Mega Man Zero

"Flirts with being great, but is brought down by minor flaws"

Contrary to what cynics tell us, Mega Man actually has changed a great deal during all these years. But the most fundamental core principles of Mega Man has never changed.

Mega Man X was full of all sorts of new ideas never seen before (at least in a Mega Man game) and even changed the setting and time period, but it still was a game about a blue midget fighting 8 differently themed bosses and copying their weapons.

But Mega Man Zero is different. It dumbs the VWS (Variable Weapon System) altogether and introduces the Cyber Elves with the power of change. Also, the arm cannon is dumped in the favour of different weapons. MMZ is the first mega man game to ditch Mega Man's fundamental principles without changing the genre altogether.

OVERVIEW:

Mega Man Zero is a two-dimensional, non-linear amalgamation of a platformer and shoot 'em up.

CATCH:

Mega Man Zero dumbs VWS altogether in favour of different weapons and elemental chips. The main innovation of MMZ, however, are Cyber Elves. These little creatures can enhance Zero, provide support, change surroundings and hinder enemies.

GRAPHICS:

Mega Man Zero uses somewhat simpler graphical style than Mega Man X, some what resembling the overhyped Cel Shading technology. Zero himself is much less intricate than he was in Mega Man X, and the beast-like Reploids are more edgy and robot-like in appearance. This fits GBA quite well, certainly better than MMX's intricate, highly detailed graphics would had looked like in a hand held.

SOUND:

MMZ's sound effects and music is exactly what you would expect from a Mega Man game, so no complaints here. As a side note, the music of the title screen and the first stage is actually a remix of Zero's theme from Mega Man X1.

GAMEPLAY:

Zero, as master of weaponry, uses all sorts of weapons in stead of the arm cannon. He has 4 weapons (Z-Buster, Z-Sabre, Triple Rod and Shield Boomerang) from which he can equip two weapons at time. They can equipped with elemental chip, that a special effect to your charged attacks.

Unfortunately, you will be using all too familiar Z-Buster and Z-Sabre about 96 % of the time, since Triple Rod and Shield Boomerang are rarely any use. Also, Zero starts at base skill with all weapons, so Zero will suck harder than X at swordplay when you first get the Sabre. To get better with weapons, you must kill tons of enemies with them, needlessly prolonging the game with tedious powerleveling. This makes the T. Rod and B. Shield look even worse, since leveling the Z weapons is arduous enough task, and spending an another hour just to level up weapons that you don't use anyway seems fairly pointless.

The Cyber Elves have wide range of effects. The most boring ones heal you or do other generic stuff. Some of them have effects similar to Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks and enhancement chips. Some of the more peculiar ones work like familiars from Castleroids (Any Castlevania like Symphony of the Night) or save you from pits. But definitely the most interesting ones are those who allow to "break" the game. Whether you want to turn all enemies to Metools, make spikes disappear or make the boss easier, it can be done.

Unfortunately, Cyber Elves will perish after use, and can not be brought back. Also, using Cyber Elves will lower your score, discouraging the use of some of the more vaguely defined Cyber Elves. For example, how will I know is Beesus worth of taking 5 minus points before actually using it? And, if I use it now, it will be gone for good. Is this really the best time for supporting fire, or should I save it later? What if I just don't bother with it at all?

But the worst thing with Cyber Elves is the tedium of raising them. The best Cyber Elves require crystals to become available, and they usually take some where around 500-2000 crystals (average amount of crystals found during one mission: 28). Some of them even have two levels of evolution. Getting enough crystals can take hours upon hours of arduous power leveling. It's like River City Ransom, but even worse. Actually, Capcom could have made MMZ in to a MMORPG, because it seriously is half way there already.

The level design is bit subpar for a Mega Man game. There is less variety than in most post-MM5 games, and there is more of frustrating jumping sections. The level design is still better than in your average Super Mario Bros reject, and there is stage where you face the boss before the stage. Time limits are used occasionally, which is rare for a Mega Man game.

CHALLENGE:

Mega Man Zero is known for it's high level of difficulty, and MMZ seriously is hard. Mostly thanks to gratuitous use of spikes and pits. Dying is extra punishing since you have to restart the entire f*cking stage, unless you made it to the boss. Bosses themselves aren't that hard, really. The only really hard bosses are Aztec Falcon, Pantheon Core, Harpuia, Rainbow Devil and the final boss.

STORY:

Zero, a Legendary maverick hunter, is awakened from his slumber by a underground resistance movement. Their leader, Ciel, tells Zero that his old friend, X, has begun to indiscriminately exterminate innocent Reploids as Mavericks. Ciel requests Zero's assistance, who agrees to fight against his former friend.

An alright story, though a bit predictable. Everything is told with text, which is OK, but could have used some imagery to support it. It would have been cool to have a picture of Neo Arcadia or some thing.

LONGEVITY:

If you ignore power leveling, this game takes vicinity of 2 hours to beat. Even little power leveling will double the play time, however. There is Hard, Jackson and Ultimate Modes for people who care about such stuff, I didn't bother.

CONCLUSION:

Mega Man Zero could have been a great game, but ends up being a tedious game where you spend all too much time killing respawning spiders or beating up a pole. The acclaimed difficulty of MMZ bases mostly on frustration, unlike X3 where it based on skill.

Well, at least it is a innovative misfire, rather than just derivative misfire like X4. But it is still a misfire. Mega Man Zero 2 is better in all respects, go play it in stead.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06