Komatsu
Member
Hey folks, so a rather extended work trip had me taking my Switch with me. Decided on a whim to play through the Mega Man Zero franchise on the ZX Legacy Collection. I had played the games when they first came out in the 2000s, but holy shit. These games are the apex of the entire MM franchise.
Plot spoilers to follow - you've been warned.
Mega Man X was already the darker and edgier sequel to the original series, but Zero just cranks everything to 11. The whole series is basically about surviving a robot holocaust, with tensions between humanity and their creations at a fever pitch. I didn't pay that much attention to it in 2002-2005, but looking back, it really is striking how plot heavy the games are.
The Art
But let's start first with some of the big changes introduced. The first one, which caused a fair amount of bellyache at the time, was a change in character design. Mega Man X, since at least the fourth game, has been mostly defined by the designs of Haruki Suetsugu, the legendary CAPCOM illustrator that goes by the moniker SENSEI.
You can see the art evolution from Inafune's initial design - it was with Suetsugu that the X franchise achieved artistic maturity. All following character designers were heavily indebted to him. However, for Zero, producer Inafune went with Toru Nakayama - a relative newcomer, with a markedly different character style:
The Staff
Let us speak too of the team behind the development of the four Zero titles. MMZ is a bit of the odd duck out in the Mega Man family since all four games were produced and directed by the same people. Director Yoshinori Kawano directed all four games, and Keiji Inafune, then at the height of his powers as the producer of the whole Mega Man franchise, was involved in all four games as well. Here's a bit more about these two gentlemen, taken from their Mega Man Legends Developer Interview (courtesy of shmuplations):
(one wonders that Kawano's remark that Mega Man Legends can be enjoyed by everyone, even women, probably would land him in hot water these days - bear in mind this interview is from 1997)
Besides the two CAPCOM employees at the helm, Mega Man Zero 1-4 were developed as a commissioned product by Inti Creates, a company founded by former CAPCOM staff that was then treading water. It was their involvement with the Zero Franchise that finally put them in firmer footing. Inti Creates went on to produce games such as
The Wiki has a interesting section on how development of the games was tackled by the parties involved:
There's a lot of variation here as the games progressed. Quoting here from The Den of Geek:
Ippo Yamada and others were involved in composing the soundtrack to all four games. Widely praised at the time, one can find some of the best music of the entire Mega Man franchise here:
Commentary
Holy shit, these games are hard. In Zero 1 you cannot select what boss you are going to face, and the intricate levels as well as diminished field of view make sudden death a fairly common occurrence. Also, I sincerely not know what was in the water in Osaka, but these games are grim. Don't let Nakayama's cutesy designs and all the anime-y talk of elfs, dark elfs etc deceive you, these are the darkest Mega Man games ever released. All four games have downer endings, but...
The final game in the franchise, 4, ends with the series heroine, Ciel, sobbing her hear out while Zero, the hero, dies a fiery death as the satellite he was in disintegrates in the atmosphere. She just sits there crying while the credits roll. And this game was rated "E"!
So, fellow GAFers, what are you guys' opinion on the franchise? Too hard, too silly? A masterpiece?
Plot spoilers to follow - you've been warned.
The Games
Mega Man X was already the darker and edgier sequel to the original series, but Zero just cranks everything to 11. The whole series is basically about surviving a robot holocaust, with tensions between humanity and their creations at a fever pitch. I didn't pay that much attention to it in 2002-2005, but looking back, it really is striking how plot heavy the games are.
The Art
But let's start first with some of the big changes introduced. The first one, which caused a fair amount of bellyache at the time, was a change in character design. Mega Man X, since at least the fourth game, has been mostly defined by the designs of Haruki Suetsugu, the legendary CAPCOM illustrator that goes by the moniker SENSEI.
You can see the art evolution from Inafune's initial design - it was with Suetsugu that the X franchise achieved artistic maturity. All following character designers were heavily indebted to him. However, for Zero, producer Inafune went with Toru Nakayama - a relative newcomer, with a markedly different character style:
The Staff
Let us speak too of the team behind the development of the four Zero titles. MMZ is a bit of the odd duck out in the Mega Man family since all four games were produced and directed by the same people. Director Yoshinori Kawano directed all four games, and Keiji Inafune, then at the height of his powers as the producer of the whole Mega Man franchise, was involved in all four games as well. Here's a bit more about these two gentlemen, taken from their Mega Man Legends Developer Interview (courtesy of shmuplations):
(one wonders that Kawano's remark that Mega Man Legends can be enjoyed by everyone, even women, probably would land him in hot water these days - bear in mind this interview is from 1997)
Besides the two CAPCOM employees at the helm, Mega Man Zero 1-4 were developed as a commissioned product by Inti Creates, a company founded by former CAPCOM staff that was then treading water. It was their involvement with the Zero Franchise that finally put them in firmer footing. Inti Creates went on to produce games such as
The Wiki has a interesting section on how development of the games was tackled by the parties involved:
The Gameplay
There's a lot of variation here as the games progressed. Quoting here from The Den of Geek:
The Music
Ippo Yamada and others were involved in composing the soundtrack to all four games. Widely praised at the time, one can find some of the best music of the entire Mega Man franchise here:
Commentary
Holy shit, these games are hard. In Zero 1 you cannot select what boss you are going to face, and the intricate levels as well as diminished field of view make sudden death a fairly common occurrence. Also, I sincerely not know what was in the water in Osaka, but these games are grim. Don't let Nakayama's cutesy designs and all the anime-y talk of elfs, dark elfs etc deceive you, these are the darkest Mega Man games ever released. All four games have downer endings, but...
The final game in the franchise, 4, ends with the series heroine, Ciel, sobbing her hear out while Zero, the hero, dies a fiery death as the satellite he was in disintegrates in the atmosphere. She just sits there crying while the credits roll. And this game was rated "E"!
So, fellow GAFers, what are you guys' opinion on the franchise? Too hard, too silly? A masterpiece?
