Tips in MMZ1: At least for me. The smartest setup for the R button is setup B. This allows you to shoot your sub-weapon with just pressing the R button without weapon switching. Allowing you to constantly charge your buster for example while slashing away. To easily get full buster charge shot: Go to the retrieve data mission and keep shooting at the spinning electric thingies. Those things give exp and cannot be killed. Just smash that B away. The Crystal costs are bullshit in this game, but after the capture the factory mission. You can return to the factory from the overworld and find over 500 E-crystals though the whole thing. After the Phantom mission another 500 E-crystals spawn there. A good way to alleviate the grinding. I recommend you buy an E-tank with this money and if you are lucky and have some left, you can buy one HP upgrade. The game is hard as hell, but if you master it, it is soooo satistfying. If you master the game enough to play in A-rank. The bosses will have harder AI and super attacks which make them super fun to fight.
before the castle levels i decided to look up a crystal grind strat and was able to get 2 sub tanks, a speed upgrade, and an extra health upgrade (i had one before that point) in about 40 min and tore through the rest of the gmae. it was awesome lol.
A historical day: the beginning of the Mega Man Zero Retrospective and the first documented time that J has not reacted negatively to a boss rush in a Mega Man game.
Overall, I think this game is a good start to the Zero series. I just think it suffers from a few flaws that I consider part of the cursed “first game syndrome”. A shitton of grinding that was thankfully cut down a bit by 2 and removed completely for 3 and 4, a lot of lag, no matter if it was the original cartridge or emulator or what have you, and just a few smaller issues. I like this game overall, but I just find it hard to come back to this compared to Zero 2-4.
I believe that the grinding was intentional to an extent. Since when the game came out it was labeled by Capcom as the hardest Megaman game in the franchises history. And future games have tried to deal with the difficulty in other ways.
@@karlhnedkovsky5214 it wasn't fun to me, I have fun with all the others zero 1 3 and 4 greatly ZX and ZXA but not zero 2.. it just exists as average feeling
I quite like how this first one handled the missions. You don't get a boss selection screen since that's beside the point. You have reploids to rescue, enemy factories to destroy, hacking to stop, etc. Plus since the resistance lacks resources it makes sense they would lack intel on the enemy. Not a fan of the cyber elf system in this game because of the steep cost but I do like how the sequels found ways to reinvent it to varying degrees of succes (satteite elves in Zero 3 were easily the best though).
The intel thing is actually addressed in Zero 2. You know why 2, 3 and 4 have boss icons? One of the NPCs tells you that their scouts managed to take some pictures of the bosses!
The story reason for the leveling up weapons is Zero having been broken for so many years and is a bit rusty. That doesn't make the mechanic any better, but that's why they did it. Zero 2 makes way less sense here. They included it again because... Zero fought so long in the desert that he collapsed (the broken Z1 menu in the intro stage is a nice touch at least) and broke his weapons. Okay? But he and his weapons got fixed, why can't he use them? Stupid both mechanically and in terms of story. Thank goodness Zero 3 packed that shit in.
I think it's because he had a new body, and a new set of weapons? Maybe they were trying to go for "He remembers, but his body needs to readjust" kind of like playing into human potential and how the line between machine and human is blurry maybe
They could have done something like, still have the combos and level 1 charge in Zero 2, but enough grinding causes you to do more damage and get the level 2 charge for the buster.
Update for those: the save-assist mode makes all of the games such less tedious without breaking them, as it simply negates the need for the terrible lives system.
Inti Creates was actually involved in more Megaman games than just Megaman Zero and ZX. The team is composed of former Capcom members and many of the team were responsible for making Megaman X2. They also made Megaman 9 and 10 as well as Megaman X5.
yup. yup. zero 1 feels a bit undercooked, almost like a beta zero game with the noticeably crusty graphics and minimal dialogue. but man does it somehow have a heavy but enjoyable atmosphere
Probably didn't mention it because it has no effect on gameplay in z1 other than giving the bosses EX skills. He also didn't talk about hard mode either though surprisingly.
The ranking system in these games are mainly for bragging, unlocking modes and i guess getting a cyber elf in ciel's room . All it really does is make stages and bosses harder.
I'm actually a big fan of how it is handled. This may be just me and my love for challenging myself, but getting more tools by getting 90+ points makes all the effort feel worth something and it allows for an interesting dilemma between having a better weapon toolkit or becoming generally stronger via fusions.
@@Skallva I do get wanting to do a no damage playthrough or something like that but they introduced something and then they punish you for using it. They should have kept the ranking limited to time, damage and kills. Even if you have tanks and long life bars, you would still need to take damage in order to use them and that would affect your ranking anyway, so it was unnecessary to punish people for using cyber-elfs. Imaging if Pokemon were to punish you for using Mega Evolution in X/Y or Z-Moves in Sun & Moon. It would make no sense.
ah yes, the game series that swapped out zero's green boobs for speedo's. i played this game on an emulator, and while i did rage quit (at the part with the floating crate robots and mainly because the emulator i was using wouldn't save), i absolutely loved the way zero handles in terms of mobility and combat, so i do intend on replaying this game to completion at some point, maybe i'll get the original gba versions, or the DS collection, or i'll wait for a potential legacy collection to come up.
I never doubted you would make an MMZ review, you've done the X series after all, and I enjoyed all those videos. But MMZ is special, you see, I got introduced to the megaman franchise by my brother, and got me playing X1 on our SNES, it was fun and I just felt in love with zero, his character and raw power and awesomeness, I also saw by brother as my hero, so when he introduced me to MMZ on our GBA emulator and challanged me to make a run of it was magical, and since I didint speak english at the time I always called my brother to translate the text on the dialogue, i loved the history from 1 with it's state of decay and dark and almost depressing atmosphere, the second game that evolved on the 4 guardians and brought back the lore, the third game with the plot twist and the greatest boss battle I ever saw (if only I coud have actually done it), and the last game, with the ultimate sacrifice and the hope tone...it was one of the best experiences of my life, not only because of the gameplay but because it was such a bonding experience between me and my brother, this game means so much to me and I hope to one day find someone I can share this feeling with. When your video appeared in my inbox I froze, finally a youtuber that I enjoy and respect, that reviewed the Megaman X franchise with a keen mind, fierce eyes and brought a fair and awesome review, I couldn't believe my eyes, all the memories of my brother, my bond with this game, with him...it was just so powerful I broke, I've been stressed out the entire year due to the education system of my country, getting barely. half a day every 40 days or so, when I saw this I had such an epiphany of joy, I couldn't keep myself from laughing, not of mockery, just the sheer power of joy and happiness passing through me. I haven't seen the video yet, but still, I want to thank you J, you might have just saved my mind, I wrote this down on a very emotional state, sorry if it was confusing just now that I'm very thankful to you.
I had only ever played ZX and Advent, glad to hear that there was more to this series and the lore behind them. I'm subscribing for the rest of this series!
That's weird. For my first run, I consistently had enough energy crystals to feed the Elves, and when I didn't, I went to a grind spot. I even nabbed a Sub Tank.
Mega Man Zero 2 was actually my first Mega Man game. I mostly ignored them in grade school, but in middle school my friend had a GBA and Mega Man Zero, and I wanted it so bad. That Christmas I got a GBA SP and my first taste of this amazing franchise. Great video man. Takes me back.
The Panteons aren't actually based on X (at least not more than any other Reploid) it's just a paintjob. They are in fact far less strong and intelligent than most regular reploids, basically just mechanoloids plus. As you said, the one real weakpoint of this game is the grind at the beginning, because without at least unlocking the triple slash it's not very fun to play. The lives didn't bother me, just reset every single time. Also, just for the record: I'm pretty shure there is one spot in the game where you are able to grind crystals very rapidly so I was always able to unlock at least one subtank. But real pros beat the game without using a single elf. :-P My personal favourite is Zero 3, but everyone should really play them in order.
I love how little time you spent talking about the re-designs. Everyone always complains about them but it's not like they really matter at the end of the day. On the contrary, I'd say they benefit the Zero series more than they hinder.
I think the save system they added with the Legacy Collection helped a lot of these issues, though the grinding is still there. I put on a podcast and chilled out while chopping enemies
The best grinding spot is right after the first stage go back to the underground lab and find one of those spider nests. They will constantly respawn spiders for you to farm levels with your z saber and buster. Also they drop e crystals to use with cyber elves. It’s annoying having to sit there for an hour but it makes the rest of the game go so much smoother. However after the elephant stage the path becomes blocked which sucks because there aren’t really any other good grinding places
I just watched a video about the weapon grinding and it’s amazing. It doesn’t improve the grinding but there’s a way to make the grinding less time consuming. Each slash gives invisible exp. First slash is 1pt, second slash is 2pts, and third slash is 4pts. But in the video, he explained that the other moves has different exp themselves. You can get everything just by mindlessly grind but it takes forever. To get the other skills fast you need to do these: spinning slash you need to do a lot of jump slashes, for the spinning dash attack you need to do a lot of dash slashes, and finally the faster charging attack by using just the charge slash. This applies to every weapon.
No mention of the ranking system? Zero can't learn EX Skills in Z1, but the bosses still gain new attacks if you fight them at rank S and A. This also would have provided a chance to rant about the fairly stupid decision to permanently dock you points if you ever use a Cyber Elf.
