Mega Man Zero

"Megaman Zero goes back to classic Megaman, but adds in its own unique twists"

It all started with a little blue robot fighting six decidedly meaner robots. Since then, Megaman has been pumping out the games left and right. While at first there was only the original series, when the SNES arrived Capcom decided to create the new Megaman X series. Since then, there's been no turning back. With the Legends (known as the Dash series in Japan) series arriving the next generation, three concurrent Megaman series were running. While outside of the singular original series “Megaman & Bass” game for the GBA that was a port of a previously Japanese only SNES game, no generation has since had three concurrent series, the GBA did usher in a new era of Megaman with two brand new series.The Megaman Zero and Megaman Battle Network games. Today, we focus on the far more traditional of the two, Megaman Zero.

Hey, you finally get to play as Zero, no gimmicks!

When Megaman X came out, it featured a character that would rival any in the megaman franchise in terms of popularity, Zero. With a habit of getting destroyed and rebuilt, Zero was a cool loner that used what was essentially a light saber. Over the course of the X series, Capcom would tease gamers with the prospect of playing as Zero. In X3 he was playable but only had one life for the entire game, and X4 allowed you to play through the entire game as him. This was not enough, and so spawned the Megaman Zero series.

Megaman Zero takes place some time after the events of the Megaman X series. In it, Zero has been brought back (yes, again) by a Reploid researcher named Ciel to help her fight, apparently, Megaman X, who has created a utopian but iron fisted totalitarian society. So the story goes, and so Zero heads into battle.

Megaman Zero's gameplay is traditional Megaman almost through and through. Zero runs, jumps, shoots, and slashes his way through stages until he reaches the end and creams the boss. Well, basically. The core gameplay remains unchanged, but several changes make specific tactics a bit different. For one, as Zero doesn't have Megaman's copy techniques, he instead will gain new weapons through the game. This weapons don't particularly add any weakness for the enemy, but because of their different ways of working, all have their uses. Beyond the initial Blaster and Z-Saber, Zero also gets a Lance and Boomerang Shield to work with. He's also able to assign different elemental properties to his weapons, either Lightning, Fire, or Ice. These DO add weaknesses to the enemies, and combining different weapon techniques along with different elemental properties will give you a variety of options and strategies for battle.

Zero's Hardcore, seriously

Of course, these tricks won't get you through. Unlike some of the past megaman games, where simply having the right weapon will let you breeze through, even having the right element only makes them take more damage. No, in order to succeed in Megaman Zero, you're going to need megaman skill. This is not an easy game. Success or defeat will depend on a moment's reaction to what's sent your way. It's not really a complex game, but then again, it doesn't need to be.

The other big departure from the standard megaman games is the format which the stages are taken. Unlike past megaman games, Zero cannot just pick which boss he wants to fight. Rather, Zero will pick one of a few missions that are available to him. He's not forced to go down a linear path, but there is some amount of restriction as to the order he can do things. As bosses no longer carry weapons that their opponents are weak against (well, some early ones will carry the elemental chips), this really does work out fine. If you're stuck on one mission, you can simply pick a different one and come back to that one later, but it also allows a bit of narrative to go on.

The other new feature to the game is Cyber Elves. These elves will improve your abilities or offer one time benefits, like saving you from a pit or restoring your health. The flaw here is that the ones to improve your abilities take an obscene amount of crystals to activate. While crystals can be gathered lots of places in the game, never in the quantities needed to really activate the Elves. You can certainly get through the game without them (I used three healing elves in my entire game), but it's kind of disappointing.

My only really complaint is length. While it may take you much longer thanks to difficulty, the game only has about 3-4 hours of playtime. Personally, it felt long enough because I got stuck several times, but on principle, things should be longer than that. Though I suppose that may just harken back to the old days of original NES games that would take you weeks, but could be beaten in two hours with some practice.

Summary

Pros

+++ Solid, basically classic Megaman gaming
++ Good Challenge
++ Variety of weapons gives you lots of options

Cons

-- Too short
-- Building up Cyber Elves and weapons takes too much repetition.

Overall, Megaman Zero is a solid entry into the Megaman Franchise. It offers ample difficulty and solid platforming action. If you're a fan of the old megamn games, this game will scratch that nagging itch you've had since Megaman X4 came out (Yes, I did just forgot about all of the X games past 4). Any fan of good action games should definitely pick this up.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/08/08

Game Release: Mega Man Zero (US, 09/09/02)