A mod for Mega Man X
Mega Man X: Project Zero is a complete hack of Mega Man X that reworks much of the game’s graphics, gameplay, music, levels, and cutscenes to fully integrate Zero as the main character.
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Making Zero better than X in some cases but also worse helps him feel balanced. The touch-ups to the level design really add to some of X1's more bland segments. Making certain Mavericks more aggressive is also a welcome change. Doubling some bosses for rematches helped break repetition (minus Sigma's dog).
Wait, you mean to tell me a rom hack of the best 2D platformer of all time that lets you play as Zero in a slightly modified version of the game.. Is still the best 2D platformer of all time? Preposterous!
Been meaning to do my yearly revisit to Mega Man X1, so I figured now's a good time to knock this one off the backlog, and damn. On its face, it's Mega Man X, but with Zero! He's got slightly different stats; higher weapon energy consumption, but he's also got higher damage and jump height to make up for it. No Z Sabre shenanigans, unfortunately, I was hoping the slash projectile from X3 would return, but alas. Zero's still fun as all hell to play, because he's just a slightly adjusted X, and there aren't many 2D platformer characters more fun than X.
Combined with some difficulty adjustments made to things ranging from a few enemy attacks and spawns, to most of the boss rush mavericks doubling up akin to XLC's X Challenge mode (an idea that's a bit too ambitious; I think only one health bar was displayed per fight, leading to a guessing game in regards to the HP of the doppelgänger), you could see this as two different things. One part just a cool way to implement Zero into the original title nearly 30 years later, and another to make the game just a touch harder for returning players who know the game near inside and out. Was surprised to see the removal of the ability to shut off Spark Mandrill's power and freeze the lava in Flame Mammoth's stage, actually made me play the levels the intended way for a change. Even found out Sting Chameleon's weapon protects you from the lava, which made grabbing the heart tank a real sick feeling.
But what really drives this rom hack home is the passion put into the little things. The game essentially swaps X and Zero's roles, and it's honestly that sort of chemistry I really miss between them in some of the later titles. Entirely new dialogue is written to account for it, and it's all great. Even X's place in the final Vile encounter was handled great, with him pulling an X6 and going to repair himself despite being a goddamn torso. Theres also entirely new dialogue for both the ending and epilogue, neat! Not to mention the Black Zero armour as a cosmetic to go along with unlocking the Hadouken, and I fucking lost it when I saw the Dr Light capsules were fully swapped with Dr Wily. That? That's the good shit, and seriously shows how much love there was put into this bad boy. As if their review serving as a brief but dedicated breakdown of their time spent working on the project wasn't enough already.
I don't know if I can really sell you on this much beyond saying "It's Mega Man X1, but with Zero". If you're itching to spice up your billionth playthrough, or you're dying for any little morsels of Mega Man content that aren't the portable games or whatever? Seriously recommend giving this a shot. It's still Mega Man X, but now you're playing the biggest cocked motherfucker in the series, and sometimes, that's really all you need.
Been meaning to do my yearly revisit to Mega Man X1, so I figured now's a good time to knock this one off the backlog, and damn. On its face, it's Mega Man X, but with Zero! He's got slightly different stats; higher weapon energy consumption, but he's also got higher damage and jump height to make up for it. No Z Sabre shenanigans, unfortunately, I was hoping the slash projectile from X3 would return, but alas. Zero's still fun as all hell to play, because he's just a slightly adjusted X, and there aren't many 2D platformer characters more fun than X.
Combined with some difficulty adjustments made to things ranging from a few enemy attacks and spawns, to most of the boss rush mavericks doubling up akin to XLC's X Challenge mode (an idea that's a bit too ambitious; I think only one health bar was displayed per fight, leading to a guessing game in regards to the HP of the doppelgänger), you could see this as two different things. One part just a cool way to implement Zero into the original title nearly 30 years later, and another to make the game just a touch harder for returning players who know the game near inside and out. Was surprised to see the removal of the ability to shut off Spark Mandrill's power and freeze the lava in Flame Mammoth's stage, actually made me play the levels the intended way for a change. Even found out Sting Chameleon's weapon protects you from the lava, which made grabbing the heart tank a real sick feeling.
But what really drives this rom hack home is the passion put into the little things. The game essentially swaps X and Zero's roles, and it's honestly that sort of chemistry I really miss between them in some of the later titles. Entirely new dialogue is written to account for it, and it's all great. Even X's place in the final Vile encounter was handled great, with him pulling an X6 and going to repair himself despite being a goddamn torso. Theres also entirely new dialogue for both the ending and epilogue, neat! Not to mention the Black Zero armour as a cosmetic to go along with unlocking the Hadouken, and I fucking lost it when I saw the Dr Light capsules were fully swapped with Dr Wily. That? That's the good shit, and seriously shows how much love there was put into this bad boy. As if their review serving as a brief but dedicated breakdown of their time spent working on the project wasn't enough already.
