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Mega Mania

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 23
Date: September 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Mega Man ZX is, technically, Mega Man's first action venture onto the dual screens of the DS. Yes, I know we've a Mega Man Battle Network port before this, but that's more of a RPG, and doesn't exactly re-enact the type of frantic side-scrolling adventures so commonly associated with the series' games of the past. ZX, on the other hand, works like previous GBA Mega Man Zero (and before) titles, and continues to provide a sterling challenge for fans of the series with its easy-to-master, hard-to-execute platforming gameplay.

Playing either as Vent (male) or Alle (female), your character is a delivery personnel working for Giro Express, a courier company. Giro, the boss of the company, actually has the secret identity of being a Guardian, who has been fighting against the evil Mavericks for quite a while. Early in the game, you're tasked to delivery a biometal package to the Guardians, but ended up being attacked by the bad guys. The biometal then merged with you, and you gained the powers of a Mega man prototype form known as Model X. Model X provides you with increased speed, mobility and firepower, which you used to perfection in removing the immediate threat. However, Giro has gone missing during the melee, and your immediate task is to go for his rescue.

Playing as Vent or Alle has little differences to the plot. Some dialogues are different, but the premise remains identical. What's important is the introduction of Model X in the scheme of things, because it's what you'd need to transpire the various platforms and death traps in the game in your bid to uncover the evil schemes of the Mavericks and their perpetuator. As you progress, you'll unlock different forms of Model X, granting you more powers to transverse the large map that several challenging level designs. The LX, for example, allows you to move freely underwater. The HX, on the other hand, gives you the ability to hover, which in turns allows you to access previously non-accessible areas. You'll also have the option of reverting to human form as and when required - this is useful when you need to crouch under low areas, which is not possible when you're in your biometal costume.

The mission structure in Mega Man ZX has some free-roaming elements. The map is enormous, spanning over 60 unique levels, and each level has its own missions for you to undertake. It's entirely up to you to decide what you want to do first, which is a great idea for what's essentially a 2D platformer. However, despite the freedom to choose, the idea is not exactly well executed. This is because most of the time, you'd only be limited to a choice or two when you access a mission terminal. A large part of this is due to the somewhat linear manner of accessing a new area. You'd need to go into a new area via doors, but many of these doors are locked, and cannot be opened until you get a key. You'd still get to choose between missions available in the areas that are accessible, but this restriction somehow undermines the potential of a truly free-roaming environment.

The platforming in the game provides some nice challenges. Many of your jumps require extreme precision, and this is where the game sometimes becomes frustrating. Enemies also respawn almost immediately after you beat them (once you leave their "first appearance" location), and at times, you'd get hit just because you didn't expect the enemy to reappear so quickly. The challenging nature of its platforming means that Mega Man ZX may pose some problems for newcomers to the game - this is certainly not your usual feel-good Mario jumping galore. A great challenge is always good though, and this game serves up lots of them on top of the platforming. The old-school boss fights, for example, are fun and engaging. They typically require you to find out a distinctive weakness in a boss' attacking pattern, and then dealing your own counter-attacks said weakness. These fights differ from boss fights from the modern era, which are usually settled by spamming the "attack" buttons relentlessly.

For a DS game, Mega Man ZX surprisingly doesn't utilize the features of the dual screen extensively. The action occurs primarily on the top screen, while the touch screen shows nothing but a logo. During some action scenes, the touch screen will show the biometal information, but this is very much a gimmick than anything. To view your character's items, weapons and statistics, you'd need to stop the game, but these are also shown on the top screen. With several pages of statistics available, you'd end up pressing the shoulder buttons to browse through them. Surely, dividing these pages onto both screens would be a more viable choice? Moreover, for a game with such a massive number of levels, the game would do well to have a Castlevania-style map on the touch screen to guide the player. Sadly, this isn't included.

