Mega Man ZX

"A blast into the past and a shooter for the future! Mega Man ZX is here!"

Mega Man X and his pal Zero make a fantastic return in this Nintendo DS installment. Well, sort of. Mega Man ZX is indeed a Mega Man game, but for those who have never played a Mega Man Zero game, this will be a new type of adventure. Still, with so many throwbacks and references to other Mega Man games, any fan will enjoy this game. It is marred with some problems, mainly the difficulty, but if you like Mega Man, you'll enjoy Mega Man ZX.

The reason why I said X and Zero make a triumphant return is because you don't play as them. Instead, you chose to play as a transporter. Vent, the energetic boy with a flare for adventure, or Aile, the young girl who is pragmatic and smart. No matter who you chose, the adventure is the same and plays nearly the same way as other Mega Man games. Your character and your boss, Giro, are to transport a biometal to an organization called the Guardians. When Maveriks attack, the biometal chooses you to save the day. The biometal is the essence of an old reploid, Mega Man X. Later, you get the biometal of Zero. Vent and Aile have the ability to mega-merge, and become imbued with the powers that X and Zero have. So, as I said, they make a return, but not entirely.

But just because you are playing as someone who is not X or Zero, it doesn't mean that you will be at a loss as to how this game works. Mega Man X players will easily pick up the controls. While you do kill Maverik bosses, you don't obtain their power. Instead, you get a new biometal, which grants you an entirely new armor and weapon set! You can power up the armor at the Guardian HQ with E crystals you find throughout the many stages. There are eight bosses, and four armors. After you beat the second boss for a certain biometal, that armor gets new powers. Furthermore, by pressing the A button, you can do more damage with your regular attack in Overdrive mode. You can change which armor you are using with the push of a button, making for some of the most exciting game play in a Mega Man yet.

Unfortunately, half of these powers are useless. You are usually better of sticking to your Z saber and X buster attacks. The bosses do have weaknesses, but again, you're better off using the regular attacks. One of the more annoying things about the bosses is that they have a part of their body that receives more damage than the rest of the parts. The more you hit this, the more you have to pay to power up your armor. Still, the game play is very fun overall. When the main quests get to harrowing, you can do side missions to earn equipment items and more E crystals.

Now, onto the difficulty. This game is tough. I know that any game with the words mega and man next to each other tend to be harder, but this is borderline ridiculous. The problem comes with the unforgiving save system. At the save spots, you select your mission and then you can begin your mission. Now, if you make it to the boss, and run out of lives, you have to start all the way back at the beginning of where you last saved. Needless to say, this gets very annoying, very quickly. Not to mention that the mapping system is probably one of the most moronic I have ever seen in any video game. Navigation for a first time player is annoying.

With the graphics, the game is great. Classic 2D sprites in tons of side-scrolling environments will always be the recipe for success in any Mega Man game, and needless to say, ZX has that. There are tons of new enemies to face off against as well, and they all look great. Seeing the new armors in action is also one of the graphical high-lights. The dual screen is rarely used, but it makes little difference in this game. The voice acting has been done entirely in Japanese, which I found to be great. The music, of course, is amazing. No one knows how to make an OST better than the Mega Man crew, I'm convinced of it.

Finally, as any Mega Man player knows, this game has plenty of replay value and secrets to unlock. For those looking for a mega challenge, Hard mode is for you. You can also try a new character, to see how the dialogue sequences differ. No matter which way you go, you'll be coming back for more. There is always something to do in Mega Man ZX. To sum up this very choppy review, I highly recommend Mega Man ZX to any Mega Man fan and action game fan. It may not be the best in the history of Mega Man, but it is still a fun game, overall.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/06