Zero 1 was so hard as a kid I was basically forced into getting so good I eventually learned how to speed run the game without upgrading weapons or using elves.
Congratulations, you made a new retrospective I can rewatch multiple times, just like the X all inclusive retrospective. Also, after clearing the first factory stage it will be completely full of E-Crystals, making grinding less stressful (it's still a problem tho).
I really appreciated this review!! Very well done and i enjoyed ur voice, im proud to be a new sub :,) I agree with everything u said, the only reason i could see that u have no skills in the beginning is maybe its from the lack of memory zero and it caused him to forget what he really could do (altho i didnt mind it for the other two weapons cause hes never used them so its understandble) But they could have easily solved this by making it so that after the intro stage and touching his Z saber again, he just rememebers what he could do unconsiously or something like that. I feel like that would have been an X-cellent route 😇
Awesome review as always. It's already been 15 years since the 15th anniversary of Mega Man and the release of Zero 2. These games still feel so fresh to me.
I remember that! I actually think that is a really good mechanic! like, if you do well, you can handle a bigger challenge, if you don't the game takes a little easier on you
I had no idea any of this was happening and I am very Happy. This was the first game series I ever completed and it holds a special place in my heart. I'm glad someone is giving it a shout out as it really made me fall in love with the megaman games.
It's kinda funny seeing you being positive about a game to be honest. But anyways, I'd liked to to address about some of the issues you pointed. The grinding for weapons - While I do agree the three basic slashes and charge shots being needed to be grinded or else you're stuck with those basic 1 slash combo and miserable buster shots sucks, it does plays for the narrative. Zero does not have any memory despite X's name being familiar. When Ciel found and revived him, he was literally a little piece of garbage. I mean, were you expecting him to do his fancy 3 slashes combos right on the bet after a 100 years sleep and for him to be reactivaded he needed to be pretty much revived? I agree that it is an issue to limit the player the basic moveset of the character, but it does plays well with the narrative. And like you said, the bosses patterns are not even that hard, sure they'll be hard the first time, but look at Aztec Falcon for example, his attacks are really simple to dodge you can beat him pretty much easy even on your first try if you pay attention. What makes him so difficult in the beginning is not only the handcap the game puts you on but the pressure of the timer on the top of the screen. I agree that is an issue, I agree grinding is tedious, but the game is not that hard to begin with. Tou can naturally play the game and will notice that your weapons are maxed really fast as you're just playing through it. Grind for cyberelves - I agree wit this one tho, grinding for this is complete BS. But the issue can be mitigated as you just pointed. Using weaker elves to restore a bit of life does the job just fine. And to begin with the game does not want you to use it either since it does lower your overall rank permanently. Not only that but cyberelves (animals and hackers) can really break the game apart since they are really good to use overall. Phantom's BS explosion - I agree that this one can catch many off-guard and kill them pretty easily. But is it really cheap? If you pay attention to the dialogue, Phantom literally says he's going to kill Zero. Then, the game does give you the control of Zero and you still have plenty of time to dodge his explosions. You don't even need to dodge it just gets away and your job is done. It wasn't a cheap way to just eat one of your retry chips, it's Inti Creates playing the narrative again. Well I guess that's it. I agree with most of your points when comming to the flaws, But I really felt the need to talk about it too. Inti Creates does plays the narrative a lot. You can see that in the Zero Series, ZX Series even on Azure Striker Gunvolt. So some of these issues while does have the "first game syndrome", they do are part of IC's style as well. Just notice how the grinding was better from Zero 1 to 2. It's faster and while his weapons were a lot damaged, Zero himself still remembers how to fight and stuff so it's easier for you to readjust to your renewed weapons and the grind is faster. Zero 3 does not have any grind since Zero and his weapon's are pretty well kept and same goes for Zero 4. When someone is damn strong on Azure Striker Gunvolt, they will have a special skill being a screen nuke but still be really fair since it's clearly visible how you avoid being hit. There's a lot of times where Inti Creates plays for the narrative. Some they do it right, and some, like the grinding in Zero 1 they don't. This is just their style, and you kinda gets used to it after some time. Really liked this review, I'm waiting for Zero 2 and the rest of the marathon.
I've played through Zero 1 to 3 and the one thought I kept having was...why weren't these games on the PS2? The amount of weapons and other things requiring you to pause the game, like Cyber-Elves, feel like they would be right at home with L1/R1 hotkeys, and the screen crunch and overall lesser visibility adds to that. If these games are supposed to be successors to the X series, why didnt they end the X series at X5 (X6 debatably if they'd bothered to make that a proper closing story) and begin anew with Zero on PS2? It just makes too much sense, especially since Mega Man already had a home on GBA with Battle Network and &Bass.
In hindsight, them being on PS2 would've been better, but back then, 2D games were kind of seen as a thing of the past by publishers, relegated only to handhelds due to their limitations. Everything had to be 3D, and with games like GTA3 being smash hits, these 3D games had to be bigger. It's why we got Sly, Ratchet, Jak, which were great, but also X7 which was less than great. Devs felt more pressured by their target demographics to make these larger than life 3D games around this time and those that did stray away like Klonoa 2 ended up not selling well. Sure there were fighting games in 2.5D, but it was definitely a different time back then. I have a feeling 2D games only came back when kids were reintroduced to them in the mid 2000's with XBLA and WiiWare.
The Side Quest Gamer Review Show Fair point, but at the same time I cant help but feel a hand-drawn 2D action series would draw some attention in the market then. I know Inti werent the best at making 3D model-based stuff, so a handdrawn style would have probably worked rather well. As for the budget stuff...I'm sure they'd get a bit more of a boost if the X series got canned. Think of how many Capcom games could have been better if X7 was never worked on...
O come a RPG & and obnoxious platformer made even more obnoxious by screen crunch ya no I'd say keep the originals on the handhelds everyone and their mother had plus if they really feel like it Capcom can just remake these games for the PS4 PC Xbox One and switch
I don’t necessarily agree with that. As Alec said, 3D really was all the rage at the time. It’s only during the seventh gen when 2D games on console became a great novelty. 2.5D games in the sixth gen were usually failures if I’m not mistaken.
Im a Lil bit late but that was probably the reason of why I thank to god that the zero/zx legacy collection have save assists. The only reason I never finished zero 1 was bc I got tired of reading everything again just to beat one level
One of my favorite games ever, great gameplay and music really got me into it. I liked the idea of missions, and how you could fail them yet still continue with the game, albeit with penalties. You also did a good job of pointing out its flaws; grinding for EC was the most annoying thing for me. Best grinding area was the old lab, I'd just hang out near a spider nest that continually respawned enemies, who also dropped EC. Fun fact: If you went for a Jackson Elf run, the Four Guardians and Copy-X would use their special attacks. The whole 'restore my health halfway through' shtick that Copy-X pulls in Zero 3 was originally done here.
Great review! I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the retrospective. Although just a heads up there is supplemental material for the Zero series in the form of the drama tracks, they give more context as to what’s going on and they have some good character stuff,(although a few are just lines from the game with voice acting) they’re all on TH-cam fully subbed.
I wonder how long it'll take for people to ask for the star force and battle network series on this channel? I won't personally, I'd rather see you work on the zoids series, give it some love.
My opinions on every MMZ game for the GBA: Z1: Awkward leveling up system. Z2: BEST. INTRO. EVER. Z3: WARE WA MESSIAH NARI! *CUE EPIC MUSIC* Z4: *crying during credits intensifies*
I was looking foward for this review so much! Great video! Also, let me share with you a litte tip. In Underground Laboratory you can kill those little spiders to grind for E-crystals , since as long as there is a nest they will respawn. It's pretty convinient and will help to increase you life bar and other elf related abilities. It's better to give up the mission and keep the area, since the Triple rod and Shield Boomerang are pretty useless.
You luckily don't need to grind THAT much as long as you feed the nurse elves that increase your health after each mission, the grinding is reduced substantially.
