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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Megaman Zero
9 years ago
This is part of the Megaman Zero Collection on DS and will be a four part series. This is part one.
Megaman Zero
The Megaman series. People can really have a love and hate relationship with this series, and here we go with one of the GBA exclusive series of games. This time though, you are actually playing as Zero instead of Megaman like you do in most of the games. That’s definitely a bit change, where the main character of the series technically isn’t around and you get to play as another character from the series during the entire game. Is taking control of Zero now a good thing or would it have been better if X was still around?
Gameplay
The gameplay of Megaman Zero is pretty much what you would expect from a 2D Megaman game. The main difference being that you are now controlling zero instead of X, seeing as this is the Megaman X timeline. This means there is a greater emphasis on using Zero’s sword over the gun. Zero does have a buster pistol, but you will often find that using the Z-Saber is much more effective than using the buster. This does mean you have to get closer to enemies than when you used to play as X, but Zero’s saber does tend to one or two hit many enemies, and those that it doesn’t, it does a lot more damage than the buster does to enemies. Each mission in the game has an objective you need to complete, usually ending with a robot that you need to defeat before you can return to your home base. One thing though that does make this unique is that the levels aren’t just each separate. The world is all connected, so when between missions you can run through the levels again as you wish, and you will need to do so, as you do need to do some farming in this game. Yes, you heard me, farming in a Megaman game. That’s definitely twist you weren’t expecting I’m sure. However, this isn’t exactly the best twist by any means. You see, this game has a big difference in how you earn powerups, as there are these creatures known as cyber elves. The cyber elves can either give you permanent powerups, such as life bar extensions or even E-tanks, or they have single mission power ups like refilling your health, or killing all enemies for a good portion of the level. They can vary depending on the type of elves you pick up. However, just finding the elves is only half the battle. Some of these elves are not fully grown and you need to feed them energy before they can become usable, and the amount of energy they need don’t come easily. You really need to grind for it, or you are going to have a much more difficult time in the game. These elves are one time use as well, as when you use them, the elf dies. I guess this is a way to guilt you into not using the elves as you are killing them in exchange for making the game easier in spots. However, some of them, unless you are very good, almost seem like they are very much needed, especially the ones that give you health upgrades as this game is MASSIVELY hard. Yes, the difficulty here is just brutal at times and almost unforgiving. Checkpoints are rather lacking, and you do have limited lives. The only way to get more is find them in the levels or to get lucky drops. The more you have, the more you can continue from the checkpoints, the ones that are there, and not have to start everything over. Here is the thing though, using the cyber elves will make the game easier the more of them you use, but the more of them you use, the worst your score will be. The game’s score is heavily influenced if your use of cyber elves. The more you use, the more you get a negative to your score. If you want a better score, you want to use fewer elves, but if you want an easier game, you need to give up your score and rank in exchange for power ups that used to be handed to you in the other Megaman games. So other than that, you are just doing your standard platforming and attacking of enemies you normally do in a 2D Megaman game. If you have played any of the others, you have played a game similar to this. There are neat new features that make it its own game, but the farming and the difficulty do hold the game back a bit I find. Unless you are patient and willing to farm for a long time to get all the cyber elves and the bonus’ they can give you, be ready for a grueling game. If you can get past that though, you have a normal Megaman game for fans to enjoy.
