Mega Man Zero

The Mega Man Zero, known as Rockman Zero (ロックマンゼロ, Rokkuman Zero) in Japan, series is the third series in the main Mega Man story-line, and the fifth series in Capcom's Mega Man video game franchise, made by Keiji Inafune, and directed by Mega Man Legends series director Yoshinori Kawano. Consisting of four games developed for the Game Boy Advance by Inti Creates, the series began with the release of Mega Man Zero in 2002.

Game-play

Like the Mega Man X and classic Mega Man series, the Mega Man Zero series is a bidimensional platform game with run and gun elements that places a heavy emphasis on memorizing boss patterns and selecting the correct weapons to use against enemies. Unlike previous series, the stages of Mega Man Zero are connected, with the player being assigned missions. However, Mega Man Zero 2 and later entries returned to the standard format that allowed the player to select a mission from a stage select screen.

One noticeable change from previous Mega Man series is the ability of the main character, Zero, to level up his weapons and gain new skills by defeating enemies, though this was eventually discontinued from Mega Man Zero 3 onwards.

The Zero series also introduced a brand new Cyber Elf System, which allows Zero to equip small helper beings known as "Cyber Elves" to assist him in combat. This system can cause permanent changes such as increasing Zero's life bar or even covering dangerous spikes, or grant temporary enhancements, such as the ability to deflect bullets for a short time. Zero can use three different types of Cyber Elves, but your overall game score will be deducted for every Elf used. Later entries in the Zero series had more lenient prerequisites for the usage and consumption of Cyber Elves.

Another new addition to the franchise is the presence of elemental weapons; in every game except Zero 4, Zero gains three element chips that can be attached to any of his four weapons — the Z-Buster, the Z-Saber, the Attack Rod (which changes appearance and function with each game), and the Shield Boomerang. Doing so adds elemental effects to his attacks and allows him to use them to attack bosses weak points. The elements consist of Fire, Lightning and Ice. Fire beats Ice, Ice beats Lightning and Lightning beats Fire.

Games

Title	Release Date	Country	System
Mega Man Zero	26 April 2002 9 September 2002	Japan North America, Europe	Game Boy Advance
Mega Man Zero 2	2 April 2003 14 October 2003 31 October 2003	Japan North America Europe	Game Boy Advance
Mega Man Zero 3	23 April 2004 5 October 2004 3 September 2004	Japan North America Europe	Game Boy Advance
Mega Man Zero 4	21 April 2005 16 September 2005 4 October 2005	Japan Europe North America	Game Boy Advance

Plot

Mega Man Zero

Main article: Mega Man Zero (video game)

Approximately a century after being sealed away the legendary Maverick Hunter, Zero, is awakened to help the Reploids who are being pursued by the government body, called Neo Arcadia. It is unclear how long has passed since the end of the X series, and what events have transpired since then. Unsure of who he is, Zero helps the band of Reploids, who in turn marvel at his amazing skill. Ciel, a human who lives with the Reploids, explains that Neo Arcadia began destroying all Reploids out of paranoia of them turning Maverick, so they fled the city. X, she claims, leads the government now, and Zero agrees to battle the Neo Arcadian regime, seemingly unaware of his and X's past.

Mega Man Zero 2

Main article: Mega Man Zero 2

It has been one year since Zero defeated Copy X and ended Neo Arcadia's relentless persecution of the Reploids. However, Neo Arcadia still actively hunts him, and the battle comes to a head out in the desert. Zero survives the assault, but collapses soon afterwards, and is rescued by Harpuia, of all people. He is brought back to the Resistance Base, where he meets the new leader of the Resistance, Elpizo. But Elpizo is not all that he seems, as Zero soon discovers...

Mega Man Zero 3

Main article: Mega Man Zero 3

Two months have passed since Elpizo turned mad with power and freed the Dark Elf by destroying the body of the original X. Ciel has finally finished her research on a new energy supply, and Zero is leading a group towards Neo Arcadia to make peace at last. However, readings similar to the Dark Elf emanate from a snow field, and they stop to investigate. Inside a gigantic spaceship that fell from orbit, Zero discovers a massive Reploid, Omega, and the enigmatic Dr. Weil, the one X spoke of when talking about the curse of the Dark Elf. It seems Weil isn't alone this time, either - he has rebuilt Copy X, and together, the two of them instate a new regime in Neo Arcadia...

Mega Man Zero 4

Main article: Mega Man Zero 4

Not long after the defeat of Omega, Weil has obtained his malicious objective and has taken hold of Neo Arcadia as a dictator, replacing the Pantheons with his own personal fleet of "Variants" and unfairly infringing upon citizen's rights, both reploid and human. Tired of the oppression from Neo Arcadia, humans migrate to a location known as Area Zero in hopes of starting a new life. Unfortunately, Weil's operation "Ragnarok" threatens to destroy this peace.

Mega Man ZX Series

Main article: Mega Man ZX (series)

Mega Man ZX, the first game in the Mega Man ZX series, takes place 200 years after the end of Mega Man Zero 4. The sequel, Mega Man ZX Advent, takes place 8 months later.

Content editing

Introduction scenes from (left) Rockman Zero and (right) Mega Man Zero

In the original Japanese version (Rockman Zero) upon being wounded or cut in half, enemies and NPCs would usually spurt blood. Much of this was removed in the North American and European versions (Mega Man Zero). This is most notable in the opening sequence of Mega Man Zero, although some blood was left in.

Critical response

When the first game in the series came out, reviewers were quick to hail a return to what they considered "the Mega Man roots", however some fans criticized that the lack of knowing which boss the player will face next was a change for the worse, and that it "takes away what made the series unique in the past".

Mega Man Zero games have earned generally positive reviews from most review sources, with metacritic scores averaging in the high 70s to low 80s for most games in the series. Review sources both criticized and praised the high difficulty level of the game, and remarked that they were similar in nature to earlier installments in the Mega Man Series. Positive reviews noted the variety of abilities and customization while negative reviews focused on the series repetitiveness and lack of originality. Review scores were lower for the last two titles in the series, with critics pointing out that the games were just using the same gameplay without introducing anything new.

Manga

A manga series was produced by Hideto Kajima in 2004. However, the series diverges greatly from the video-game series in terms of storyline and tone. Whereas the video-games are always dark and serious, the manga is light-hearted and comical. Zero and Ciel in particular experience greatly altered personalities. Ciel is much more dominating and callous than her video-game persona, while Zero now experiences a sort of split-personality disorder: typically, he is weak, frail, and cowardly (indicated by a lack of a helmet), but when danger arises, his helmet appears and he transforms into the powerful "Rockman Zero." This usually occurs in order to protect Lito, a young boy who accompanies Zero throughout the manga. There are currently no plans for an English adaptation of the manga. However, it has been translated by a scanlation site, Rockman Tanjou.

Notes

• Hints of the Legends series can be seen in the forests of Dysis, Notus and Anatre, within their respective ruins. Each house has an eye similar to the ones shown on various objects in the Legends series.

External links

• Official Mega Man Home Page
• Planet Mega Man - Mega Man Zero Index