Finally some dedication to my screen name! [Part of the "Summer Comeback 03 Special"]

We all have known Megaman [a.k.a The Blue bomber] for a long time now. Also many of us may of heard of the squeal series to the original Megaman series called Megaman X [which takes place 30 years after the original Megaman series]. Now, we have Megaman Zero, which takes place exactly 100 years after the events of the Megaman X series. Though I would love to explain exactly how the Megaman X series supposedly flows into the Megaman Zero series I would have to ruin the ending of Megaman X6 and also it wouldn’t matter anyways since there is going to be a new Megaman X game coming for PS2 this fall [Megaman X7] and already I see many story conflicts from here, but let's move onto the subject at hand. In Megaman Zero you actually play as Zero as a main character instead of Megaman, which would be a first in this long-running series. The story starts out with Zero being found in a capsule after a 100 year "rest", by a young girl and eventually it is discovered that the girl is part of a rebel group who are going against a group of Relploids [robots] who are destroying other innocent robots for the good of mankind. Though the story sounds simple enough there are few little twists that make the story-line worth your while [especially to mega man fans]. Now on to the review...

Gameplay- Now though Megaman Z is like every other Megaman game in respects that you fight multiple bosses in there own respective stages to earn various elemental powers to use against other bosses that are weak against it, there is s till a big different factor. Firstly, this game is actually mission base, meaning that you go through this game a little more linier fashion then past megaman games [though you still have a choice between a couple of missions during various parts of the game]. Secondly, you have a limited number of continues in this game [you can only get a maximum of nine] making this Megaman game one of the toughest since the early days. Thirdly, you are graded for your actions during a mission and depending on how good you do changes some things in the game itself. For example, if you fail to compete the missions in the game that protects your base, then your base may become more degraded every other time you fail such missions. The other major difference with this game is that you get only 3 elemental powers in this game instead of the usual 8 in other Megaman games [which is strange since this game has about 8 bosses] these elements would include fire, ice, and lighting. All of these elements can be used against the bosses in the game and everyone of them are weak against at least one of these three powers, though with some of them it is hard to tell. All of these gameplay quirks really adds a lot of old school difficulty to the Megaman series which I respect since most of the Megaman X titles were easier then normal. However there is a disadvantage to this engine because you have the option to quit your missions. Quitting missions is never good because you get bad grades and you don't get elemental powers which is a must to make the game a least playable [remember it is very hard]. However you can quit your way all the way to the end of the game if you are lazy and this is honestly a big gameplay blunder by Capcom. However with that one major con of the game there are yet two more pros to the game, which really make it a LOT more different then previous Megaman games. One of these is that Zero can use multiple weapons, including his sword and buster of course but eventually you get a spear and a shield boomerang. You can only have a maximum of two weapons equipped on you at anyone time and you can actually get experience for them so they get stronger. For example, Zero's sword, which you have from the beginning of the game, eventually gains double and triple slash as it gains levels. Also this game has something called a Elf system where you collect little elves that can help you with defeating bosses and give you life and so on and so forth. Most elfs can only be used once, but there are level up Elfs where you have to level them up by giving them experience you earn on the field. Some of these elves turn subtanks [refillable containers for health] once there levels max out, among other things.

Graphics- The graphics in this game are very good and interesting. Every time Zero slashes a robot it will break apart in many pieces or fall part neatly in two. Little quirks like that give this game some edge that the Megman games that preceded it never quite had. The only problem with the graphics is that they were minorly edited. Originally in the Japanese version there was blood in the game and in the American version it was edited out. Though it is not a big deal by any means, I am just big on keeping everything from anime to games 100% when they sail to our shores.


Sound- The music in this Megaman game has a more of a techno, more dark side then past Megaman titles. However, the soundtrack really doesn’t compare to most other Megaman titles I have heard in the past year [Megaman Battle Network series, Megaman and Bass, so on and so forth]. The sound in this game though on the other hand is nice and loud and in your face. When you slash or blast apart you enemies you will hear what sounds close to breaking glass as each are slain down and as you fight more and more the sound gets crazier and crazier. Also as you fight you can hear Zero making combat grunts as he slashes with his sword, similar to previous Megaman X titles.

Overall- Megaman Zero in my opinion is a really good milestone in the Megaman series that leaves the saga wide open for more possibilities. At the moment the squeal to Megaman Zero has already came out in Japan and is expected to come to America in the fall and Zero has new "morphing" abilities [where he changes colors and thus his powers] and also he gets some new weapons, including a whip. Like I already mentioned Megaman X7 was already announced to come to Japan on 7.17.03 and here in the fall and this Megaman title might give us a good idea on how the Megaman X series flowed into the Megaman Zero series [though Capcom is never good with Story-lines so we will see]. Finally, for any people that are fans of the Megaman Battle network series, the 4th title in the series was already announced for a Japanese release later this year in Japan, and hopefully it will come here by sometime next year. So now with all of these Megaman titles coming we can expect a newfound reawakening of the series all over again.