Long rant about the consequences of the lives system. This comes from playing MM Zero on the DS collection while not in the easy mode. TL; DR at the end if you want a quick summary. 22:39 Honestly, I was either fine with or didn't encounter the previous points of contention. The lives system, however, makes this game absolute garbage for me. I lost all my lives fighting Falcon, and since I went in unspoiled, I was completely oblivious to the consequences of giving up. When I died fighting the Pharaoh looking boss, I thought giving up would let me go back to the hub and maybe upgrade or try again, since resetting my save seemed unnecessary and tedious. After returning to the hub, I saw that the mission was gone and was like, "oh, okay, failing has consequences," and tried another desert mission. I had a big skill issue there and died. Now, you'd think I'd be able to choose another mission, but no, dying twice kicked me straight into the end game, where the resistance base is actually invaded. Ofc I would save before progressing, that's basically an impulse. That, however, permanently locked me out of the ice and fire chips, as well as the rest of the sub weapons. And fighting the fire monkey with one life and being punished with thumb pains after each death was NOT fun. Eventually, though, I beat the stage. Side note: the points reloading brings you back to should've been altered. They put you before the plot, so you gotta mash through the text to start your next attempt. Now, what happened in the invasion stage repeated for the first Neo Arcadia stage. But after beating that and the ensuing stage (this one with no deaths somehow), I went into the boss rush with one extra life, as there's a static spawn at the end of the spike tower climb. I should mention that during this first playthrough, I had not found any retry chips, be it on the field or from enemies. So, I thought that this game never gave you more than the 3 lives from the beginning. Anyways, this is the good part. Since I saved before the boss rush, I was locked in. I couldn't go back to the previous level to see if the life respawned, either. This boss rush is the biggest reason why I think MM Zero is a bona fide bad game, worse than the likes of Sonic 06, Mega Man Xtreme 2, and Pokemon Violet; the difference between them and MM Zero is that I could have fun in those games throughout each play session. Something would be enough to satisfy me, and have me keep going back despite the problems. This boss rush amplified the lives issues 20 fold. I had to, on one life after I game overed, learn all of the patterns and somehow clear them with only a partial health restore between each fight. Especially without 2/3 of the elemental chips, this became a demoralizing, agonizingly boring process that made me drop the game. The lives system singlehandedly turned something that could've outshined X3 (PSX) for me into a nightmare, only serving to dangle dopamine in my face while ruining my digits. I don't know if the steam collection fixes the lives issue or not, but if it does, never play this game outside of that, or an emulator with save states. TL; DR: MM Zero's save system singlehandedly cucked me out of having fun with this game. It made 2 of the 3 chips inaccessible, as well as the non-Z Saber sub weapons and getting more resources like lives. The game devolved into a "pulverize your thumbs simulator," and I'd much rather do that typing things for people to read. If you've made it this far, you've earned an internet brownie point.
I picked up the Z collection and started off of course with Z 1... I haven't tried easy mode, but the regular mode isn't for anyone but people loving ridiculous difficulty "challenge".. really just in the boss fights. Plus if you happen to do better, or specifically get a better score, the game gets harder.. for some reason?? If it weren't for the checkpoint system the Collectio added, you'd run out of lives and fail the missions and have to start over and over. Not any different from the old X series really, but this game makes you grind for the upgrades unlike X where your heart and sub tanks just work when you get them, and for the most part in X your durability is similar to boss's save for the final bosses.. but in Zero, you very quickly encounter enemies with 2 or 3 full sized health bars. This was on the GBA.. kinda yknow.. designed for kids? What on earth where they thinking making it like this?? People say things were better in the later games.. I sure hope so.
The levels are so badly designed I'm in that factory for a second mission and they were like "hey did you think these zappy arms that you can only dodge by pure chance? How about throwing in a bunch of flying enemies that you knock off a long with arms?" Jfc and the boss rooms are usually just too small to even have fair fights, but I do like it, but a lot of dumb decisions and bad design
Oh and I forgot to add, the ridiculous amount of grinding to unlock any upgrade is also horrible design, going back abd forth killing the same enemies in a few spaces of screens is not rewarding s and you never find more than 16 at a time, and rarely, but anything useful is in the 1k area jfc
loved this game! after my first play through i would spend an hour upgrading my weapons on those spike trees and pantheons to play whole game with all moves ready from the get go ^^ makes playing the game again so much smoother.
When I was younger i loved absolutely everything about Megaman Zero EXCEPT that using cyber elves lowered your rank for that mission by a whole letter grade. I searched high and low for every single cyber elf, trying to collect the elusive Jackson. Once I finally got them all I was kinda dreading having to use them since they would "die." Well, I did end up doing it and getting Jackson, and it was awesome. I have a lot of good memories with this game and your review was fair and justified. Good job!
I recently played mm zero 1-3 and i played using gameshark to ensure s-ranks since hiding your moves behind playing well is stupid because if you got an s or a rank with base moveset you probably don't need them. I also disabled rank loss using cyber elves because just barring you from using a mechanic for no reason is stupid, the gameplay of mmz is great but i see no reason why they would neuter your moveset so you can use other things by earning them the high crystal requirements is also why i use cheats, it makes me feel like the game was almost intended to be played that way.
Its not barring you for no reason. Its why games like Devil May Cry and its ilk hurt your score for using items. Cyber Elves make the game easier, and can in some cases drastically change either your approach to fighting, or the way the levels work, so they try to incentivize you to not use them when possible.
@@01ChaosWarrior but why make the main thing you collect in the game punish you for using it, if it was something like a insta win against bosses maybe but you can't get extra life or some attacks without the elves in some games
The thing is though, that using even a couple health upgrades and a sub tank elf break the Zero games due to the damage on both ends being balanced for being pretty high. Its the reason the boss rushes don't bother J. Either way someone is dead in under 30 seconds. Its sorta the inverse of the X games, where you kinda need at least a couple of heart tanks to have a chance, whereas the Zero games assume you don't have any sort of upgrade.
You can use it, its just not the way the developers "want" you to play. Its like playing Dishonored as a first person action game rather then a stealth game. Totally valid, but not the way the game encourages you to play. If you want to use Cyber Elves, then go for it, but since your making the game easier, then they take some points off for using them, and you won't necessarily get the exact experience that the developers intended when the designed certain scenarios.
I immediately dipped the GBA version when I noticed the screen crunch. Didn’t really mind being fully upgraded in the beginning for the DS version since I liked putting in passcodes for max upgrades in X1 because it was fun blasting through that game. Being maxed out in the beginning also helped alleviate the flaws of the game too.
"I also love Zero in this game, he just feels so no nonsense" God dude I've been saying that for YEARS when people ask me why I like mmz zero over mmx zero
@@dmas7749 In zero 1 the bosses have only 1 more attack for having A or S rank, as well as you can access Ciel's room and get an extra cyber elf, but that's it. In zero 2 you need A or S rank to get the forms, a reward much bigger than in Zero 1.
@@dmas7749 Arguably not. I mean those are so small in the grand view of things in the game they virtually don't matter. I'd argue almost noone cares about these small things, unlike the forms and the EX skills that are much more substantial, they are actually worth your time getting.
You forget to mention my favorite moment, when zero is first revived, his music from the older games plays. Such a nice piece of epicness. I do actually love the music as well, including the cyril the wolf fan stuff(Never stop is a personal favorite I can listen to forever)
For the record, X going insane actually *does* sound totally in character to me. His depiction in too many of the games, instead of being sympathetic or appropriately grieved by his often necessary actions, came across as whiny or unable to distinguish necessary violence from unnecessary violence. It also seemed somehow fitting for Wily and Light's creations to swap roles.
...Not at all. If he was on Copy X's place, he would probably try to integrate the resistances' motives with Neo Arcadia peacefully before going out to exterminate them. I really hate how he was supposed to be like in the concept because it's just being completely out of character for the sake of being edgy and melodramatic. You sound like you just watched some youtuber play through X7 and based your opinion on that. I never got that impression in the games.
@@cumulonimbuscapillatus9312 Played X through X6. Never played or watched a lets play of X7, but I have seen some detailed reviews of it. Oh, and I read a strategy guide for X8 (as in the store bought kind) because I just like reading such things. I''m mostly basing this on X through X4. Needless to say, you didn't change my mind *but* did make me realize I need to make it clear: I'm criticizing the storytelling.
@@KamisamanoOtaku That actually makes your older post even less clear. And I still fail to understand where you're seeing these "whiny" and "unable to distinguish necessary violence" moments when that's just the clear opposite of how he acts in X games.
You know, with these reviews now turning 5 years old this year, one does wonder if these games will get revisited much like the Megaman X 5 years later re-reviews. Hopefully, but we'll see.
That would make sense. Although I won't be doing that. I have always been kind of wishey washey about the possibility of Zero and ZX revisits. On the one hand, I feel like the Zero videos hold up well enough to be left alone, even if I'd do it completely differently now and say different things. Something about it just feels too soon, even though it's been five years, just like the other ones (maybe I just don't want to admit 2018 was 5 years ago lol) but it's certainly something that could happen. I try to make sure I do Mega Man content at least once a year. I am doing a big Mega Man video later this year that I am pretty excited about, then starting Classic next year. Maybe some Zero Series revisits could be a thing in 2028 for the 10th anniversary of the videos? Sounds laughably far away, I know. But I figured I'd provide an in depth answer as to what the possibilities are.
He's not Blizzack Stagroff R until a couple games later, cough. Maha Ganeshariff is weak to Electric attacks because his feet are in water. Makes perfect sense. Also you glossed over the fact that some bosses (Guard Orotic, Hittite Hottide, Phantom, Rainbow Devil) are neutral and take all elements the same as a non-elemental attack. Not the Z-Buster, just a Buster gun. Type B is king. There's a reason it becomes Type A in ZX/A. Compared to 3 and 4 the only upshot of weapon levels is that you don't need any equipment to quick charge. Then again Quick Charge is the only head chip that matters anyway, so yaknow whatever. Four shots at once is not a later upgrade. Not that this matters, but Zero 1 is weird in how it handles the Z-Saber's attacks. Against bosses you can't actually combo the standing slashes very well, if you want to pile on damage that way you have to repeat the first slash because mercy doesn't trigger as a result of it. Ditto Triple Rod stabs. Zero 2 and onward the standing combo actually works. The snakes in the desert exclusively drop E-Crystals for whatever that's worth. Also, there's five, not six. Gameshark is your friend. If that's out, remember that the factory has a fat wad of E-Crystals affter each time you clear it, but unfortunately they don't respawn aside from after dealing with Phantom and the bombs. You get two doses and that is it. For what it's worth, the spider nests in the intro stage are still there if you go back. If you want to make the game more digestible, you could like, have a save before the second mission where the saber and buster are maxed. Then just do the intro stage, reset, load that save, and go from there. They never got the screen size through their heads. Neo Arcadia Core is a motherfucker because of the ranking system. Ranking does not mesh with having ten bosses in a row. At all. Fuck off with that. Also it doesn't flash the ranking screen until after the credits. What the fuck. Chips actually do jack shit on Copy X 1, go fig.
