The original Mega Man was released in late 1987, making the Mega Man’s 20th anniversary. During those 20 years, the series’ formula hasn’t changed much: the titular boy robot (or one of his several techno-decendants) fights his way through robot-infested landscapes, on his way to confront a series of robot masters, stealing each boss’s weapon upon defeating them. While the formula hasn’t changed much, the series itself certainly has — the original Mega Man series gave way to Mega Man X, which was followed by Mega Man Zero (not to mention tangent series like Legends, Battle Network, or the recent Star Force titles). Mega Man ZX debuted a new series last year, picking up where the Mega Man Zero games left off, and was successful enough to warrant a sequel, Mega Man ZX Advent.

The game’s storyline will be familiar to anyone who played the original ZX: a boy (Grey) and girl (Ashe) become embroiled in the complex conflict between various evil robots (the Mavericks, Reploids, and Mechaniloids), and the forces of good, including the living artifacts known as Biometals. Biometal Model A merges with your character of choice at the start of the game, granting them the ability to steal not only the attacks, but also the actual forms of the various bosses you’ll face during the game. The story is mostly standard anime fare, with the requisite amnesiac hero, mysterious triumvirate of leaders, and other stock elements of the genre, but it’s not that bad. At best, though, it serves as a decent background for the action.

The storyline is fine, in a generic-anime sort of way, but anyone who skips the story sequences won’t be missing much.

The core gameplay will be immediately accessable to anyone who’s played any of the previous 2D, sidescrolling series titles, and is a direct descendant of the gameplay of the Mega Man X series; characters can dash, charge their shots, and cling to walls as they make their way through each environment. Instead of innovating on the series’ established gameplay, ZX Advent has instead refined it further than any previous installment. Building on the style of last year’s ZX, the entire environment is connected by various paths, gradually expanding as the player gains access to new powers, which allow exploration of previously-unaccessable areas of the map; this change shows the influence of the Metroid series, as well as the recent Castlevania games. Advent has made several improvements to this aspect over ZX; a more detailed map makes it harder to get lost (one of ZX’s major flaws), and frequent teleport points make it easier to resume exploration after being killed. This last change has actually given Advent a feel closer to the original Mega Man X series than ZX; you’re still tackling a series of stages, but now those stages are all connected via a central hub. While some may prefer the more open-ended ZX, I found the new style to be far less frustrating while retaining the explorative vibe.

ZX Advent also introduces several changes to the characters various powers. First and foremost, the two characters, Grey and Ashe, play significantly different from each other; Grey’s primary weapon fires quick, weak shots and a powerful charge shot, and his sub-weapon locks on to and tracks multiple enemies at once, but Ashe fires slower, stronger laser blasts, her charged shot reflects off the environment, and her sub-weapon fires a single, powerful tracking shot. While the characters play largely the same otherwise (and share, by and large, the same storyline, save a few pertinent scenes), these seemingly minor differences lead to two characters that warrant tactically different approaches to combat. The game’s most important change to the formula, though, involves the boss robots the characters face throughout the game: instead of simply copying their attacks, Biometal A allows your character to actual change into the boss, with the assortment of changes to attacks, special moves, and mobility options that this entails (for instance, Chronoforce, a robotic shellfish, is only viable underwater, uses ice-based attacks, and cannot be harmed from above due to his strong shell). While a some boss forms are gimmicky and only useful in a handful of scenarios, all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and assessing which form best suits each situation composes a large portion of the game’s challenge.

 
Bifrost the Crocoroid is by far the largest boss character, and takes up almost half of the screen.

ZX Advent’s graphics are exactly what you’d expect from the series, which is far from a bad thing; the 2D sprites are large, bright, and well-animated. Backgrounds are detailed, with layers of parallax scrolling, and explosive effects are frequent and impressive. The game continues the series’ tradition of delivering consistently-excellent electronic rock soundtracks, with some of the catchiest tunes to grace the DS. Also impressive is the sheer amount of voice acting Capcom has managed to squeeze onto the DS, although the quality is spotty at best.

Some may say that ZX Advent is simply more of the same, but when “the same” is this excellent, who are we to complain? The Mega Man series remains one of the few remaining bastions of sprite-based, 2D action, and ZX Advent is a sterling example. With plenty of depth and some of the best hardcore run-and-jump gameplay available today, anyone who has an interest in classic 2D platforming would do well to check out Mega Man ZX Advent.

Gameplay: 8.5
It’s old-school, pattern-based platform shooting at it’s finest. A constantly-evolving ability list keeps things from getting stale, and the challenge level remains high throughout. The game offers no quarter, but provides a genuine sense of accomplishment.

Graphics: 8.9
I’m a sucker for detailed, complex sprite-based graphics, and ZX Advent delivers in spades. Sure, you might not see any effects that weren’t possible on the Super Nintendo, but the art style, animations, and effects make for a very pretty DS title.

Sound: 7.8
The songs are good, in that Japanese techno-rock way that all Mega Man sountracks are. Some may quibble with the style, but there’s no arguing that Capcom knows how to wring the most from the DS’s meager soundchip. The voice acting is admirable for quantity, but not so much for quality.

Difficulty: Hard
This game is tough, hardcore 2D action gaming. While frustrating at times (enemies respawn literally every time you turn around), success brings a true sense of satisfaction.

Concept: 7.1
ZX Advent isn’t a revolution, it’s an evolution. It hones the style of the Mega Man ZX (and the previous Zero series), and makes significant improvements, but it is, at its core, the same game we’ve been playing since Mega Man X came out in 1993.

Overall: 8.3
While it’s certainly not for everyone, Mega Man ZX Advent offers some of the best 2D shooter action in years.