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Developed by Inti Creates, a company consisting of many former Capcom employees, Mega Man Zero was considered a labour of love by those same ex-employees who wanted desperately to work on a new Mega Man game and were finally given that opportunity by series producer Keiji Inafune. Set 100 years after the events of the Mega Man X series, we follow Zero, X's former comrade in battle, as he is re-activated to help save the world from an android genocide in progress. It is soon discovered that X is behind the madness. Well, not the original X, but a Copy X created to emulate the leadership of the original Reploid. Mega Man Zero is a platformer where you play as Zero in his first solo mission. Most of his classic moves have remained intact. Instead of following the classic pattern of stage selection, Zero can now visit any level of his choosing from the central base of the Resistance. He can rescue hidden Cyber Elves and equip them for boosts or other useful qualities. The game has also adopted a slightly more modern airbrush air style, which remained throughout the series. But, perhaps most infamously, Mega Man Zero proved itself to be the most difficult Mega Man game to date at the time and purposely so. Perhaps it still is...
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Sales of Mega Man Zero were impressive enough to command the creation of a sequel! Mega Man Zero 2 takes place a year after Zero dealt with Copy X; he has been wandering the desert ever since. He collapses, and his lifeless body is discovered by one of the Four Guardians of Neo Arcadia, the utopia where androids were to be destroyed, as per the orders of Copy X. Zero's new mission becomes clear with the guardian's words: a new threat, Elpizo, will try to destroy the harmony of Neo Arcadia, where the androids live. His new goal is to stop Elpizo from commandeering his assault on Neo Arcadia before it's too late. Mega Man Zero 2 plays similarly to its predecessor in both gameplay style and difficulty level, but Zero can also achieve new Forms with different qualities to assist in his quest. Mega Man Zero 2 also removes the central base feature, allowing Zero to simply select his next quest from one screen, saving a few steps.
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Two months after the events of Mega Man Zero 2, there is apparently an energy shortage around Neo Arcadia. Ciel, the human scientist who revived Zero after his century of peaceful slumber, finds a better supply, and she has Zero visit Neo Arcadia to spread the good news. Unfortunately, his peacekeeping mission is interrupted by the oversized Omega and his human scientific companion, Dr. Weil (not to be confused with Dr. Wily, presumably). Together, they plan to restart the attacks on Zero's resistance force and push to maintain a new order... with the help of a new Copy X! (I summarize very briefly, bt I assure you, there is more depth to this plot and most others described in this retrospective.) Mega Man Zero 3 introduces such features as Cyberspace, which allows the game to transfer certain unique bits of information from a Mega Man Battle Network 4 cartridge. Secret Disks, which contain valuable information for your quest, and customization chips, which give Zero physical upgrades, have also been implemented. Seven mini-games are also available upon completion of the game under various criteria.
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In the finale of the Mega Man Zero series, Dr. Weil has finally done it! He has successfully overtaken Neo Arcadia, and now he pretty much enslaves any human or android equally. He will definitely need to be stopped, and it will take Zero to do it. People do want to escape Neo Arcadia, but considering he has turned most of the area outside the perimeter into a barren land of pure nothingness, there's very little to escape TO. The only remaining oasis is Area Zero, a very small region untouched by Dr. Weil's influence. Hopefully Zero can set things right once and for all in the constantly chaotic Neo Arcadia. Mega Man Zero 4 introduces, among other things, an Easy mode for those who found previous iterations to be far too challenging. Zero can also utilize a special Knuckle weapon for grabbing the weapons of others for yourself directly, a cheaper version of the classic defeat-and-absorb method. You can't keep it for good, but discarding it (literally) can damage enemies in the meanwhile. As well, you can even change the weather in stages before you enter them! It's great if you want a winter wonderland. Mega Man Zero 4 brings the series to a firm close, the first Mega Man series to actually officially end. (At least until Capcom yearns for yet another sequel. But by now, that's highly unlikely.)
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In 2010, Capcom released the entire Mega Man Zero series on one DS cartridge, and for a lower price than a standard new DS game, no less! The games are practically identical to their Game Boy Advance counterparts. The only major difference in this compilation is that you can play via two modes: "Easy Scenario", which has you play each game in succession on an easier difficulty setting; and "Title Select", where you can choose which game of the four to play, but the game will automatically be on Normal difficulty. Why you can't choose a difficulty level on your own is a complete and utter mystery.
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