Mega Man Zero (video game)

Mega Man Zero
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Inti Creates
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Director(s)	Ryota Ito Yoshinori Kawano
Producer(s)	Takuya Aizu Keiji Inafune
Designer(s)	Masahiro Mizukoshi
Artist(s)	Toru Nakayama Azuma Honda
Composer(s)	Ippo Yamada
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance
Release date(s)	JP April 26, 2002 NA September 10, 2002 EU October 31, 2002
Genre(s)	Action, platform
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone)
Media/distribution	ROM cartridge

Mega Man Zero, known in Japan as Rockman Zero (ロックマン ゼロ), is a video game developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) handheld game console. It the first installment in the Mega Man Zero series, the fifth series in Capcom's Mega Man video games franchise. It is the first Mega Man platformer to appear on the GBA and was released in Japan on April 26, 2002, and in North America and Europe later that year.

Set 100 years following the Mega Man X saga of games, Mega Man Zero follows the android protagonist Zero as he is awakened after a century of sleep to help a human scientist named Ciel. Zero joins Ciel and her resistance force in a fight against the tyrannical government of Neo Arcadia, which is attempting to unjustly wipe out all androids it views as threats. Like its predecessors in the original Mega Man series and Mega Man X series, Mega Man Zero is an action-platformer. However, the game forgoes the franchise's traditional format of letting the player select stages and acquire each boss's weapon. It instead features mission-based progression within a large, interconnected world. The player may upgrade any weapon with repeated use, and special, one-time aids called "Cyber Elves" can supplement the player's abilities or add various effects to a mission's stage.

Mega Man Zero was produced as a commission product by Inti Creates for Capcom. The developer was reponsible for all aspects of the game except its inclusion of the protagonist Zero, which was requested by series producer Keiji Inafune. Mega Man Zero has enjoyed a mostly positive press reception. Critics lauded the game's storyline, graphics, and tweaks on the franchise's classic action formula, though many were put off by aspects of its extreme difficulty level. Mega Man Zero garnered adequate sales upon release and went on to produce three direct sequels on the GBA, as well as two spin-off titles on the DS, all developed by Inti Creates.

Plot

The narrative of Mega Man Zero is told through text dialogue cutscenes with 2D sprites and hand-drawn, anime images. The storyline takes place about a century after the events of the Mega Man X saga of games. This earlier series entails a world inhabited by intelligent, self-aware androids called "Reploids" and their struggle to coexist with their human creators. After stopping the efforts of the evil "Maverick" leader Sigma from wiping out humanity, the legendary Maverick Hunters Mega Man X and Zero have long since vanished. The story of Mega Man Zero begins with a human scientist named Ciel and her Reploid companions being chased through an underground lab. Their relentless pursuers are mass-produced androids called Pantheons, among other terrible machines. After heavy losses, Ciel and the remaining resistance troops arrive at a sealed chamber containing Zero, who has been powered down for 100 years. Zero is awakened from his century-long slumber to a world where Reploids are constantly accused of being Mavericks and systematically "retired", apparently under the direction of the once-famed Hunter X. Zero assists Ciel in escaping from the lab and reveals that he is unable remember a thing, not even his name. Zero chooses to join the resistance and begins his fight against his former ally X and the utopia known as Neo Arcadia.

Later in the game, Zero discovers that the X that is controlling Neo Arcadia is actually a replication of the original. Ciel constructed "Copy X" because the real X disappeared a long time ago and a new leader was needed for Neo Arcadia. Since Copy X lacked the moral judgement of the original, he just focused on the security of the human race. Believing that Reploids posed a danger to humans, Copy X began an operation to brand all Reploids whom he deemed a menace for Neo Arcadia as Mavericks and annihilate them. Knowing this, Zero fights Copy X and defeats him. Before dying, Copy X self-destructs in order to destroy Zero in the process. Zero escapes just in time from Neo Arcadia as Copy X, and everything around him, is engulfed in a large explosion. With low energy to continue, Zero faints in a desert close to Neo Arcadia. A mysterious voice is heard and reveals itself as the true X, who has been Zero's guide the entire time. Since he no longer has a body and was tired of fighting for a century, he tells Zero that has left him the duty of bringing peace to the world. X vanishes and Zero finds that a great number of Pantheons have him surrounded. Realizing what X said, he accepts the duty and decides to destroy Neo Arcadia once and for all.

Gameplay

The player character Zero dashes left and slashes at an enemy. The left-sided HUD displays the player's remaining health.

Mega Man Zero adopts the action-platforming gameplay prescribed by its predecessors in the original Mega Man series and Mega Man X series. The player, as the protagonist Zero, is tasked with completing several side-scrolling stages, defeating enemies, completing objectives, and occassionally battling bosses. The player can run, jump, fire the player character's primary "Buster Shot" weapon, or use a secondary weapon such as the "Z-Saber" if it is available. As in the Mega Man X games, the player can dash along the ground, cling to and scale walls, or perform a combination of these abilities. Unlike previous Mega Man games where separate stages are selectable from a menu, Mega Man Zero is presented as a single, interconnected overworld with the Resistance base at its center, where almost every area in the game can be explored freely. In place of the stages is a choice of missions that the player can undertake in each of the separate areas of the map. Completing one mission may unlock others. It is possible to fail non-critical missions and advance the narrative by escaping the stage, using up all of continues, or giving up the mission after losing a life. Doing so marks the mission as a failure, and it will no longer be available for the game's remainder.

