The Classic Mega Man Series was popular enough to warrant its own spin-off series, Mega Man X. That, in turn, proved strong enough for a spin-off series of its own, and in 2002 it arrived in the form of Mega Man Zero
The Zero series spans four titles — all released exclusively for the Game Boy Advance — and it was able to maintain a fairly high quality all the way through. Much of this is due to the fresh perspective brought by Inti Creates, which was contracted by Capcom to handle the series. In fact, it did such a stellar job that it was brought back for both the next spin-off series, Mega Man ZX, and classic series throwbacks Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10.
This first game does a great job of setting the groundwork for its three sequels, but it's also a bit rough around the edges. Before we get into that, however, it's worth discussing the plot, which is surprisingly dark for a Mega Man game.
Picking up after Mega Man X5 left off (it's a long story...), this new series begins with a human female awakening Zero from hibernation. She is a resistance fighter, doing her best to aid the troops in their struggle against the evil forces of Neo Arcadia. Neo Arcadia is a utopian civilisation — or at least it is for humans. That utopia comes at the expense of robots (or "Reploids") who are being exterminated en masse in order to free up resources for the humans.
The female — Ceil — who awakens Zero knows he is their only hope against the tyranny. After all, Zero knows Neo Arcadia's brutal dictator quite well: it's his old partner Mega Man X. Yes, it's your job to hunt down and destroy the protagonist of the previous series, and if that doesn't get your attention nothing will. All four titles in the Zero series are narrative-heavy, so to say much more would spoil a lot of the fun. Suffice it to say, Zero has a long and twisting road ahead of him.
The game plays a lot like the Mega Man X titles. The physics are similar, and Zero's dash and wall jump will be very familiar to anyone who played the X series. But that's about where the similarities end. In both the classic and X series, for instance, you'd choose a level and fight through it in search of its boss. Upon defeating that boss you'd obtain a new weapon and / or ability that would help you in the rest of your journey.
Here, things are much different. Instead of selecting a level, you choose from a list of missions Ceil offers you. Each "level" is actually just a section of the game's huge main area, and you can explore them at will. For instance, Ceil may send you on a trip to defend a factory from attack, but when you're done you can stroll right back to that factory whenever you like. You might also go exploring in the middle of a mission and find yourself in the area that you liberated during the last one! It's an interesting approach, and it's nice to double back and see what's changed as a result of your efforts.
Weapons are not obtained in the traditional sense, either. Zero begins the game with a wimpy Buster, but as he progresses through the story he can earn three more items to use: his famous Z-Sabre, the Triple Rod and the Shield Boomerang. None of these are obtained by defeating bosses, however, and are all story-driven.
This is a big shake-up for a Mega Man series, as the weakness chain doesn't quite exist. Instead, some bosses have elemental alignments (either Electricity, Fire or Ice, while others are neutral) and you can obtain their elemental chips by defeating them, which you can then plug into any weapons you do have in order to benefit from their effects. This doesn't alter the way you use the weapons, but it does change how much damage enemies and bosses take from them. It sounds confusing, but in practice it's actually quite simple and an interesting attempt to evolve a very old concept.
That's not the only difference in terms of weapons, though; the more you use them, the more they level up. This means that the weapons you use most will acquire additional abilities more quickly, and while that might sound like a nice touch in reality it leads to an unfortunate aspect of Mega Man Zero: grinding.
While past games encouraged grinding for health or ammunition, Mega Man Zero has you grinding to level your weapons up — which can take a very long time if you'd like to unlock each of their abilities — and to accumulate energy crystals, which are necessary to feed Cyber Elves.
Yes, Cyber Elves. In the classic series or Mega Man X you might find some utilities or subtanks lying around the stages. Here, however, you find Cyber Elves. These little creatures come with cutesy names, but you never know what you picked up at any given time. This is a problem because it makes it difficult to remember where you found the Cyber Elf that granted you a double health bar, or became a subtank, which would sure be nice information to have the next time you play.
You can equip a maximum of three Cyber Elves at a time, and these can do anything from heal you slightly to covering death spikes to ripping half the HP out of a level's boss. Once you use them, though, they're gone forever, so you'll want to manage them as best you can, as there are a finite number in the game. Use up all the health refill Elves, and that's it — you'll never find another.
The more helpful Cyber Elves sometimes need to be fed thousands upon thousands of collectable energy crystals before you can use them. Considering how rarely and in what small quantities the energy crystals drop, you can be sure you'll be grinding for a long time if you want help from these peculiar little assistants.
And believe us, you'll want all the help you can get. Mega Man Zero is absolutely punishing. If you think you had trouble with any Mega Man game before, you haven't seen anything yet.
The levels are full of death spikes and bottomless pits, and enemies are positioned to always be as in the way as possible. Your tiny health bar doesn't help much — seriously, find those Cyber Elves — and the penalty for a mistake is very often a lost life, with 1-ups being extremely rare finds. What's more, you're graded at the end of each mission, and if you took any damage, used any Cyber Elves or took too long, your grade drops. While this absolutely gives perfectionists something to shoot for, casual players are not likely to ever see a respectable rank.
