Mega Man ZX, known in Japan as Rockman ZX (ロックマンゼクス, Rokkuman Zekusu^?), is the first installment in the Mega Man ZX series, the sixth series in Capcom's Mega Man video games franchise. It is the second Mega Man game to appear on the Nintendo DS, after Double Team DS, although it's the first game exclusive to the DS. The game contains vocal acting in Japanese; although largely cut from the English version, and many animated sequences with subtitles in English. As a first for the Mega Man series, the game features both a male and female protagonist. Preorders of the Japanese version of the game came packaged with a DVD containing trailers and gameplay footage of Mega Man ZX, and a teaser trailer for the seventh Mega Man series, Mega Man Star Force. A sequel, entitled Mega Man ZX Advent has also been released.

Plot

ZX takes place at about 200 years after the end of the Zero series in the year 24XX.^[2] Humans and Reploids now coexist peacefully. In time, the Humanoids, humans and reploids, of Earth managed to revive some of the former nations of Earth. However, preventing further prosperity like the days of old, incidents around Earth began where some of the machine life forms became Mavericks, making some areas dangerous, and soon this activity obstructed exchange between nations. The nations became divided into areas designated as Innerpeace, utopian-like cities where it is designated as a safe heaven for Humanoids, and the Outlands, where the dangerous Mavericks, Reploids and Mechaniloids that threaten the peace, appeared. Innerpeace and the Outlands are furthered separated with designations of lettered Areas. Great developments were made due to the efforts of the corporation Slither Inc., which possesses technology unearthed from ruins in the Outlands. Peaceful life in Innerpeace is maintained by receiving the technology offered by Slither Inc. In the frontier regions where the crisis management of countries still doesn't reach, attacks by Mavericks still occur. The Humanoids in these areas developed a self-defense organization known as the Guardians.^[3] The Guardians defend the Outlands and investigate the cause of the Maverick attacks. ^[4] The original leader of the Guardians disappeared during the investigation of an Outlands area.

Ten years prior to the game's start, the protagonists Vent (ヴァン, Van^?) and Aile (エール, Ēru^?) lost their mother to a Maverick raid in the amusement park and became orphaned.^[5][6] They were taken in by Girouette (ジルウェ, Jiruwe^?) or Giro, the owner of Giro Express^[5]; a delivery service delivering all kinds of items. Giro is contracted by an unknown person to deliver an important package to a rendezvous point in the Area A forest.^[7]

At a cliff overlooking the area and the rendezvous point, Vent/Aile reminisce about the Maverick raid that took the life of their mother. Just as Giro and Vent/Aile are ready to pull out, a group of Mavericks attack them, and they fall to the forest below. After awakening, Vent/Aile is told to deliver the package while he deals with the mavericks.^[8] Here, they come face-to-face with Prairie (プレリー, Purerī^?), the leader of the Guardians.^[9] This meeting is cut short when a large Mechaniloid snake attacks the group. The package, a floating metal known as Biometal Model X, lends its strength to Vent/Aile, allowing them to Megamerge and transform into Mega Man Model X.^[10] With the help of Model X, the snake is destroyed. They are then allowed to keep Model X by order of Prairie and look for Giro.^[11] After finding Giro, in the form of Mega Man Model Z^[12][13], they board an airship deemed the Guardian's base. Later, a Maverick attack is spotted at the Slither Inc. main office. The duo meet the president of Slither Inc., Serpent (セルパン, Serupan^?), Prometheus (プロメテ, Puromete^?) and Pandora (パンドラ^?). Serpent reveals his knowledge of the Biometal and says that he too, is a Mega Man, possessing Model W.^[14]. He expresses his intent to find the Model W Core, and leaves, but not before possessing a weakened Giro with the power of Model W. A fight ensues, resulting in the death of Giro. In his dying breaths, Giro hands Model Z over to Vent/Aile and then transforms into a Cyber Elf. By Double Megamerging with both Model X and Model Z, they use the form Model ZX to escape with their lives. Now the guardians including Vent and Aile must recover four remaining Biometal fragments, and stop Serpent from making everyone a sacrifice for Model W.^[15]

After retrieving all six biometals and the passwords, Vent/Aile are able to enter the ruins and locate model W.^[16] Before doing so, they return to the ship and analyze a chip containing data on the biometals from Prairie's sister.^[17][18] After doing so, they enter the ruins. Once finding Model W, Vent/Aile is stalled by Pandora and the biometal is moved to Serpent's company building, Slither Inc.^[19] After defeating many enemies in the tower and arriving at the top, Vent/Aile faces against Serpent who uses the power of Model W's core and defeats him. The tower then collapses and Model W is destroyed.

