Mega Man Zero

"My mistake, a perfect 10"

Graphics: 10

The graphics in this game far surpass those of any SNES title. Everything is ultra-smooth (Except for Ceil’s three-frame running animation) and the character designs are near flawless. The boss characters frequently look better than anything yet seen in the X games, perhaps because they didn’t try TOO hard to make them look like any specific animal. One thing about the US version though, is the lack of blood that many seem to be complaining about regularly. I, however, think the lack of blood is a good thing. Coming up with some off-the-wall reason for a bunch of robots to have blood just for the sake of putting blood in a game is a pathetic attention-grabbing gimmick. The game is better off without it, and enemies still get sliced in half quite nicely with a few swings of the Z-Saber. It doesn’t need blood to be among the best Game Boy Advance games to date.

Sound: 10

Everything is crystal clear, from the classic Zero theme from MMX to the sound of the saber slicing through metal monstrosities. I have no complaints here, but it isn’t hard to please me in this department.

Gameplay: 10

This is called the most challenging Megaman game ever, and it does come pretty close. An hour in and I’ve finished three or four levels. I need elves to become more powerful, and who cares if it’ll punish me for it? Speaking of elves, there are nifty little things called “Cyber-Elves” that replace the Megaman standbys like heart tanks and sub tanks. They also have other effects, but I don’t use them too much anyway. As for the standard gameplay, everything is pretty much perfect. This is the first game where the enemies and challenges are made for Zero, and it makes all the differences in the world. Bosses have an insane amount of life (double the amount of any MMX boss) but the Z-Saber is far more powerful than the X-Buster ever was, so it evens out. The skill system has been revamped to better fit Zero’s kind of action. Gone are the days of taking weapons and skills from enemies. Zero can find four weapons in the game. A hand blaster, the Z-Saber, a Tri-pole, and a Boomerang Shield. Each can be leveled up as Zero becomes more skilled with each one, enabling more skills and attacks to be used. As stated before, other power ups are acquired from Cyber-Elves (Usually ones that have to be fed energy crystals to be used). The game is fast and furious, and a whole lot of fun. The levels are short, but that’s to be expected on a portable game.

Control: 10

Spot on of course. Everything is easy to accomplish and make good use of the buttons available. Before, I said the controls suffered because you were forced to use two buttons to use the secondary weapon. Well, I was wrong. There's an option that turns the L button into a ''Toggle'' that switches the B button between primary and secondary weapons. This fixes my one gripe with the game so... yeah.

Story: 10

100 years after Megaman X6 (After which Zero had locked himself away in stasis) something strange is happening. After X had freed the world from Sigma and peace was being brought around the world, which was being rebuilt, the Government suddenly lost trust in the Reploid race. They began labeling any and every Reploid as Mavericks, and deployed the Maverick Hunters to bring them all in. X, being the legendary Maverick Hunter, leads this group. Ceil, a human scientist, joined a Reploid resistance movement and began the hunt for the Legendary lost Reploid, Zero. They finally find him in an abandoned laboratory at last and awaken him to do battle with his one-time partner, Megaman X. It’s a very deep and involving story, with each mission being an actual mission instead of a hunt for the boss. It’s more like an action RPG almost, with the weapon levels and the mission all connected. In time most levels can be wandered into from the main resistance base. In all the story is the best in the Megaman series by far.

Overall: 10

This is among the best games on the system and is a must buy for any GBA owner who enjoys side scrollers, not just Megaman fans.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/18/02, Updated 11/18/02