Mega Man X has saved the world from the Sigma Virus that once drove reploids crazy. The City of Neo Arcadia was established as a new base and reploids slowly began to rebuild their lives. But the government, fearing that the reploids would once again be infected, has accused and arrested reploids for any or no reason. Reploids are forced to seek refuge in a devastated city. Soon, a reploid researcher named Ciel is being chased by government agents, but revives a reploid named Zero in hopes to save all reploids.

Mega Man Zero is mission-based. Before each level Zero can roam around the reploid base to talk to others or find the occasional power up. Here you can download cyber-elf programs (more below) and save your game.

Zero has the standard Mega Man attacks. Zero can blast, charge-up blast, or attack with the z-saber. To get out of danger Zero can wall grab and jump to safety. New to the series is the Cyber-Elf system. A cyber-elf is a program that contains a specific power. There are Nurse, Animal, and Hacker cyber-elves. Nurse increases health, Animal boosts ability, and Hacker changes situations (ex. stop time). Some cyber-elves even need to be fed to keep happy! When you get a cyber-elf you can’t use it right away. You’ll have to download it back at base to use for the next mission.

Mega Man Zero screams quality. The art direction is very good. The sprites are drawn and animated very well. When enemies are sliced they drop to the floor via Mode 7 scaling. Enemies bosses also scale for a more graphical flair. There are a number of special effects and good use of the color palette. The sound is pretty standard Mega Man. Nothing overly impressive but it gets you pumped.

Mega Man Zero is difficult. The enemies are quick, have varying pattern attacks and move at an unorthodox pacing to catch you off guard. Though the enemies are more advanced, our hero isn’t. Zero can still only shoot in one direction, though enemies can be at precarious angles. The z-saber is quick but forces you to be next to the enemy and in the way of attack. Zero’s limited functions make it more apparent that you’re in control of an old model while the government is pumping out new robots. Bosses are extremely difficult and require the quickest reflexes of all time. The cyber-elf system makes things a little easier, but you can’t use the ones you obtain right away. The enemies also re-spawn like crazy. There is some relief - health refills are readily available in each level

Mega Man Zero is hardcore platform gaming. If you don’t mind platforming where the odds aren’t in your favor, this is your game.