That's the main problem with Mega Man Zero: its difficulty is a bit too severe. Later games took varying steps to address this without softening the challenge, which is nice, because in this first outing it just feels like a punishment. Challenge is a great thing, but not at the expense of fairness, and Mega Man Zero doesn't master that balance.
Additionally, while we like the idea of shaking up the way you accumulate weapons, the entire game can be cleared with just the Buster and the Z-Sabre. These are both the most fun to use and the most useful overall, meaning the Triple Rod — which feels like a slower, less versatile Sabre — and the Shield Boomerang — which blocks projectiles but is difficult to use in combat situations — will barely get touched.
The fact that clearing missions leaves those areas changed can also be a problem, as it's easy to render Cyber Elves inaccessible without realising it. This means that you need to take your time combing every square inch of every area during a mission, because once you return they could be gone forever. Later games would be more forgiving and allow fuller exploration after the fact, so it's a shame pick ups get locked away so easily here.
These are issues, no doubt, but it's also worth highlighting that a lot of these problems with resources and crippling difficulty can be managed, to a degree, with liberal use of the Wii U Virtual Console's restore point feature. A key strength that really influences the experience, meanwhile, is that Mega Man Zero sets up a very interesting world, layering its narrative details nicely. For instance, your hub of operations is a decrepit and empty Resistance Base. As you rescue and assist the troops, however, you get to watch it grow and populate, which is a great thematic illustration of just how much you're assisting the cause.
Additionally, there's a lot of great character building. Ciel in particular is a conflicted idealist, plagued by guilt over something she's done in the past, and the feelings she develops for Zero over the course of the series begin here, in some nicely constructed dialogues that find her both relying on Zero to do the dirty work and fretting over his safe return. We also meet the four Guardians, who will be an important part of the next few games as well, and through them we learn that bosses in Mega Man games don't always have to be disposable. Splash Woman fans should also really enjoy spending time with her spiritual ancestor, Leviathan.
It's absolutely worth a play, as long as you're prepared to scream a few curse words and have all of your breakable possessions stored safely away. It's a fun experience overall, and extremely satisfying once you master it, with some very atmospheric visuals and a fantastic soundtrack -- these suit the GamePad screen and a set of headphones rather nicely. Zero's still getting the hang of things here, but even his faltering first steps are worth experiencing.
Conclusion
Mega Man Zero kicks off a short series that will challenge you endlessly, but is very rewarding to master. Its brutal difficulty is bound to turn off a lot of gamers, but those who stick with it — or hammer the restore point feature — will find the richest world in any Mega Man series, populated with interesting characters and pulsing with a predictably brilliant soundtrack. Its sword-heavy combat and Cyber Elf approach to upgrades aren't going to resonate with everybody — and the grinding is a genuine obstacle to enjoyment — but if you have even a passing interest in the game, it's worth seeking out. Just don't expect to be very good at it for a long time.
Comments 29
Great game, great score.
This is just the first game which was a bit unpolished around the edges with the cyber elves mechanism and grinding being a bit extreme. The sequel Megaman Zero really deals away with most problems and introduces Forms and all. Can't wait for the whole series to get around on the eShop. The whole series had great quality. And great fun. But it is indeed hard to maintain a rank above B, especially if you die once or use a cyber elf.
This was my least favorite of the series but it's still a fun game. It's pretty short if you're good at it, but multiple playthroughs are encouraged because of the multiple difficulties and such. I'll probably pick it up eventually, but right now I'm saving my dollars for the other GBA Mega Man series.
C'mon, Battle Network 2 and 3 are both out in Japan AND altered so that even without the multiplayer you can still get 100%. Bring em to NA pls Capcom.
I'm such a fanboi for the NES mega man. I always felt the games after were too claustrophobic with the large sprites on the screen.
My review: 100/10
Best fugging retro game of life hands up. Idk why you fools gave it an 8. TOO HARD PERHAPS???? BOO HOO ITS SO FOOLS LIKE YOU CANT PLAY IT! d:
Man. I really wish I liked Mega Man. There's like a billion Mega Man games.
I love this series! First one is probably the most unforgiving in terms of continues, but I think the second one has much harder level design. Zero 2 is my favorite of this series.
I always wanted to play these games maybe I should pick up the DS compilation somewhere...
Man, seriously all 4 of the Zero games are 9/10 or more.
How do the GBA originals compare to the versions I have on the DS cartridge. (Zero Collection - don't think I have even opened it yet).
This game is awesome. Can't argue with the review or final score.
But Zero 2 and 3 are classics. Anyone who likes this game, really needs to play those.
Well the bad thing is that you can't even form subtanks if you want to have a good rating. Last time I played Megaman Zero, the only elves I used were the subtank elves. I made them just before the last boss fight. After I beat the game, my rating which had been at A was dropped to F. And it was stuck at F during a hard new game+ >.<.
