#Megaman Zx Prequel | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

beevean · 2 years

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Now let's talk about that time Megaman decided to have a Power Rangers/Sailor Moon phase :P

Not even Megaman can escape from The Superpower of Teamwork™ :P

Megaman ZX is fun! And honestly after some of the last games I had to go through, I'm glad I can just say “yeah it’s fun”.

The tonal whiplash from its prequel series Zero also helps. I admit, I barely tried to follow the plot, because in my mind it all merged together in “YEAHHHH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIPPPPPP MAGICAL GIRLS TRANSFORMATIONSSSSSSS YOU’RE THE CHOSEN ONE MY DUDE/GAL SURE YOU HAVE POTENTIAL FOR EVIL BUT YOU’RE THE PURE HEARTED HERO/INE WITH A TRAGIC PAST WE NEED TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM THE BAD GUY”. Which, well, that’s fine by me! Although that heavily clashes with the realization that Reploids, a minority that was sent to concentration camps a couple of centuries ago, now are forced to follow a “death date”, and even get triangles on them to distinguish them from normal humans... and nobody says a thing about this in game. Oops...

Well, anyway. The game is basically Z1 but much, much more fleshed out, and much more fair. They brought back the interconnected world, they brough back the mission system, and there’s even a bit of Metroidvania here - you can’t reach some Data Disks until you find the right Model, for example Model H that makes you dash upwards. Thankfully it also has a much more reasonable life system, if you lose all your lives you get to retry from the start (and keep everything you collected so far, yay!), from the last checkpoint, or abort the mission (which thankfully doesn't make the mission unplayable later :^) )

But speaking of Models! The Biometals are the main gimmick of the ZX series. And, lore wise... they feel a little cheap? Like, I cried when Zero died, I felt so bad when X didn’t reappear in Z4... and now they’re basically Macguffins? Along with the previously-mysteriously-disappeared Guardians? Did they just rip the souls of all these dead Reploids from the Cyberspace to stuff them in an object and forcing them to become costumes for the Chosen Ones? Please let them rest.

But who cares, I get to play as not-Leviathan best girl, I’m happy :D

I like the balancing of the Models. Model ZX is just Zero from the Zero series but with a chargeable boost, and it’s just as great as the guy’s always been, the Kuuenzan is just as OP as I like it <3 Model H is super fun, it’s mainly a close range Model but the Air Dash and the gliding give it great mobility, love to traverse areas with it. Model L is of course mainly useful in water, but boy is it useful, you can swim everywhere (with a goofy animation though) and the swirling halbert move is OP - Area J was a blast to go through only for this model. Model F, I didn’t get to use it much, but I like how not only it shoots upwards, but you can also edit the trajectory of the bullets yourself, it made the miniboss of Area K much easier lol. Model P... is alright, I like the super fast kunai, but the ability to see in the dark feels gimmicky and I didn’t find a use for the ability to hang from the ceiling.

However. The biggest criticism I have is that, while I still think the life system is fair, the backtracking you have to do if you get a game over (especially if you died at the boss) is rather annoying. The only zone that gives you a save point more or less before a boss is Area O, the second-to-last one (and even then you’re forced to fight the most boring miniboss ever before getting to the boss)! And you might say, well yeah it's been the case in every Megaman game, but this one wants to be a Metroidvania, and save points are much more plentiful in that genre for a reason. Your character is not as agile as Samus or Alucard, the areas are long stretches filled with enemies and Megaman obstacles, savepoints/teleporters feel rare, minibosses don’t stay dead for some reason, and sometimes it's even hard to remember which door leads where - there is a “map”, but it’s more of a suggestion.

This ain’t a real “map” chief.

At least with something like this I could tell which door leads where.

So it's not really fun to dash through the entirety of the very long and nearly barren Area A or Area C, the main “hubs”, to get again to one of the many doors that lead to your objective. It doesn’t help that some transervers don’t even act as teleporters, for some unexplainable reason. Area H and Area J force you to take the long way back rather than just... teleport back to where you want. Why.

(I admit I'm saying all of this because one time I got through an entire area, down to the boss room, and it wouldn't open. Turns out that I had selected the wrong mission. I won't blame the game for this dumb mistake, but it’s both annoying and hilarious that this can happen lmao)

The level design is alright, the levels do feel a little long but they were clearly determined to create a large world full of secrets, and the various zones are fairly memorable: some are submerged in water, some are on fire and you have to rescue people, some have a tense lava chase sequence, some have missiles raining on you, fun stuff. The bosses are just as complex as the ones in the Zero series, and not as horribly broken because elemental attacks cost you energy! Man did the boss rush kick my ass :^) Even some the minibosses are a fair challenge.

I like the inclusion of humans you can interact with. Not only it gives a purpose to the Human form (which otherwise is only used to crawl through tight spaces), it makes the world you live in feel more alive, instead of just a nebulous entity in the background like Neo Arcadia in the Zero series. There are even some sidequest, which mainly give you small bonuses and flesh out even more the cute world, which I appreciate. The idea of doing errands in a Megaman game is just funny to me. I appreciate a little less the fact that one of the Sub Tanks is locked behind a fairly long and boring quest, though :\

The graphics are gorgeous. Instead of going for a pseudo-3D look they stuck to the original Zero style but beefed it up, and the game looks colorful and detailed and a pleasure to the eyes - Area J is just <3 And the anime cutscenes are well done and I’m genuinely surprised that the DS could handle them! Maybe some of the backgrounds lack some parallaxes? I’m thinking mainly of the city area. But it’s a nitpick.

