Box Art
Game: Megaman Zero
First Released: April 26, 2002, GameBoy Advance
Developers: Capcom, Inti Creates
Platforms: GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS
Rated: E, for Violence
First Released: April 26, 2002, GameBoy Advance
Developers: Capcom, Inti Creates
Platforms: GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS
Rated: E, for Violence
How I Came To Play This Game
Re-awakening of Zero
This game goes back even farther in my history than the original Megaman. The first Megaman series I ever played was Megaman Battle Network, which I thought was the model of what Megaman was. However, on trip to Gamestop set my eyes on the cartridge of Megaman Zero. I thought it would be a lot like Megaman Battle Network, but it was something else. The beginning cutscene blew me away and it introduced me to what Megaman games were really like.
Story
Megaman Zero takes place about a century after the events of the Mega Man X saga of games. This earlier series entails a world inhabited by intelligent, self-aware androids called "Reploids" and their struggle to coexist with their human creators. After stopping the efforts of the evil "Maverick" leader Sigma from wiping out humanity, the heroic Maverick Hunters Mega Man X and Zero have long since vanished. The story of Mega Man Zero begins with a human scientist named Ciel and her Reploid companions being chased through an underground lab. Their relentless pursuers are mass-produced androids called Pantheons, among other terrible machines. After heavy losses, Ciel and the remaining resistance troops arrive at a sealed chamber containing Zero, who has been powered down for 100 years. Zero is awakened from his century-long slumber to a world where Reploids are constantly accused of being Mavericks and systematically "retired", apparently under the direction of the once-famed Hunter X. Shocked at this revelation and filled with doubt about his own identity as the Maverick Hunter of legend, Zero joins the resistance and begins his fight against his former ally X and his utopia known as Neo Arcadia. Eventually, Zero discovers that the X that is controlling Neo Arcadia is actually a replication of the original. Ciel constructed "Copy X" because the real X disappeared a long time ago and a new leader was needed for Neo Arcadia. Copy X strived for X's ultimate desire for a peaceful world, but lacked the original's moral judgement. Believing that the Reploid race as a whole posed a danger to humans, Copy X began an operation to brand any Reploid whom he believed to be a menace to humanity as a Maverick and annihilate them without fair trial. Zero reaches Copy X after battling his way through Neo Arcadia's Four Guardians. Copy X is defeated, then self-destructs in order to ensure Zero's demise. Zero escapes just in time from Neo Arcadia as Copy X, and everything around him, is destroyed. Running low on energy, Zero faints in a desert close to Neo Arcadia. A mysterious voice is heard and reveals itself as the true X, who has been Zero's guide the entire time. X explains that he grew tired of fighting and, without a physical body, he has left Zero the responsibility of bringing peace to the world. Just as X vanishes, Zero finds himself surrounded by an army of Pantheons. Zero accepts X's words and promises to continue the fight against Neo Arcadia, and the game ends with Zero dashing into battle against the Pantheons.
Neo Arcadians
Maha Ganeshariff, Anubis Necromancess III, Blizzack Staggroff, Herculious Anchortus, Sage Harpuia, Fairy Leviathan, Hidden Phantom, and Fighting Fefnir.
Review
After playing Command Mission, it was nice to go back to the side scrolling format. I don't want to play a Megaman RPG again unless it's Megaman Battle Network. Anyway, this game was the first side scrolling Megeman game I ever played, so of course I think it's awesome. All the moves from the Megaman X series like jumping, dashing, and wall climbing are all back. This game does have some things in common with Command Mission though. It is a lot like an RPG in some ways. A new gameplay mechanic called Cyber Elves was introduced. Cyber Elves are artificialy intelligent entities that improve Zero's stats, heal him, give him items, or help him fight. So Zero has finally risen to Megaman status. He certainly deserves it despite being originally created by Dr. Wily. The same boss weakness system from Command Mission is kept with Thunder, Ice, and Fire chips that Zero installs to his weapons. Instead of gaining weapons from defeated bosses, Zero has four weapons to choose from. The game starts you off with the Buster, then gives you the Z Saber at the end of the first mission, and you can get the Triple Rod and Shield Boomerang from completing a certain mission later. Believe me, when I first tried this game, I sucked at it. I failed all of the missions and couldn't complete the game because I lost the chance to get the uprading Cyber Elves. Now, I am a master at it and I think it's to easy that it's not even funny. Even if I never try to dodge and keep attacking, I would still win. The only major complaint I have with this game is feeding Cyber Elves. In order to be used, Cyber Elves must be fully grown. To make them grow, you feed them Energy Crystals that you find laying around or dropped from enemies. The amount of Energy Crystals needed is way too much. I end up using a Cyber Elf that makes more items appear and go back to the first stage to fight hordes of enemies just to get enough to feed them, which even then takes like an hour to do.
Releases
Megaman Zero was first released for the GameBoy Advance in 2002. Then in 2010, the game was released for the Nintendo DS as part of the Megaman Zero Collection.
My Rating
I give this game a 10/10. This game is just awesome. Nothing else to say about it.