Mega Man Zero
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Mega Man Zero is the fifth series in Capcom's Mega Man series of video games, and debuted in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance.
Gameplay
The games are most similar to the Mega Man X series, with the classic trial and error gameplay. The names now follow a mythical/religious theme.
The games are considerably more difficult than earlier Mega Man games, and require more skill to complete. However, fans argue that it is also more fair, as impossible-to-avoid hits (so-called "cheap shots" for which the Megaman games are famous) are greatly reduced.
Story
Mega Man Zero
The story begins with a human scientist named Ciel and her reploid companions being chased through an underground bunker. Thier relentless persuers are mass produced X look-a-likes called Pantheons, among other terrible machines. After heavy losses, Ciel and company arrive at a sealed chamber containing Zero who has been powered down for 100 years, allowing his internal systems time to delete the Maverick Virus he had been a carrier of since the X series.
(Zero was instructed how to delete the virus by a scientist at the end of Mega Man X6), and followed through with it sometime after the events of Mega Man X: Command Mission.)
After sleeping for a hundred years, Zero awakens to a world where reploids are being constantly accused of being Mavericks and systematically "retired", apparently under the direction of X himself. Assisting Ciel in her escape from the bunker, Zero begins his fight against X's utopia, Neo Arcadia, and its Four Guardians: Harpuia, Leviathan, Fefnir, and Phantom.
Gameplay-wise, not much changed from Mega Man X. Zero begins the game with his Z-buster and soon aquires his trademark weapon, the Z-Saber. Although the Z-Saber can be used much more effectively now (such as while running) than it could in the X series.
There are two other weapons that Zero can aquire: the Shield Boomerang and the Triple Rod. The Shield Boomerang can block the standard plasma shots most enemies fire, as well as be thrown into a crowd of enemies to damage them before returning. However, while it is being used, Zero cannot perform his dash. The Triple Rod begins as a poor substitute for the Z-saber (dealing no more damage than a single Z-saber slash would), but after repeated use can eventually be charged and extended up to 3 times its length and cause multiple hits on any enemy in its path (becoming quite effective on bosses).
Charged attacks can be equipped with three different elemental chips obtained from certain bosses, Ice, Fire, and Thunder, which change the color of the attack and cause status effects to certain enemies. Ice freezes and slows an enemy, fire damages an enemy slowly after the initial attack, and electricity shocks an enemy and makes them unable to harm Zero for about a second. Against bosses, the elemental chips do 1.5 times the damage of an non-elemental attack as long as you use the correct one, for example, Ice defeats Thunder types, Fire defeats Ice types, and Thunder defeats Fire types.
At the end of the game, Zero enters Area X, only to find that X was not what he seemed: he was, in fact, a copy created to replace the real one who had gone missing a long time ago. After defeating Copy X, Zero narrowly escapes the explosion it sets off, and is flung out of communication range with the resistance. Landing in a desert, he is awakened by the real X who had taken the form of a Cyber Elf. X explains to Zero that since he disappeared 100 years ago and left him alone, X had been fighting the Mavericks by himself. He asks Zero to watch the world for him and allow him to rest for awhile.
Mega Man Zero 2
One year has passed since Zero defeated Copy X. He has since spent his time wandering the desert defeating wave after wave of Pantheons. As the game opens, Zero wearily makes his way through a sandstorm wrapped in a tattered cloak. As the sands die down he realizes he is once more being chased by enemies. Despite being in disrepair, with cracked armor and broken weapons (his rod and shield were useless), his cloak is thrown to the winds and his Z-Buster is drawn in defense.
"This isn't fun anymore." he says, after dispatching the first of an endless wave of enemies.
Elsewhere, the three surviving members of the Four Guardians (Phantom blew himself up trying to stop Zero's assault on Area X) assumed command of Neo Arcadia, with Harpuia as the leader. Copy X's death was covered up, as the humans revered him as their saviour.
Some time later, the conflict between Neo Arcadia and the Resistance continued with no difference. Meanwhile, Ciel worked on a way to solve the energy crisis that lead to all of these problems in the first place. However, a Resistance leader, the reploid Elpizo, thought that Ciel's search was futile; he lead an assault on Neo Arcadia, from which he was the only survivor. Driven mad by this, he sought the power of the legendary Dark Elf, which had brought about the Elf Wars a hundred years ago.
Elpizo, using the powers granted by unsealing a portion of the power of the Dark Elf, invades Neo Arcadia and single-handedly breaks into the temple where the body of the real X, revered by all in the utopia, was kept. X had disappeared because he ended the Elf Wars by sealing the Dark Elf away with his body. Elpizo destroys X's body, unsealing the Dark Elf, and uses her powers. Zero manages to stop him from unleashing them on the world, and Elpizo is defeated. As he lies dying, he apologizes for everything he's done. And then, the Dark Elf glows with a warm light, and saves him, turning him into a cyber elf. He tells Zero that she isn't truly evil, and departs. X then shows up, and tells Zero about the Dark Elf, who, too, departs. She was created to be a saviour, but was cursed by a man named Weil, and used...
Meanwhile, a mysterious voice calls for someone named Omega to act.