The music is... not very Megaman, but it fits the more happy-go-lucky tone of this game! Just beautiful, catchy compositions all around, perfect for areas you’re going to be stuck in for a while :D definitely high up in my top list. My favorites are:

Green Grass Gradation and its strong “a new adventure awaits!” vibes - and when it plays before the final boss? What a great moment <3;

the absolute futuristic earworm that is Brilliant Show Window;

the mysterious Wonder Panorama, oddly reminescent of Water City from Z3;

the rocking Ogre Claw, very in tune with all the guitar-heavy tracks of the Zero series;

the soothing Misty Rain, which gives big Rusty Ruin Saturn vibes - and the rearranged version with the woman wailing? *chef’s kiss*;

the serene Ultramarine Meditation;

Doomsday Device which seems to be a more serious remix of Final Count Down from Z3;

the somber but determined Black Burn, the beginning of which seems to recall Straight Ahead from Z4;

the dance-y Snake Eyes, continuing the Megaman tradition of having catchy bangers for the last level (and being a remix of the “sad/game over” theme lol);

the appropriately named boss theme, that I imagine being the Megaman answer to Metal Scratchin’;

the oddly named miniboss theme;

the super boppy Sky High - I love how the “resistance base” theme went from scrappy, to militaristic, to determined, to peaceful, to finally cheerful and feels-good, saying a lot about ZX as a whole;

the badass and jazzy Trap Factory;

the epic and threatening Pallida Mors.

(also love how Weil's creepy leitmotif lives on in Deep-Seated Grudge, really drives the point home that the old nightmare isn't over yet)

However, I have another nitpick: the soundfont sounds straight from the GBA, just less crunchy. It has its charm, but if the graphics have been updated so much, I kinda expected to music to follow suit.

So yeah, ZX was fun. Not mindblowingly awesome, probably a step back from the peak reached by the Zero series, and it certainly tried to do a lot which ultimately clogged the experience. But it was an enjoyable experience, very cheesy, very earnest, and with a lot of heart put into it :) I heard that Advent fixed some of the problems I had here, so we shall see.

#megaman #megaman zx #and no i haven't tried to face the bonus boss #maybe another time :P

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dat2ndaccount97 · 2 months

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Hey.

I think ive reblogged megaman from you previously too? I was wondering if you played all the games (or if not, opinions on why)?

I want to play the games. My friend is an avid fan and I personally didn't know how good of a game they were (the X series seem like absolute masterpieces). But I try to get opinions from other people than my superobsessed friend too (just to see how it varies. So far it seems a lot of people start with the X series. The classics seem like a bitch lol. So hard)

Anyway if you have opinions on the games (at least the platformers), or the lore or whatever, I'm interested to hear them. So I can get into it with a general idea ofher than what i googled haha.

If not, cool beans too. Absolutely fine.

I've played A LOT Of Mega Man, but not all the games, but generally speaking 99% of the Series is Great. He is also known as Rockman in Japan so you might here that name pop up from time to time.

I Love the Classic Series, Played 1-8 and a Demo for 11 at E3, haven't touched 9 or 10 or the released ver. of 11 yet. I also LOVE The X Series, played through X1-X3 and Maverick Hunter X (The PSP Remake of X1), a tiny bit of X4, X5, and X6, and MMX Command Mission (the RPG Spin Off).

I played a tiny bit of Mega Man Zero 1, but not 2-4 tho I hear they're excellent. Never played the ZX Games (also hear they're excellent). Only played a tiny bit of Mega Man Legends 1 and 2, which I also hear are excellent/classics. Never played the Battle Network or Star Force Games (which are in their own continuity separate from all the other series and again hear they are excellent).

Also never played Mega Man Battle and Chase (the Kart Racer Spinoff), but I have played Mega Man soccer, and it's ehhhhh. Never played The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (Mega Man Legends Spin off), but I hear it's great

Also I have seen the 90s Mega Man US Cartoon and it's cheesy and hilarious and a fun time to watch. I have see a bit of the Dub of the Battle Network Anime (renamed to NT Warrior here in the states) and I remember it being good. Never saw the late 2010s Mega Man Cartoon. Also Maverick Hunter X has an unlockable Prequel Anime OVA Titled Day of Σ (Sigma) and it is excellent!

As for actually getting the games, 99% of the games listed above are available on most if not all current gen platforms in Collections released by Capcom (which often go on sale), and have plenty of extras like concept art and music and whatnot. Mega Man 11 is the most recent game so it's still a stand alone release. Also The Mega Man Legends games (and the Tron Bonne Game) are currently only available as PS1 Classics on PS3/PSP/PS Vita, and The Star Force games are still locked on Nintendo DS for now.

Lastly the Mega Man Characters Regularly show up in Capcom Crossover Games like Marvel vs Capcom, and there's another recent release called Mega Man X-Dive which was a Mobile Gatcha game that later got a port to PC, and when it went under they made an Offline version for PC and I think Switch as well, and Hear it's not great. Sorry if this was a little long but I hope it helps.

#Mega Man #Mega Man info dump #Mega Man X #Mega Man Legends #Mega Man Zero #Mega Man ZX #Mega Man Battle Network #Mega Man Star Force #Rockman #Mega Man Classic

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