope you enjoy playing through yet another previously-lost piece of history!