Mega Man ZX

"ZX: a new chapter in the everyflowing megaman series"

Let's get this straight, I love mega man games ever since I picked up mmx on SNES. Now granted, the series has had it times of bad sequels but it always has somehow managed to continue on regardless.

Anyway, ZX is the new series proceeding the events of the MM Zero games. For those of you who haven't played the Zero series, it was a nice and challenging set of games that set up a unique system for the MM genre starring one of my favorite heroes.

Anyway, back to ZX, I really enjoy the new setting for a change. Instead of doing the whole 'Select your area' from the X games the game is set up in a gigatnic world map similar to Castlevania and Metroid games. This sounds and flows well at the begining until you realize that there is almost no sense of direction. I'll put it this way, you are told to do a mission but aren't really showed where it is. Usually, this isn't much of a problem until you realize that the areas are really hard to find without help. The areas are labeled by a letter and a number. Logically, one would think that you could get to Area F-1 through somewhere in Area E, but this is not how it works, instead the entrance is located in Area B. Confusing? Yes.

However, the gameplay still remains great even after all these years. You play as either Vent or Aile who finds out about biometals that can make them transform into the legendary reploids of the past. At the begining you start out with X which is, of course, the MMX armor. Soon after a sad meeting with your boss, you'll receive model ZX which is supposed to be a mixture of Zero and X I suppose but it ends up looking like Zero from the GBA games. Anyway, you go on looking for other biometals from mavericks that are using their purposes for evil. Yes, I know it sounds bad but what do you expect from the MM games, it's always been about love and peace between man and machine.

The storyline is very very predictable, much like most MM games, but they've added some anime cutscenes that are kind of cool. It's the same thing we've been hearing about since Wiley in the original MM. It is interesting though how they place the events and storyline of Zero series into this. People who played that series will see some references to this including a secret boss battle with Omega from 3.

Aside from map problems, this game is really good and a must have for those who enjoy MM games in general. The only real problem I had with the game is the fact that it is very easy to get lost. If you can get past that then you have a great gameplay experience for the DS.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/06