Megaman Zero Collection review

[Satoshi_Matrix]

First let me say that I love Megaman Zero. When the first game was released in 2002, I happily bought it and thought it was one of the best games for the GBA.


According to the Megaman canon, the Zero series is the second last chronological series (just before ZX). It takes place after the classic (20XX) and X series (21XX). It's now sometime in the 23rd century. Zero, Megaman X's long-time partner (not that way unless you look up fanfics) put himself to sleep in a capsule at the end of X5 to rid his body of a horrid virus and protect the world. Now its 100 years later, and the world has basically gone to hell. Sigma is long gone, but X is apparently still around, and he's out to kill all the reploids. Now Zero must reawaken in this nightmare world, find out what's going on, and stop X. Sucks to be Zero.

Spanning four games, The Zero series was GBA exclusive and some of the best Megaman games Capcom produced in a long time. Last year, Capcom announced they were planning on bringing all four games to the DS even though the GBA games all work fine on the DS already. I began to have hope that Capcom would further enhance the games making them along the same lines as ZX Advent.

So like the rabid Megaman fan I am, I have been patiently awaiting Megaman Zero Collection, which Capcom has just recently released for DS. Now that I've said down and played it, I'm unhappy with it to say the least.

While the collection does feature perfect versions of all four games as far as I can tell, they're just GBA ports, and lazy ones at that. All four games keep their GBA resolution, meaning there are ugly black boarders around the screen...the same ones you'd get if you were to put in the actual GBA games into your DS.

Of course, the screen issue could be overlooked had Capcom allowed you to map the buttons as you please and make use of the face and shoulder buttons as you see fit. Once again Capcom went lazy.

See, because the X and Y buttons on the DS didn't exist on the GBA and these games are GBA ports, The only options you have for X and Y are to "emulate" the functions of either A, B, L or R. Problem is, the DS also has those buttons, so no matter what you map X and Y to you'll also have the same command by pressing the proper button. This is overly confusing, annoying, and sloppy. The best solution is to use the DS B A L and R just like the GBA games, but if you're going to do that, again you might as well be playing the GBA games on an SP.

The new DS interface recycles the ugly font used in the GBA games as well as the same sound effects from the GBA game. Capcom did an extremely minimal effort adding anything new here.

What is new to this collection is an easy mode that has only one save file and progresses from Zero 1 to Zero 4 in sequence. This mode saps all the fun and challenge of each game, giving you full powerups, three life bars filled in pits four sub tanks and easier enemies, making it just as mindless as the GBA Zero 4's Easy mode, which by the way is selectable in addition to this mode!

If you should choose to play the games in their original form, you can expect the same challenge found in each GBA game. Each are difficult, well crafted games that require knowledge of Megaman X style gameplay. If you've got your skills honed, you'll stand a chance. If not, well there's a reason why the Zero games are hailed as many to be the hardest of the hardest Megaman games.

During each game, the bottom touch screen isn't used at all, displaying only a static image of compressed artwork fitting each scene. The artwork does nothing and I feel like Capcom would have been better off simply turning it off to save battery life, because as is its inclusion is merely a drain.

One nice thing about the game is that supposedly, Cyber-Elfs can be carried over from one game to the next, which is at least something. Otherwise, the graphics, audio, controls, gameplay, everything are identical to the GBA games.


The trailer for the collection shows footage of the game with its signiture Japanese blood that are sprayed from the reploids you cut with the Z-Saber. I'm not sure why machines would spray blood when cleaved in half, but it was a cool effect missing from the US GBA games. Once again, since these are direct ports of the US GBA games, there's no blood. How disappointing.


Overall, I'm displeased. The Zero games themselves are fantastic, but this is a sloppy lazy collection not worthy of the Megaman name. Capcom should hang their heads in shame.


Only buy this one if you're hardcore into Megaman and are willing to forgive some serious flaws of a lazy collection. It's budget priced though, so that's at least something.

