It’s been 5 years, 10 years, 20 years since the release date of that masterpiece … As a celebration project unique to Dengeki Online with a feeling of gratitude for such a masterpiece,“Anniversary serialization”Is being deployed.
This time, we are going to talk regarding “Rockman Zero” that Capcom has released to the world. This year marks the 20th anniversary of its launch on Game Boy Advance on April 26, 2002.
The features of the title are listed below. In addition, some of the content of the story is posted.
Also, the image is from “Rockman Zero & Zex Double Hero Collection”.
“Rockman Zero” drawn into the story and setting
Speaking of “Rockman”, it is the gold standard of action games that have continued since the Famicom era. Overseas, it has gained popularity under the name of “MEGA MAN” and can be said to be one of the games loved all over the world. “Rockman Zero” is a series featuring “Zero”, the main character of “Rockman X”.
Characters that appear as big brothers who help the hero while shadowing, such as “Blues” in “Rockman” and “Zero” in “Rockman X”. It appears in an emergency, so the smart coolness is impressive. Above all, as the author, who fell in love with Zero when he attacked with a sword, I remember that he was really looking forward to the release of this work.
From the title “Rockman Zero” and the slightly softer character design, I initially imagined it to be a spin-off title.
However, in reality, it is set in the world hundreds of years following “Rockman X” and is depicted as a sequel. However, it’s been a long time, and you can enjoy the story even if you start from this work, so don’t worry!
To introduce a little story, the era is hundreds of years following “Rockman X” as mentioned above. It depicts the Battle of the Resistance formed by the people’s “Neo Arcadia” and the dissatisfied Repliroid, who plans to eliminate the robot (Repriroid) before it becomes irregular and rampages.
One of the Resistance, “Ciel,” tries to awaken “Hero” Zero to counter Neo Arcadia. Zero had lost his memory, but he decided to help Ciel desperately begging for help. Zero, who became his companion, will regain his own memory while fighting Neo Arcadia while carrying out the operation of the Resistance.
I was wondering, “If zero comes out, I wonder if X will come out somewhere,” but on the contrary, he appeared as the commander of Neo Arcadia. This was a surprise at the time. However, I was interested in what the purpose and future development would be, and I was drawn into the story at once.
Not only the story, but also the existence of attractive characters is the point in this work. Of particular note are the enemy characters such as “Harpyia,” “Fafnir,” “Phantom,” and “Leviathan,” who are engaged in X as the four heavenly kings of Neo Arcadia.
Since they belong to Neo Arcadia, they are zero enemies, but they are not trying to randomly attack the Resistance. With his own justice, such as “protecting the people who live in Neo Arcadia,” he stands in front of Zero.
The collision of justice and justice that we believe in each other made me excited just by looking at it. Because each of the four heavenly kings has a strong personality, I think they had many fans.
Greatly evolved action element
This work is a side-scrolling title familiar to the “Rockman” series. However, in order to carry out the mission as a resistance, there are various clearing methods such as not only defeating the boss in the deepest part of the stage, but also collecting bombs and taking back friends.
This makes you feel more like participating in the mission as zero.
My personal favorite is zero attack. In the “Rockman” series, if you defeat a boss, you will be able to use a special weapon that imitates the attack method of that boss, but it is not adopted in this work.
Instead, there are four types: “Buster Shot” that can attack at a long distance, “Zet Saver” that can attack at a short distance, “Triple Rod” that can attack vertically, horizontally and diagonally, and “Shield Boomerang” that can prevent attacks as a shield or throw. Weapons are available.
On the stage, we will use these weapons properly and aim for clearing. Speaking of zero, I had a strong impression that it was a splendid attack with a sword, so I mainly used Z Saver.
However … In this work, there is a mechanism that makes you want to use all the weapons. Each weapon has something like proficiency, and as you use it, your weapon skills will improve. If you improve your skill, you will be able to make continuous attacks with Z Saver, and you will be able to throw more distance with Shield Boomerang.
The conventional power-up method of defeating the boss and getting a new special weapon is good, but getting new power while advancing the stage like this work also feels zero growth. It was an interesting point.
Since the player can power up without defeating the boss, “What kind of attack method will increase in the next skill up,” Since the attack range has expanded with the skill up, it may be possible to beat the strong boss. ” It will lead to motivation.
I wrote that I mainly used Z-Saber, but there was also a skill-up system for this weapon, and in the end I used all the weapons evenly.
In this work, you can get “element chips” with three attributes such as fire, ice, and thunder, and you can replace them to launch attacks with those attributes. Each boss has one of three weaknesses, and if you attach an element chip to the boss’s attributes, you can do a lot of damage.
Since there are only 3 attributes, it is not difficult to make a weak point of the boss as long as you have the element chip.
In addition, a support item called “Cyber Elf” can be installed in this work. Cyber elves can only be used once for each type, but they can help you recover and avoid thorns.
It is easy to capture the stage thanks to the fact that it is easy to take advantage of these weaknesses, the skill of the weapon is improved by using it, and the cyber elf is convenient. When I think regarding it now, even beginners of action games might enjoy playing for a long time.
To put it the other way around, I dare to challenge the boss without using element chips, do not use cyber elves, refrain from improving skills by trying not to defeat enemies along the way as much as possible, and raise the difficulty level by my own will. Will be. I think the appeal of this game is that you can freely change the way you play.
The “Rockman Zero” series continued until “4”. Various elements such as “form change” that changes the ability of zero with each series and “cyber space” that draws out the ability of cyber elf are incorporated, and it is possible to play differently for each numbering.
In 2020, the “Rockman Zero & Zex Double Hero Collection” containing the “Rockman Zero” series and the “Rockman Zex” series will be on sale. You can play on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox ONE, and PC (Steam), so if you are interested, please experience Zero Battle here!
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