First Game Syndrome - Mega Man Zero Review and Story Breakdown

So this video was a structural nightmare. The game is rather short and barely explains anything so it was really tough to try and work in the RIDICULOUS amount of plot and lore that the game leaves out. The final result is a video that I feel is over-edited in a desperate attempt for me to say everything I needed to say.

I hope you guys enjoy this mess anyway!

I still love this game to death. Beat it a couple dozen times as a child and my most recent run on the DS collection was like 89 minutes, no elves used.

Meanwhile 2 kicked my ass for weeks and i havent even bothered to beat 3. The difficulty seems to spike every game, barring 4. lol

Ive always really liked the artstyle, both pixel and reference, for these games.

i do think the grind makes A LITTLE BIT of sense when you consider it was made for a handheld. where the assumption is you are going to play this game a lot in little bursts.

Do t get me wrong, the grinding still sucks, but I can see the intent. A (kinda) similar thing was in Metal gear solid piecewalker. there was a lot of little side missions that you were supposed fo grind out on a trainride or something, but are now an absolute pain to play on an actual console or pc now. it becomes busywork instead of a reason to go back to your game over weeks and weeks.

Fun fact: I keep coming back to this video just for the audio drama to test my progress with Japanese listening comprehension.

Don’t forget the game actively discourages using upgrades through the point and ranking system. You get 15 points for not having used any cyber elves, but each elf you use takes away a bit of that. Eventually losing you points. So if you get all the health upgrades and subtanks, the game will tell you that you suck. You’ll have an ever defending rank next to your health bar forever, and ever meaner titles in the pause screen and at the end of each mission. This game isn’t just new player unfriendly. It HATES new players.

Dude, yes. MegaMan Zero is awesome. Yeah, I won't deny it fell victim to first game syndrome, but that doesn't mean the game isn't good.

Still waiting for Z4....... waiting sucks.

I may have some nostalgia bias, but the first one has made the most impact on me, at least from a storytelling perspective. In regards to your criticism about data shortage and zero being a blank slate, it heavily relies on our childhood imagination to fill in the gaps and make our own speculation. That's probably what made this the most memorable entry.

I actually think Zero not talking much and having amnesia was good for the story. It helps him reinvent himself after his sleep. It allows for the mystery of whether or not this is actually Zero to exist later. By letting Zero take in this new world and digest it, it's allowing us to see him develop back into the hero we recognize, and maybe into someone new too.

Also, not everyone played the X games too. As a kid I only played X 1, and as far as I was aware that was when Zero died. I didn't know he was brought back in later games, I thought the Zero in the basement of this game was the destroyed Zero from X1. So his amnesia was also a way to discover his past along side players who weren't already familiar with his role the series.

Im glad i played this on an emulator on my 2nd playthru

I appreciate adding in the audio drama bits.

"Oh no! The world is about to end and its all over for us! If only there was someone to sacrifice themselves to save the planet"
Zero: ...

They gave Zero a thong 😳

Don't use elves or you don't get rank S
Nah fuck that, I don't use elves because that fucking kills them :(

I beat the game Rank S anyway but even if the elves didn't afect rank I still wouldn't use them, can't do this, look at them, they are so cute

Willy really did create the perfect weapon even if zero changed that destiny he was and always will be a force of destruction

Ok so i like mmzero but its nit close to being my fav, never liked how he looked. I loved the villains and story

OH HE'S A HARPY

:59 *

Zero 1-3 are literally the only games I've ever found remotely iunteresting or playable in the entire main Megaman platformer series.

Is it just me or dose the dialogue vid kinda sound like a horror game 💀💀💀

I just can't play Mega Man x4 through x8 anymore because of how responsive the controls are in MMZ. I would way prefer an MMZ-styled remake of X4 through 8, than a MMX8-styled remake of the Zero series. I'd probably want a SNES style remake of X4 though X8 and the Zero games above anything though.

Throughout playing Mega Man, and Mega Man X, I never, ever even thought about using uncharged buster shots on bosses, unless it was the very first boss of the games where you don't start with a chargeable buster, and even then I would look up which boss was weak to the buster so I didn't waste time chipping away 1 damage at a time. I would never have thought to complain about how little damage the uncharged buster does to bosses in the Zero games. It was just kind of a given that you'd either use charged elemental buster shots, or any other weapon's combo or charge. That said, they really ought to have given Zero a "buster combo" so that 3 or 4 quick shots would override enemy i-frames just as his sabre-combo does.

They could have had Zero gain a weapon-level after every stage, based on what weapon you used the most or something. Or maybe a skill for every weapon you used, just because there probably wouldn't be enough stages to max out all the weapons if you only gained one weapon-skill per stage.

