Backlog Game Reviews 26: Megaman Zero (Gameboy Advance and Nintendo Switch)

                         

            Hey there and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

     Today let’s take a look at Megaman Zero on the Gameboy Advance. It was released on April 26^th, 2002 in Japan, November 9^th, 2002 in North America, and November 27^th, 2002 in Europe. As the name suggests, Zero from the Megaman X series is the main protagonist. The Megaman Zero series is well-beloved by fans and is known for its high difficulty. With that said let's check out the first Megaman game that didn't star Megaman.

Opening Cutscene

   Megaman Zero takes place after the Megaman X series. Zero has been shut down and sealed away for an unspecified amount of time, but it is stated that he's been asleep for over a century. During that time a new threat has risen to power. A Utopian city called Neo Arcadia that maintains it's peace through force has had an iron grip on its inhabitants and the outside world. And due to an energy crisis, Neo Arcadia has been unjustly labeling Reploids as Mavericks and executing them in large numbers.

Neo Arcadian Soldiers

   In response to Neo Arcadia's actions, a resistance force was formed. The resistance has been fighting a losing battle against Neo Arcadia for several years, they've managed to stay alive so far, but they're on their last leg.  Although the situation seems grim not all hope is lost, the resistance has managed to uncover Zero's resting place. They soon gather their forces and rush off to reactivate Zero with the hope that he'll lend them his strength.

Zero deactivated

      Many sacrifices were made but the resistance was able to wake Zero up. Unfortunately, due to being shut down for so long Zero has lost his memory, but unable to turn a blind eye to their suffering Zero decides to join the resistance.

Zero wakes up.

   Megaman Zero focuses a lot more on the story than most other Megaman games. There's an abundance of cutscenes that do a good job at world-building. There's an air of mystery of what happened to the world while Zero was shut down, and the resistance vs Neo Arcadia war makes for a fun and engaging plot. Needless to say Megaman Zero's story is one of its strong points.

Ciel explaining the resistance's current situation to Zero

   One thing to keep in mind is that this game is a continuation of the Megaman X series. So a lot of terminology and characters that fans of the X games would be familiar with are introduced with no explanation of what these words mean or who these characters are. The game assumes you’ve played that past games and know what’s going on. You don’t need to play the past Megaman games to understand the story, but playing the X games would make the story more enjoyable for you.

In this series Zero's buster takes the form of a pistol.

   Gameplay-wise it's very similar to the X series. It's an action platformer, and your goal for each level is to make it to the end of the stage and defeat the boss. Some stages have objectives that you need to complete such as rescuing prisoners, or destroying some bombs before they explode. The gameplay as a whole hasn't deviated too much from past Megaman games. If you're a fan of the Megaman X series then you should feel right at home.

The first boss in the game.

   Zero himself controls just like he did in other Megaman games. He can still dash, hang on to walls, wall kick, and he still has his trusty Z-Saber for close-range attacks and his buster for long-range.

Zero's dash is a good way to pick up the pace when you're trying to speed through a stage.

   In addition to his old weapons and abilities, Zero now has access to two new weapons, the Boomerang Shield and the Triple Rod.

The Boomerang Shield.

   The Boomerang Shield true to its name is a shield that can be used as a boomerang. It can deflect projectiles back at enemies and when charged Zero can attack with it by throwing it. Your mobility is limited when using it, you can't dash and use it at the same time for example. But it has awesome defensive abilities. If you have a more defensive play style then this weapon would be a good fit for you.

The Triple Rod is a great weapon that can attack in multiple directions.

     The Triple rod is a spear-like weapon that can attack in 8 directions. It has decent range and high attack power. It's a nice substitute for the Z-Saber but, it doesn't quite suit my play style. Although, I can see how others might get a lot of use out of it.

You can assign one weapon as your main weapon and a different weapon as a sub weapon from the pause screen.

