Review: MEGA MAN ZERO/ZX LEGACY COLLECTION Is Everything and More
Boy, do I love me some classic Mega Man. The simple and pure skill-based gameplay was very addictive, it was basically the Dark Souls of that time. After the main run of the Mega Man X series, the Mega Man Zero series started in 2002, putting out four games with similar run-and-gun/hack-and-slash mechanics. Mega Man ZX and ZX Advent came out two years after the last of the Mega Man Zero series. With all this history lesson, a vast amount of titles, stories and crazy boss fights, we are brought to the Legacy Collection that is now available.
The gameplay feels great. The inputs feel smooth and crisp, movement is slick and tight, feeling exactly like it did over ten years ago. The graphics are vibrant and blocky, but we are given three different filters: original, original with some “TV fuzz,” and smoothed out. The smoothed out version looks the best, but still not great on a large, High Definition TV. But it looks better than the original blocky versions, which can be difficult because of the indistinguishable shapes and pixels. Once a person gets used to some seriously old graphics from Nintendo DS and GBA days, there are some great games here. There may not be as many memorable bosses or levels as from the original Mega Man or X series, but the games are still a lot of fun.
What amazes me the most about this collection, is all the extra stuff to make the experience better. Let me list all the things. Concept art, promotional art, music, different types of save points, in game wallpapers, and more are all available from the moment the game is booted up. It is so nice to hop into any of the games and either experience it in the original form or with all the new bells and whistles. Another massive bonus to this collection is the Z-Chaser mode. Here, players can compete against already set times, against each other in split screen, or an online leader board for who can play certain levels from the games fastest. This feature brings an awesome multiplayer aspect to the game as a whole.
This collection is a wonderful pick for lovers of the franchise. For those who enjoy side scrollers, it is a lot of fun, but the extremely dated graphics may be a bit of a hurdle. Lastly, for the general public, this is a hard game to recommend. Like other, older Mega Man games, it can be very brutal and the older stories and aesthetics can be difficult to deal with. Overall, this game is really great for what it is, a true fanboy treatment to the Mega Man Zero and ZX franchises.