MMZ1 is just, really mean. not in the it's difficult way(though it is difficult) but it seems to be looking down on you the entire time you play it? it's weird

I kinda liked the idea of X inheriting Zero's legacy....then X-7 dropped and ruined everything

X was always worried that he would become a maverick someday. When he realized he no longer cared about fighting, indicating that he had become numb and lost his empathy, he immediately moved to remove himself from society ASAP, knowing that the only person who could stop him isn't around to fulfill his promise.

Until the very end, X was following his programming to build a peaceful future, even if it meant he can't be around to appreciate it himself.

Yep, I also quit back then when I bought THIS one specifically back on the GBA thinking "Oh Mega Man, I haven't played this series since MMX4 back on the PSX" Said 15 year old STUPID me "It's used and on sale (I was in Gamestop back when they were worth a damn) so lt me buy it, if I hate it I can always come back and give it back and get something I like (this was back when they had their 7 day return policy for Used games, don't know if they still have it as it's been a decade since I checked really)" and frankly it cost me 4 dollars (not the game, the bus fare to get to and from the mall when I returned it! Well that's a HALF LIE, I had a student pass so I wasted nothing, that was just for lunch LOL) because I returned that shit REALLY quick (I tried since the moment I bought the game staying at the mall for a few hours playing it then at home and I KEPT DYING TO THE FIRST SET OF BOSSES and had alot of WHERE THE FUCK DO I GO) and frankly NEVER tried this series again till X4, and beat it (though I think I used an easy mode or something) and never touched it again, actually preferring ZX and Advent till the DS collection released then I beat all four games again though since that was STORY MODE where the games are set on easy as they push you onto the next game upon beating the last boss and well NEVER TRULY played all FOUR games on their DEFAULT difficulty (yes that means TOLERATING Z1 DYNAMIC ADJUSTABLE DIFFICULTY where the game adjusts to how good you're playing! Seriously I laughed after beating Resident Evil 4 back on the Wii when I found out that it turns out the game was balanced around how good I was, meaning me doing GOOD was why at spots I had an easy time and in others I was like "My kingdom for another bullet" even on repeats where easy areas became hard and hard areas became easy! Frankly I'm divided on this type of thing in that I feel the game should just have SET difficulty at the start and stick to it! Punishing players for getting good by tossing them into SUPER HARD is just plan MEAN) I only TRULY beat them as they were intended with the Legacy Collection. And that's likely because

This game TRULY WAS my TRUE first "Like Dark Souls" game in being BALLS HARD and unforgiving in explaining LITTLE to nothing! (Funny since I never TOUCHED ACTUAL Dark Souls LIKE till the Nioh on the PS4! I found I like SOULSLIKES just not the ACTUAL From Software Soulslike games funny enough! Not that I dismiss those games their good Nioh is the reason I even GAVE the entire "GENRE LIKES" a chance! Similar to how RE4 helped me get over my fear of horror in general and now I'm a BIG fan of them both book/Comics/Manga/Movies/Games! Made me a BIG RE fan, well original Trilogy, RE4 and the Remakes of 1-4 anyway! Not much of a fan of 7-8 and hate 5-6). Now I laugh at the game. But then the Legacy Collections tend to add functions that CURB the BULLSHIT to make it TOLERABLE (It's less I have TIME for games since I'm an introvert loner with no friends or friends who have families to deal with LOL! And more I have a BACKLOG to play! So I have little time to play the "PLAY IT RIGHT" now anymore! Straight Forwards is what I love! Hell I will say X6 on Legacy almost made me like "wow, why is this a HATED game" and then I played it NATURALLY and I was like "Nope, they were RIGHT, I was stupid, never playing this one or X7 for that matter without the new functions! They were there FOR A REASON!)

I appreciate that you reviewed the game from both the perspective of an experienced player and an inexperienced player, explaining that the game gets better when you get the hang of it. I was so tired of reviewers go “game hard = game bad” and call it a day, so you, sir, have my respect.

NGL if the game was released in something like the PS they would've been able to make the shield useful by making it a sort of parry-like mechanic (Similar to MGR) tied to one of the extra buttons the PS controller has, which would've fit with Zero's fast-paced gameplay

I would rather play Zero 1 on the ZeroZX Legacy Collection. Those infinite retry checkpoints are preferrable to the retry chips (At least in X8 you can grind money to buy chips at the shop)

inticreates bog kicked off of bloodstained for making a giant boob lady thing???

they really made an entire spinoff series where you play as a dude with a ponytail, a bodystocking, and whitey tighties on top of it

well good intentions plus childish innocence maybe (she was a child during copy-xs creation, which means she was probably very naive during that time).