Gameplay

This game contains elements from the Mega Man X series and the Mega Man Zero series. The players are on a 2d overlay map with sprites where they combat enemies to finish their mission. The players will have an HP bar which when depleted will result in a game over. When the player receives a biometal, they are able to change forms with different attacks and movements. Other biometrics beside for the default one will offer the players special attacks which use up weapon energy. The special involves the charge moves, or charging their weapon with an element of that biometal; for example, Biometal H will charge his weapon with electricity element. When the player receives the other half of the biometal, they will be able to perform a different special by releasing a charge while holding up on the control pad.

Players select a mission at a computer out of a list. The player has free exploration of the game world during and between missions, and they must find the specified area themselves. The player may also find computer chips to complete the game database, and Life Ups, which can be compared to the Heart Tanks from the Mega Man X series. Bosses all have their own individual weak points where the Biometal they're using is stored; hitting it deals more damage than normal, but it also decreases your ranking level at the end of the battle (ranging from one being the worst and four being the best). This also determines the energy level of the Biometal which is awarded afterwards. But even if the level is low, the Biometals can be upgraded with Energy Crystals later. Bosses will eventually be resurrected and can be fought again.

Vent and Aile use the M.E.G.A. System (for Meta-Encapsulated Granule Awareness SYSTEM), also known in the original Japanese version as the R.O.C.K. System (Rebirth Of Crystallised Knowledge SYSTEM), to activate the Biometals (known as Live Metals in the Japanese version) and transform into a form similar to that which the Biometal was based on. Anyone who uses the M.E.G.A. (or R.O.C.K.) System is called a Mega Man (or Rockman). It is revealed that only survivors of a Maverick raid can harness the Biometals' power^[20] and each Biometal has its own type of people it can merge with; compatible people are called biomatches. Mega Man typically hold out a Biometal in front of them and cry out "R.O.C.K. On!" to activate the Biometal. This process is called Megamerging^{[note 1]}.

The player initially begins with only Model X, but upon obtaining Model Z, Model X is used to fuse with the other Biometals. This is called Double R.O.C.K. On in the Japanese version (Double Megamerge in the English version). At this point, Model X can no longer be used alone for the rest of the game, until it is unlocked by completing the game with both characters in normal or hard modes only. Biometals of the Four Guardians from the Mega Man Zero series are found throughout the game, and these are the only Biometals that can be upgraded with Energy Crystals. These four Biometals uses the touch screen in various ways. A seventh Biometal, a special one called Model O, is available after completing the game and fulfilling certain requirements.

The Overdrive Invoke System (or O.I.S.) can be activated using the Biometals of the Four Guardians, giving special abilities to the player. Model HX, FX, and LX will give the player elemental attributes to some of their attacks (similar to the elemental chips from the Mega Man Zero series), while Model PX gives the player the ability to dash through enemies. By charging their weapons, the four Biometals are also able to perform attacks similar to the Four Guardians. For example, Model HX can summon a hurricane and Model PX can throw a large shuriken. However, O.I.S. consumes Weapon Energy and is irreplenishable.

Players can also revert back to Humanoid form at any time. Although Vent/Aile cannot attack, dash, or wall-climb without a Biometal, they are able to swim and crawl. They will float to the surface of water instead of sink, some N.P.C.s will be too afraid to speak to Vent/Aile when they are using a Biometal, and security bots of the city will not attack unless megamerged with a Biometal or outside Innerpeace.

Biometals

• Model X is the first Biometal obtained, giving Vent/Aile the X-Buster. When Megamerged, it grants the X-Buster which can charge up and store two shots, similar to the Buster upgrade from Mega Man X2. This biometal is based on the legendary Mega Man X from both the X and Zero series.

• Model Z is not used by Vent/Aile, but only by Giro early in the game. When Megamerged, Model Z looks very similar to Zero from the Mega Man Zero (series), but has a visor in place of a helmet. Model Z grants the Z-Saber for as a weapon but shaped in a form similar to that of a katana. This model is based on the legendary Zero. When Megamerged with Biometal X, Vent/Aile can use both biometals at once to use the form ZX (thus, Model ZX). This new form looks similar to Zero from the Mega Man Zero games and has a gameplay experience similar to that series, with both the ZX-Buster and ZX-Saber available to the player.

