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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Megaman Zero 4
9 years ago
This is the final part of the Zero series. Enjoy!
Megaman Zero 4
Well, here we go guys. We are at the final part of the Zero series. After four games in a row of this series, it does make you wonder if these games start to wear on you after a while? It is sort of the same thing over and over again in a way, but this isn’t anything new with Megaman games really. Though you do wonder if enough is done to keep it fresh and not just feel like more of the same completely. Is that the case, or is this another fun entry in the Megaman series? Let’s take one last look at the Zero series shall we?
Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay of Zero 4 is pretty much identical when it comes to the base gameplay. After four of these games, you sort of expect that at this point. You are running, jumping and slicing through the eight levels, plus a few extras as you work to get to the ending. There is nothing new there. It is the side features really that are going to be what keeps the game interesting. Some of these are interesting ideas, while some of them I’m not sure if are the best ideas or not. One of the biggest things is that once again, the Cyber Elf mechanic has been changed around. Now, instead of finding the Elves all throughout the levels and picking which ones you want, you now have only one Cyber Elf that you are given at the beginning of the game. This one Cyber Elf is with you at all times and you have to slowly upgrade it throughout the game to give you some of the help that the elves used to give you in the past. You can level it up several times throughout the game using the energy you used to collect to level them up in the past, but the amounts you need are a bit higher this time, so if you want to max level your elf, you will likely need to grind for more energy to do so. Still, you can only use so many of the skills at a time as your cyber elf can only hold up to eight abilities at a time when you have it fully leveled up throughout the game. That does mean you need to pick and choose what abilities you want when you are playing. Do you want more health? Do you want to after easier movement abilities, or do you want stronger or variant weapons to attack with? This is an interesting new concept, but at the same time, the fact you can’t continuously get more and more of these abilities and you are very limited on what ones you can pick, sort of takes away a bit in my opinion. While I’m happy I can more easily upgrade my health in this game compared to the others, going for all health means you can’t take advantage of other side abilities as well. There are still the body chips though, and that does make up for it a bit as well. There is just one massive downside here though. To get body chips for your head, body, or feet, you need to make them. To make them, you need to collect items throughout the levels that can be used to make these chips. The further downside though is that you need recipes to even know how to use these ingredients to know what chips you are even going to make. Yeah, unless you are willing to hunt down these recipes in the game, that you have to write down yourself, then you aren’t going to have any chips, or you are going to waste all your ingredients experimenting. I had to look up some of these recipes online to even be able to get any that were even useful at all. Yeah, that’s a great mechanic. When you make people have to just guess at what they are going to need to do or hunt and hunt for recipes in game, yeah, I’m not exactly sure that was a great idea over the way it was in the last game. I can’t totally hit this system as it does still work, in that you can make useful additions to your body, such as the double jump, and auto charge weapons, but it just seems like they went about this in a more complicated way than the way it was done in the last game. Finally, while the game is essentially the same again, I do feel they sort of dropped the ball a bit compared to the last game. One thing is the difficulty sort of ramped up again compared to the last game. While I don’t mind some difficulty, I do feel there are more cheap death areas than there were in the previous game. There is also a weather element to the game that ups and lowers the difficulty in certain areas and your score potential. If the weather is the wrong type in an area, you will have a harder time with the level, but you get a better score if you complete it. Weather that helps you out will punish your score in the end on the reverse. If you want an easier time, then be sure and make the weather work in your favor, just be aware it will affect your score and your acquirable skills. Honestly, while these are nice new additions to the game, I sort of think some of them would work better if they were tweeked a bit. So yeah, there are some new features here that do keep the game fresh, I just wish some of them weren’t as limiting as I feel they are on the player. Overall, the game is still fun, just be ready for a bit more of a difficult time with some aspects is all.