Story
The story of Megaman Zero is that a group of rebels is constantly being hunted down and killed and are constantly being called Mavericks. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case and instead are just trying to live their own lives as they are constantly being attacked by strong robots. The strange thing being is that the person in charge of these robots appears to be none other than X. However, as a last ditch effort, the leader of the of the resistance, a female looking robot named Ciel finds and revives the long lost robot named Zero from over a 100 years ago. Zero has forgotten his memory and now follows Ciel as she tries to help Zero possibly get back to saving reploids as he did many years ago. Zero doesn’t have any problem helping Ciel as her group of reploids don’t appear to be evil in any way, and the ones attacking them appear to be the evil ones that don’t want to let the robots live in peace. Zero now finds it is his mission to protect these robots and to bring down the leader of the evil robots that want to attack this group. They saved him from a long stasis, and now he wants to repay them and protect them as he barely remembers himself doing long ago. The story of this game isn’t that bad, but other than what I said, the bulk of the game is just completeing the missions and being introduced to all the characters and that is about it. This really does feel like a game that is almost there to just set up other games in the line. Very little is revealed about Zero or what memories he may have had, other than just protecting other robots, and really, the ending is a bit sudden as well. The story isn’t the best, but you at least feel like this game is trying. It just feels like there needs to be a bit more to the story, which I’m glad to know there is, as there are other games in the series. I almost feel there isn’t very much to say about the story as it is almost what you expect from a game like this, as some of the early X games were sort of lacking in the story area as well. However, the game offers enough to where you would want to hear more from these characters, and it does make you care about Ciel and her robots. They really do seem like the victims here and that it would appear X has suddenly turned into the villain over time. Has this really happened or not though? You can play and find out. I just wish there was a little more of the story is all. There are nice twists for the player, I just wanted more, and a better ending.
Graphics
The graphics of this game fit rather well for a GBA game and also appear to fit the Megaman X style from the SNES as well. That’s a good sign after all, and it feels like it fits with that group of Megaman games. All the characters in the game are detailed to a good level, and all the robot enemies are very unique and recognizable when you see some of them multiple times in the game. I have to say, they got the general feel of a game from the X series down quite well. However, my main complaint is that the art style of some of the characters, especially the ones in the dialogue boxes just look odd to me. I know they are trying to be unique and not be an exact copy of the X series, but now Zero looks a bit on the cartoony side and looks less realistic, as realistic as you can get for how they looked in the X series. Maybe it is a matter of personal preference, but I would have preferred if Zero’s portrait looked more the way it used to look in the past. This new style just doesn’t appear to fit to me. It isn’t bad though in any way. Other than this though, the game plays smoothly, and I really couldn’t see any glitches graphically that I can think of at all. Other than some questionable art styles, I would say this game looks pretty good.
Sound
The game sounds great, and has some music that you can actually see yourself humming slightly. It sounds a bit robotic in some places, and other music just appears to be there to pump you up or bring about that tension you want in an action platformer. I really don’t have much to say about it, which is always a good thing as the music speaks for itself sometimes. The only thing that I think keeps it from being perfect is that I wish there was more of it. Some of the same music is repeated quite often, so you will hear some of it over and over again. The music you are hearing over and over again isn’t bad by any means at all, it is just a bit repetitive and making you wish you could hear a few more tracks is all. Never a bad thing when you are wishing for more of it. That tells me your music is pretty good, it just leaves you wanting more of it.
Control
The controls of the game work like your typical Megaman game in the X series. You run, you jump, you shoot, you slash, and you dash. If you have played any of the other X series of games, then you sort of know what to expect when you control Zero. Some of the big differences are that you aren’t going to be switching between weapons, as you can control your two weapons with different buttons. Though one thing I should bring up now is to immediately change your controls to be able to use your secondary weapon with just one button. The default makes you use two buttons to use your secondary weapon, which usually is the saber. You will find the game much easier this way, and it confuses me greatly why this way is the default. So do yourself a favor and change this immediately when you play. Thank goodness it is changeable though, as using one button is so much easier and makes this game much easier to control. The dash can sometimes take a while to get used to, and you also have to remember it is there. It seemed to me like it was easy to forget there was a dash at times, which does make dodging much easier when you remember it is there. Other than that, the game controls rather well. Just please please please please remember to go into the options and fix your secondary weapon buttons. I still can’t believe they would make that other way the default. The one button method makes so much more sense. Just please remember to change it guys.
