Mega Man Zero 3 Review

Mega Man is having a pretty good year compared to the previous few years. With the release of Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Mega Man X: Command Mission, Mega Man Battle Network 4, and now Mega Man Zero 3, it is no wonder why Capcom is lightening the development of their proud mascot. What is so unique about this series is that how many Mega Man games we can play without getting bored, but I freely admit that most Mega Man sequels don’t usually add as much to the previous game. It is this flaw that really keeps the creators from doing anything creative, but at the same time, it keeps them from being stupid. How does MMZ3 play?

You play as Zero (NOT Mega Man), who for his own personal reasons, has to defeat the evil Omega. In its very essence, MMZ3 is just like MMZ2 with a couple of add-ons. It seems fruitless to go and explain what you have to do in this game in detail, when you could just look at a MMZ2 guide. As a general sketch, you basically take Zero and his saber across, beat some baddies, and then beat a huge boss.

MMZ3, like most side-scrolling Mega Man games, allows the player to choose which level they want to play. The player’s freedom is one of the creations of the Mega Man series. One of the most important things you should know is that this game, like most other Mega Man games, are pretty hard. Hell, you’d have to be foolish to expect a Mega Man game would be child-level easy. So, if you are a parent reading this review, simply don’t buy this game. Your child will never beat this game until he gets older.

Despite being hard, I really did enjoy the level design. There were shortcuts and multiple ways to reach the end in each level. As for the bosses, I must say, who couldn’t love them? Each boss has a unique way to be defeated. After you beat the first boss, you’ll get three different suits, those being fire, ice, and electricity suits. After you got those suits, you can switch between them at any time. Some enemies are prone to some of the suits, making the game much easier if you know what they are weak against (I love strategy guides).

While playing MMZ3 you will be graded by your performance (don’t you hate being graded for everything?). Your grade will be based on 3 things: how many baddies you kill, how much damage you take, and how many cyber elves you used (explained later on). The grading system is hard, but it isn’t unfair. Getting good scores will allow you to unlock some nice combo moves.

The biggest addition in this game is the change to cyber elf system. A cyber elf is a computer program that helps out Zero. Some might make Zero quicker, some might hurt all the enemies on the screen, while some will hurt a boss. You can find these cyber elves in many places such as crates or the remains of a dead enemy. In the previous game, the cyber elves weren’t that helpful, and they hurt your overall grade. While a good amount of cyber elves still hurt your overall score, some don’t considering you can get rid of them before the end of the level. As an added bonus, I noticed that the cyber elves are a lot more helpful this time around.

Graphically, it is just like Mega Man Zero 2. It is actually pretty mediocre if you ask me, but the Mega Man series was never really about graphics. It was about hard yet fun gameplay. As for the sound, I think it was well done. Nothing really as memorable as the tracks found in the original Mega Man X, but good nonetheless.

There are 16 minutes and it is very easy to get a good 10 hours of gameplay out of this game. As for replay value, I wouldn’t really expect normal people to play this game through twice, but there are some diehard Mega Man fans who surely wouldn’t mind.

The biggest problem I found with this game is that it seems too much like MMZ2. If you happened to like either MMZ or MMZ2, then I suggest this game. If you’ve never played any of these games, go with MMZ2 then this game (MMZ isn’t really a must play). Is this a good game? Yes. Is this a possible choice for GBA’s Game of the Year? There’s a greater chance of an ice cream cone freezing in the North Pole than that.