Considered by more than a few to be the greatest of the Mega Man series, the original release of Mega Man Zero flew under the radar for a few. Some were put off by the changes in system, (No additional weapons from bosses, slightly chibi character designs, and extreme difficulty among others) while others embraced the new Mega Man series. Regardless though, the Zero series became niche titles that were rare finds depending on where you look. Even in the few stores stocking GBA titles in this day and age, it would be unusual to find any of the Zero games (especially all 4x in one location), let alone for a reasonable price tag. (Zero 4 alone was $25 or $30 for me, iirc)
Here's the part where Capcom comes to the rescue. Even in the days of the HD craze, Capcom remembers (or realizes) that the Zero series is definitely one of the favoreds, and hard to come by for gamers late to the scene. Thus the Zero Collection on DS is (re)born! This wonderful DS collection allows us working versions of all 4 games on the DS for one low price, without having to pay ebay shops ridiculous price simply due to older copies of GBA games! This is an especially nice delivery to peeps who went straight into the ZX series, but didn't see the preceding storyline (and therefore how it ties into ZX).
But alas, this post isn't meant to be about the Zero Collection as a whole. (Though i can't reccomend this purchase enough to fellow gamers) I recently finished playing Mega Man Zero again, and thought it'd be fun to go over some of the key points in it. Both pros and cons to this 'new' (at the time. ;P ) series~ I'm going to try and keep these points limited to Zero 1, in the mindset of a gaming world without Mega Man games past this. The idea of this is posting more as I continue through other Zero games, to evaluate the progression of the series. Let's see if I have the attention span for that!
Pros!
- Portable, obviously. :P
- Actually advances the Megaman meta-plot!
Whereas the original MM games and the X series both have rather dull stories (oh boy, Wily/Sigma again, another contrived plot to make the main characters think it's not Wily/Sigma!), Zero mixes things up by reintroducing you to characters in a strange new world. (X exterminating innocent reploids? How could this be?!?!) - More focus on core combat.
I like that combat is more about simply maneuvering and using your (ammo-less) core weapons (Z-saber, buster, triple rod, and shield boomerang) than seeing if you have the proper boss weapon for the job at a given time. Feels more like a test of player skill than having the right answer to rock-paper-scissors. (Though this one is entirely my opinion)
Another thought on this is that unlike many prior MM / MMX bosses (who'd be locked in a pattern when hit with their weakness) MMZ bosses would rarely get locked in a pattern. This meant that while using their elemental weakness greatly helped, it usually didn't make the boss fight a complete joke. (There are of course exceptions, but few) - Effing hard!
I honestly consider the X series to be rather tame difficulty wise. The Zero series feels like the most punishing one, either as hard as or questionably harder than the original MM games. (Depending on who you talk to) You are much more easily damaged than predecessor games, and truly have to develop skill at maneuvering around to succeed at these games. - Art Style
I feel this one is big to me, though not so much to a lot of people. I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to looking at and analyzing different art styles. When the Zero series went in such a different direction than the X series before it, I was first skeptical. I've definitely come to love the character designs though, and find them some of the most refreshing and original in the Mega man meta-series. - New Upgrade System
Cyber Elves were an interesting take on the upgrade system. It was no longer enough to find an upgrade, but you also had to spend energy crystals to have it be usable. In addition, you would find lots and lots of minor elves that required no crystals, sort of like one use e-tanks or the like. Gave the user a little breathing room on difficulty, but otherwise gave a slight bit of fresh air to the old tried and true armor + heart tanks + e tanks upgrades system.
- Effing Hard!
I think the sheer steep learning curve turned a lot off to this new game. The game would throw enemies and traps at you with little warning, and the bosses taking off LOTS of life were little exception. Moreso than in other Mega Man games, you had to adapt rather quickly or die. Even after learning patterns, one must be quick (for the most part) at dodging. While a plus for me, I'm also labeling it a con since I'm sure it drove off more than a few gamers. - Farming Energy Crystals
This one particularly struck true on this playthrough of Zero 1. On one runthrough, grabbing all the crystals I saw, raiding the factory twice (max you can do in one playthrough) for massive amounts of crystals, and grinding for an hour I had enough by the end of the game for the Life doubler elf alone. (3000 crystals) There are 2x other elves which cost 3-3.5k, along with numerous others that cost 1-2k. Essentially the game gives you one major upgrade or a couple lesser upgrades, and you need to spend hours and hours grinding if you want more than that. Not a good design choice imo. - Art Style
Like difficulty, adding it here due to art being subjective. I love the new art style, but I know quite a few Mega Man fans were put off by how the character designs looked. Probably because they (Capcom) went from rather serious looking characters in the X series to characters in Zero series that looked chibi, or a bit like children.
In the end, Mega Man Zero is a pretty good game. It has some minor flaws (depending on who you ask) but in the end delivers a solid platforming experience to fans of the genre. It also does a fairly good job of making Zero stand out as a series from X, it's predecessor.
Next time, we'll discuss design changes from Zero to Zero 2! =O
-Ed Kun Out-
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