With all the hype of E3 it’s almost forgivable to let those titles released the week before the event slip through the cracks, and you have to wonder why a publisher would release a game that risks being overlooked by the public. Well to be honest, if you’ve ever played a Mega Man Zero title before on the Game Boy Advance then this Mega Man Zero Collection review will be of little use to you, save to inform of the added features. But if you’ve never played one of the MMZ titles, then let me tell you one thing before we go any further. If you’re a fan of any Mega Man title on any console, then you need to play this game. This is a big call so early on in the review, but keep reading to see why it’s justified.

There isn’t enough space to run through the storyline of the four games bundled into this collection, as the story arc is considerably complex but is also notably enjoyable. The opening scene of the first game -Mega Man Zero – introduces the player to the world of Neo Arcadia, set a century after the Mega Man X series, ruled by Copy X in which the humans and reploid resistance are mercilessly hunted down and “retired”. From here the story expands to introduce Zero, found deactivated in an underground lab and awoken by Ciel, a human scientist. From this point the game will take the player through enough twists and turns to rival a Chuck Palahniuk novel, and the great thing about the collection is you’ll never have to wait for the next instalment to continue the story; it’s all within this compilation.

The story line isn’t everything though, and keep in mind that this is a direct port from GBA to DS, so there have been no updates to the graphics, or inclusion of the stylus. Instead the bottom screen displays art of the characters during gameplay. It’s still a wonderful game to look at, with detailed environments and enemies, providing a sense of familiarity from the other Mega Man titles. And the music is the same amazing adrenalin pumping standard we’ve come to expect from Inti Creates and the Mega Man series.

The action is your standard run and gun style platformer, with the legendary difficulty the franchise is notorious for. Something new to the Mega Man franchise though is the Cyber Elf system, which is sort of like a tip of the hat to the Pokémon franchise. Throughout the games, Zero will discover and catch different Cyber Elves, which are then uploaded into a database where Zero cares for them, whilst enjoying status upgrades from the discovered Cyber Elf. It’s a kind of point-less system in the end, but for some strange reason it makes the game just that bit more compelling to play.

Of the new features though, they are sparse to say the least. As mentioned above the second screen of the DS displays art work of the characters and these images are unlocked throughout the games via a series of challenges. Once you’ve unlocked the artwork, you can view each image in the art gallery feature at your leisure. The only other considerable feature added is what is called an Easy Mode in which you can play the four games without breaks and with a significantly reduced level of difficulty as well as an increased life bar and additional continues. The Cyber Elf system is not available in Easy Mode though, which leaves the feature lacking the depth of the four stand alone games.

The long and short of it all though, is this is just four Game Boy Advance games re-skinned into a DS title, but it’s also pure action from start to finish and ultimately enjoyable.

Score: 8/10

• Pros:
  • Pure run and gun action, guaranteed to cure boredom
  • Music will pump you up and keep you engaged
• Cons:
  • Only two new features, one of which shouldn’t be considered as value
  • Graphics are the same as they were on the Game Boy Advance

Mega Man Zero Collection was developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom. It was released on the 8th June 2010 for the Nintendo DS.