Mega Man Zero 2

"Zero's back, and he still looks funky"

Let me just say up front that I love Zero. Any reploid with a beam saber gets unprecedented amounts of adoration from me. The original Mega Man Zero was difficult, unforgiving, and supremely fun. Zero 2 brings back the difficult with a slight bit of forgiveness, and all of the fun of the original.

Graphics

I really preferred the MMX version of Zero's sprite, but beggars can't be choosers. A few enemy sprites are re-used from the first game, most notably the X clones, but those are used sparingly in favor of new, more annoying enemies. The stages themselves are gorgeous, and reminiscent of MMX 4-6 on the PSX. There are specially-drawn cutscenes that set the mood for whatever situation you're in, and they're quite nice as well.

Sound

The music is pure Zero. It fits the game very well, and something worth buying a headphone adaptor for if you own a GBASP. Plus, there's voices. Ciel talks, Zero grunts, the big bad bosses yell big bad battle cries, and more. It's fun times had by all!

Gameplay

The meat and potatoes! Mmm, potatoes...anyway, the biggest change from MMZ 1 to 2 is this: you're no longer restricted to a single life and two continues. You're given a base of three lives and unlimited continues, however, if you lose all your lives, you have to start a mission over from the beginning.

As for the main game, it's much the same as the first, except harder and better. You have your trusty Z-saber, buster, shield boomerang, and new chain rod. This chain rod acts as a grappling hook of sorts, and lets you swing your way Bionic Commando style through stages. It's a little difficult to use the chain rod, so you'll have to practice in order to get past certain segments that require precise jumping and chain rod-ing.

As before, your weapons can be leveled up in a sense. In this game, your saber has five levels and the rest of your weapons have only three, which makes maxing them out a little easier on your thumbs. Also on retainer from the first title is the elemental chips, skill levels and cyber elves, and rest assured, you'll have to search high and low for the latter. There's a decent reward for getting and evolving all of them, so completionist nuts will have a lot to do.

Now for the new stuff. There are two new power-ups brought to the table by MMZ2, those being EX skills and Forms. The former is a reward for beating a boss while your skill level is high. If your skill level is at A or higher when you fight (and defeat) a boss, you gain their EX skill. If you're B or lower, you lose that skill forever. Before anyone gets all indignant and the like, the EX skills aren't essential to beating the game, but are worth that extra try to keep your skill level at A or S. As for the Forms, you can earn one per mission, and all but two are rather easy to get. Most involve just killing a certain number of enemies with a certain weapon (which you'll be doing anyway to level them up) but some involve killing enemies with a certain weapon in a certain way. Confused yet? Don't be, it's not complicated.

Now, you might think having infinite continues means a guaranteed win, right? Not so. This game will bend you over its knee and spank the hell out of you for even thinking you're good enough to beat it. Just like MMZ, this game requires practice, memorization of the levels, excellent reflexes and a good dose of skill. Practice is required, patience recommended.

Replay Value

A very welcome addition to the series, MMZ2 sports a New Game +, in which you'll start with all your cyber elves and whatever permanent effects (like the ones that raise your max health) already in effect. You'll also start with all your previously-acquired forms and EX skills (okay, so they're not lost forever, but still..) but your weapons revert back to level 1. Hard Mode makes a return as well, so those of you who think they're too good for this game can be humbled once more.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/03