The in-game graphics in Mega Man ZX are a combination of 2D and 3D graphics, which are typical of a side-scrolling platformer on the DS. They provide some enjoyable in-game displays, and give the game a nice, dimensional look. The cut-scenes are also awesome in a sense that they're actually rendered in cel-shaded animation sequences. True, the rather weak decoding makes the animation appear blurred, but to actually watch some short cartoon scenes while playing a game? I'd take that any day. The music scores are also catchy and exciting, but most importantly, they provide much variety (no more being bored to death by repetitive music!). The levels and their bosses each have a different theme, making this a really thorough experience on top of playing the game and enjoying the graphics. The voice-overs during the cut-scenes, however, are in its original Japanese form. There's also no evidence of this game having any English voice-overs, which could be disappointing for those who wanted to actually understand what they're hearing. Subtitles are included though, so that should make understanding the story a little easier.

In a nutshell, the solid gameplay and presentations make Mega Man ZX one of the best action games on the DS. The lack of a dual-screen map support and English voice-overs pose some concerns, but the game still offers the kind of thrill that can only be found in a Mega Man franchise. And for some of us out there, it's more than enough.

A brief review...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Other reviews for this game speak at length about the plot and new mechanics, so I won't ramble on about those. ZX is a solid platform game that successfully brings polished Mega Man action to the DS. However, while fans of Mega Man will enjoy it, the game does have some issues that can make it frustrating for newcomers.

One of the big differences between ZX and previous Mega Man games is how it adapts more of a sprawling, open-world layout similar to the Metroid or recent Castlevania games. While it's fun to explore everything the game's massive world has to offer, there are frequent times when missions you accept are not clearly defined. For example, one mission might require you to investigate strange happenings at Area H, an abandoned amusement park. But there are no hints on where Area H is located. Instead you just wander aimlessly and stumble upon Area H in Area A, the forest (huh?). And Area L, the secret munitions depot? That's not connected to Area M, it's connected to Area H (go figure?). Who would put a munitions depot in an amusement park? Even though this encourages the player to explore everywhere, it's ultimately frustrating because the linkages make no sense. What Capcom should have used is a "hint beacon" similar to Metroid Zero Mission.

The folks in the sprawling metropolis of Area C should really do something about those active lava flows in the Area next door.

The game doesn't document the various abilities of the armor. While the instruction booklet does speak of their powers, an in-game tutorial would have been nice. I had to read the booklet to learn about the different armors. Even then, I rarely used the Model L and Model P armors. The default Model Z will get you through most of the game just fine.

While the music is great and the sound effects are improved over the GBA games, I got really tired of having your character yelp like a squeaky dog toy at every attack, jump, or hit. It would have been better if these happened randomly. This is a mis-step Mega Man X4 made on the PSX and it was weird to see it repeated here.

There is no multiplayer to speak of and use of the touch screen is rare. While I'm totally against games that use the touch screen just for the sake of including it, ZX seems like it could have done more. Cooperative multiplayer, like special stages or even a boss attack mode, would have been a lot of fun and added some replay value, of which there is little.

Despite these issues, I did enjoy the game. I liked it better than all of the Zero games. As a veteran of Mega Man, I thought Normal difficulty was tuned perfectly. The bosses were fun to fight and had a plethora of well-conceived attacks. The graphics, being 2D sprites, were highly detailed and nicely animated. Also of note is the length of the game. By the time I had destroyed the final boss, I had logged almost 16 hours. This is a Mega Man game you won't complete quickly.

Overall, I just felt the above issues make it a "good" game rather than a "great" game. Mega Man ZX is moving in an interesting new direction. With minor improvements, a sequel would be a must-own for any DS owner. As it stands, it is great for Mega Man fans, but others should try before they buy.

A Good Game With Minor Flaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: September 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The Nintendo DS hasn't really seen a true side-scrolling Mega Man game until now. Mega Man ZX changes all that by being a fairly decent game on its own. It suffers from some of the usual criticims that Mega Man suffers from, but on the whole, it's a worthy side-scroller for the Nintendo DS.

