Mega Man Zero

"A new and welcome direction for the Mega Man platformers."

Another Mega Man game has been released, and fear not, it's leagues better than X6. In fact, I dare say that Mega Man Zero is better than the X games. I'll explain why in my review.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics in MMZ are very well done, and it shows that Capcom can still make some great-looking 2D games in the days of bump-mapping and all that 3D technical mumbo-jumbo you've probably heard, used by fanboys to defend X console. The few cutscenes that are present are equally impressive; too bad there isn't more of them.

Sound: 7/10
The SFX are great, from the sound of Zero's Z-Saber, to the voices of the many bosses in MMZ. The music isn't anything special, but there are some nice tunes to listen to.

Gameplay: 9/10
The best part of MMZ. MMZ steers away from the tried-and-true gameplay of the X games: no more selecting one of 8 bosses to fight, no more armor upgrades, none of that stuff. It's all Zero in MMZ, and he's even cooler to play with than he was in the X games. Zero can do everything he did in the X series, except fight using the awesome abilities he had--Zero's been under cryogenic sleep for 100 years (see Zero's ending in X6), and he forgot everything he once knew. However, Zero can recall his techniques over time by simply using weapons and becoming proficient with them.

The main gameplay feature of MMZ is the Cyber Elves. There are 70 Elves hidden throughout the game, and each of them have a one-time special ability. Most of them are common (like the vitality-restoring elves), but a few of them carry unique abilities, such as increasing speed permanently.

At the end of each mission (MMZ has a mission-based gameplay structure), you are given a rank. Speed, taking as few hits as possible, etc. all factor into the overall rank. What might seem strange is that you get penalized for using Cyber Elves during a mission, but it totally makes sense. Think of it this way: you'll get greater rewards for not using Elves, because it proves that you can get the job done with as few aids as possible. And really, you're damn good if you can maintain a high rank in MMZ, because it's a fairly difficult game (though Rockman & Forte is harder).

MMZ plays more like an adventure game (because of its non-linearity), but it's an action game, first and foremost. To be more precise, it's a Mega Man game before anything else.

Replay Value: 8/10
MMZ may seem a little short, but name a 10-hour Mega Man sidescroller that you've played, and I'll show you a player who really likes to take their time (for whatever reason). The thing that most people don't seem to notice is that MMZ has more replay value than any of the X/original MM series. For starters, there's a Hard Mode(!). Then there's Ultimate Mode, and Jackson Mode. That's definitely more modes than you'll see in any other MM sidescroller, that's for sure.

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Mega Man Zero is a game that diverges from the same path that Capcom has walked on for years. But it's not a game that's different in a way that fans would hate, because MMZ still retains what made MM/X great in the first place. View MMZ as the proper evolution of the X series, because let's face it--X6 was something that most fans would like to forget. Hey, at least it wasn't MM6 bad. Now that was a travesty.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/02, Updated 10/08/02