Latest Game Reviews

Megaman Zero 2 Review - GBA

2nd May 2005 by
90%
Megaman. The Blue Bomber. Gaming Icon. Cash Cow. He's appeared in nearly one hundred games, and if current trends continue, he will appear in one hundred more. Most of them on the GBA. Thankfully the games are a blast to play.

The star of the Megaman Zero series for GBA isn't the man himself, but his long suffering sidekick Zero. Playing a role much like Luigi does to Mario, Zero has been the character in the background for many adventures, but only now has he gotten a game of his own; and not just a game, but a whole series. Capcom were never one to let a good thing lie, and they certainly weren’t going to let a thing as good as this take a wee nap.

Gameplay

The Zero series plays much like the Megaman X series in that it's a left to right 2D action platformer. X is the current incarnation of Megaman, who now rules over Neo Arcadia. Due to an energy shortage, reploids (the Megaman term for robot) are being sent to retirement camps for retirement. That's a nice way of saying they’re being put down with a lethal injection of Windows 2000.

Understandably, quite a few self aware reploids weren't happy about this and formed a resistance movement. Led by the human girl scientist Ciel, they seek to find a new energy source and end the war between the resistance and Neo Arcadia. Of course, ending the war, for the most part, means killing the other side, which is where Zero comes in.

Having left the Resistance at the end of the first game, we find Zero wandering a desert. He is ambushed and finds himself at the mercy of a former foe that, for reasons unknown, drops him off at the Resistance base before flying off on a robot dog. Don’t ask.

Here we meet Elpizo, the new commander of the resistance, a reploid with dreams of grandeur and conquest who, unlike Ciel, believes the only way to end the war is to end the reign of Neo Arcadia. Zero decides to lend a hand and from here on you do the work of the Resistance, Megaman style.

You can choose which order you handle the missions in, just like in previous Megaman titles. Each mission has a goal to be accomplished, from rescuing lost soldiers, destroying power stations to capturing cargo, they must be completed in order to score a decent ranking at the end of the missions. An A rank or higher ensures you will receive an EX skill from the boss defeated, just like previous Megaman games. You can also upgrade your armour by completing certain, unspecified objectives within the missions.

There is also the trademark staple of Megaman games: the elemental attacks. By capturing elemental chips from certain bosses, Zero can power his weapons up to a certain element. Most bosses are weak to a particular element, giving you a much needed edge in some of the tougher fights later on. (continued next page)
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