Mega Man Zero 4

"Whilst not as good as the earlier X titles, this is easily the best of Zero's solo adventures."

~Mega Man Zero 4~

Introduction - Y Halo Thar

Hello. I'm KiedisMaster. You may also know me as Phantom Mantis or whatever.

With that out of the way, on to Mega Man Zero 4. The Zero games are a spin-off of Capcom's successful Mega Man series - featuring similar yet significantly different gameplay throughout. The Zero games prior to this have been a mix of frustrating, hard, and average, but this latest installment is an improvement on all three fields.

Gameplay - Zero Steps Up A Notch

Let me tell you, Capcom despise change. They hate changing their main formulas. The Mega Man formula's basics are still the same now as they were back in 1987. There's the obligatory intro stage that then leads to a selection of boss levels that you can tackle in any order you want, the familiar run-jump-shoot gameplay, even some old enemies appear. Zero also has the original Mega Man's Bad Knees disease- yep, even after spanning 4+ franchises over 20 years with multitudes of games, the main character of a Mega Man game still can't duck. He can glide, which sort of substitutes ducking, though it's not in one spot.

How does Zero differ from the Mega Man/X games? Well, there's his Z-Saber, which is a weapon you can use instead of a blaster, (and is much more effective- I only used the Blaster for bosses where it could supply their weakness), as well as the superb brand new weapon, the Z-Knuckle.

The Z-Knuckle is what the Zero series needed from the first game. When you attack an enemy with it, you get their weapon. There are loads and loads of weapons to get, all with different effects. Alot of them prove very effective at one time or another. The Knuckle can also be used to get through stages quicker (uprooting vines in your way) as well as tackle some bosses.

Mega Man Zero 4's gameplay is still hard, but the stages are much more enjoyable and varied (plus, you can change the weather than occurs, creating sort of 'medium' or 'hard' routes- for example, change the weather to 'snow' on one level and the snow will cover up the deadly spikes, making them safe to walk over). It's a slightly minor feature, but still pretty cool. The bosses are fun to fight, although MMZ4 suffers from overly-hard-final-boss syndrome, like many other MM games. I think the final boss was the only thing stopping me from beating the game under an hour.

Longevity - Short, but good for that.

Let me tell you, the Mega Man Zero games are NOT long. If you want an epic, sprawling, massive quest, go get Final Fantasy Tactics or The Legend Of Zelda. MMZ4 took me 2 hours to get the the final boss, on my first go (then again, I did have experience with other MM games beforehand). The main longevity point is replay value- MMZ4 is a fantastic game for time attacking and getting a good rank in levels. It's something to whip out and play now and again just for some quick blasting action.

Story - omg save wurld plz

Boils down to 'Save The World From Evil New Threat', just like the other Zero games. The story kicks off with Zero fighting off an assault on a carrier, which is where the new base is set (it's much smaller than the base in Z1/Z2/Z3, but much more efficient). After some more mishaps, Zero runs into new bad guy, Kraft, a dodgy geezer with a massive gun, and his 8 cronies, who Zero sets out to smack some sense into with his trusty Z-Saber.

After maiming 4 of Kraft's buddies, Zero encounters a plot twist, which re-introduces an old (ish) enemy of his, and he sets off to kick ass again.

Characters - Well, anyone's better than Elpizo.

Zero is pretty much the same Zero. He's not had any real development, he's just the serious, focused Zero we know and love. Ciel seems even more intent on keeping his alive, which shows she's really grown to him since they first met. Aww. There's this new red-headed chick, who you have to rescue near the start, and I think she could have done with some development (I can't even remember her name!). Kraft is okay for a villain (even though he's not the main one)- he's not as good as that Kool-Ade drinking psycho Weil, but he's way better than that X clone thing and that stupid lady-boy Elpizo. His cohorts, which are yet again based on mythological creatures, are superb.

Graphics - Some Old, Some New.

Zero's the same. Ciel's the same. Every other character from the previous games is exactly the same. That's not bad, though. The sprites are well-animated, nothing looks out of place, the backgrounds are satisfactory. The bosses are fantastically designed, and look full of life and ready to rip Zero a new one. As with all Mega Man games, MMZ4 is full of life an colour. There are alot more intricate graphical details in this game too, such as water fountains than freeze when hit with the Ice Javelin weapon, and flames that go out when squirted with water from a Z-Knuckle obtained weapon.

Sounds - Satisfactory.

The sound effects in this game all work completely fine. Everything fits. Laser blasts, beam slashes, energy waves, everything is fine. The voice samples are awesome, particularly for the bosses. They help inject more life into the characters as well as convey emotion and personality types. As for the music, it's okay, but not memorable. The early X games packed awesome tunes - why can't we have more music like that? I'm also sad they omitted the 'Neo Arcadia' theme from the earlier Zero games, as that was pretty cool due to it being a consisted thing.

Conclusion - Yeah.

Well, that's MMZ4 in a nutshell. You'll have to take everything into consideration if you're considering about buying this- remember, it's short and very hard and frustrating in places, but all in all very enjoyable and replayable. If you don't like the previous Zero games, steer clear.

However, with this game being an overall improvement, all I can say is: Roll on Mega Man Zero 5!

7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/05