The Mega Man games have never been what one would consider easy. From its earliest iterations on the NES, the series has been known for its unrelenting emphasis on pattern recognition and timing, a tradition carried on by countless sequels and spin-offs. In fact, it's to the point where the spin-offs themselves have off-shoots: Mega Man begot Mega Man X, followed by Mega Man Zero on the Game Boy Advance, the conclusion of which leads to the latest game to carry the Mega Man mantle, Mega Man ZX.

Sure it features improved animation and more detailed graphics, but in terms of gameplay, ZX doesn't change much. At its core, the game is still tough as nails, relying on a player's ability to recognize patterns and, quite quickly, react accordingly. For example, one particular enemy is only vulnerable when it's firing a ball of deadly energy in the player's direction, so you have to time the dodging jump and resulting attack just right to come away unscathed. Bosses operate in much the same manner, though reliant on fast reactions and proper timing, each of their attacks can be avoided. And like the Zero games, the option to either use a close-range sword or the long-range X buster will change how these enemies are approached.

It's difficult, yet fair. Damage and death come about as a result of the player's faults, not the game's. There are ways to get through every encounter unharmed, but it's all dependent on the skill of the player. This helps to strengthen the appeal of ZX, resulting in a rewarding "just one more try" mindset that can cause gameplay sessions to go on far longer than planned. As in past X and Zero titles, items that increase the player's health bar and subtanks that store excess health are scattered throughout the levels, both very helpful as enemies and their patterns grow more complex.

Speaking of bosses, ZX introduces a new mechanic that makes boss encounters far more interesting. Each boss has a weak point, however, attacking that spot will weaken the power of the ability received upon their destruction. Defeating a boss without touching their weak spot is incredibly difficult, and it's a neat way to add more strategy to what is already a heavily skill-based experience. Fortunately for those who aren't interested in technically impressive defeats, the abilities can be restored to full strength through an in-game shop, but it's a costly alternative.

These acquired abilities are another way ZX deviates from traditional Mega Man stylings. More than just a new weapon, the inherited powers add new gameplay dynamics to the mix, such as the ability to hang from the ceiling and ledges or the ability to slowly hover instead of rapidly falling. This then allows for some interesting ability-specific challenges, such as a room full of spikes that necessitates the hover ability to navigate.

But the biggest, and perhaps most problematic, change lies with ZX's persistent world. Past Mega Man games have simply warped the player from stage to stage and left it at that. Instead, ZX uses a massive overworld full of interconnecting areas, similar to those found in recent Castlevania and Metroid titles. All told, it's a welcome change. This sprawling world allows for players to go out and explore, to just wander around aimlessly killing things, a freedom that expands the gameplay possibilities afforded to the player. Meanwhile, missions are given on a per-area basis, assigning players to advance through a specific area and face off against the eventual boss, feeling just like the standard Mega Man stages of old.

However, the problem comes in finding these specific locations. Each area has a designation consisting of a letter and a number, A-3 for example, and a map accessible from the pause menu displays the portions of the world explored thus far. Problem is, it's all laid out in a ridiculously illogical fashion. The K areas are only accessible from C, the H areas are adjacent to the A areas, and then you can only get to L if you go through H.

It's a horribly, horribly confusing setup, one that really breaks up the pace of the game. The option to explore is neat, but it's not as attractive when one's forced to go from area to area in their attempts to find the H location for their mission. The only way to know where you're going is to look at the entire map, and the only way to do that is to either devote a good chunk of time to exploration or cheat and download the map from GameFAQs. Fortunately, there's not much to lose by cheating here, the downloadable map doesn't give anything away and serves to make ZX much more enjoyable, but it's silly one needs to rely upon external materials to properly enjoy the game. Luckily, the simplicity of this solution gives hope future games in the series will address this issue.

Another map-related issue comes from the teleportation system. Players can warp to specific locations on the map to reduce travel time, but when choosing where to teleport, the list of available locations that pops up doesn't help all that much given the map's confusing and illogical arrangement. Literally showing the map at this screen instead of merely a list of available locations would have made teleporting much simpler, something that's rather feasible given that the touch screen sits unutilized during this process.

Our Final ScoreGood

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