In Mega Man ZX you can choose between playing as a boy named Vent, or a girl named Aile. Choosing your character actually does have a different impact on the storyline. Both characters have scenes entirely unique to them, and also play slightly differently. Vent and Aile are couriers for Giro Express. When transfering Biometals they are attacked by mavericks and are exposed to the biometal. This gives them the ability to transform into different models. This is how the game begins.

Your typical Mega Man game usually starts you off with a game start level and then you can select a bosses level you want to venture into. Mega Man ZX pretty much does away with this system. It's now a bit more like Metroid. You're allowed to roam freely and discover different areas. At first this seems fairly non-linear, but it's really not. Unlike Metroid there's pretty much a set path for you to go. This is because in order to access some areas you need other weapons and abilities. So while it seems like you can go just about anywhere, you're still stuck to one path. So while it resembles Metroid, it's still pretty linear. The in game map also isn't particularly helpful.

While being able to explore is fine and dandy, and it's pretty simple to get started on certain objectives, there are many times when you'll find yourself aimlessly wandering around simply because you don't know what to do next. This isn't really such a bad thing, but when you mix it in with some areas just aren't accessible until you have a certain item or defeat a certain boss it can be really annoying.

Each of these areas presents its own challenges and themes at least. You'll fight against different kinds of robots, and come across environmental hazards like spikes that kill you in one hit and whatnot. You'll also come across two bosses in each area. A mini-boss and the actual boss itself. As you progress you'll also have to save your game in designated save rooms. The problem with these save rooms is that they are few and far between. The game is also not an easy game. Like many recent Mega Man games, you're going to be subjected to blind jumps and trial and error moments. Those who played the Mega Man Zero games or Mega Man X8 know what a pain this is. Because save rooms are so far and few between, this means you'll be doing the same thing over and over for a while. It's really a pain when you finally defeat a boss only to be unable to save your game after treking all that way and then die. Mega Man veterans won't have much of a problem with this game, but those new to the Mega Man series certainly won't last. Luckily, the game has difficulty levels for you to choose from. If you're new to the Mega Man series, you'll probably want to begin on the easy difficulty setting, as some of these trial and error moments and lack of save rooms can really get on your nerves.

Mega Man ZX introduces a Model X mechanic into the series. Throughout the game you'll have five Model X forms you can change between. Each of them have their own unique charm. You'll very rarely be able to blast through an area just using one form, though. The game will make you change one way or another. If an area is too difficult to get past, it may just be because you're not using the right form. Bosses are also weak against different kinds of forms. This is really fun as many boss battles throughout the game are pretty satisfying.

As for the touch, screen, however, you really won't need it at all. It's there, but usually it's just displaying information about the Model X form you're in. The touch screen isn't used as a part of the gameplay at all. All the action takes place on the top screen. So if you're looking for a Nintendo DS game that makes use of the touch screen, Mega Man ZX doesn't deliver.

Mega Man ZX isn't exactly an appealing game. For the most part it doesn't look bad, but it doesn't really look that much different from the Mega Man Zero games on the Gameboy Advance. The environments are a bit more decorative and the bosses are pretty cool looking, but what it boils down to is that the game could've used a bit more. The game is still a good looking game, it's just not that big of a step up from the Gameboy Advance. Despite this, the game sounds excellent. The music soundtrack is one of the best a Mega Man game has had in a really long time. All the music goes along with a certain area perfectly. It's one of the best sounding in the Mega Man series.

Mega Man ZX is really a good game. It's a bit different from what Mega Man has normally done, but it's still the same basic gameplay, which may bother a few people, but it does keep the series alive. Mega Man ZX is a great addition to the franchise.

On the Positive Side
+Great gameplay
+The Model X mechanics make gameplay unique and keep it from being stale
+More exploration can be done than in previous Mega Man games
+Fantastic Soundtrack
+Overall a good challenge

On the Negative Side
-It's really annoying to be running around when you don't know what to do next
-Some trial and error moments are really nerve racking
-Save spots are few and far between
-If you want something from the touch screen, you won't find it here
-While not a bad looking game, it's only a half step up from the Mega Man Zero games on the Gameboy Advance

Rock On! (Megamerge!)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Mega Man ZX has a lot varieties for you to play. There are six biometals you need to collect and used before you can procede to your next destinations.