On a side note, at the start of the game, if a player opens the start menu they will see it as it appeared in the first game, only rusted and broken. After Zero is rescued and repaired, the menu will recieve a new look.
Mega Man Zero 3
At the start of the third game, the following synopsis of the first few games is shown:
The legendary reploid Zero awoke from a long slumber... With Ciel's resistance he defeated Copy X, the ruler of Neo Arcadia. The terror of the Neo Arcadian regime ended, but the energy shortage remained a constant problem. Ciel devoted herself to researching new forms of energy. And Elpizo became the newly appointed resistance leader. However, overcome by his desire for power, Elpizo awakened the Dark Elf, whose magic had once nearly destroyed the world. Elpizo thirsting for the power of the Dark Elf, lost sight of his true duty, and was finally defeated after a fierce battle. However, the Dark Elf fled, her destination unknown..
The third game starts 3 months after the events of the second. A recently crashed spaceship emits energy similar to the Dark Elf, and Zero sets out to investigate. Not long into the mission Ceil and a pair of resistance members are captured by Neo Arcadia as Zero enters the ship. But they are not harmed, nor are they held prisoner, as an incident breaks out involving a giant reploid named Omega that not even Leviathan and Fefnir combined can handle. Zero interupts the battle and is left to handle things on his own. Soon thereafter a Dr. Weil is introduced, as well as a new Copy X who has reclaimed leadership of Neo Arcadia, much to the chagrin of Harpuia
New innovation in this game comes in a few forms: for one, while some Cyber Elves can still only be used once, many are now able to be set as "satellites", which give you all the elf's power without killing it, or subsequently affecting your ranking. A collectible novelty comes in the form of customization chips, dropped by enemies, that contain either Cyber Elves or direct upgrades to Zero's head, body or legs (made easier to use by the fact that you can switch them out at will). Finally, Mega Man Zero 3 expands the weapon count with the Recoil Rod: a baton-like device that attacks in all directions, sends enemies reeling backwards when struck, and can be used as a pogo-stick to reach higher areas.
This leads to the climax of the story, with Weil asumming command of Neo Arcadia, and the revelation of who the real Zero is. After destroying Omega's Dark Elf enhanced form, Weil informs Zero that he is actually a copy of Omega, who in an ironic twist is the original Zero.
After Zero and "Omega" do battle, X appears and confirms to Zero that they fought against and sealed "Omega" centuries ago. Before Weil can force the Dark Elf to rejoin with "Omega", the Guardians appear and further damage him. Eventually Zero makes the decision to finish him off, regardless of him being inside Zero's real body or not. In the explosion, Zero is knocked out and sees visions of X. He tells Zero that he is out of power and can no longer exist in the human world. He is confidant Zero can protect the world from now on and fades away (presumed to have retired to cyber space). Zero's unconscious body is brought back to the Resistance Base by the Dark Elf. With Weil's defeat, the curse placed upon the Dark Elf (now known as Mother Elf) is broken and she flies away.
But losing "Omega" and Mother Elf still didn't change the fact that Weil was now undisputed ruler of Neo Arcadia. And he would set apocalyptic events in motion in Mega Man Zero 4.
Mega Man Zero 4
Humans (including the Resistance) have been leaving Neo Arcadia since Dr. Weil had assumed power, into an place known as Area Zero, where the Eurasia colony had crashed (referring to the events in Mega Man X5) a century earlier. Weil plans to use "Operation Ragnarok" to destroy Area Zero and the rest of the environment outside of Neo Arcadia, forcing the humans to migrate back. Although the following information is speculative, it may also foreshadow events that the series supposedly collides to Megaman Legends.
Mega Man Zero 4 introduces two new characters (Craft and Neige), as well as a new set of bosses, the Einherjar. Much like the Hachishinkan (Weil's Numbers), these are eight new bosses for Zero to fight: Popla Cocapetri, Noble Mandrago, Sol Titanian, Fenri Luna-edge, Tech Kraken, Mino Magnax, Pegasolta Éclair, and Heat Genblem.
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Notes
Much is left unknown as to what happened between the X and Zero series (for example, the details of the Elf Wars and who transferred Zero to his new body, why they did so, and when this took place).
Also, there is a horrible translation problem in the English versions. Dr. Weil is actually called Dr. Wily in the Japanese versions.
Prequel to Mega Man Legends?
Many fans wonder how the Zero series possibly leads into Mega Man Legends, given many references that show up, such as a few Reaverbot-like enemies, Reaverbot eye symbols, etc. And since given to the fact that majority of the team members who worked on the Mega Man Zero series also worked on Mega Man Legends (specifically, director Yoshinori Kawano who has also directed the Legends series and of course, producer and creator Keiji Inafune), it is extremely possible that Capcom will elaborate upon the connection which the Legends series has with the main Mega Man timeline (Classic to X to Zero to Legends). But for now, only time (and more games) will explain the gap.
Cameos
- Onimusha Buraiden - Blade Warriors (PlayStation 2), along with Mega Man.EXE.
- SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos (PlayStation 2, Arcade) Zero is a secret playable character.