Fox's Review: Diet MegaMan Zero

[Fusion]

(Screenshots coming soon)

The next and maybe final installment of the Rockman-X-Z-ZX timeline hits with a bang, but slightly leaves something to be desired.  But it takes the Megaman X series into an almost completely new world with advanced 2D capabilities.  It's a shame Capcom still didn't take full advantage of this.  I, being a clever and cunning Fox, had decided to import this game.  Lo and behold it arrived 2 days ago, and ever since I've been out to discover all of it's secrets.

Story (8/10):

Okay, so the story starts and we see Girouette's mug FIRST THING in the game.  He's NOT ZERO.  Zero's dead, fangirls.  Sorry to shatter your dream, because ALMOST EVERY HUMAN AND REPLOID WITH A HUMAN FACE in the game has that stupid red triangle on their forehead.  Well, these weird Vile-bot wannabes come by and shoot Vent\Aile off a cliff to reawaken in a forest.  Model X just stares at either of them, and when Vent\Aile walk up to Model X TA-DA!  Let's meet the "Guardians!" (nope, sorry, the MMZ Guardians are dead, too.  This is just the resistance of the future.) first person we see is Prairie, and she's accompanied by 2 guards.  Vent and them talk a little then some weird irregular snake bot appears, and kicks the 2 guards' tail (but they don't die.) so up comes the FMV where Vent\Aile scream for NO reason at all, then X says "Compatible host found", followed by the R.O.C.K. system stuff.  We see Vent undergo a "transformation" that takes 10 seconds, then he just lays one shot on the snake and it retreats.  That's just a quarter of what intro stage there is.

Graphics (9\10):

The graphics are very much like Rockman Zero's graphics, only with more expression so they look cleaner and not as 3D-wannabe as the preceding series.  Every thing is surprisingly well detailed, though Capcom still got lazy with other sprites.  No, they didn't reuse sprites, they somewhat edited older sprites.  Their edits paid off, though.  They're actually GOOD this time around (Unlike X suddenly being shaded completely different during his saber slash in X6) and fit the characters.  But unfortunately... The only beef I have is that Capcom got their styles mixed up when making new sprites for Omega Zero (transform to\from) though it's a minor difference.  It just looks slightly odd.  But they did improve the detail for the stance, and every other graphical aspect is done well.  Except for Model X, whose helmet shape looks somewhat off.  And buster looks rather stupid.  But otherwise, Graphics are okay.

Sound (7\10):

The sound's the good and bad part of ZX.  The good part is that most of the sounds and the instruments sound nice, but the bad part of it is that the instruments sound terribly like a MIDI rendering. There's a Star Wars reference hidden in the sounds.  The Vile-drone wannabes, when they fire, shoot a laser that sounds suspiciously like a TIE Fighter laser, whilst Model X's and Model FX's buster shots sound like a typical Blaster from Star Wars.  Rebels versus Imperials, anyone?.  Some tracks of the music are decent, but not a single one lives up the expectations of Rockman players, except for the main theme of ZX, which is Area A's theme.  There's only one remix, and it's of MMZ3's somewhat worst song, but it fits who you fight.  Oh, and there's vocal acting for just about every important line in the game.  For CoJ's standards, it's done pretty good.

Gameplay (9\10):

The game plays a LOT like Rockman Zero, but with some changes and stuff made simpler.  For instance, Model FX lets you button mash both firing buttons to get that rapid fire effect.  Model HX has a gameplay trick where if you hit the first, then second, then first buttons again, you can do a variant of Harpuia's 3-slash combo.  Sadly, Model LX doesn't have much of Leviathan's attacks.  Model ZX is just MMZ Zero on a stick, but comes default with the mid-air rolling slash.  But you've gotta button mash to use it.  At least the gun's a LOT better (and actually worth using) this time around.  Switching models can be done in the game (everything stops when you get ready to change models, though), and also in the pause menu.  You'll automatically change to that model when you exit the menu, though.

Overall (8\10):

This game's worth your time, and although it seems mission-based there is the medium for exploring and finding entrances to areas you haven't discovered yet.  With Model HX you can reach a lot of otherwise too high to get to places.  Model LX allows you to somewhat swim in water, Model FX allows you to burn stuff, and as said before Model PX allows you to see in the dark a bit better and grab onto ledges, which is more useful than you think it is.  Model ZX just allows you to play MMZ-style, and Model OX allows you to play MMZ style but with Omega Zero's attacks.

Translation (?\10):

This game isn't out in the U.S, you dork.  Let's just hope that CoA doesn't f-up the entire plot of this game.  At least 'Biometal' sounds cooler than 'Live Metal'.

The bosses are creative and well done, to me.  Damaging a live metal doesn't really matter, as the blue guy in the lab can upgrade it back to full strength with enough E-crystals.