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Mega Man ZX Review
Written by Robert Falcon on Thursday, September 21, 2006
Great graphics and sound, especially the anime scenes; nice twist on gameplay.
Might be too difficult for some; storyline could've been better.
Finally- a Mega Man X game. We needed another one of these pretty badly, since we haven't seen one surface on a Nintendo platform for some time. Sure, there's the PSP Maverick Hunter X game, which is loads of fun, but we figured it was time for the Nintendo DS to get an adventure of its own. Mega Man ZX, however, pulls off an interesting little trick. It blends the familiarity of the Mega Man X play formula with a world map that resembles the Metroid and later Castlevania games, and fans may appreciate this approach a little more than the basic action route. That is, if the frustration doesn't get to you first.
In the game, you're not playing as a typical Mega Man character, like you do in other games. Nope, instead you're playing either Vent or Aile, two characters that work for a courier company known as Giro Express. However, the Mavericks, a rogue group of robots, begin to chase after your character once they learn that you're hauling a precious piece of biometal. Following that encounter, you're exposed to the biometal, resulting in your transformation to Model X, a Mega Man-esque warrior with different abilities, some of which get picked up along the way. In this new form, you're given plenty of tasks, as you help a certain alliance try and obliterate the bothersome Mavericks.
As I said, the game has a world map that needs to be followed, resulting in some much-needed exploration to perk things up. You'll have access to certain doors, items, and abilities once certain tasks are met in other levels, such as the defeat of a particular boss or reaching an area in the middle of your exploration. It's cool how the Model X has different abilities that can be used in certain areas, as they help get you further into a level and defeat larger enemies. However, there were some parts of the game that were a little bit frustrating, especially when you consider that the game's save points are few and far between. It would've been nice for Capcom to provide some "hot spots", or the ability to save our game progress anytime.
The gameplay's not really all that different from Mega Man X games of the past, but it's still very functional, and has a great old-school flavor to it. You can switch off earned abilities pretty quickly, and moving about via walls and corridors is still a cinch, even if the challenge level gets somewhat brutal and even unforgiving in some parts. The touch screen is rarely used, and most of the action is played out on the top screen. But most people probably won't mind this.
The graphics look pretty nice for the Nintendo DS, especially when the game launches into one of its anime sequences. This is full-blown FMV-powered anime that looks vibrant on a DS Lite, and blends in with the storyline quite nicely. I wish some more had been done with the storyline, however. It fails to motivate that much. Fortunately, the backdrops and animation look fine here. The sound is great, especially with the music selections Capcom put into the game and some cute little sound effects.
The game has longevity to burn, especially for Mega Man veterans. Those who are skilled enough to get through the game on Easy mode get access to higher difficulty levels, and can even track down a few secrets along the way, though I won't spoil them for you here. Rookies may be a bit frustrated by the game's tough angles, but, hey, those who know Capcom's stuff realize this isn't the first time. Ultimate Ghosts n' Goblins, anyone?
I still prefer Mega Man Maverick Hunter X for the PSP over Mega Man ZX for the DS, merely because I prefer the straight-up blast-anything-that-moves approach compared to this exploration business. But that doesn't make ZX bad by any means. In fact, it's quite a good time, although the storyline needs a bit more inspiration and a Kids-like difficulty mode would've made this easy for novice players to adjust to. Oh, well, some games are built for the die-hard players, and ZX will definitely be right up your alley.
posted September 28, 2006