Mega Man Zero 4

Gameplay

The fourth installment of the Mega Man Zero series introduces gameplay changes, but does not deviate from the platforming of its predecessors. Players guide Zero through eight main selectable stages and usually a mini-boss to separate it into two parts. At the end of each level, the player faces one of the game's reploid antagonists.

Besides the past ties Mega Man Zero 4 also includes a new Easy mode, not found in previous installations of the series, giving into responses that the Mega Man Zero series has been too challenging. In Easy mode, Zero receives a massive life boost, and can use the Cyber Elf without restrictions. However, Easy mode prevents the changing of the weather, and consequentially the acquiring of EX Skills.

The player is still equipped with the Buster Shot and Z-Saber at default. However, in place of the Shield Boomerang and the rod-type weapon from the previous games (Triple Rod, Chain Rod and Recoil Rod) is the new Z-Knuckle that allows Zero to perform several actions, including hanging from pipes, destroying obstacles, stealing an enemy's weapon if Zero destroys it using the Z-Knuckle and acquiring special weapons in certain parts of a stage.

Another new element is the weather system, which allows players to choose between two weather conditions for each of the eight main stages. The difficulty of the stage varies depending on the chosen weather condition, with the stage being harder if the weather icon has an orange border around it. Sometimes, there are secret passages in some stages which the player can only reach by setting the weather to "hard". The trade-off for an easier level is that Zero cannot learn an EX Skill from a boss.

Cyber Elves, a core element of previous Mega Man Zero installments, are no longer required from the player. Shortly after the introductory levels, a Cyber Elf will arrive for Zero to equip. This elf has most of the powers of the all the Cyber Elves from previous games, which are unlocked as you raise its level by feeding it E-Crystals. Zero may select one power from each of the three categories: Nurse, Animal, and Hacker. The player's ranking at the end of a level is no longer given a penalty for using the Cyber Elves as long as they are kept under the maximum power limit. In addition to this, Zero can now equip body chips to enhance his abilities, including double-jumping and self-recovery, similar to early Mega Man X titles.

Zero cannot rely on finding secret disks to give him enhancements as in Mega Man Zero 3. Instead players must collect enemy parts dropped randomly from defeated enemies. Recipes for combining these parts can be learned by talking to NPCs the player rescues and by talking with a Cyber Elf after its stages of evolution. However, the majority of the recipes are given not through conversation, and instead from random combination of parts.

Another distinguishing feature is that in MMZ4, Neige and Ciel have different faces depending on their emotion. For instance, after Zero "dies," Ciel is sitting near a tree and tells a promise that saddens her and brightens her. Neige also has an angry face, one that Ciel lacks.

Minigames and modes

Like its previous installations, Mega Man Zero 4 has multiple modes. A new mode to feature in this game is the Easy Mode, which is, like the Normal Mode, available from the start. It makes the game easier for players, but at the cost of preventing them from acquiring EX Skills or changing the weather conditions.

After completing the game once on normal mode, players can access an additional Hard Mode or start a new game over the old one. Also making a comeback is the Ultimate Mode, which once again can only be unlocked when certain criteria are met.

Like the previous game, there are also seven mini-games that can be unlocked once certain criteria are met. They are as follows:

Plot

Humans have begun leaving Neo Arcadia since Dr. Weil assumed power. Labeled as human Mavericks for opposing his rule, a caravan led by a journalist named Neige is attacked by Weil's army of Variants on their way to freedom. Zero and the small handful of resistance members happen upon them as they drive cross-country in their convoy and come to their aid. After rescuing the caravan, Neige explains that they were en route to Area Zero, one of the last natural habitats that can support human life outside of Neo Arcadia.

Shortly after parting ways, Zero learns of a plot to destroy Area Zero from Craft, Doctor Weil's second in command, called "Operation Ragnarok". It was meant to destroy all environments outside of Neo Arcadia, so that life could not be sustained outside of it; this was meant to force all humans to return and live under Weil's rule.

After defeating four of the Eight Warriors, Area Zero itself comes under attack by Neo Arcadia. Zero fights through it and sees Craft at the end. Zero and Craft fight, with Zero winning but Craft still alive. Neige appears to break up the fight, and Craft kidnaps her. Zero then goes to the prison where Neige is held and rescues her.

After stopping the Einherjar Warriors, Zero learns that they were just a distraction, and an orbital satellite, Ragnarok, can wipe out the environment with its cannon. But before Weil can use it himself, Craft rebels against him and attempts to fire upon Neo Arcadia in an attempt to kill Weil, regardless of the fact that innocents might be killed, but he is stopped by Zero and dies after a struggle.

Weil had teleported directly onto the station and manually directed its flight path into a crash landing into Area Zero. As the station plummets toward the planet, Zero teleports onto it and makes his way to Weil. Zero questions him as to how he survived the initial strike on Neo Arcadia.

Zero learns that Weil was a human, made into a bionic/reploid hybrid Weil by the same people who exiled him and Omega into space at the end of the Elf Wars. His new body is incapable of aging, or more importantly, dying as it constantly repairs and upgrades itself.

Weil purposely set the station to crash knowing full well he could survive the impact and oversee the destruction of Area Zero personally. Weil then fuses with the Ragnarok core and attacks Zero as the final boss. After an intense battle and destroying Weil's fused body, Ragnarok breaks apart down to Earth, leaving Zero unable to escape.

Ciel passes through Area Zero where it is confirmed that Zero did not teleport back.

For the final scenes of the game, the player sees Ciel atop a hill, on her knees and crying during the credits. Afterwards, she stands up and expresses her faith in Zero, and the hope that he'll return someday.

The scene fades to white, and then to an image of Zero's helmet as it lays shattered on the ground along with various other metal pieces and the sun in the background.

Development

Capcom Japan's announcement of a sequel to Mega Man Zero 3 didn't come as much of a surprise, with the pattern of development news following the previous two Mega Man Zero games. Capcom updated its official site quietly with information stating the game would be released in Japan in April.

Reception

Mega Man Zero 4 entered Japanese sales charts at number eight during its release week. According to Media Create sales information, Mega Man Zero 4 was the 177th best-selling video game in Japan in 2005 at approximately 74,354 copies.

Mega Man Zero 4 has been called a "refined version of an outstanding platformer series" with a more streamlined weapon and Cyber Elf system. Critics were quick to state that it hadn't changed much and that it was "more of the same". One reviewer, however, stated that the level designs were "slightly less challenging" than those of previous installations, but more inventive.

The new simplified Cyber Elf system received mixed reviews. GameSpot thought the new single Cyber Elf was an improvement, while Jeremy Parish of 1up.com stated that it signalled a return "to the old-fashion Mega Man game structure", which he found "unfortunate since the Zero games' greatest strength was their willingness to break the trite and true Mega Man mold".

Critics were mostly neutral about the weather system, saying that diehard players wouldn't make use of the system. It was touted as a nice idea, but that the effects weren't "pronounced enough to make most levels worth playing through twice".

The result marks were the same, except the surname ""Edgeman" was used to express the player used the Z-Saber most in the stage.