Yeah I didn't replay it that time. Regretted making those subtanks.
@unrandomsam
Hmm. I have heard that the collection mainly just picks 'em up and puts them all in a single cartridge. Same games, no bottom screen usage.
Thanks for the reminder. I'd better go buy Mega Man Zero Collection for the DS, since that makes much more sense, price-wise.
The Zero games are good, but I still prefer the classic and X series more overall. There are times where the Zero games just get too cheap with the difficulty and the cyber elves were pretty much wasted since using them killed your ranking.
I understand the games appeal to a super-hardcore audience and some people appreciate that.
Me? I want to run through levels shooting robots, searching for hidden items I can use later, and get weapons from the bosses.
Mega Man Zero and its sequels are good, but it often feels like you have to jump through hoops to get the things that were a given in previous Mega Man games. Why do I have to get an A ranking just to get master weapons? It's a freaking Mega Man game, I should get those whenever I beat a boss, no matter what!
Mega Man Zero is a good game, although I would warn potental buyers that it gets hard and at times, pretty damn cheap. This is a game that punishes you for making subtanks to help you out(As opposed to letting you find them like in the Classic and X series)
Let me put it this way, if you're looking for a game that will have you staring at a game over screen on a regular basis and punishes you for daring to take hits and create subtanks Mega Man Zero is for you. If you're looking for difficult, but fair games, stick with the Classic and X series.
This game was really frustrating for me. I wanted to enjoy it but the awkward large size of the character compared to the stages made it incredibly difficult platform. You can't see what is ahead so dash jumps send you flying into the abyss too many times. You are much taller than some enemies too making it very difficult to hit small boxes. The sword has no knockback so you dash into enemies and hit them but they hit you too. In my opinion the game was too hard to control.
@Caryslan My thoughts exactly, I love the Zero games but some of its design choices baffle me, like ranking to get weapons and grinding for E-crystals.
@kidwalrus They brought it down a couple points for more than difficulty. Read the review.
@Caryslan
Well in the future games the subtanks are useable without penalties. Many balance issues are sorted in Megaman Zero but then the game is meant to be really difficult. Easy mode does remove most penalties but I think it does limit something.
@Zapkido oh ya did they? Well, I don't care. The design choices and leveling up weapons is genius. Levels are always a fresh new experience and you sad little monkeys should get over yourselves. Keiji is a god and deserves way more than your criticism. He created a game in perfect form. Reviews are stupid. A game is either good or bad. This game is amazing.
For those worried about the difficulty, you can fail most of the missions and still complete the game (iirc). Still prefer Mega Man X for its fairness though.
@unrandomsam @LasermasterA I have the collection, and it's definitely the preferred version you want to play. In addition to having all four games in their original difficulty, it includes a "easy mode" that combines all four games into one long campaign and starts you off with a ton of perks that make the game less of a grindfest. Anyone who has a 3DS should track the Collection down instead of paying into this one game.
Great, great series, especially if you are a Mega Man fan, or even more so a Mega Man X fan. It's essential Mega Man gaming... that's all I'll say.
I'm hunting down the Zero collection.
Insults are not necessary -Lz
This was not necessary in any shape or form. -Lz
@Knuckles https://www.videogamesplus.ca/mega-man-zero-collection-p-17184.html
You may need to use a VPN program as for some reason website's been a bit dodgy these last few days. However, its here cheap and with cheap shipping.
@FX102A Thanks, but with the high level of quality offered by the Zero collection, I don't mind spending 20 dollars on it from somewhere I trust.
@Knuckles Ok, maybe I made a poor choice of words. They're having some technical difficulties on their site at the moment and for some reason I can only access the site on my iPad via a VPN. Still have to try on my PC, plus could be cos where I am currently located.
Still I trust em wholeheartedly. Been ordering from them for years and never had a problem.
I'd give it a 7 or 6 and a half at least.
Great game and all but I really didn't need to level up my Z-sword just to strike 3 times in a row. (Good thing I had the rom, put Autofire B on and held the space bar to attack an enemy that could not die) Nor develop better C-Elfs by having to get tons of stuff for them.
I like the series, but only for the story and it was really good, till <Spoiler> you wipe the hardrive with Omega. Then w/out the boss fights and couple of cool characters, MMZ4 was kinda lame. The look of the MMZ series is kinda cool, but not badass like in the X series. They made them look to much human. I could barely tell the difference anymore between the Human and the Reploid races. (Unless it was obvious)
And a boring way to get the Z-sword. "It's dangerous to go alone, take this!" Instead of Zero actually developing the will to bring one out thin air for the sake of being a hero.
Only played MMZ for the story.
The only reason to get this is for on-TV play. Otherwise, Mega Man Zero Collection exists. It's not even $20 on Amazon. Go buy that.
@MetalK9
"They made them look to much human. I could barely tell the difference anymore between the Human and the Reploid races."
Storywise, that's actually kind of the point.
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