Megaman ZX

''Mega Man ZX'' is a 2006 action-platform game developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. It was released on July 6, 2006 in Japan, September 12, 2006 in North America, June 20, 2007 in Australia, and June 22, 2007 in Europe.

Part of the ''Mega Man'' franchise, ''ZX'' is set two hundred years after the events of the ''Mega Man Zero'' series, and revolves around the efforts of the protagonist to recover powerful ancient artifacts called "Biometals" from the Pseudoroids, evil robots made to harness their power. The game introduces a new open-ended gameplay environment and the ability to select the protagonist's gender, a first in the series.

The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and level design, but were divided about its high difficulty level. A sequel, ''Mega Man ZX Advent'', was released the following year, in 2007. The game was later re-released in February 2020 as part of the '' Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection'' for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

Plot

Setting and Characters

In the year 25XX, humans and Reploids (sentient androids) now coexist peacefully, successfully restoring Earth's former nations thanks to the efforts of Slither Inc., an energy development and private security organization run by a Reploid named Serpent. However, the peace is disrupted by several incidents of Reploids mysteriously going Maverick. Trading between nations became obstructed, forcing the nations to separate into utopian cities.

To repel the attacks, people banded together to create the Guardians, a Maverick-fighting defense and investigation force. The group's original leader, Ciel, mysteriously disappeared after an investigation where she discovered a Biometal (a living artifact containing characteristics of someone who lived long ago) called "Model W", which turned her team into Mavericks. In response, Ciel created six new Biometals (based on X, Zero, and the Four Guardians of Neo Arcadia) to counter the growing threat. The current leader of the Guardians is a female Reploid named Prairie, who is implied to be Alouette from the Mega Man Zero series.

The player assumes the role of an adolescent human, choosing between either Vent, a boy, or Aile, a girl. This protagonist lost their mother to a Maverick raid on an amusement park ten years prior, becoming orphaned. They were later taken in by Girouette (Giro for short in North America and Europe), the owner of Giro Express (Girouette Express in Japan), a delivery service.

Story

Giro and the protagonist are contracted by an unknown individual to deliver a package containing Biometal Model X to a rendezvous point in a forest, but are ambushed by Mavericks after meeting up. The protagonist escapes the area with the package while Giro covers their retreat. They encounter Prairie, but their meeting is cut short when a Maverick attacks the group. Model X lends its strength to the protagonist, allowing them to "Megamerge" and transform into Mega Man Model X. With the help of Model X, the Maverick is destroyed. After finding Giro, in the form of Mega Man Model Z, they board the Guardians' airship headquarters. Later, a Maverick attack is spotted at the Slither Inc. main office. The duo meet the president of Slither Inc., Serpent, and his Reploid guardians, Prometheus and Pandora. Serpent reveals his knowledge of the Biometals and that he is also a Mega Man, possessing Model W. He declares his intent to find the Model W Core, and leaves after using the power of Model W to corrupt a weakened Giro, who attacks the protagonist. Giro is mortally wounded in the fight and hands Model Z over to the protagonist before dying. By "double mega-merging" with both Model X and Model Z, they use the form Model ZX to escape. To stop Serpent, the Guardians, aided by the protagonist, begin searching for the fragments of the other four Biometals, which are each divided in two pieces.

After finding four of eight Biometal pieces, the Guardian HQ comes under attack from Mavericks, led by Prometheus, with the protagonist aiding in the defenses. They succeed in defeating Promethus before recovering the rest of the pieces. Upon retrieving all eight Biometal pieces, the protagonist is able to enter a sealed cavern, finding the Model W Core inside. However, they are stalled by Pandora and the Biometal is moved to the Slither Inc. Head Office. The protagonist sets off after Model W to destroy it.

After battling through Slither Inc., the protagonist faces off against Serpent, who feeds the Model W core with several innocent Cyber Elves and then fuses with it. Realizing that the hatred of the Mavericks that they have kept inside their heart is the last thing needed to unleash Model W's full power, the protagonist suddenly reverts into a human, unable to continue. However, after gaining courage from the Biometals, the protagonist Megamerges into Mega Man ZX and battles Serpent. The tower collapses, destroying Model W and killing Serpent. The protagonist reunites with Prairie and the Guardians, and vows to continue to work for peace and justice.

Gameplay

This game contains elements from both the ''Mega Man X'' series and the ''Mega Man Zero'' series. The players are on a 2-dimensional overlay map with sprites where they engage enemies to finish their mission. Missions are selected from a list, displayed on a computer. The player can freely explore the game world during and between missions, and they must find the specified area themselves. The game also adds metroidvania concepts into the level design, with more exploration elements than the main ''Mega Man'' series.

During the game, the player can use Vent or Aile to transform into different forms using Bio-Metals whose appearance and abilities are based on X, Zero, and the Four Guardians from the ''Mega Man Zero'' series, the latter four where their abilities can be used to solve puzzles and obtain special items found in the stage and also use the Nintendo DS Dual-Screen feature for an additional ability as well. The Model X form is only available at the beginning of the game until Model ZX is acquired, but with a New Game Plus it will be available for the entire game. Additionally nine extra bosses from the ''Zero'' series appear as hidden bosses, Omega from ''Mega Man Zero 3'', alongside eight "Mutos Reploids", with four each from both ''Zero 3'' (Blazin' Flizard, Childre Inarabitta, Hellbat Schilt, and Deathtanz Mantisk) and ''Mega Man Zero 4,'' (Pegasolta Eclair, Sol Titanion, Fenri Lunaedge, and Noble Mandrago) where the Mutos Reploid bosses each occupy a hidden four-boss transporter room which is only accessed by inserting the GBA cartridge of either game into the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite GBA slot to fight the four from that respective game. After defeating all eight Mutos Reploids, and Omega himself, the player will be able to acquire a hidden item, which will later enable the player to play as Omega after beating the game once and talking to one of the NPCs.

For the '' Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection'' release, the gameplay had received some minor updates, where the previous dual-screen features were placed in a small support screen which is positioned based on the setting the player chooses and the feature for unlocking the Mutos Reploids is now performed by a new Link Mode located in the main menu when accessing this game allows the player to face them by selecting either the ''Zero 3'' or ''Zero 4'' link to face against the 4 bosses from that respective game.

Development

News of a Mega Man game for the Nintendo DS first appeared on GameSpot, January 2006 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 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006 at an unlabelled kiosk at the Capcom booth. Much of the main introductory plot was revealed and two in-game levels, Area H and Area E were playable. The controls were said to be "simple enough… yet challenging", but reviewers did see some slowdown.

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

''Mega Man ZX'' garnered positive reviews from most sources, garnering a Metacritic score of 76 out of 100. 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. Its gameplay presentation and level designs were praised. Low points in reviews were the confusing world map and frustrating difficulty level.

''Mega Man ZX'' was the sixth-best-selling game in Japan during its release week at 33,652 units sold. 94,341 units of the game were sold in the region by the end of 2006. A direct sequel, ''Mega Man ZX Advent'', was announced for release the following year.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mega Man Zx
2006 video games
Action games
Inti Creates games
Metroidvania games
Nintendo DS games
Side-scrolling platformers
Side-scrolling video games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video games produced by Keiji Inafune
Video games scored by Ippo Yamada
ZX
Single-player video games