Sound: COA removed most of the Japanese voiceover dialogues when your selected character is interacting with other sprite characters in the game, except for the anime cutscene. By the way, whenever Vent or Aile morph into their Biometal form, they say "Rock On!", despite what the game manual said "Megamerge!".
Note: "Rockman ZX" has all of the Japanese voiceovers for all of the characters.

Video:
It is a little blurry to be played on Nintendo DS, but overall most of the cutscenes run okay in my opinion.

Music:
Better than I expected to be than "Mega Man Zero" series hard rock music.

Gameplay:
Good- Fun and entertaining when selecting your preferred Biometals on some missions. There are time when you have to select the right biometal in order to procede your destination, such as flying over spikes w/ Model HX or eliminating boulders that block your path by using Model FX.
Bad- You can get lost on where you are going on your selected missions.

Overall:
The game is fun and entertaining, but the main point is that I am really disappointed with exception of the voiceover dialogue that have been removed. Plus it does not make any sense when the credit starts rolling, it shows all of the Japanese casts and most of them are not heard in this version, such as the character named Prairie.I would like to give it an overall five star-ratings if COA hired Ocean Group to act on for the English voiceovers or leave it in Japanese instead.
Note: If you want to get the original version, it's called "Rockman ZX." But the price is higher than this version because of its high game quality, unless you are a hardcore fan of the Mega Man or Rockman series.

An 'ok' game, but difficult for younger players

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Having remembered how fun it was to play Mega Man on the Super Nintendo (and not having played any of the more recent titles), I jumped at the chance to purchase this game for my 7-year-old son. After the first 15 minutes of game play, however, I realized that this game was a bit complicated for younger players and not as much fun as the Mega Man game I remembered.

While there are some twists in the game that make it interesting, such as the ability to collect 'Biometals' which allow you to transform the weapons and abilities of your player, other elements are a bit exasperating. The beginning stages of the game tell a long, drawn out back story, which includes screens and screens of tedious reading. This continues at stages throughout the game, especially when confronting bosses. (As a tip, once a boss begins his boring tirade, simply press the 'start' button to skip directly to the action.)

Other bothersome elements include the requirement of having to accept specific missions at computer terminals before setting out. What ends up happing is that you blindly accept a mission in Area A, and then find yourself wandering around in Area B. Even if you defeat the boss in Area B, it won't count against your quest since you didn't officially accept the Area B mission. This means that you'll have to return to a computer terminal, officially accept the mission, and then return to re-conquer the area before being allowed to proceed.

These issues tend to slow down the game considerably, reducing the fun factor and making it difficult for younger children to enjoy. I would prefer for a little less dialogue and some good old fashioned run-and-gun action. But perhaps I'm in the minority.

Best side scrolling game for the DS to date.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I passed over this title, originally, thinking it was just another zero clone that I had long since tired of. I don't think I have misjudged a game so harshly since I dismissed the GC's Eternal Darkness as being a Resident Evil clone.

First off, as the name suggests, it has the feel of a cross between the megaman and zero games, leaning a bit towards the zero side. The world is free to explore when you are not on a mission, giving it a castlevania like feel for the exploration. The missions serve to trigger an event to a particular area, making the area boss accessable once you are ready to fight.

Instead of weapon upgrades or new attacks, defeating bosses give you new suits. Each suit has unique mobility, weaponry, special attacks and "technical" abilities (i.e one will allow you to see an enemy's health on the lower screen, another will give you an item radar, etc). I find this to be the most exciting upgrade system to date in a megaman game. Each suit has its own energy supply, which is used up for charge attacks (with the exception of the default, which allows you unlimited charge attacks).

The storyline is decent, enough to gain a satisfactory feel for the characters. Nothing particullary spectacular, but interesting enough to pay attention to dialouge.