A control type. Type A has the B button (default) use the main weapon, and when holding the R button, it uses the secondary weapon instead. Type C (which is mentioned in the video) causes R to switch which weapon B uses instead, so you don't have to hold it. Type B causes A to use the main weapon directly and R to use the secondary weapon directly. Type B is so much better than A and C because it allows you to charge your weapons individually, so you can hit an enemy with a charged buster shot, then a charged saber slash immediately after. This is impossible in A or C.
So glad Casual Story Mode exists in Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection. It pretty much gives you three long and layered health bars, all weapons start off already fully leveled up, you have ALL cyber elves you can possibly collect, 9999 energy crystals and all sub tanks. Not to mention spikes are covered as well. Yet despite ALL that, the game was still fairly challenging in places, particularly with the platforming stages with lots of pits. Some may argue that it strips away the challenge, but from the sounds of it, the challenge is TOO high for some, if not many.
The best control type is objectively and undebatably Type B. Reason? You just press R to use the secondary weapon, so you can: 1: Keep charging it when you jump. 2: Attack in the middle of a high jump (because the sooner you let go of A, the shorter your jump will be). 3: Charge two weapons at the same time. This is especially useful on a keyboard, since you can charge both weapons and still jump around. When I play on Android (where I set L & R to the volume buttons to get as close as possible to a real GBA) I set the saber to R so I can use it on the air and the buster to B so I can mash it on the touchscreen. On a keyboard, I set the saber to X leaving it right next to jump button Z and mostly just forget about the rest of the weapons.
I'm going to post this on Zero 3's review too when it comes out, but I started out the Megaman Zero Series on Megaman Zero 3, Played ZX Advent, and somehow wrapped around back to Megaman Zero 1. And I have to say... You got everything right. I never got my hands on the megaman zero collection to play, but you definitely had it together.
the Link between X Series and Zero Series was included in X6, if you beat the Game without Unlocking Zero, then the next scene for that is the dissapearance of Zero (Zero's Ending in X6).
Fun fact: the GBA's sound equipment is, besides the hardware inherited from the GBC, just a DAC. The lack of any sound processor means that the burden must be shouldered by the _CPU_ instead!
This is so relatable! I didn't grind at all in the first game and had an absolutely miserable time throughout. I couldn't feed a single cyber elf in the entire game, the amount of crystals needed is unholy. Even with the save assist in the legacy collection that doesn't make the game fun, since you still die in 3 hits against bosses and have to mash through dialogue on every attempt. I also got stuck on the submarines at 24:18 too, when Zero 1 suffers from screen crunch it's just terrible. I'd rather do the entirety of Mega Man & Bass in one life than beat Zero 1 with that abhorrent original life system. Zero 2 has fixed all these problems for me, I don't want to revisit the first game ever again.
God I love this game series so much! The Megaman Zero Collection was my introduction into the series and I had issues in the first game but I had fun regardless oh and fun fact I played the collection so much it stopped working and I had to buy a new copy.
I just love the Zero series on the GBA. Zero 1 and Zero 4 are for sure two of my top10 games, ofc with some nostalgia glasses, but DUDE I sure enjoy this shit. Seeing a fair and logical review of them is a pretty darn good experience since you made a lot of good points to make me agree with every criticism. Really loved the channel
You're the man bro! This whole series is so under appreciated and feel like not a lot of people cared for it back way when. My Favs where definitely part 3 and zx part 1 (especially since you could link the gba games and rebattle omega). I knew he died and was only a lesser rival but I wished they would have brought back vile in some capacity. Maybe as a withered maverick driven only by destruction and with no memories at all like zero.
Predicted the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection perfectly. Also Seeing how the Line between human and Reploid is very Thin by this point, It helps explain why Carbons are a thing in the Dash/Legends Series. (which I can only assume is at a Point where Human and Reploid managed to Merge as one, Especially considering Biometals) Also the Art style is just... *chef's kiss*
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS fun fact: back then when I discovered your channel, I was salty with your review of Megaman X6. But now I love your reviews, lol
I've always been a MegaMan Zero Fan more than any other games, mainly because of how I was exposed in GBA Games but another is because of how Zero is slim and fast here compared to his MMX Body. And I'm aware of the timeline way back in 2011 but story just feels more satisfying now that I'm replaying the games all over again as I watch this channel's reviews.
On the topic of Cyber elves, the game also lowers your score if you use them and it made the elves feel like "cheating" or easy mode to me, like you weren't supposed to.
The Nintendo VC versions of these games is my preferred way to play them, button mapping, fullscreen, and restore poiints for practicing levels and bosses to get S ranks. The DS collection is great too, especially for enabling the E-reader exclusive content in Zero 3
I finished zero 1 the first time with the new switch release and I had an absolute blast! They introduced a checkpoint system which in my opinion fixes MANY of the issues mentioned. Like I actually enjoyed that one platforming section with the logs, probably since I could just retry that section with no extra penalty. Since I enjoyed that stage I even revisited it and that's when I found that it has A LOT of e crystals as a rewards for doing so. The weapon upgrade thing is still shit tho. I feel like no game should have an upgrade system that works by pressing the same few buttons for hours.
Tips in MMZ1:
At least for me. The smartest setup for the R button is setup B. This allows you to shoot your sub-weapon with just pressing the R button without weapon switching. Allowing you to constantly charge your buster for example while slashing away.
To easily get full buster charge shot: Go to the retrieve data mission and keep shooting at the spinning electric thingies. Those things give exp and cannot be killed. Just smash that B away.
The Crystal costs are bullshit in this game, but after the capture the factory mission. You can return to the factory from the overworld and find over 500 E-crystals though the whole thing. After the Phantom mission another 500 E-crystals spawn there. A good way to alleviate the grinding. I recommend you buy an E-tank with this money and if you are lucky and have some left, you can buy one HP upgrade. The game is hard as hell, but if you master it, it is soooo satistfying.
If you master the game enough to play in A-rank. The bosses will have harder AI and super attacks which make them super fun to fight.
the boss AI is not that different really. All they get is an extra attack
honestly i've always done the type A setup. It just feels right, the others don't.
before the castle levels i decided to look up a crystal grind strat and was able to get 2 sub tanks, a speed upgrade, and an extra health upgrade (i had one before that point) in about 40 min and tore through the rest of the gmae. it was awesome lol.
When's the megaman zero review coming out
Good question
Stop rushing him! He'll make it soon enough...
@Yussnan84 wooooooooosh
Yussnan84 you’re very stupid
February 31
A historical day: the beginning of the Mega Man Zero Retrospective and the first documented time that J has not reacted negatively to a boss rush in a Mega Man game.
Overall, I think this game is a good start to the Zero series. I just think it suffers from a few flaws that I consider part of the cursed “first game syndrome”. A shitton of grinding that was thankfully cut down a bit by 2 and removed completely for 3 and 4, a lot of lag, no matter if it was the original cartridge or emulator or what have you, and just a few smaller issues. I like this game overall, but I just find it hard to come back to this compared to Zero 2-4.
My thoughts exactly!
I believe that the grinding was intentional to an extent. Since when the game came out it was labeled by Capcom as the hardest Megaman game in the franchises history. And future games have tried to deal with the difficulty in other ways.
@@karlhnedkovsky5214 me too but I still think zero 2 is the worst of the series this has first game charm like sonic 1
@@AlphaladZXA For what reason?
@@karlhnedkovsky5214 it wasn't fun to me, I have fun with all the others zero 1 3 and 4 greatly ZX and ZXA but not zero 2.. it just exists as average feeling
Now I'm just waiting for z3 my absolute favourite
I agree. Zero 3 is the only one I've bothered to try and finish. The retry chip bull shit in zero 1 turned me away within the first 5 stages.
Z3 is the peak of the franchise
Don't @ me
@@TopherParkerCars use infinite lives lol
CANNNNOOONNN BBBBAAALLLL. ZERO VS ZERO
The final boss man 🙏
I quite like how this first one handled the missions. You don't get a boss selection screen since that's beside the point. You have reploids to rescue, enemy factories to destroy, hacking to stop, etc. Plus since the resistance lacks resources it makes sense they would lack intel on the enemy.
Not a fan of the cyber elf system in this game because of the steep cost but I do like how the sequels found ways to reinvent it to varying degrees of succes (satteite elves in Zero 3 were easily the best though).
The intel thing is actually addressed in Zero 2. You know why 2, 3 and 4 have boss icons? One of the NPCs tells you that their scouts managed to take some pictures of the bosses!