Replay Value
Okay, this is where I feel the game suffers a bit. The main reason I feel this game is a bit lacking on the replay value is the difficulty of this game. It can be just brutal at times and can make you very frustrated. As I mentioned above, there is a great need to grind if you wish to make the game easier. You need to grind if you want to make your cyber elves give you power ups which give you more energy or defenses for later in the game. However, if you aren’t a fan of grinding, or if the difficulty gets to you enough, I can see this game being a real turn off to some people. It really makes you work for victory, and unless you really like a challenge, you are going to have to grind to make the game even more playable to where you aren’t just going to take a few hits and be taken out. I do have to say though, I do wish the cyber elves weren’t there. The old method of finding your power ups in the levels appeared to work in the past, so I’m not sure why they felt the need to make a Megaman game have a lot of grinding in it to make it more beatable. I know the game can be beaten without doing a lot of grinding, but for those that aren’t fond of high challenge, I can see this game being something you play once and not anymore. I can also see it being a game that keeps people from finishing and not wanting to continue to the next in the series. Why would they continue if they can’t even beat the first and didn’t have a good time on the first game huh? The game isn’t horrible by any means, and I might would play it again, but I would definitely have to grind again if I played the game. The game is just way too hard otherwise in my opinion. Get past that, and there is a nice addition to the Megaman series. There is even a hard mode to unlock when you beat the game. Wait WHAT!? HARD MODE! Are you kidding me!? Yeah, not going there.
Overall, I would say that Megaman Zero is a good Megaman game and a good entry to let players get used to being Zero for a change instead of the guy the series is named after. People have wanted to be Zero since he was introduced, and here he now has his own game. The game is pretty good, but it does lack a bit due to the extreme difficulty, that I do feel could turn some people away. The story is a bit short, and really, the replayability seems very lacking. Just try very hard to get past that massively hard difficulty curve, and you have a nice entry into this series for all platformer or Megaman fans to enjoy. Just pleas have some patience with the game. It is a good game, it just has a few flaws is all.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Megaman Zero a seven point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 7
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Control: 8
Replay Value: 5
Overall: 7.5
Now let us get ready for part two. So, to be continued with more about Megaman Zero Collection.
Megaman Zero
The Megaman series. People can really have a love and hate relationship with this series, and here we go with one of the GBA exclusive series of games. This time though, you are actually playing as Zero instead of Megaman like you do in most of the games. That’s definitely a bit change, where the main character of the series technically isn’t around and you get to play as another character from the series during the entire game. Is taking control of Zero now a good thing or would it have been better if X was still around?
Gameplay
The gameplay of Megaman Zero is pretty much what you would expect from a 2D Megaman game. The main difference being that you are now controlling zero instead of X, seeing as this is the Megaman X timeline. This means there is a greater emphasis on using Zero’s sword over the gun. Zero does have a buster pistol, but you will often find that using the Z-Saber is much more effective than using the buster. This does mean you have to get closer to enemies than when you used to play as X, but Zero’s saber does tend to one or two hit many enemies, and those that it doesn’t, it does a lot more damage than the buster does to enemies. Each mission in the game has an objective you need to complete, usually ending with a robot that you need to defeat before you can return to your home base. One thing though that does make this unique is that the levels aren’t just each separate. The world is all connected, so when between missions you can run through the levels again as you wish, and you will need to do so, as you do need to do some farming in this game. Yes, you heard me, farming in a Megaman game. That’s definitely twist you weren’t expecting I’m sure. However, this isn’t exactly the best twist by any means. You see, this game has a big difference in how you earn powerups, as there are these creatures known as cyber elves. The cyber elves can either give you permanent powerups, such as life bar extensions or even E-tanks, or they have single mission power ups like refilling your health, or killing all enemies for a good portion of the level. They can vary depending on the type of elves you pick up. However, just finding the elves is only half the battle. Some of these elves are not fully grown and you need to feed them energy before they can become usable, and the amount of energy they need don’t come easily. You really need to grind for it, or you are going to have a much more difficult time in the game. These elves are one time use as well, as when you use them, the elf dies. I guess this