• Model H is the Biometal of the Wind,^[21] based on Harpuia from the Megaman Zero Series. When Megamerged, Model H grants the ability to air dash both vertically and horizontally, hover, and use Harpuia's double sabers, Nitouryuu. The touch screen displays the weak spot within the Pseudoroids, the location of the Biometal, as well as the health or hit points of enemies. Model H has the Thunder element.

• Model F is the Biometal of the Flame,^[22] based on Fefnir from the Megaman Zero series. When Megamerged, Model F gives use of two "Knuckle Busters", busters that resemble Fefnir's buster cannons, Sodom and Gommorah. They also have the ability to create shockwaves on the ground, similar to Fefnir's Earthquake attack. The touch screen displays FX's special ability, "Buster Edit.", in which the player can draw on the touch screen a path for which the buster shots from either buster will follow. Model FX has the Fire element.

• Model L is the Biometal of the Ice,^[23] based on Leviathan from the Megaman Zero series. When Megamerged, it grants a halberd weapon. Model L lets its user swim and dash freely in water. The touch-screen displays a map of the surrounding area, as well as a Cyber-Elf icon that will position any nearby items on the map. Model LX has the Ice element.

• Model P is the Biometal of the Shadows,^[24] based on Phantom from the Megaman Zero series. When Megamerged, Model P grants the use of kunais and shurikens. Model P can also latch onto ceilings and other objects such as poles and platforms. A radar is displayed on the touch screen, highlighting enemies and showing passageways that may be hidden. Also, while in Overdrive Mode, dashing will make you momentarily invulnerable to enemy attacks. Model PX is also able to see farther in the dark. Model PX has no elemental attributes.

• Model O is a special Biometal, based on Omega Zero from the Megaman Zero series. When Megamerged, Model O has many abilities similar to Omega Zero, executed with certain button commands while in Overdrive and has a non-draining Weapon Energy meter. Many of Model O's special attacks are based on the various attacks Zero used in the Mega Man X series including the Rakuhouha. Model O is only unlockable in Normal or Hard mode.

• Model W, known as 'Model V' in the original Japanese version, is the original Biometal, formed from the pieces of the core of the Ragnarok Space Station that Dr. Weil (known as Dr. Vile in Japan) fused with. Ragnarok was destroyed at the end of Mega Man Zero 4; the Biometal is supposedly a piece of Ragnarok that contains Weil's soul. The original Guardian commander found Model W. While studying it, the other guardians suffered from inexplicable headaches.^[25] Upon hearing this, the commander removed the others from the site and continued her work. Serpent, who was also a Maverick raid survivor, went mad and used the fragment to destroy the recon unit.^[26] This Biometal is not available for use.

Development

News of a Mega Man game for the DS first appeared on GameSpot, January 2006^[27] on the same day that Capcom created an official teaser site. Capcom promised that this game would be a 2D side-scrolling action game with the ability to choose between a male character, Vent, or a female character, Aile.

A demo first appeared in E3 2006 on an unlabelled kiosk at the Capcom booth.^[28] Much of the main introductory plot was revealed at the E3 show and two in-game levels were playable, Area H and Area E.^[29] The controls were said to be "simple enough… yet challenging", but reviewers did see some slowdown^[29].

At first, a European release was slated for 1 June 2007^[30], but was later confirmed by Capcom to be 22 June^[1] on their Official European website.

Audio

Rockman ZX Soundtrack -ZX Tunes- is the first remastered soundtrack album to be released for the Mega Man ZX series on October 27 2006 by Inti Creates. The album consists of 2 Discs called Aile and Vent, named after the hero and the heroine of the game, and it is 131:37 minutes long. It also features one vocal track, Innocence, and five remix tracks.

Reception

Template:VG Reviews Mega Man ZX garnered positive reviews from most sources. Similar to Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX was compared to the original Mega Man series. Its high level of difficulty was enjoyed by some, but criticized by others. The gamed earned a metacritic score of 76 out of 100. Its presentation and level designs were praised. Low points in reviews were the confusing world map, unoriginal gameplay, and frustrating difficulty level.^[31]

Notes

1. ↑ referred to in the English version, although the characters still say "Rock On" in Japanese because the game did not get an English vocal dub

References

See also

• ZX Tunes
• List of Nintendo DS games

External links

• Capcom's official Rockman ZX page.
• Capcom's official Mega Man ZX page. (English)