@@TheExFatal you gotta love that attention to detail
The story reason for the leveling up weapons is Zero having been broken for so many years and is a bit rusty. That doesn't make the mechanic any better, but that's why they did it.
Zero 2 makes way less sense here. They included it again because... Zero fought so long in the desert that he collapsed (the broken Z1 menu in the intro stage is a nice touch at least) and broke his weapons. Okay? But he and his weapons got fixed, why can't he use them? Stupid both mechanically and in terms of story.
Thank goodness Zero 3 packed that shit in.
I think it's because he had a new body, and a new set of weapons? Maybe they were trying to go for "He remembers, but his body needs to readjust" kind of like playing into human potential and how the line between machine and human is blurry
maybe
@@itsmesoru I thought it was both what you said and they said😃☝️
They could have done something like, still have the combos and level 1 charge in Zero 2, but enough grinding causes you to do more damage and get the level 2 charge for the buster.
So..... Zero and ZX legacy collections announced, guess who's going to be rewatching these in preparation for that?
I will... But I'll stop at zero 4 review. I still dislike his ZX reviews.
Update for those: the save-assist mode makes all of the games such less tedious without breaking them, as it simply negates the need for the terrible lives system.
Inti Creates was actually involved in more Megaman games than just Megaman Zero and ZX. The team is composed of former Capcom members and many of the team were responsible for making Megaman X2. They also made Megaman 9 and 10 as well as Megaman X5.
first game is the worst of the bunch but its oddly atmospheric
Thats a really good way to explain it. Like literally I feel exactly the same but could never really describe it
It feels very post apocalyptic. A very dead world
Some first games are not suppose to be good but some are but I agree
yup. yup. zero 1 feels a bit undercooked, almost like a beta zero game with the noticeably crusty graphics and minimal dialogue. but man does it somehow have a heavy but enjoyable atmosphere
Well said
Zero 1 was one of my favorite games on GBA .
Yeah same, I recall it as really difficult as a 7-8 year old though.
How weird you didn't mention the ranking system and the penalties for using the cyber-elves. That's what bothers me the most in these games.
Probably didn't mention it because it has no effect on gameplay in z1 other than giving the bosses EX skills.
He also didn't talk about hard mode either though surprisingly.
The ranking system in these games are mainly for bragging, unlocking modes and i guess getting a cyber elf in ciel's room . All it really does is make stages and bosses harder.
I'm actually a big fan of how it is handled.
This may be just me and my love for challenging myself, but getting more tools by getting 90+ points makes all the effort feel worth something and it allows for an interesting dilemma between having a better weapon toolkit or becoming generally stronger via fusions.
Not to mention when you’re in A or S rank, bosses have their ultimate attack.
@@Skallva I do get wanting to do a no damage playthrough or something like that but they introduced something and then they punish you for using it. They should have kept the ranking limited to time, damage and kills. Even if you have tanks and long life bars, you would still need to take damage in order to use them and that would affect your ranking anyway, so it was unnecessary to punish people for using cyber-elfs. Imaging if Pokemon were to punish you for using Mega Evolution in X/Y or Z-Moves in Sun & Moon. It would make no sense.
ah yes, the game series that swapped out zero's green boobs for speedo's.
i played this game on an emulator, and while i did rage quit (at the part with the floating crate robots and mainly because the emulator i was using wouldn't save), i absolutely loved the way zero handles in terms of mobility and combat, so i do intend on replaying this game to completion at some point, maybe i'll get the original gba versions, or the DS collection, or i'll wait for a potential legacy collection to come up.
The 4 Guardians were built with X's DNA, not Copy X's
Says someone with a copy X profile picture.
@@barrybend7189 So? Your point is?
@@cybersoul2809 boy he was cracking a joke, no need to get all riled up
@@simfong999 What do you mean with "get all riled up"? That was a legit question. Also, how is that a joke?
@@cybersoul2809 salty lol
I never doubted you would make an MMZ review, you've done the X series after all, and I enjoyed all those videos.
But MMZ is special, you see, I got introduced to the megaman franchise by my brother, and got me playing X1 on our SNES, it was fun and I just felt in love with zero, his character and raw power and awesomeness, I also saw by brother as my hero, so when he introduced me to MMZ on our GBA emulator and challanged me to make a run of it was magical, and since I didint speak english at the time I always called my brother to translate the text on the dialogue, i loved the history from 1 with it's state of decay and dark and almost depressing atmosphere, the second game that evolved on the 4 guardians and brought back the lore, the third game with the plot twist and the greatest boss battle I ever saw (if only I coud have actually done it), and the last game, with the ultimate sacrifice and the hope tone...it was one of the best experiences of my life, not only because of the gameplay but because it was such a bonding experience between me and my brother, this game means so much to me and I hope to one day find someone I can share this feeling with.
When your video appeared in my inbox I froze, finally a youtuber that I enjoy and respect, that reviewed the Megaman X franchise with a keen mind, fierce eyes and brought a fair and awesome review, I couldn't believe my eyes, all the memories of my brother, my bond with this game, with him...it was just so powerful I broke, I've been stressed out the entire year due to the education system of my country, getting barely. half a day every 40 days or so, when I saw this I had such an epiphany of joy, I couldn't keep myself from laughing, not of mockery, just the sheer power of joy and happiness passing through me.
I haven't seen the video yet, but still, I want to thank you J, you might have just saved my mind, I wrote this down on a very emotional state, sorry if it was confusing just now that I'm very thankful to you.
@23:09 Retry chips are less common than girls who wanna go out with me.
I had only ever played ZX and Advent, glad to hear that there was more to this series and the lore behind them. I'm subscribing for the rest of this series!
Ah! It's here. The wait is going to be worth it
its finally here
performing for you
if you know the words
You can join in too
That's weird. For my first run, I consistently had enough energy crystals to feed the Elves, and when I didn't, I went to a grind spot. I even nabbed a Sub Tank.
Mega Man Zero 2 was actually my first Mega Man game. I mostly ignored them in grade school, but in middle school my friend had a GBA and Mega Man Zero, and I wanted it so bad. That Christmas I got a GBA SP and my first taste of this amazing franchise. Great video man. Takes me back.
This was my introduction to the megaman series. Im geeking out!
I'm still amazed on how your review schedule for these games basically predicted MMZ/ZXLC
The Panteons aren't actually based on X (at least not more than any other Reploid) it's just a paintjob. They are in fact far less strong and intelligent than most regular reploids, basically just mechanoloids plus.
As you said, the one real weakpoint of this game is the grind at the beginning, because without at least unlocking the triple slash it's not very fun to play. The lives didn't bother me, just reset every single time.
Also, just for the record: I'm pretty shure there is one spot in the game where you are able to grind crystals very rapidly so I was always able to unlock at least one subtank. But real pros beat the game without using a single elf. :-P
My personal favourite is Zero 3, but everyone should really play them in order.
If I recall correctly there is actually and info chip in z3 that says they are. "Pantheon are degraded, massproduced Reploid copies of X." Disk 11
No. Pantheons are mass produced X clones. The guardians are also X clones but better and designed to be generals.
@@MH_Zard
His intelligence and weapons/armor are what makes X the legend he is. Not the body shape or colour. That was my point.
From the megaman wikia:
They were made using his armors apparently
Resetting every time you die isn't a fun or efficient way to play any game.
I love how little time you spent talking about the re-designs. Everyone always complains about them but it's not like they really matter at the end of the day. On the contrary, I'd say they benefit the Zero series more than they hinder.
I think the save system they added with the Legacy Collection helped a lot of these issues, though the grinding is still there. I put on a podcast and chilled out while chopping enemies
ZX blurred the line. Legends there is no line.
The best grinding spot is right after the first stage go back to the underground lab and find one of those spider nests. They will constantly respawn spiders for you to farm levels with your z saber and buster. Also they drop e crystals to use with cyber elves. It’s annoying having to sit there for an hour but it makes the rest of the game go so much smoother. However after the elephant stage the path becomes blocked which sucks because there aren’t really any other good grinding places
I just watched a video about the weapon grinding and it’s amazing. It doesn’t improve the grinding but there’s a way to make the grinding less time consuming. Each slash gives invisible exp. First slash is 1pt, second slash is 2pts, and third slash is 4pts. But in the video, he explained that the other moves has different exp themselves. You can get everything just by mindlessly grind but it takes forever. To get the other skills fast you need to do these: spinning slash you need to do a lot of jump slashes, for the spinning dash attack you need to do a lot of dash slashes, and finally the faster charging attack by using just the charge slash. This applies to every weapon.
No mention of the ranking system? Zero can't learn EX Skills in Z1, but the bosses still gain new attacks if you fight them at rank S and A.
This also would have provided a chance to rant about the fairly stupid decision to permanently dock you points if you ever use a Cyber Elf.
Oh my god its time, best way to finish off my last two weeks of pain at the hands of midterms wooooooOOOOO
I can't wait to hear your opinion on zx. It's my favorite game.
Zero 1 was so hard as a kid I was basically forced into getting so good I eventually learned how to speed run the game without upgrading weapons or using elves.
Congratulations, you made a new retrospective I can rewatch multiple times, just like the X all inclusive retrospective.
