The Megaman Series in a Whole New Light!

This new-concept game from Capcom hits home with yet another classic 2-D side scroller that they have used so often with the Megaman series. Megaman Zero (MZ), however, introduces a new concept to the series: you never once play as X, but instead you go through the whole game playing as Zero. I have waited so long for a game like this and I was glad to find that it had finally arrived. Following suit with all the other Megaman games, MZ has you go through the game, destroying enemies and completing tasks along the way. At the end of each area (or mission in this game's case), you fight a boss and receive something for your efforts. The concept of the Cyber-Elf is introduced to this game. A Cyber-Elf is a program that helps you out during your travels in the game. They can do anything from restoring your health, to helping you out of pits, to even reducing the boss' health! Instead of gaining different abilities that add to your buster weapon as with the other Megaman games, MZ actually has new weapons that can become stronger and more effective the more you use them. For example, the Z-Sabre (my personal favorite) has about 7 different skill levels. The more you use the Sabre, the higher skill level you will reach. Other weapons you can gain are the Shield Boomerang and Triple Rod, in addition to the standard Z-Buster and Z-Sabre. The graphics are absolutely stunning. This game delivers SNES-standard graphics and then some with stunning effects that are even better than those of the old-school SNES system. The music is good, as it is in all of the Megaman games. The only downside to the game that I could find, is that some of the missions that you have to go on are a little hard, but they make up for it in the rewards you get in the end. All in all, this game hit home with everything I had expected in a Megaman game and more.