Mega Man Zero

"Finally, Zero without Megaman.....it's a dream come true!"

Megaman Zero is a fun little game for the Game Boy Advance. I imported it about a month or so before it came out here in America, and almost beat it. And now, I finally got the American version. I must say the Japanese version is better, this one still rocks! Megaman isn't here to take away all the fun, it's just pure Zero! Well then, let's jump on into the review!

Graphics: 8/10
Pretty good graphics for a gameboy advance. Things are easily described, and the weapons look nice when used. Characters were made nicely, and have a lot of texture to them. The backgrounds aren't perfect, but they certainly aren't bad. But with all the mind-blowing action going on, you probably won't notice the backgrounds too much. The game experience a bit of slowdown though, but nothing the average person will scream about. They're pretty good graphics. You'll probably like them. Basic Megaman graphics.

Sound: 10/10
What can I say? I've always been a sucker for Capcom music. There's the good old Zero theme in the game, which is always nice. A lot of the music is fast-paced and great for the action. The sound effects are great too, like the sword slashing, and the buster gun firing. When you defeat an enemy, they explode and make a neat little sound. I really liked the music and sound effects in this game.

Story: 7/10
Well, not the perfect story. It was good, though. It seems that Humans and Reploids had been living in peace. Then the reploids were accused of being mavericks. They were being ''retired'' (killed), and some refugees escaped to a ruined city, led by the scientist Ciel. But they find that they aren't completely safe, and Ciel gets and idea. To revive the reploid Zero, asleep for 100 years. They head out to find him. And, as you can probably already tell, they succeed. Then the game starts. Nice story, but definitely not the best.

Gameplay: 10/10
The most important part of the game. Capcom really succeeds here. You are Zero, the hero of this game. You have your basic Zero weapon, the Z Sabre, and you have the buster gun, a neat little pistol. There's also a small handfull of other weapons that you can obtain. This game has the in-your-face action of any other Megaman game where you've chosen Zero as the player, but with even more wham bam action. This is a great action game. You run through tearing up enemies. But the bosses require some strategy. You can sort of level up, by having your rank, or level, increase by a letter. You can also use Cyber Elves, little helpers that do things such as heal you, or save you from falling into a pit. They really help you out in this hard game. It truly is the hardest Megaman game ever created. But it still rules!

Replayability: 4/10
Well, if you play through once, and get all the weapons, there truly isn't much left. No side quests or anything. You can always go for finding all the Cyber Elves, or try to beat the game without dying, but there truly isn't much replay value.

To buy or to rent, that is the question!: Well, if you're an avid gamer, you can probably beat the game in one rental. So I'd say rent it. Even two rents would cost less than buying it, and you can definitely beat it in that time.

Stats:
Graphics: 8
Sound: 10
Storyline: 7
Gameplay: 10
Replayability: 4
Overall: 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/02, Updated 10/23/02