Each of the player's four weapons can be charged up for a more powerful attack. The player can also level-up weapons with prolonged use of them. Depending on the weapon, leveling one up will allow for more attacks, increasing its range, or shortening its charge time. In previous Mega Man games, the player would obtain new weapons from defeating bosses and use those weapons against other bosses weak to a specific weapon. In Mega Man Zero, the player earns elemental chips (thunder, fire, or ice) from bosses that can be equipped. Using a chip against a neutral enemy will cause 1.5 times the damage of a non-elemental attack. Conversely, use of their defining element causes no damage, and using the one they are strong against causes half damage. "Cyber Elves", which are collectible, single-use aids with either temporary or permanent effects on Zero or the game's levels, may be found hidden in certain missions or dropped by enemies. Cyber Elf effects range widely, from refilling the player's life gauge to damaging a level's boss. Up to three Cyber Elves can be equipped for a given level. Some Cyber Elves can only be used once they are fed energy crystals found around the world or collected from defeated enemies. At the end of each stage, the player's performance is scored on a percentage scale and graded. The results are measured by various parameters including passing or failing the mission, the length of time spent, how many enemies were destroyed, the player's total damage, the number of retries, and if Cyber Elves were used.

Development and release

Mega Man Zero was developed by Inti Creates, a company established in 1996 by several former members of the game's publisher Capcom. Beginning in 1987, Capcom developed numerous games in its Mega Man franchise including its classic series, Mega Man X spin-off series, and two less-related series: Mega Man Legends and Mega Man Battle Network. Up until the development of Mega Man Zero, Inti Creates was not a successful venture. Takuya Sotsu, a director and producer for the company, jokingly suggested to Mega Man artist and producer Keiji Inafune that they make yet another spin-off from the franchise. Inafune took the idea seriously. Although Mega Man Zero was created as a commission product for Capcom, Inti Creates was solely responsible for its design and premise. The game is an extension of the Mega Man X series, which itself is an extension of the original Mega Man series. Inafune had originally intended for 2000's Mega Man X5 to be the final game in its own series, ending with Zero's death and his inevitable revival in Mega Man Zero. However, Capcom decided to continue the Mega Man X series for several more games alongside Mega Man Zero, much to Inafune's dismay. According to Inti Creates producer Ken Horinouchi, a developmental goal for Mega Man Zero was to make it the most challenging out of all the games in the franchise up to that point.

All but one track of the musical score for Mega Man Zero was composed by Ippo Yamada; the remaining track, "Theme of Zero" from Mega Man X, was composed by Setsuo Yamamoto. Yamada wanted to differentiate the style of music of the Mega Man Zero series from this predecessor by treating "more like a television or film-like presentation than the stage system like before". Remixed versions of the game's songs were compiled onto the "Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero" disc, released in Japan on January 23, 2004. In addition to the 21 songs, this CD features five drama tracks, commentary tracks by Yamada, an interview with the Inti Creates sound team, character descriptions and an interview with character designer Toru Nakayama, and guest liner notes from artist and mangaka Hitoshi Ariga. A soundtrack featuring in-game instrustamental music from game was compiled on the "Rockman Zero Game Music Complete Works -Rockman Zero 1~3-", released in Japan by Suleputer on July 1, 2004.

Mega Man Zero was first announced by Capcom on January 22, 2002 at a press event in Las Vegas. A copy of the game appeared at the 15th Next Generation World Hobby Fair in Japan on the following week on January 28. Mega Man Zero was officially released in Japan on April 26, 2002. The game appeared at the Electronic Entertainment Expo show that May in preparation for its North American release. Mega Man Zero arrived in stores stateside as early as September 10, 2002. Nintendo announced the game for a December 2002 release in Europe, though it was released earlier on October 31 of that year. The game's depictions of violence, specifically the amount of blood, was toned down for the Western releases.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	81%
Metacritic	82 out of 100
Review scores
Publication	Score
Computer and Video Games	8 out of 10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8 out of 10
Famitsu	26 out of 40
Game Informer	8.3 out of 10
GamePro
GameSpot	8.2 out of 10
GameSpy	85 out of 100
GameZone	9.1 out of 10
IGN	8.8 out of 10
Nintendo Power	8.4 out of 10

Mega Man Zero was the first new Game Boy Advance Mega Man game to go back to the traditional 2D platforming action of its prior series, and the game earned much praise for returning "to its roots". Overall, the game gained an average rating of 82 out of 100 and a favourable reception, despite its difficulty.

Reviewers across the board agreed that the game was the most difficult in the series, with one reviewer suggesting that it is not for younger or casual players. Avi Fryman of GameSpy.com states that the ability to give up on missions and still continue the game is a sensible feature of Mega Man Zero, whereas IGN states that given the difficulty of the game, no one would call a player "cheap" if they were to use the newly introduced Cyber Elf system to make boss fights easier.

Overall, the Cyber Elf System earned a lukewarm response, though many did acknowledge that it made an otherwise difficult game easier.

Common complaints with the game were slow down, "unseen deathtraps" and being required to make blind jumps. These, however, did not seem to detract much from the gaming experience as reviewers tended to recommend the game in their conclusions.

Mega Man Zero was the third best-selling video game in Japan during its week of release at 66,990 units. By June 2002, the game had sold 135,850 units in the country. Mega Man Zero sold a total of 231,166 units in Japan alone by the end of 2002. Mega Man Zero was followed by three direct sequels on the GBA. Inti Creates developed a follow-up series on the Nintendo DS comprising two games: Mega Man ZX and Mega Man ZX Advent. In 2010, all four Mega Man Zero games were compiled as the Mega Man Zero Collection, released worldwide on the DS.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Official Mega Man website at Capcom