In regards to difficulty, it would be a much more difficult game is it wasen't for energy tanks. I feel as though they make the game a bit too easy. The game does have a hard mode which unlocks after finishing it on normal mode, so I hope the energy tanks have less of an impact.

The artwork is incredible, the effort Capcom put into this department really shows. This was especially refreshing after playing dawn of sorrow, which I thought to have pretty weak background art for most of the game, long with pretty plain character sprites (they seemed to drop in quality since Aria of Sorrow)

The music in this game is very well done, and this was another suprise for me. Some of the tracks are memorable enough that you will find yourself humming them here and there. Its been awhile since a megaman game had music that captured my attention.

All in all, the game has a wonderful controls and engaging gameplay. I urge people not to make the same mistake I did and assume this was a clone game, or just some hasty attempt to put a megaman title on the DS. Pick this one up, its unlikely you will regret it.

Back to Basics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok, so this game might not be as innovative as 'Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble' in terms of DS usage. Infact, it really doesn't use both screens at all. That's fine though, because what the game lacks in technical prowess, it more than makes up for in fun. If you're a fan of the old school original series or X series, you owe it to yourself to play this.

Good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I liked it
I prefer some other Megaman games more, But this was a lot of fun, it had some awesome animation in it.

Zero gets X'd

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Megaman ZX is a spin-off of the Mega Man Zero series, which itself was a spin off of Mega Man X. This game takes place many years after Mega Man Zero 4 for Nintendo Game Boy Advance. The mavericks have been defeated and a large Corporation called "Slither" has moved in as a police force. Now with a name like Slither you know they are only up to good. You start by choosing a male or female transporter with a mystery package. It turns out that in that package is something called biometal which contains the essence of a Megaman power. There are 4 other power suits held by the 8 villains (2 robots have half of each power) which you need to complete the game. The game also has many hidden elements like power ups, energy tanks, and even a hidden suit.
There are a few problems with the game. It keeps the same confusing overworld layout from Zero. Essentially in the beginning you can't really tell that you are in a wrong area until you reach a locked door. Until large parts of the map were explored I had no idea where to go. The only other major problem was the difficulty. The game starts out difficult and gets much easier as you get higher level suits and know where save points are. On the topic of save points - they are rare and losing all your lives means loading up the last one, there is no continue feature. Also I am baffled as to why the well made cutscenes are still in Japanese.
This game is a essentially a boiled down Zero game. They got rid of cyber-elves as items and took the powers of the blaster and energy sword and combined it into the Zx suit. For that I think they made a big step forward (I never really got the whole cyber-elf thing). However there are many thing they didn't improve at all. The mapping and the GTA lite style of missions is still bad. Worst of all the use of the second screen is tragically underused. Certain powers have a second screen ability - Hx can see enemy weaknesses, Lx has an item radar, Px has a regular radar...etc, but having to switch prevents it from being as useful of a feature as it could have. Also some suits like the Zx and Ox have none. That second screen will just have a big "MEGA" on it. Also some of those suits never got used. The Px ninja stle was the most useless, closely followed by the fire Fx suit.
At about 10 hours this feels like a good length for a portable Megaman. This is a good reboot of the zero series. You don't really need to know any of the back story. This is a great DS game that you should check out.

The best MegaMan game since X4

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: November 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you look at this game expecting it to be just another MegaMan Zero game... it's not. I got it after reading some reviews on the game from a few different magazines. It's definitely a great game, and if you're looking to get into the MegaMan universe for the first time, this would be a good entry point. It's technically a sequel to the MegaMan Zero series, but the gameplay and storyline doesn't rely on previous knowledge of the other games. It's a definite must-have for any MegaMan fan, and if you're looking for a side-scroller shoot-em-up, this is definitely a good game to get. The graphics are pretty damn awesome, also. They use a huge amount of color and detail in the backgrounds. They're so damn good that they almost distract me from the actual game (in a good way).

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