Welcome to World Zero - Reviews for the hardcore gamer

Following a stint of mediocrity after Megaman’s first PSX outing (X5 and 6 were decent at best, and don’t even get me started on the train wreck that is MM8…), Megaman is given a new lease on life, ironically enough from Zero, the character probably most responsible for Megaman’s (or X’s, if you want to get technical) apparent fall in popularity. Zero has been making X’s presence in the MMX titles almost unnecessary during the last few outings, so getting his own adventure only seems natural. But aside from the omission of X from the lead role this time around, one of the things that makes MMZ the first breath of fresh air for the series in a long, long while is its complete doing away with traditional Megaman stage progression. Instead of selecting a level from a main hub, stage progression is instead handled through a mission based format. The comparison that springs immediately to mind is that of Capcom’s own NES Strider, if that helps any. Instead of selecting a particular boss to take out, you’ll select a mission objective from a list of available choices. As you complete missions, new ones will open up. Though the change does not seem that radical in the way I’ve described it, the missions aren’t merely analogous to the old stage boss structure of traditional Megaman. Your choice to raid the enemy’s supply factory doesn’t merely equate with selecting Snake Man’s stage, for example. Megaman Zero has a small number of stages, but each acts almost like a mini-hub of their own. Over the course of the game you will return to each level multiple times for different reasons, meeting new foes, and opening up new paths as you go.

The final dramatic departure from the antiquated Megaman formula is the omission of the acquisition of subweapons from boss characters. The rock-paper-scissors element is retained by way of three elemental chips which power your charge shots with their attribute, but they are not nearly as necessary for success as a proper stage order was in the Megaman and X titles. This keeps the basic rock-paper-scissors element intact but loosens up the focus on trial and error with stage progression. Another side effect of this is the heightened emphasis on normal attacks during boss battles. Past Megaman titles -- particularly those of the original series -- often times had two difficulties. The first one and harder of the two was the one where you didn’t have the right weapons for the circumstances you were in. The second was laughably easy, entailing the almost game breaking ease with which you could decimate all comers once you acquired the necessary equipment. That contrast is lessened with Megaman Zero. Battles always remain balanced, frantic, and strategic now that the scales are set up in a more even fashion.

With as much change as MMZ’s underlying structure has undergone, the basic gameplay has been subtly altered as well. I’m not talking about the minor RPG essentials now standard within the action platforming genre, or even with the fact that with a hundred years of cryogenic sleep and the amnesia that followed, Zero forgot how to duck. No, what I’m referring to is more subtle than that. If Megaman has always been a platformer with mild elements from action games thrown in, than Megaman Zero is predominantly an action game with some platforming on the side. From the point where you receive Zero’s trademark Sabre at the end of the game’s introductory stage, MMZ evokes shades of Strider more often than it does the classic Megaman titles from which it descended. Zero’s actions are utterly kinetic. Zero cuts through enemies and skates through stages with a grace entirely his own. The excellent platforming that the series is well known for has not been replaced, but has been relegated to being the perfect compliment to the game’s intense action.

Continuing the trend started by the later X titles, Megaman Zero is a difficult game. But given the complete refocusing of the game’s emphasis on action, this difficulty takes on an entirely new depth. Billed in magazine ads as the most challenging Megaman title ever, you’re going to have to reach down deep to overcome the game’s overwhelming, neigh masochistic level of challenge. And just to prove that Megaman is no longer pulling any punches, Inafune has stacked the deck against gamers with MMZ’s continue system. Extra lives are a thing of the past. You’re instead handed a measly amount of credits, that once exhausted, spell game over. For good though, not back to the password screen, if that’s what you were thinking. Further driving the point home that this game is not for your average weaksauce gamer and providing additional incentive to touch that untapped well of gaming prowess within is the open-ended mission structure. If you fail a mission in Megaman Zero, you’ve missed your chance. There are no second takes and you’re forever branded a failure. Well boo-fucking-hoo. Suck it up. Real men (and coincidentally -- small, pinkish robots with long blonde ponytails) don’t use continues anyway.

But in what can be viewed as a compromise of sorts to casual gamers (as well as to those of us that don’t merely view videogaming as an electronic pissing contest), Megaman Zero features what can only be described as an out for the hopelessly frustrated – an all purpose item/status/healing system dubbed by the incredibly lame moniker of the ‘Cyber Elf’ system. Essentially, these are little computer programs with various positive effects associated with them, such as increasing your life bar, acting as a subtank, destroying all enemies on screen, etc. These are hidden throughout the game’s levels. The catch is that most cannot be used immediately when found. They have to be fed using the game’s point/money equivalent. The end result is that there is a bit of a safety net to keep you from getting too frustrated, but the fact that using a Cyber Elf lowers your end level rank as well as the perhaps more immediate deterrent of having to spend time farming currency to use them ensures that they be used sparingly, if at all.

But more than the intense difficulty or innovations like the new item system, the thing that really separates Megaman Zero from its recent fore bearers is Inafune’s ambition. MMZ is inspired in a way that the series hasn’t been for so long. This is the first sidescrolling Megaman game to break the mold, rather than aspire to conform to it, since the original X. This inspiration and ambition shows itself in the diverse set of missions and objectives, ranging from rescue missions, to disarming explosives, or even flipping traditional videogame stage progression on its head by starting off stages with boss encounters, instead of the other way around. This inspiration is also manifest in the entirely new art design. It’s a great deal more streamlined than the blocky robot appearance exemplified by the X titles. This is unarguably the greatest departure from the original Megaman concept outside of the Battle Network titles, and one that I think MMZ benefits from greatly. Even MMZ’s plotline is a good deal more inspired than your traditional Megaman fare. Opening with the bloody slaughter of reploid soldiers who are seeking you out to aid in their resistance movement, Megaman Zero sets a somber tone from the very onset and places you as the key player of a guerilla war that looks none too promising. MMZ’s small cast of characters seem all the more fleshed out since you can interact with them at any time via the central hub between missions. And instead of avoiding all ties to the Megaman series own history, MMZ is built entirely off of the events that transpired in the MMX series. In fact, one of the main draws of MMZ upon its release was the intrigue provided by having X as the main villain this time around. Though not a strict chronological successor, the relation to the X series lends the game a great amount of subtext that it utilizes quite nicely, without letting it tie it down or restrict it from where Inafune wants to take MMZ in the future.

Rating	The rating scale in detail
7.0	+/- Animation is top notch, though a lot of the backgrounds are starting to show their age.
8.0	+ Excellent and tasteful remixes, and the new content is more than worthy in its own right.
9.0	++ Take Megaman, crossbreed it with the dynamic swordplay of Strider and infuse it with the devious and addicting challenge of a Shinobi or a Ninja Gaiden and you’ll have an idea of how MMZ plays.
8.5	+/- Though it takes a while to sink in, the new art direction really begins to grow on you after a while. In any event, it’s more interesting than the same pointy helmet/big feet motif we’ve been seeing for years now.
8.0	+ MMZ has its fair share of collectibles and unlockables, but most of its longevity resides with its challenge.
8.6	+ A fresh new start for one of gaming’s most beloved and longstanding franchises that just happens to be geared towards your hardcore action fan.