Mega Man Zero (video game)

Mega Man Zero, known in Japan as Rockman Zero (ロックマンゼロ), is the first game in the Mega Man Zero series for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2002.

Story
Over a century after Sigma's defeat in the Mega Man X series, a new government called Neo Arcadia was formed to maintain peace. The leaders of Neo Arcadia began hunting down Reploids unjustly labeling them as Mavericks. Now the only hope for the Reploid is a legendary Reploid named Zero. Feeling that the Reploids were being wrongly accused, Ciel flees from Neo Arcadia and creates a Resistance against Neo Arcadia.

The game begins as Ciel and a small group of resistance soldiers is being hunted by Pantheons and Golems. Some of the resistance soldiers fall behind, but they can't stop their advance. Pursued, Ciel reaches a huge door. Passy, her Cyber-elf says: "I feel strong energy emanating from here. This must be the place." After that, soldiers blow up the door, and Ciel, Passy and Milan enter the room, with Zero's lifeless body in the middle of room, inactive for 100 years. Milan tries to touch it, but he is knocked back by energy shield that protects Zero. While they try to figure out how to bypass the shield, Mavericks appear at the door. Milan orders Ciel to run, and dies, being hit by one of the Mavericks. Passy yells to Ciel: "You have to use my power. You have no choice." Ciel thinks while mavericks come closer and closer, and agrees sadly. Passy's sacrifice breaks the energy shield and brings Zero back to life. He helps Ciel, and discovers X (although actually a copy) is the one responsible for innocent Reploids being retired.

Gameplay
Mega Man Zero closely follows the gameplay of its predecessors. Players navigate Zero through difficult obstacles and terrain whilst combating Mavericks. However as the game exclusively follows Zero, the character does not gain a new weapon system with each boss he/she defeats. Instead, the player may gain Elemental Chips of Fire, Ice and Thunder, absolutely simplifying the concept of janken. Fire>Ice>Thunder>Fire. The character is equipped at the very beginning of the game with the Buster Shot Gun (not to be confused with the arm-mounted Z Buster from the X series). As always, Zero is equipped with the Z-Saber, a close range energy sword weapon. In addition, Zero can obtain new weapons such as the Shield Boomerang and Triple Rod. The player is able to upgrade these weapons through levels, increasing their strength.

The game introduces the 'Rank' system. The player will start at Rank F, but can raise their rank up to E, D, C, B, A and S as represented from poor to excellent. If fighting a boss whilst in A or S rank, they will unleash a special attack. Your rank will differ on how well you complete a mission, such as time taken, accuracy and enemies defeated.

In addition, the game brings in the concept of Cyber-Elves, small, spirit-like entities that can improve Zero's abilities, change the terrain and enemies. However, once a Cyber-Elf is used, it cannot be used again. Cyber Elves also penalize the player's overall score and rank.

Bosses
Of important note is that due to differences in the standards held in this series, the bosses of MMZ1 are at least not considered Mavericks, although their status as such can be debatable. Also, if the player has rank A or S, they will have an extra attack.

First boss: Golem

Second boss: Aztec Falcon

Mission bosses:
 * Maha Ganeshariff
 * Pantheon Core
 * Guard Orotic
 * Anubis Necromancess III
 * Blizzack Staggroff
 * Hittite Hottide
 * Hanumachine
 * Asura Basura
 * Herculious Anchortus
 * Rainbow Devil

The Four Guardians:
 * Sage Harpuia
 * Phantom
 * Fighting Fefnir
 * Fairy Leviathan

Final Boss:
 * Copy X, a tyrannical copy of X, leader of Neo Arcadia.

Walkthrough
Click here to see a walkthrough of the game.

Trivia

 * With EX Skills debuting only until the next game, this is the first installment in the "original" timeline that the character doesn't learn skills from defeated Bosses.
 * There is a small reference to Star Wars near the begining of the game. When Zero says he can't remember anything, Ciel says "Just relax for a moment. You have hibernation sickness."
 * The Repliforce symbol appears in the yellow submarines in Fairy Leviathan's mission, Stop the Hacking.
 * Originally, when it was planned to be released AFTER X5, the villain was supposed to be X, not Copy X.
 * Three of the Neo Arcadian Guardians appear to be based off of the various armors X obtained in his series. Harpuia most likely may have been modeled after the Falcon Armor due to his flight ability and bird motif. Fenfir appears to be based off of the Gaea Armor due to his heavy firepower. Lastly, Phantom may have been based off of the Shadow Armor due to its obvious ninja motif and saber weapons.
 * Intrestingly, the art style shows similarities to the Mega Man Legends style. This is furthured in the Biometals of Mega Man ZX.
 * The Neo Arcadia stage where you fight the Rainbow Devil is the Jakob Orbital Elevator from Mega Man X8 (albeit rebuilt). Thus raising the question of whether Axl, X7, and X8 are canon.