"Mega Man X" received criticism from some publications as well. Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, and Al Manuel of the "EGM" review panel all noted that the game may have too low a difficulty level; Semrad disliked the introductory stage and felt that the game was too short as well. "Super Play" editor Zy Nicholson lowered his review score of the game because he found the levels were neither large nor challenging. "A few elementary tricks like repeating easy sections to recoup energy and weapon power will see you through the harder bits," Nicholson explained. "Within the level you'll also find restart points, extra lives, and no harsh time limit to put pressure on your performance. Couple this with a password system that records your level completion, status and weapon accumulation and you'll see we're not looking at a lasting challenge for the experienced player." "Nintendo Power" criticized how little the game had changed stating that "the theme remains the same as the Game Boy and NES Mega Man titles."