Story
The story of this game is still pretty good, though not as good as the last game, I do feel they did try quite nicely here as well. With the humans now trying to get away from Dr. Wile, some of them have gone out on their own to a new area that actually has some nature starting to form. However, Dr. Wile isn’t about to let this go and does try to attack these humans. Ciel and Zero are now trying to save these humans from being attacked, even though there is still a lot of human’s that do not like reploids at all and don’t want to be helped by Zero. So as you see, a lot of this game is all about trying to show the humans that not all reploids are bad, while at the same time, trying to stop Wile from destroying the little bit of nature that has appeared in the world again after all the devastation in the past. I do have to say, they do a good job of getting you attached to these characters and not wanting to see them hurt after all this time. I will say one thing though, the story is a bit shorter than the previous game. It is still alright, but I do think they could have added more content like they did in the previous game instead of it ending a bit sooner than I would expect. Though there is one thing that I do have to say about this game’s story, and that is that it actually does bring this series to a close instead of just setting up sequel after sequel as this series has done each and every time. It is a good conclusion to the series, but it is still left up in the air if there will be anything else that happens to these people that you are helping in the game. It isn’t exactly the joyous ending you are expecting either, but you will have to play it yourself to find out why. Not sure it is how I would have wanted to see the series end, but an end is an end. You aren’t left wondering what is next in a way that will frustrate you. If you have to leave some questions up in the air, this game does at least do it in a way that doesn’t make you mad, it just makes you wonder if there could be a little more. So yeah, the game is a bit shorter story wise, but it does finally bring the series to a somewhat alright conclusion.
Graphics
Once again, these are the same graphics as all the other games. There is nothing I can really say there, but that the main in game graphics are still the same as all the others. If you liked or disliked the other games, there is no difference here. I will say that the in game close up art of characters still looks pretty good though and does make the characters look very nicely designed when the game wants to show you those still art segments about the characters. It is always nice getting to see them more detailed and not just in GBA graphics all the time. So really, other than that, what I said last time still stands here. The game looks great for its time, and the still photos look great. Things aren’t perfect, but they do the job just fine.
Sound
Sound isn’t as good as the last game, but still, the music does the job and is still catchy to listen to in my opinion. I know I’m a bit skimpy here when it comes to describing this, but once again, everything else is the same as the other games. What I said in the previous reviews still stands here. While the songs aren’t as good as the last game, they are still pretty good though, so do enjoy them when you can of course.
Control
Same thing once again when it comes to the controls. Still be sure you change them when you first start the game, and then after that, the controls will be no trouble at all for the rest of the game. Whatever I said in the previous reviews is exactly the same here. I know I’m saying that a lot, but it is true to be honest.
Replay Value
As I mentioned, this game isn’t as long as the previous Zero game, and honestly, some of the new features bring back some of the old grinding issues I had with some of the earlier games in the series. Why would you want to pick up the game again if you have to grind so much just to get some of the basics out of the game. Not that there is anything wrong with grinding when it is done right, but I’m not sure this was the best way to bring back that feature that I had a real problem with at times. The chip system is neat, but a bit frustrating at the same time. If you want to learn them the legit way, you need to be sure to hunt quite a bit for the recipes and also have a pen and paper around to write them down. That’s not exactly something you want to do with a game you are taking on the go after all. I know the recipes are kept once you learn them, but once you learn them, you don’t need them anymore as you now have the item and don’t need to make it again that playthrough. Honestly, the more I look at this game, there is nothing exactly wrong with the replay value, but once again, the game sort of dropped down to the average area once again in this area. It isn’t a bad game to play through again, but unless you are going for a good score run, this is one of those games you play once and then maybe come back to from time to time to enjoy the experience once again. There is nothing wrong with that, but nor is it that exciting either.
Overall, I would say that the Megaman Zero series has ended on a good note. Three and four are the best of the series, and worth it, and the scores in the end show it. Even then, all four games in the end are good, it is just you have to be sure you are ready for the difficulty at times to be a little frustrating, and for occasionally, some of the mechanics to get a tad annoying. In the end, I’m glad I played this series, and the collection on the DS is a good alternative to those that can’t find the original GBA games in the wild at the moment. I would say if you enjoy Megaman games, platformers, or a good challenge, then go pick of either this collection or any of the games in this series. If you aren’t a fan of a challenge though, then I would steer clear of this series. There are definitely times when these games can get a bit on the frustrating side with the difficulty. Other than that though, I would say if you like one of the games in the Megaman series, go pick these games up. It was a good series over all, and one I wouldn’t mind trying again one day, though only at a time when I don’t mind a challenge of that is of course. So in the end, this was a good collection, and one I was glad I picked up when I did. I’m sure I’ll play more Megaman eventually one day. Though for now, it is time to move on to other series. And with that, the final score.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Megaman Zero 4 an eight out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Control: 9
Replay Value: 6
Overall: 8
Megaman Zero 4
Well, here we go guys. We are at the final part of the Zero series. After four games in a row of this series, it does make you wonder if these games start to wear on you after a while? It is sort of the same thing over and over again in a way, but this isn’t anything new with Megaman games really. Though you do wonder if enough is done to keep it fresh and not just feel like more of the same completely. Is that the case, or is this another fun entry in the Megaman series? Let’s take one last look at the Zero series shall we?
Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay of Zero 4 is pretty much identical when it comes to the base gameplay. After four of these games, you sort of expect that at this point. You are running, jumping and slicing through the eight levels, plus a few extras as you work to get to the ending. There is nothing new there. It is the side features really that are going to be what keeps the game interesting. Some of these are interesting ideas, while some of them I’m not sure if are the best ideas or not. One of the biggest things is that once again, the Cyber Elf mechanic has been changed around. Now, instead of finding the Elves all throughout the levels and picking which ones you want, you now have only one Cyber Elf that you are given at the beginning of the game. This one Cyber Elf is with you at all times and you have to slowly upgrade it throughout the game to give you some of the help that the elves used to give you in the past. You can level it up several times throughout the game using the energy you used to collect to level them up in the past, but the amounts you need are a bit higher this time, so if you want to max level your elf, you will likely need to grind for more energy to do so. Still, you can only use so many of the skills at a time as your cyber elf can only hold up to eight abilities at a time when you have it fully leveled up throughout the game. That does mean you need to pick and choose what abilities you want when you are playing. Do you want more health? Do you want to after easier movement abilities, or do you want stronger or variant weapons to attack with? This is an interesting new concept, but at the same time, the fact you can’t continuously get more and more of these abilities and you are very limited on what ones you can pick, sort of takes away a bit in my opinion. While I’m happy I can more easily upgrade my health in this game compared to the others, going for all health means you can’t take advantage of other side abilities as well. There are still the body chips though, and that does make up for it a bit as well. There is just one massive downside here though. To get body chips for your head, body, or feet, you need to make them. To make them, you need to collect items throughout the levels that can be used to make these chips. The further downside though is that you need recipes to even know how to use these ingredients to know what chips you are even going to make. Yeah, unless you are willing to hunt down these recipes in the game, that you have to write down yourself, then you aren’t going to have any chips, or you are going to waste all your ingredients experimenting. I had to look up some of these recipes online to even be able to get any that were even useful at all. Yeah, that’s a great mechanic. When you make people have to just guess at what they are going to need to do or hunt and hunt for recipes in game, yeah, I’m not exactly sure that was a great idea over the way it was in the last game. I can’t totally hit this system as it does still work, in that you can make useful additions to your body, such as the double jump, and auto charge weapons, but it just seems like they went about this in a more complicated way than the way it was done in the last game. Finally, while the game is essentially the same again, I do feel they sort of dropped the ball a bit compared to the last game. One thing is the difficulty sort of ramped up again compared to the last game. While I don’t mind some difficulty, I do feel there are more cheap death areas than there were in the previous game. There is also a weather element to the game that ups and lowers the difficulty in certain areas and your score potential. If the weather is the wrong type in an area, you will have a harder time with the level, but you get a better score if you complete it. Weather that helps you out will punish your score in the end on the reverse. If you want an easier time, then be sure and make the weather work in your favor, just be aware it will affect your score and your acquirable skills. Honestly, while these are nice new additions to the game, I sort of think some of them would work better if they were tweeked a bit. So yeah, there are some new features here that do keep the game fresh, I just wish some of them weren’t as limiting as I feel they are on the player. Overall, the game is still fun, just be ready for a bit more of a difficult time with some aspects is all.