Also, after clearing the first factory stage it will be completely full of E-Crystals, making grinding less stressful (it's still a problem tho).
I really appreciated this review!! Very well done and i enjoyed ur voice, im proud to be a new sub :,)
I agree with everything u said, the only reason i could see that u have no skills in the beginning is maybe its from the lack of memory zero and it caused him to forget what he really could do (altho i didnt mind it for the other two weapons cause hes never used them so its understandble) But they could have easily solved this by making it so that after the intro stage and touching his Z saber again, he just rememebers what he could do unconsiously or something like that. I feel like that would have been an X-cellent route 😇
FINALLY! Thanks for being among the few first to start giving some in depth videos on this series. Im definitely subbing now.
So when’s that Zero rev-oh wait....YOU ACTUALLY DID IT?! *ITS ABOUT TIME!*
HYYYYPPPPEEE
Awesome review as always.
It's already been 15 years since the 15th anniversary of Mega Man and the release of Zero 2. These games still feel so fresh to me.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about dynamic difficulty, the higher your rank, the harder the game.
I remember that! I actually think that is a really good mechanic! like, if you do well, you can handle a bigger challenge, if you don't the game takes a little easier on you
Also when you are at a A rank or S rank the bosses unleash their super attacks
I had no idea any of this was happening and I am very Happy. This was the first game series I ever completed and it holds a special place in my heart. I'm glad someone is giving it a shout out as it really made me fall in love with the megaman games.
It's kinda funny seeing you being positive about a game to be honest. But anyways, I'd liked to to address about some of the issues you pointed.
The grinding for weapons - While I do agree the three basic slashes and charge shots being needed to be grinded or else you're stuck with those basic 1 slash combo and miserable buster shots sucks, it does plays for the narrative. Zero does not have any memory despite X's name being familiar. When Ciel found and revived him, he was literally a little piece of garbage. I mean, were you expecting him to do his fancy 3 slashes combos right on the bet after a 100 years sleep and for him to be reactivaded he needed to be pretty much revived? I agree that it is an issue to limit the player the basic moveset of the character, but it does plays well with the narrative. And like you said, the bosses patterns are not even that hard, sure they'll be hard the first time, but look at Aztec Falcon for example, his attacks are really simple to dodge you can beat him pretty much easy even on your first try if you pay attention. What makes him so difficult in the beginning is not only the handcap the game puts you on but the pressure of the timer on the top of the screen. I agree that is an issue, I agree grinding is tedious, but the game is not that hard to begin with. Tou can naturally play the game and will notice that your weapons are maxed really fast as you're just playing through it.
Grind for cyberelves - I agree wit this one tho, grinding for this is complete BS. But the issue can be mitigated as you just pointed. Using weaker elves to restore a bit of life does the job just fine. And to begin with the game does not want you to use it either since it does lower your overall rank permanently. Not only that but cyberelves (animals and hackers) can really break the game apart since they are really good to use overall.
Phantom's BS explosion - I agree that this one can catch many off-guard and kill them pretty easily. But is it really cheap? If you pay attention to the dialogue, Phantom literally says he's going to kill Zero. Then, the game does give you the control of Zero and you still have plenty of time to dodge his explosions. You don't even need to dodge it just gets away and your job is done. It wasn't a cheap way to just eat one of your retry chips, it's Inti Creates playing the narrative again.
Well I guess that's it. I agree with most of your points when comming to the flaws, But I really felt the need to talk about it too. Inti Creates does plays the narrative a lot. You can see that in the Zero Series, ZX Series even on Azure Striker Gunvolt. So some of these issues while does have the "first game syndrome", they do are part of IC's style as well. Just notice how the grinding was better from Zero 1 to 2. It's faster and while his weapons were a lot damaged, Zero himself still remembers how to fight and stuff so it's easier for you to readjust to your renewed weapons and the grind is faster. Zero 3 does not have any grind since Zero and his weapon's are pretty well kept and same goes for Zero 4. When someone is damn strong on Azure Striker Gunvolt, they will have a special skill being a screen nuke but still be really fair since it's clearly visible how you avoid being hit. There's a lot of times where Inti Creates plays for the narrative. Some they do it right, and some, like the grinding in Zero 1 they don't. This is just their style, and you kinda gets used to it after some time.
Really liked this review, I'm waiting for Zero 2 and the rest of the marathon.
Are you an English major cause this was alot, impressive stuff lol
@@AlphaladZXA I'm sorry? I'm not sure I did understand your comment.
I think he complimented your analysis! :)
Oh my, well thank you so much!!
I just found about your channel,and honestly,I wish you the best moving forward!You deserve WAAAAY more subscribers than you have right now!
I've played through Zero 1 to 3 and the one thought I kept having was...why weren't these games on the PS2? The amount of weapons and other things requiring you to pause the game, like Cyber-Elves, feel like they would be right at home with L1/R1 hotkeys, and the screen crunch and overall lesser visibility adds to that. If these games are supposed to be successors to the X series, why didnt they end the X series at X5 (X6 debatably if they'd bothered to make that a proper closing story) and begin anew with Zero on PS2? It just makes too much sense, especially since Mega Man already had a home on GBA with Battle Network and &Bass.
In hindsight, them being on PS2 would've been better, but back then, 2D games were kind of seen as a thing of the past by publishers, relegated only to handhelds due to their limitations. Everything had to be 3D, and with games like GTA3 being smash hits, these 3D games had to be bigger. It's why we got Sly, Ratchet, Jak, which were great, but also X7 which was less than great. Devs felt more pressured by their target demographics to make these larger than life 3D games around this time and those that did stray away like Klonoa 2 ended up not selling well. Sure there were fighting games in 2.5D, but it was definitely a different time back then. I have a feeling 2D games only came back when kids were reintroduced to them in the mid 2000's with XBLA and WiiWare.
Budget my friends
The Side Quest Gamer Review Show
Fair point, but at the same time I cant help but feel a hand-drawn 2D action series would draw some attention in the market then. I know Inti werent the best at making 3D model-based stuff, so a handdrawn style would have probably worked rather well. As for the budget stuff...I'm sure they'd get a bit more of a boost if the X series got canned. Think of how many Capcom games could have been better if X7 was never worked on...
O come a RPG & and obnoxious platformer made even more obnoxious by screen crunch ya no I'd say keep the originals on the handhelds everyone and their mother had plus if they really feel like it Capcom can just remake these games for the PS4 PC Xbox One and switch
I don’t necessarily agree with that. As Alec said, 3D really was all the rage at the time. It’s only during the seventh gen when 2D games on console became a great novelty. 2.5D games in the sixth gen were usually failures if I’m not mistaken.
You were right back then. The wait for the MMZ reviews was much shorter than it seemed.
I don’t like Zero 1. The lack of continues is just painful. The sequels are way better
Im a Lil bit late but that was probably the reason of why I thank to god that the zero/zx legacy collection have save assists. The only reason I never finished zero 1 was bc I got tired of reading everything again just to beat one level
One of my favorite games ever, great gameplay and music really got me into it. I liked the idea of missions, and how you could fail them yet still continue with the game, albeit with penalties. You also did a good job of pointing out its flaws; grinding for EC was the most annoying thing for me. Best grinding area was the old lab, I'd just hang out near a spider nest that continually respawned enemies, who also dropped EC.
Fun fact: If you went for a Jackson Elf run, the Four Guardians and Copy-X would use their special attacks. The whole 'restore my health halfway through' shtick that Copy-X pulls in Zero 3 was originally done here.
this games would really breake it today with all the love for retro games, Capcom should totally relaunch them
Great review! I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the retrospective. Although just a heads up there is supplemental material for the Zero series in the form of the drama tracks, they give more context as to what’s going on and they have some good character stuff,(although a few are just lines from the game with voice acting) they’re all on TH-cam fully subbed.
I wonder how long it'll take for people to ask for the star force and battle network series on this channel?
I won't personally, I'd rather see you work on the zoids series, give it some love.
My opinions on every MMZ game for the GBA:
Z1: Awkward leveling up system.
Z2: BEST. INTRO. EVER.
Z3: WARE WA MESSIAH NARI! *CUE EPIC MUSIC*
Z4: *crying during credits intensifies*
Why has he said more positive things briefly summing up the x series than he did in his full reviews?
Watching this entire playlist to hype myself for a replay when Zero/ZX Collection arrives in the mail today!😎👌
15:38 it never existed. No seriously, the Japanese names have always been unorthodox, like Sting Chamelead and Icy Penguio, just to name a few.
I was looking foward for this review so much! Great video! Also, let me share with you a litte tip. In Underground Laboratory you can kill those little spiders to grind for E-crystals , since as long as there is a nest they will respawn. It's pretty convinient and will help to increase you life bar and other elf related abilities. It's better to give up the mission and keep the area, since the Triple rod and Shield Boomerang are pretty useless.
I don't have problems with grinding.
It just took me 1 hour at the Underground Laboratory to get 9999 crystals....
You luckily don't need to grind THAT much as long as you feed the nurse elves that increase your health after each mission, the grinding is reduced substantially.
Long rant about the consequences of the lives system. This comes from playing MM Zero on the DS collection while not in the easy mode. TL; DR at the end if you want a quick summary.
