Last year's Mega Man ZX for the Nintendo DS may not have been as big a draw as the wonderfully retro-flavored PSP effort Mega Man Powered Up, but it sold reasonably well and opened up a new door for the series. The game came equipped with abilities that have become familiar to Mega Man fans. Capcom continues pushing it ahead this October with the forthcoming sequel Mega Man ZX Advent.

Advent follows up on events that unfolded in the original ZX. Reploids, a simple yet operational race of robots, have been living in peace with humans for years, but a strange conspiracy has suddenly pitted the two sides against each other. Only two young hopefuls hold the key to stopping the battle before it escalates into a full-blown war.

Throughout the game, players choose between the two characters -- a reploid named Grey and a female hunter named Ashe. Both have their own tales that tie into the general storyline. Grey and Ashe eventually cross paths when he escapes the grasp of human hunters and a large robotic menace. She sees a glimpse of hope in him, despite the humans' scorn for reploids, and agrees to form a team to save the future.

Over the course of the game, each character gains access to Biometal materials, granting them the power to change into the Mega Man Model A form. He still uses abilities that should ring familiar to fans of the series. The rechargeable arm-cannon remains the staple of combat, and he can still jump up walls and dash temporarily. A new lock-on weapon jumbles things up a bit, however. With it, Mega Man can charge up a blast move that hits enemies automatically within a diamond-shaped targeting range on the screen. It does make beating some of the tougher foes easier than expected, but it works effectively and fires off some impressive-looking laser beams at the same time.

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