   All of the weapons are great in their own right, but there is one problem with how they work. That problem is that you have to level each weapon up in order to use them to their full potential. Let's take the Z-Saber for example. At the beginning of the game, all Zero can do with it is a single slash. But by frequently using it Zero can learn to do a two-hit combo, and if you keep on using it he'll learn how to do a three-hit combo.

Every time you level up a weapon a text box will pop up to let you know. This box can sometimes obstruct your view which makes it more of a nuisance then anything.

   From a story perspective, this makes sense. Zero has been shut down for so long that he was to relearn all of his techniques. But from a gameplay perspective, it's not a very good system. If you want to max out all your weapons you're going to have to spend some time grinding, and grinding is one of the last things you want to do in an action-focused game like this. It's mind-numbingly boring. But if you don't grind you have to play through the game with under powered weapons. You're forced to make a decision. Do you bite the bullet and grind? Or do you deal with your under-leveled gear?

This boss can be quite the challenge if your weapons are under leveled.

   I feel that this leveling up system was a very unnecessary feature. It doesn't add anything to the gameplay and just slows the flow of the game down. If the game was designed with RPG elements in mind then it would be a different story, but as things are now it feels like an action platformer with RPG elements tacked on.

You'll find a large number of Cyber-elves throughout the game. They look like small balls of light like this.

   Another new mechanic in this game are the Cyber-elves. Cyber-elves act as power-ups that you can find hidden in stages or enemies will sometimes drop one. They have a wide range of abilities, some can heal you, some can increase your ladder-climbing speed, and some can make enemies drop health items more often. They can be very helpful but be sure to use them carefully. Cyber-elves die when they use their power so you can only use each one once.

A healing Cyber-elf

   Cyber-elves are a nice addition to the game. They can help make the game easier if you're having a hard time and it helps give the game its own identity. But Cyber-elves also comes with drawbacks. The main one being that the game punishes you for using them. This game has a ranking system, at the end of each level you're given a rank based on how fast you beat the stage, whether you completed the mission for that stage, how many enemies you defeated, how much damage you took, how many times you died and whether you used a Cyber-elf or not.

You'll be given a rank at the end of each level.

   If you use a Cyber-elf during a stage then your rank will go down, but you can raise it back up in the next stage, although if you use a Cyber-elf that has a permanent effect such as increasing your max health then your rank will be lowered for the rest of the game.

Some Cyber-elves cannot be used until they mature into an adult. The only one to get them to grow up is to feed them E-crystals. You can find these by defeating enemies.

   If you want a high rank then you'll have to ignore the Cyber-elves. If you want to use the Cyber-elves then you have to deal with having a low rank. It would have been nice if the game didn't penalize you so much for using a Cyber-elf, a mechanic unique to the Megaman Zero series.

The bosses are very challenging but fun to fight.

   I may have had a lot of complaints so far but I honestly feel that Megaman Zero is a great game. The action is fun and fast-paced. Bosses are challenging and it feels great when you beat one that was giving you trouble. It's hard but the challenge is fair and not frustrating. It may have some problems but it's a lot of fun to play.

Even the mid bosses put up a fight.

   Moving on to the visuals, the graphics look great. The pixel art holds up very well, thanks to the highly detailed sprites. One aspect of the graphics that I liked is that whenever Zero defeats an enemy or boss with the Z-Saber they’ll split in half and you can see their robotic insides. This is a very nice touch and it makes defeating enemies much more satisfying.

Slicing an enemy in two.

   The music, on the other hand, is good but nothing great. It sounds good when you're playing the game, and it does a good job of setting the tone. But it's hard to remember what any of the songs sound like when you turn the game off. There are some memorable songs like Zero's theme, but overall the music is pretty forgettable.

    That's all I have to say about Megaman Zero. It's definitely worth trying out sometime. It's a hard game so if you want to play something on the more difficult side of things then this might be what you're looking for.

    Thank you for reading. Next time let’s take a look at a Famicom or a PS1 game. I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews.

             
             Megaman Zero Gameplay video