is a way to guilt you into not using the elves as you are killing them in exchange for making the game easier in spots. However, some of them, unless you are very good, almost seem like they are very much needed, especially the ones that give you health upgrades as this game is MASSIVELY hard. Yes, the difficulty here is just brutal at times and almost unforgiving. Checkpoints are rather lacking, and you do have limited lives. The only way to get more is find them in the levels or to get lucky drops. The more you have, the more you can continue from the checkpoints, the ones that are there, and not have to start everything over. Here is the thing though, using the cyber elves will make the game easier the more of them you use, but the more of them you use, the worst your score will be. The game’s score is heavily influenced if your use of cyber elves. The more you use, the more you get a negative to your score. If you want a better score, you want to use fewer elves, but if you want an easier game, you need to give up your score and rank in exchange for power ups that used to be handed to you in the other Megaman games. So other than that, you are just doing your standard platforming and attacking of enemies you normally do in a 2D Megaman game. If you have played any of the others, you have played a game similar to this. There are neat new features that make it its own game, but the farming and the difficulty do hold the game back a bit I find. Unless you are patient and willing to farm for a long time to get all the cyber elves and the bonus’ they can give you, be ready for a grueling game. If you can get past that though, you have a normal Megaman game for fans to enjoy.
Story
The story of Megaman Zero is that a group of rebels is constantly being hunted down and killed and are constantly being called Mavericks. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case and instead are just trying to live their own lives as they are constantly being attacked by strong robots. The strange thing being is that the person in charge of these robots appears to be none other than X. However, as a last ditch effort, the leader of the of the resistance, a female looking robot named Ciel finds and revives the long lost robot named Zero from over a 100 years ago. Zero has forgotten his memory and now follows Ciel as she tries to help Zero possibly get back to saving reploids as he did many years ago. Zero doesn’t have any problem helping Ciel as her group of reploids don’t appear to be evil in any way, and the ones attacking them appear to be the evil ones that don’t want to let the robots live in peace. Zero now finds it is his mission to protect these robots and to bring down the leader of the evil robots that want to attack this group. They saved him from a long stasis, and now he wants to repay them and protect them as he barely remembers himself doing long ago. The story of this game isn’t that bad, but other than what I said, the bulk of the game is just completeing the missions and being introduced to all the characters and that is about it. This really does feel like a game that is almost there to just set up other games in the line. Very little is revealed about Zero or what memories he may have had, other than just protecting other robots, and really, the ending is a bit sudden as well. The story isn’t the best, but you at least feel like this game is trying. It just feels like there needs to be a bit more to the story, which I’m glad to know there is, as there are other games in the series. I almost feel there isn’t very much to say about the story as it is almost what you expect from a game like this, as some of the early X games were sort of lacking in the story area as well. However, the game offers enough to where you would want to hear more from these characters, and it does make you care about Ciel and her robots. They really do seem like the victims here and that it would appear X has suddenly turned into the villain over time. Has this really happened or not though? You can play and find out. I just wish there was a little more of the story is all. There are nice twists for the player, I just wanted more, and a better ending.
Graphics
The graphics of this game fit rather well for a GBA game and also appear to fit the Megaman X style from the SNES as well. That’s a good sign after all, and it feels like it fits with that group of Megaman games. All the characters in the game are detailed to a good level, and all the robot enemies are very unique and recognizable when you see some of them multiple times in the game. I have to say, they got the general feel of a game from the X series down quite well. However, my main complaint is that the art style of some of the characters, especially the ones in the dialogue boxes just look odd to me. I know they are trying to be unique and not be an exact copy of the X series, but now Zero looks a bit on the cartoony side and looks less realistic, as realistic as you can get for how they looked in the X series. Maybe it is a matter of personal preference, but I would have preferred if Zero’s portrait looked more the way it used to look in the past. This new style just doesn’t appear to fit to me. It isn’t bad though in any way. Other than this though, the game plays smoothly, and I really couldn’t see any glitches graphically that I can think of at all. Other than some questionable art styles, I would say this game looks pretty good.