You're still better off buying the GBA games individually and playing them on a GBA SP or Gameboy Player.

[MrPopo]

It seems like this collection was designed for the DSi owner who enjoyed ZX/ZX Advent and wanted to play the previous games. When you compare it with the Mega Man Anniversary Collection the big thing missing is the extra galleries. The MMAC games weren't enhanced from the original aside from the inclusion of saving (which is just a password saving system, effectively). Since the Zero games are all battery backed that step is unneeded.

[Dakinggamer87]

I'm waiting on my copy to arrive and am excited to own Mega Man Zero series. I played them all on GBA but never owned them.

[Flake]

I'm a little too early into my run of the collection to have much to say except for these three things:

According to the Megaman canon, the Zero series is the second last chronological series (just before ZX). It takes place after the classic (20XX) and X series (21XX). It's now sometime in the 23rd century.

-Tiny nitpick: The late Megaman timeline is actually Zero, Zx, and then Legends. Though the ZX series pretty much screwed up the connection between Zero and Legends so I'm wondering if that's a new split timeline....why do Japanese game companies always play so loose and fast with their in-game continuities?.

-Totally agree with the laziness of the visuals. I'm not that tech savvy, but I don't see why they couldn't have written some kind of visual filter to at least clean up the graphics a bit.

-Disagree (so far) with your gripe about the X and Y buttons but that might just be a difference in play styles.

Good review!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I don't consider the Battle Network, StarForce or Legends series to be part of the official timeline. They're more alternate universes.

the canon goes

Classic (200X-20XX)
X (21XX)
Zero (22XX)
ZX (23XX)

If Legends IS canon, it'd be something crazy like 29XX...so far ahead it doesn't matter if its canon or not.

[MrPopo]

Legends is 81st century, if I recall correctly. So really you can do whatever gymnatsics you want in between ZX and Legends to tie the two together.

[Flake]

I don't consider the Battle Network, StarForce or Legends series to be part of the official timeline. They're more alternate universes.

And I totally respect that. In fact, for the EXE and SSF series you're totally right: They ARE a different timeline.

But in the Rockman Perfect Memories sourcebook, the Legends series IS listed as the proper finale to the RM, RMX, RMZ, RMZX timeline, occuring in the 81st century. If you play through Megaman X5 and Megaman Zero 4 (paying very close attention) you'll see that Megaman Legends references are littered all throughout.

Again though, good review!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Such as what? please list them, I love this sort of shit.

[Flake]

Spoiler Warnings:

Well, there's the obvious little things like the inclusion of Zero's saber in Megaman Legends, the reaverbot artwork that is sprinkled here and there in the Zero series, and the constant evolution of the Maverick Hunters and Reploids in general into a more organic and natural form.

But here's the biggie:

-In Megaman X5, there is a possible ending where X conceives of a land for robots called 'Elysium', the name of the land that Megaman Trigger comes from in the 81st century.

About this same time, the games introduced the idea of Robot DNA (it featured really prominently in X6 and Xtreme2) and how X's DNA was supposed to be the strongest.

This, taken into account with several conversations in Legends suchMegaman Juno to Megaman Trigger at the end of Megaman Legends, Data's revelation to Megaman Trigger and Megaman Trigger's flashback to his time with the Master of Elysium (with whom he shared his DNA as his favorite irregular hunter) make it pretty clear that Legends was the FAR FAR FAR off continuation of the world presented in Megaman X.

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/Spoilers

So, yeah, Capcom had a timeline and connected the series in a vague, obvious BS Japanese Cartoon kind of way. Of course, then Inafune vacated the producers chair on the subsequent X games and it all went to hell.

[AmishSamurai]

I've heard these gripes too, but just browsing amazon, the Collection seems like it's overall cheaper than buying all 4 games separately. So unless I could get all 4 on the cheap I'd invest in the Zero Collection.