Story
The story of this game is still pretty good, though not as good as the last game, I do feel they did try quite nicely here as well. With the humans now trying to get away from Dr. Wile, some of them have gone out on their own to a new area that actually has some nature starting to form. However, Dr. Wile isn’t about to let this go and does try to attack these humans. Ciel and Zero are now trying to save these humans from being attacked, even though there is still a lot of human’s that do not like reploids at all and don’t want to be helped by Zero. So as you see, a lot of this game is all about trying to show the humans that not all reploids are bad, while at the same time, trying to stop Wile from destroying the little bit of nature that has appeared in the world again after all the devastation in the past. I do have to say, they do a good job of getting you attached to these characters and not wanting to see them hurt after all this time. I will say one thing though, the story is a bit shorter than the previous game. It is still alright, but I do think they could have added more content like they did in the previous game instead of it ending a bit sooner than I would expect. Though there is one thing that I do have to say about this game’s story, and that is that it actually does bring this series to a close instead of just setting up sequel after sequel as this series has done each and every time. It is a good conclusion to the series, but it is still left up in the air if there will be anything else that happens to these people that you are helping in the game. It isn’t exactly the joyous ending you are expecting either, but you will have to play it yourself to find out why. Not sure it is how I would have wanted to see the series end, but an end is an end. You aren’t left wondering what is next in a way that will frustrate you. If you have to leave some questions up in the air, this game does at least do it in a way that doesn’t make you mad, it just makes you wonder if there could be a little more. So yeah, the game is a bit shorter story wise, but it does finally bring the series to a somewhat alright conclusion.
Graphics
Once again, these are the same graphics as all the other games. There is nothing I can really say there, but that the main in game graphics are still the same as all the others. If you liked or disliked the other games, there is no difference here. I will say that the in game close up art of characters still looks pretty good though and does make the characters look very nicely designed when the game wants to show you those still art segments about the characters. It is always nice getting to see them more detailed and not just in GBA graphics all the time. So really, other than that, what I said last time still stands here. The game looks great for its time, and the still photos look great. Things aren’t perfect, but they do the job just fine.
Sound
Sound isn’t as good as the last game, but still, the music does the job and is still catchy to listen to in my opinion. I know I’m a bit skimpy here when it comes to describing this, but once again, everything else is the same as the other games. What I said in the previous reviews still stands here. While the songs aren’t as good as the last game, they are still pretty good though, so do enjoy them when you can of course.
Control
Same thing once again when it comes to the controls. Still be sure you change them when you first start the game, and then after that, the controls will be no trouble at all for the rest of the game. Whatever I said in the previous reviews is exactly the same here. I know I’m saying that a lot, but it is true to be honest.
Replay Value
As I mentioned, this game isn’t as long as the previous Zero game, and honestly, some of the new features bring back some of the old grinding issues I had with some of the earlier games in the series. Why would you want to pick up the game again if you have to grind so much just to get some of the basics out of the game. Not that there is anything wrong with grinding when it is done right, but I’m not sure this was the best way to bring back that feature that I had a real problem with at times. The chip system is neat, but a bit frustrating at the same time. If you want to learn them the legit way, you need to be sure to hunt quite a bit for the recipes and also have a pen and paper around to write them down. That’s not exactly something you want to do with a game you are taking on the go after all. I know the recipes are kept once you learn them, but once you learn them, you don’t need them anymore as you now have the item and don’t need to make it again that playthrough. Honestly, the more I look at this game, there is nothing exactly wrong with the replay value, but once again, the game sort of dropped down to the average area once again in this area. It isn’t a bad game to play through again, but unless you are going for a good score run, this is one of those games you play once and then maybe come back to from time to time to enjoy the experience once again. There is nothing wrong with that, but nor is it that exciting either.
Overall, I would say that the Megaman Zero series has ended on a good note. Three and four are the best of the series, and worth it, and the scores in the end show it. Even then, all four games in the end are good, it is just you have to be sure you are ready for the difficulty at times to be a little frustrating, and for occasionally, some of the mechanics to get a tad annoying. In the end, I’m glad I played this series, and the collection on the DS is a good alternative to those that can’t find the original GBA games in the wild at the moment. I would say if you enjoy Megaman games, platformers, or a good challenge, then go pick of either this collection or any of the games in this series. If you aren’t a fan of a challenge though, then I would steer clear of this series. There are definitely times when these games can get a bit on the frustrating side with the difficulty. Other than that though, I would say if you like one of the games in the Megaman series, go pick these games up. It was a good series over all, and one I wouldn’t mind trying again one day, though only at a time when I don’t mind a challenge of that is of course. So in the end, this was a good collection, and one I was glad I picked up when I did. I’m sure I’ll play more Megaman eventually one day. Though for now, it is time to move on to other series. And with that, the final score.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Megaman Zero 4 an eight out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Control: 9
Replay Value: 6
Overall: 8