I'm bad at Megaman games, but I really like the Zero saga, sure the bosses are really stronge at first especially the doggo but I love this game. The gameplay/combat, platforming was so good, it was so responsive, i never felt that any of the moves I did weren't intentional.

Hello. I am thinking about making my own mmzero review as ur videos have inspired me to do so. Ik u say ur structure for this video was messy and that u dont love it but i really like how u go by story and explain the game aspects as u go. As a first timer are there any tips or important no no's I should know in making a video review and the process to do so. Im sorry if this is long im just really excited and passionate to start this.

It really looked like even though the first level showed you the Buster Shot is weak you keep trying to use it instead of the Z-Saber and immediately complained about lack of damage. Also not using the upgrades left and right then complaining about low health pool felt like an odd choice when saying you were going for a casual playthrough. If the health pool compaint was made for non casual playthrough it would make more sense because of the permanent score penalty for using Cyber Elves. Also not using elements you had available was weird too when it can double damage to bosses and you can figure out elemental weaknesses within 3 attacks through trial and error.

The Ranking system was stupid. If you get any permanent upgrades. The game takes points off the ranking for the permanent upgrades. It tells you there's a specific way they want the game to be played.

I really don't like the idea of making X a genocidal maniac. It really doesn't mesh with his character and those two scenes, one of which was a dream, really don't do enough to justify this pacifist going genocidal in my opinion. Then again, I'm like one of the ten people who prefers X to Zero.

To inform as to why the cyberelves are designed to be one and dead... The lore reason, which is buried in optional dialogue in an optional room, from an optional npc, in the resistance base of Z3... that Cyber elves, once upon a time, didn't function that way. They could reuse their powers so long as they had energy. But the first generation, the Mother/Dark elf that killed the Maverick Virus, and the second gen, the Baby Elves, were made super evil and were warping reality left and right, and could affect organics as easily as technology... And when only a handful of elves lead to 60% of humans and 80% of reploids dying off... That oversight was changed with exceeding rapidity.

I know this video is two years old and nobody is going to see this comment.
I'm so glad video games have stopped relying on lives in total. Thinking about NES games and how they expected you to not die more than three times to beat an entire game. And now we've come to accept that you will probably die 300 times trying to learn something and that's literally the point of the game.
Mega Man zero has so much going on for it as a franchise, but damn is it too hard to not just use save states.
You're probably right that the ZX collection is good enough to supplement save states.
Great video and thank you for including the Japanese audio. This game has always felt like a mystery with no conclusion, and no concrete answers thanks to misinformation being so rampant.

"If this video does, like, uncharacteristically well for some reason, I might come back for full reviews of Zero 2, 3 & 4. But I don't want to disappoint anybody so don't get your hopes up too high."
*looks at the top of the sidebar*
*looks at the next two tabs in the browser*

The fact that X was supposed to be the main antagonist reminds me: the FPS Megaman x game that Retro Studios was working on had a multi-part arc planned where X was intended to be corrupted by his accumulated power, and the player would take the role of Zero in the final chapter to take X down.

Didn’t know about shield canceling but I am that guy you mentioned that loves shield boomerang and I can explain it.

You are focusing on the shield part of it. I was always obsessed with the boomerang part of the weapon. Boomerangs have always been my spirit weapon. I’m no captain America but I’ve been using boomerangs in video games so long that I love to abuse them. Since I could use the saber at the same time the shield was flying around, I would use the shield because it hit harder than the buster and I could let it orbit me as I focused on dodging and learning patterns. It was a life saver back in the day because it was a boomerang. The shield part was great for going back through levels to get collectibles as it blocked the pea shooters that I kept running into from the screen crunch.

As a long time megaman zero fan who's profile picture on a lot of the same stuff is the game boy version of zero your comparison to the four guardians to majima I agree with but let's be honest majima would fuck them up

I’m pretty sure Zero has amnesia because X47 wasn’t in development at the time and they needed an excuse as to why Zero doesn’t recall the events of that game.

everytime he says "sword" i get madder

Wow I thought they use a note to kill sigma in x8

Honestly it was probably a good thing that Zero 2 ended up being my introduction to the series. By the time I got to 1 I had the skills to get through it on the original GBA version, but boy do I remember the sticker shock the cyber elf upgrades gave me, and that lives system was rough.

To add to the Soulsborne comparison, the beginner-friendly entries end up not being the first one. Hard to recommend Demon's Souls to newcomers when Elden Ring exists, and when it comes to Megaman Zero you're likely better off missing some plot context in exchange for Zero 2 or 3's more welcoming experience.