22:39 Honestly, I was either fine with or didn't encounter the previous points of contention. The lives system, however, makes this game absolute garbage for me.
I lost all my lives fighting Falcon, and since I went in unspoiled, I was completely oblivious to the consequences of giving up.
When I died fighting the Pharaoh looking boss, I thought giving up would let me go back to the hub and maybe upgrade or try again, since resetting my save seemed unnecessary and tedious. After returning to the hub, I saw that the mission was gone and was like, "oh, okay, failing has consequences," and tried another desert mission.
I had a big skill issue there and died. Now, you'd think I'd be able to choose another mission, but no, dying twice kicked me straight into the end game, where the resistance base is actually invaded. Ofc I would save before progressing, that's basically an impulse.
That, however, permanently locked me out of the ice and fire chips, as well as the rest of the sub weapons. And fighting the fire monkey with one life and being punished with thumb pains after each death was NOT fun. Eventually, though, I beat the stage.
Side note: the points reloading brings you back to should've been altered. They put you before the plot, so you gotta mash through the text to start your next attempt.
Now, what happened in the invasion stage repeated for the first Neo Arcadia stage. But after beating that and the ensuing stage (this one with no deaths somehow), I went into the boss rush with one extra life, as there's a static spawn at the end of the spike tower climb.
I should mention that during this first playthrough, I had not found any retry chips, be it on the field or from enemies. So, I thought that this game never gave you more than the 3 lives from the beginning.
Anyways, this is the good part. Since I saved before the boss rush, I was locked in. I couldn't go back to the previous level to see if the life respawned, either.
This boss rush is the biggest reason why I think MM Zero is a bona fide bad game, worse than the likes of Sonic 06, Mega Man Xtreme 2, and Pokemon Violet; the difference between them and MM Zero is that I could have fun in those games throughout each play session. Something would be enough to satisfy me, and have me keep going back despite the problems.
This boss rush amplified the lives issues 20 fold. I had to, on one life after I game overed, learn all of the patterns and somehow clear them with only a partial health restore between each fight. Especially without 2/3 of the elemental chips, this became a demoralizing, agonizingly boring process that made me drop the game.
The lives system singlehandedly turned something that could've outshined X3 (PSX) for me into a nightmare, only serving to dangle dopamine in my face while ruining my digits. I don't know if the steam collection fixes the lives issue or not, but if it does, never play this game outside of that, or an emulator with save states.
TL; DR: MM Zero's save system singlehandedly cucked me out of having fun with this game. It made 2 of the 3 chips inaccessible, as well as the non-Z Saber sub weapons and getting more resources like lives. The game devolved into a "pulverize your thumbs simulator," and I'd much rather do that typing things for people to read.
If you've made it this far, you've earned an internet brownie point.
I picked up the Z collection and started off of course with Z 1... I haven't tried easy mode, but the regular mode isn't for anyone but people loving ridiculous difficulty "challenge".. really just in the boss fights. Plus if you happen to do better, or specifically get a better score, the game gets harder.. for some reason?? If it weren't for the checkpoint system the Collectio added, you'd run out of lives and fail the missions and have to start over and over. Not any different from the old X series really, but this game makes you grind for the upgrades unlike X where your heart and sub tanks just work when you get them, and for the most part in X your durability is similar to boss's save for the final bosses.. but in Zero, you very quickly encounter enemies with 2 or 3 full sized health bars.
This was on the GBA.. kinda yknow.. designed for kids? What on earth where they thinking making it like this??
People say things were better in the later games.. I sure hope so.
The levels are so badly designed I'm in that factory for a second mission and they were like "hey did you think these zappy arms that you can only dodge by pure chance? How about throwing in a bunch of flying enemies that you knock off a long with arms?" Jfc and the boss rooms are usually just too small to even have fair fights, but I do like it, but a lot of dumb decisions and bad design
Oh and I forgot to add, the ridiculous amount of grinding to unlock any upgrade is also horrible design, going back abd forth killing the same enemies in a few spaces of screens is not rewarding s and you never find more than 16 at a time, and rarely, but anything useful is in the 1k area jfc
Just discovered you, i like your style and i love this game series, nice work
I WATCHED THE UPDATE VIDEO
loved this game! after my first play through i would spend an hour upgrading my weapons on those spike trees and pantheons to play whole game with all moves ready from the get go ^^ makes playing the game again so much smoother.
i only have one thing to say
LEVIATHAN BEST GIRL
When I was younger i loved absolutely everything about Megaman Zero EXCEPT that using cyber elves lowered your rank for that mission by a whole letter grade. I searched high and low for every single cyber elf, trying to collect the elusive Jackson. Once I finally got them all I was kinda dreading having to use them since they would "die." Well, I did end up doing it and getting Jackson, and it was awesome. I have a lot of good memories with this game and your review was fair and justified. Good job!
I recently played mm zero 1-3 and i played using gameshark to ensure s-ranks since hiding your moves behind playing well is stupid because if you got an s or a rank with base moveset you probably don't need them.
I also disabled rank loss using cyber elves because just barring you from using a mechanic for no reason is stupid, the gameplay of mmz is great but i see no reason why they would neuter your moveset so you can use other things by earning them
the high crystal requirements is also why i use cheats, it makes me feel like the game was almost intended to be played that way.
Its not barring you for no reason. Its why games like Devil May Cry and its ilk hurt your score for using items. Cyber Elves make the game easier, and can in some cases drastically change either your approach to fighting, or the way the levels work, so they try to incentivize you to not use them when possible.
@@01ChaosWarrior but why make the main thing you collect in the game punish you for using it, if it was something like a insta win against bosses maybe but you can't get extra life or some attacks without the elves in some games
The thing is though, that using even a couple health upgrades and a sub tank elf break the Zero games due to the damage on both ends being balanced for being pretty high. Its the reason the boss rushes don't bother J. Either way someone is dead in under 30 seconds. Its sorta the inverse of the X games, where you kinda need at least a couple of heart tanks to have a chance, whereas the Zero games assume you don't have any sort of upgrade.
@@01ChaosWarrior yea and that is the problem, why give all that stuff when i am not supposed to use it
You can use it, its just not the way the developers "want" you to play. Its like playing Dishonored as a first person action game rather then a stealth game. Totally valid, but not the way the game encourages you to play. If you want to use Cyber Elves, then go for it, but since your making the game easier, then they take some points off for using them, and you won't necessarily get the exact experience that the developers intended when the designed certain scenarios.
I immediately dipped the GBA version when I noticed the screen crunch. Didn’t really mind being fully upgraded in the beginning for the DS version since I liked putting in passcodes for max upgrades in X1 because it was fun blasting through that game. Being maxed out in the beginning also helped alleviate the flaws of the game too.
"I also love Zero in this game, he just feels so no nonsense"
God dude I've been saying that for YEARS when people ask me why I like mmz zero over mmx zero
Thanks for the subtitles. Now I can watch you reviews in my car without killing my ears.
I see you're waiting to critique the ranking system to Zero 2 I believe, since it's the first game it actually matters.
How so? You mean the EX moves?
not technically, some bosses are harder in Z1 if you're A/S rank like the midstage tank thing
@@dmas7749 In zero 1 the bosses have only 1 more attack for having A or S rank, as well as you can access Ciel's room and get an extra cyber elf, but that's it. In zero 2 you need A or S rank to get the forms, a reward much bigger than in Zero 1.
@@pepearmstrong3239: well it still matters
@@dmas7749 Arguably not. I mean those are so small in the grand view of things in the game they virtually don't matter. I'd argue almost noone cares about these small things, unlike the forms and the EX skills that are much more substantial, they are actually worth your time getting.
You forget to mention my favorite moment, when zero is first revived, his music from the older games plays. Such a nice piece of epicness.
I do actually love the music as well, including the cyril the wolf fan stuff(Never stop is a personal favorite I can listen to forever)
For the record, X going insane actually *does* sound totally in character to me. His depiction in too many of the games, instead of being sympathetic or appropriately grieved by his often necessary actions, came across as whiny or unable to distinguish necessary violence from unnecessary violence. It also seemed somehow fitting for Wily and Light's creations to swap roles.
...Not at all. If he was on Copy X's place, he would probably try to integrate the resistances' motives with Neo Arcadia peacefully before going out to exterminate them. I really hate how he was supposed to be like in the concept because it's just being completely out of character for the sake of being edgy and melodramatic.
You sound like you just watched some youtuber play through X7 and based your opinion on that. I never got that impression in the games.
@@cumulonimbuscapillatus9312 Played X through X6. Never played or watched a lets play of X7, but I have seen some detailed reviews of it. Oh, and I read a strategy guide for X8 (as in the store bought kind) because I just like reading such things.
I''m mostly basing this on X through X4. Needless to say, you didn't change my mind *but* did make me realize I need to make it clear: I'm criticizing the storytelling.
@@KamisamanoOtaku That actually makes your older post even less clear. And I still fail to understand where you're seeing these "whiny" and "unable to distinguish necessary violence" moments when that's just the clear opposite of how he acts in X games.
@@cumulonimbuscapillatus9312 If it makes things less clear, then there isn't much point in further discussion, is there?
