This post is an analysis of various aspects of Mega Man Zero that were not covered in any of the other deep dives, the rest of which can be found here:
Music
I don’t know how many actual music tracks are in this game, but it didn’t feel like many. The same stuff kept playing in missions, and none of it was very good. A Mega Man game without interesting music feels incomplete.
Art Design
The entire Zero series trades in the generic 90’s anime style of Mega Man X for something … I’m not sure what to call it, honestly:
It uses very specific shades of red, blue, green, and purple that feel extremely distinct among anime-esque video game art.
The designs of the animal-themed robot masters are top notch. They are reminiscent of the bosses from Mega Man X, but are ever so slightly stylized. If gives them a bit more of a gnarly edge, one that makes them look a little tougher:
On the other side of the spectrum are the humanoid character designs. Most of them look like children playing dressup:
What’s more, they all have similar wardrobes, including boots, gloves, and an undersuit, with either clothing or (light) armor on top. I guess the post-robopocalypse is extremely cold?
Also, the fact that Ciel, one of the only human characters in the whole game, dresses like her robot comrades makes it difficult to even tell she’s human until someone explicitly reveals it.
It’s not necessarily a bad art style. At the very least it is extremely consistent. This isn’t Mega Man X, where sometimes a robot’s metal body is shaped like clothing:
And sometimes it looks like real clothing (but maybe is isn’t?):
As for everyone looking like a kid, I’m torn. On one hand, imagining that they really are all kids gives the game a much darker edge. It implies that most of the adult Reploids are dead, and these children who are left are trying to figure out how to survive on their own.
On the other hand, the idea of child robots makes the Mega Man lore that much more confusing. I remember reading a quote from a Mega Man X developer in which he questioned that series’ decision to introduce female robots “in a game meant for children”. It’s a fair point - there’s a difference between saying “Reploids have a conscience and free will”, and saying “oh and they’re also assigned a gender”. The latter brings up so many more unnecessary questions1.
Adding child robots to the mix makes it even stranger. Presumably they “grow up” and mature mentally, but are they stuck with their child bodies?2 Why even make a child robot in the first place? Do … do Reploids reproduce? Don’t answer that. I don’t want to go down this rabbit hole any further.
Difficulty by Design
I didn’t know where else to put this section, but it bears mentioning. One of the reasons MMZ feels so challenging is because it very much feels designed for an audience of seasoned Mega Man X fans who need no introduction to how the game works.
The game’s first true boss, Aztec Falcon, is notoriously difficult. Many critics describe him as a sort of litmus test for whether or not the player truly understands how the game works.
I agree that this is the case, but I do not consider it a good thing. In order to defeat Aztec Falcon, you need the following knowledge and skills:
- You need to know how to cling to the wall and slide down it, but you also need to know where to position yourself on the wall so that you safely slide past enemy projectiles.
- You need to understand that some of Falcon’s attacks are determined by where you are in the room. For example, he has an attack where he dashes across the screen. You can dodge it by getting up onto the wall -
Buuut, if you jump off the wall to get behind him, he’ll just dash back in the opposite direction, colliding with you in the process. The trick is to wait on the wall just a bit longer, which causes him to dash upward to knock you off.
Once he dashes upward, you need to know that you can use the dash button to jump off the wall with some extra oomph.
You need to have a great deal of mastery of the jump-off, so that you actually stay close to Aztec Falcon as you descend, rather than jumping far out of the way. This is because Falcon is vulnerable when he is dashing upward, and in fact it is one of the only times he is vulnerable. You need to strike here.
You need to be quick enough to hit him with your sword as you are descending off your jump:
This is a lot for an opening boss, but to make matters worse, nothing in the opening level is designed to teach you these skills, or to test your mastery of them. If you are a dyed in the wool fan of Mega Man X games, this is not a problem. But anyone who is a true newbie - or anyone who’s MMX skills are rusty - you are left to struggle against this boss until you hopefully figure out what you’re supposed to do.3
Bad Balance
The difficulty in this game is extremely uneven. Some of the bosses can only be defeated by truly memorizing their attack patterns and discovering the best times to counter. Other bosses, however, can be easily exploited.
The best example of this is the boss Sage Harpuia. In the lore of the game, Harpuia is the general of the enemy army. In battle, however, he can go down like a chump. One of his most common attacks sees him launch three energy blades from a standing position:
It is not only easy to dodge, but you can get in close while dodging. If you counterattack fast enough, you can interrupt his followup maneuver, at which point he repeats the attack all over again. In doing this, you can get him into a feedback loop where Harpuia has no choice but to use an attack that has no chance of hitting you.
The fact that this exploit exists is one thing. The fact that it is so easy to uncover is what makes it a genuine failure on the part of the game. You don’t have to be particularly clever to uncover this strategy. The window of time between the end of the attack and the start of the followup is so large that most players are going to realize they can safely launch a Charge shot or a sword swing. Once you do this, you will initiate the loop, and after you see it happen two or three times, you will know it is not a random chance that Harpuia is repeating himself, but is actually a pattern. Game set and match.
Another example is the boss Fighting Fefnir. Fefnir’s attacks are based largely on the attacks used by Vile, a classic Mega Man X villain who shows up in multiple games. If you have ever fought Vile before, you know how to take down Fefnir (which actually reinforces my point that this game is intended for seasoned pros).
Even if you don’t know what to do, Fefnir can still be a pushover. If you haven’t failed any missions, then you should have the Element Chip that gives your attacks the Lightning Element. Fefnir is absurdly weak against this element:
He also favors an attack that is extremely easy to dodge and punish. Fefnir dashes forward to grab you; if it connects, he will body slam you for massive damage. However, it is very slowly telegraphed, and the dash itself is both slow in speed and short in distance. If he starts the attack here:
He stops here:
Due to its slow speed, you can hit him as he winds up, dodge the grab, and then hit him again. If you have the Lightning element, and you attack him this much, you will take Fefnir out before he can even try and put much damage on you.
- What would have been really cool is if Mega Man X’s robot designs were purely androgynous. Not only would it eliminate all these questions, but it would have been bold for the time. [return]
- Before you ask, no, I haven’t forgotten that the original Mega Man and his sister Roll are both kid robots, but that’s a different case. For one, it is implied that the two are extremely unique in their design. Second, the whole thing with Dr. Light and his robots is an obvious homage to Astro Boy. [return]
- This is easier said than done when you consider that Zero’s health bar is so small. You can’t easily practice against Aztec Falcon when you can die so quickly (unless you have Save Assist on, in which case this is no longer an issue). [return]