Sound
The game sounds great, and has some music that you can actually see yourself humming slightly. It sounds a bit robotic in some places, and other music just appears to be there to pump you up or bring about that tension you want in an action platformer. I really don’t have much to say about it, which is always a good thing as the music speaks for itself sometimes. The only thing that I think keeps it from being perfect is that I wish there was more of it. Some of the same music is repeated quite often, so you will hear some of it over and over again. The music you are hearing over and over again isn’t bad by any means at all, it is just a bit repetitive and making you wish you could hear a few more tracks is all. Never a bad thing when you are wishing for more of it. That tells me your music is pretty good, it just leaves you wanting more of it.
Control
The controls of the game work like your typical Megaman game in the X series. You run, you jump, you shoot, you slash, and you dash. If you have played any of the other X series of games, then you sort of know what to expect when you control Zero. Some of the big differences are that you aren’t going to be switching between weapons, as you can control your two weapons with different buttons. Though one thing I should bring up now is to immediately change your controls to be able to use your secondary weapon with just one button. The default makes you use two buttons to use your secondary weapon, which usually is the saber. You will find the game much easier this way, and it confuses me greatly why this way is the default. So do yourself a favor and change this immediately when you play. Thank goodness it is changeable though, as using one button is so much easier and makes this game much easier to control. The dash can sometimes take a while to get used to, and you also have to remember it is there. It seemed to me like it was easy to forget there was a dash at times, which does make dodging much easier when you remember it is there. Other than that, the game controls rather well. Just please please please please remember to go into the options and fix your secondary weapon buttons. I still can’t believe they would make that other way the default. The one button method makes so much more sense. Just please remember to change it guys.
Replay Value
Okay, this is where I feel the game suffers a bit. The main reason I feel this game is a bit lacking on the replay value is the difficulty of this game. It can be just brutal at times and can make you very frustrated. As I mentioned above, there is a great need to grind if you wish to make the game easier. You need to grind if you want to make your cyber elves give you power ups which give you more energy or defenses for later in the game. However, if you aren’t a fan of grinding, or if the difficulty gets to you enough, I can see this game being a real turn off to some people. It really makes you work for victory, and unless you really like a challenge, you are going to have to grind to make the game even more playable to where you aren’t just going to take a few hits and be taken out. I do have to say though, I do wish the cyber elves weren’t there. The old method of finding your power ups in the levels appeared to work in the past, so I’m not sure why they felt the need to make a Megaman game have a lot of grinding in it to make it more beatable. I know the game can be beaten without doing a lot of grinding, but for those that aren’t fond of high challenge, I can see this game being something you play once and not anymore. I can also see it being a game that keeps people from finishing and not wanting to continue to the next in the series. Why would they continue if they can’t even beat the first and didn’t have a good time on the first game huh? The game isn’t horrible by any means, and I might would play it again, but I would definitely have to grind again if I played the game. The game is just way too hard otherwise in my opinion. Get past that, and there is a nice addition to the Megaman series. There is even a hard mode to unlock when you beat the game. Wait WHAT!? HARD MODE! Are you kidding me!? Yeah, not going there.
Overall, I would say that Megaman Zero is a good Megaman game and a good entry to let players get used to being Zero for a change instead of the guy the series is named after. People have wanted to be Zero since he was introduced, and here he now has his own game. The game is pretty good, but it does lack a bit due to the extreme difficulty, that I do feel could turn some people away. The story is a bit short, and really, the replayability seems very lacking. Just try very hard to get past that massively hard difficulty curve, and you have a nice entry into this series for all platformer or Megaman fans to enjoy. Just pleas have some patience with the game. It is a good game, it just has a few flaws is all.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Megaman Zero a seven point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 7
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Control: 8
Replay Value: 5
Overall: 7.5
Now let us get ready for part two. So, to be continued with more about Megaman Zero Collection.