Have a good week.
@@KamisamanoOtaku Yes, likewise.
You know, with these reviews now turning 5 years old this year, one does wonder if these games will get revisited much like the Megaman X 5 years later re-reviews. Hopefully, but we'll see.
That would make sense. Although I won't be doing that. I have always been kind of wishey washey about the possibility of Zero and ZX revisits. On the one hand, I feel like the Zero videos hold up well enough to be left alone, even if I'd do it completely differently now and say different things. Something about it just feels too soon, even though it's been five years, just like the other ones (maybe I just don't want to admit 2018 was 5 years ago lol) but it's certainly something that could happen. I try to make sure I do Mega Man content at least once a year. I am doing a big Mega Man video later this year that I am pretty excited about, then starting Classic next year. Maybe some Zero Series revisits could be a thing in 2028 for the 10th anniversary of the videos? Sounds laughably far away, I know. But I figured I'd provide an in depth answer as to what the possibilities are.
He's not Blizzack Stagroff R until a couple games later, cough.
Maha Ganeshariff is weak to Electric attacks because his feet are in water. Makes perfect sense. Also you glossed over the fact that some bosses (Guard Orotic, Hittite Hottide, Phantom, Rainbow Devil) are neutral and take all elements the same as a non-elemental attack.
Not the Z-Buster, just a Buster gun.
Type B is king. There's a reason it becomes Type A in ZX/A.
Compared to 3 and 4 the only upshot of weapon levels is that you don't need any equipment to quick charge. Then again Quick Charge is the only head chip that matters anyway, so yaknow whatever.
Four shots at once is not a later upgrade.
Not that this matters, but Zero 1 is weird in how it handles the Z-Saber's attacks. Against bosses you can't actually combo the standing slashes very well, if you want to pile on damage that way you have to repeat the first slash because mercy doesn't trigger as a result of it. Ditto Triple Rod stabs. Zero 2 and onward the standing combo actually works.
The snakes in the desert exclusively drop E-Crystals for whatever that's worth. Also, there's five, not six. Gameshark is your friend. If that's out, remember that the factory has a fat wad of E-Crystals affter each time you clear it, but unfortunately they don't respawn aside from after dealing with Phantom and the bombs. You get two doses and that is it.
For what it's worth, the spider nests in the intro stage are still there if you go back. If you want to make the game more digestible, you could like, have a save before the second mission where the saber and buster are maxed. Then just do the intro stage, reset, load that save, and go from there.
They never got the screen size through their heads.
Neo Arcadia Core is a motherfucker because of the ranking system. Ranking does not mesh with having ten bosses in a row. At all. Fuck off with that. Also it doesn't flash the ranking screen until after the credits. What the fuck.
Chips actually do jack shit on Copy X 1, go fig.
The gun is actually called Buster Shot.
Just wanted to point this out.
Yup. But still not a Z-Buster.
@@ThatguycalledJoe
Though to be fair, the same mistranslation is present in Z1.
Type B?
A control type. Type A has the B button (default) use the main weapon, and when holding the R button, it uses the secondary weapon instead. Type C (which is mentioned in the video) causes R to switch which weapon B uses instead, so you don't have to hold it. Type B causes A to use the main weapon directly and R to use the secondary weapon directly.
Type B is so much better than A and C because it allows you to charge your weapons individually, so you can hit an enemy with a charged buster shot, then a charged saber slash immediately after. This is impossible in A or C.
I cant Wait for the rest of the videos!! There is so little coverage of these in glad to see them get some shine!
First
It's treason then.....
Dude i have been looking forward to this since the begining of the year! Awesome work!
"Except phantom, we killed that freaking guy" well kinda. In zero 3, he's a secret boss in cyberspace.
The Sonic reference you made about different universes made me laugh, cause it’s TRUE! 😂😂
So glad Casual Story Mode exists in Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection. It pretty much gives you three long and layered health bars, all weapons start off already fully leveled up, you have ALL cyber elves you can possibly collect, 9999 energy crystals and all sub tanks. Not to mention spikes are covered as well. Yet despite ALL that, the game was still fairly challenging in places, particularly with the platforming stages with lots of pits. Some may argue that it strips away the challenge, but from the sounds of it, the challenge is TOO high for some, if not many.
Also J Congrats on hitting 20k you earned it
The best control type is objectively and undebatably Type B. Reason? You just press R to use the secondary weapon, so you can:
1: Keep charging it when you jump.
2: Attack in the middle of a high jump (because the sooner you let go of A, the shorter your jump will be).
3: Charge two weapons at the same time. This is especially useful on a keyboard, since you can charge both weapons and still jump around.
When I play on Android (where I set L & R to the volume buttons to get as close as possible to a real GBA) I set the saber to R so I can use it on the air and the buster to B so I can mash it on the touchscreen. On a keyboard, I set the saber to X leaving it right next to jump button Z and mostly just forget about the rest of the weapons.
I'm going to post this on Zero 3's review too when it comes out, but I started out the Megaman Zero Series on Megaman Zero 3, Played ZX Advent, and somehow wrapped around back to Megaman Zero 1. And I have to say...
You got everything right. I never got my hands on the megaman zero collection to play, but you definitely had it together.
the Link between X Series and Zero Series was included in X6, if you beat the Game without Unlocking Zero, then the next scene for that is the dissapearance of Zero (Zero's Ending in X6).
Fun fact: the GBA's sound equipment is, besides the hardware inherited from the GBC, just a DAC. The lack of any sound processor means that the burden must be shouldered by the _CPU_ instead!
If it had a separate cpu or something to power the audio alone, gba would have been awesome in terms of audio. Just imagine, gba in 44khz...
This is so relatable! I didn't grind at all in the first game and had an absolutely miserable time throughout. I couldn't feed a single cyber elf in the entire game, the amount of crystals needed is unholy. Even with the save assist in the legacy collection that doesn't make the game fun, since you still die in 3 hits against bosses and have to mash through dialogue on every attempt. I also got stuck on the submarines at 24:18 too, when Zero 1 suffers from screen crunch it's just terrible. I'd rather do the entirety of Mega Man & Bass in one life than beat Zero 1 with that abhorrent original life system. Zero 2 has fixed all these problems for me, I don't want to revisit the first game ever again.
God I love this game series so much! The Megaman Zero Collection was my introduction into the series and I had issues in the first game but I had fun regardless oh and fun fact I played the collection so much it stopped working and I had to buy a new copy.
Love to see ya getting back into the Mega Man reviews
I just love the Zero series on the GBA. Zero 1 and Zero 4 are for sure two of my top10 games, ofc with some nostalgia glasses, but DUDE I sure enjoy this shit. Seeing a fair and logical review of them is a pretty darn good experience since you made a lot of good points to make me agree with every criticism. Really loved the channel
You're the man bro! This whole series is so under appreciated and feel like not a lot of people cared for it back way when. My Favs where definitely part 3 and zx part 1 (especially since you could link the gba games and rebattle omega). I knew he died and was only a lesser rival but I wished they would have brought back vile in some capacity. Maybe as a withered maverick driven only by destruction and with no memories at all like zero.
Thanks for clearing all that up. It's my first time playing this game and I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.
I really like the phantom fight in this game, because you are the boss at the end of *his* stage
Oooooooh yeah! MegaMan Zero! A series nobody frickin talks about. Can't wait for you to review Zero 4
"Less common than girls that want to go out with me"
I feel your pain, J. Solidarity, brother.
That’s a hilarious simile by the way J. :)
Predicted the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection perfectly. Also Seeing how the Line between human and Reploid is very Thin by this point, It helps explain why Carbons are a thing in the Dash/Legends Series. (which I can only assume is at a Point where Human and Reploid managed to Merge as one, Especially considering Biometals) Also the Art style is just... *chef's kiss*
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
fun fact: back then when I discovered your channel, I was salty with your review of Megaman X6. But now I love your reviews, lol
Leviathan looks like Splash Women from Mega Man 9
I've always been a MegaMan Zero Fan more than any other games, mainly because of how I was exposed in GBA Games but another is because of how Zero is slim and fast here compared to his MMX Body.
And I'm aware of the timeline way back in 2011 but story just feels more satisfying now that I'm replaying the games all over again as I watch this channel's reviews.
let's go! ever since the update vid i've been holding on for this! btw great critique J (like always)
On the topic of Cyber elves, the game also lowers your score if you use them and it made the elves feel like "cheating" or easy mode to me, like you weren't supposed to.
Oh wowza J, you really did megaman zero in November like you said you would. Nice.
The Nintendo VC versions of these games is my preferred way to play them, button mapping, fullscreen, and restore poiints for practicing levels and bosses to get S ranks.
The DS collection is great too, especially for enabling the E-reader exclusive content in Zero 3
I finished zero 1 the first time with the new switch release and I had an absolute blast! They introduced a checkpoint system which in my opinion fixes MANY of the issues mentioned. Like I actually enjoyed that one platforming section with the logs, probably since I could just retry that section with no extra penalty.
Since I enjoyed that stage I even revisited it and that's when I found that it has A LOT of e crystals as a rewards for doing so.
The weapon upgrade thing is still shit tho. I feel like no game should have an upgrade system that works by pressing the same few buttons for hours.