I don't know if I can really sell you on this much beyond saying "It's Mega Man X1, but with Zero". If you're itching to spice up your billionth playthrough, or you're dying for any little morsels of Mega Man content that aren't the portable games or whatever? Seriously recommend giving this a shot. It's still Mega Man X, but now you're playing the biggest cocked motherfucker in the series, and sometimes, that's really all you need.
I love Mega Man X and I love Zero, so I had fun. Not sure I love all the stage and boss changes, but that seems to be a recurring theme in almost every Zero hack I've played for whatever reason.
I will say the higher jump height for Zero was pretty nuts as far as casually speedrunning the game. That was cool.
I will say the higher jump height for Zero was pretty nuts as far as casually speedrunning the game. That was cool.
This review contains spoilers
Yeah Mega Man X except you're Zero. Honestly being able to jump slightly higher feels so broken. Some changes feel a little arbitrary like the alterations to Chill Penguin, but for the most part they're minor mix ups that add neat surprises to the mix. When I first saw the doppelganger Kuwanger I thought it was a stupid change but I found the double boss fights to be much more fun. I was dreading double Mandrill when I saw it but I found it cool how the splitting of shotgun ice became an actual factor in the fight. Double Eagle was also super fun.
Good hack.
Good hack.
It's still not better than the X1 and X2, but it's a nice improvement compared to the original.
ZEROOOOOO
Zero is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, and at one point he was the favorite, not only that but I always wanted to play as him in X1, however the previous hacks that attempted to do this couldn't always get everything right, one not being able to implement Zero's hair and another using his X3 design even though Zero's not supposed to look like that yet, just a few examples so I'm happy to say that this hack finally perfects the Zero in X1 formula!
not only does Zero have his hair but his sprites actually match his X1 design (LET'S GOOOOO) and on top of that his Lv. 2 Z-Buster color is blue just like the one he shoots at Vile, while having a nice switcheroo with a green Lv. 3 Charge Shot. all the instances of X's UI have been properly replaced too: a Z on the health bar, Zero appearing in the opening and stage clear, the 1UP heads that look like Zero, also the silhouette during the ending cutscene is a nice touch, makes me wish the actual game did that. not only does all his sprites look natural, but so is all the new dialogue for this hack. not only is X still X but I appreciate that the Dr. Wily hologram doesn't go "haha I'm....LE EVIL!!!!" but instead is portrayed as a mysterious ally that might have more importance then you think. the new post-credits dialogue is also nice and might I say a better sequel hook than what the actual X1 does. gameplay wise Zero shoots a little higher and he can also jump higher, as well as deal more damage compared to X. Zero does use up more weapon ammo then X does but the Special Weapons in X1 are so good that it shouldn't matter too much. some of the bosses were also changed up a bit, for example Flame Mammoth's attacks have less breathing room, Armored Armadillo's rolling is much faster, and Chill Penguin's slide....slides more, props to making Chill Penguin more challenging.
unfortunately there's something about the hack I'm really mixed on, and that's the dopplegangers some Mavericks have during the Sigma Fortress stages. you see I'm a weird guy, I'm the type of person that plays X1 by collecting all the Armor Parts but skipping the other collectibles, as well as restricting myself to the Buster during the boss battles. the Storm Eagle doppleganger fight was surprisingly fun with the Buster, unfortunately I can't say the same about the other ones, especially Sting Chameleon that one was a bit of a pain especially with his invisibility mechanic affecting both of them at the same time. I was also surprised that Velguarder has one as well, isn't he supposed to be the warm-up before Sigma? I appreciate the Lv. 4 Charge Shot doing more than one damage to Wolf Sigma to compensate but now it deals too much damage to the point where it can kill him in just three shots, making the double doggys more difficult to deal with then the actual final boss. I'm kinda mixed on this mechanic in general like what is this, X Challenge? forgive me if this came across as rude, I just feel the dopplegangers a little unnecessary. outside of that the only other negatives are just personal nitpicks of mine (why is there a random Hoganmer at the beginning of the intro stage, why isn't X's theme Central Highway so the song doesn't go unused, why won't Zero be my friend), but I'm nowhere near a programmer so I understand that a hack like this requires a ton of work and time, I respect the craft.
for me I'd rate this hack four stars, but I don't want to ruin the 5.0 Avg. Rating it currently has so I'll just leave my rating blank. if you're itching to properly play as Zero in Mega Man X1, this hack is a must. shoutouts to CF for making this as well as Falchion22 and Programmer Peru for laying the groundwork. it'd be cool to see a future update but if we don't then it's all cool, would highly recommend playing
Zero is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, and at one point he was the favorite, not only that but I always wanted to play as him in X1, however the previous hacks that attempted to do this couldn't always get everything right, one not being able to implement Zero's hair and another using his X3 design even though Zero's not supposed to look like that yet, just a few examples so I'm happy to say that this hack finally perfects the Zero in X1 formula!
not only does Zero have his hair but his sprites actually match his X1 design (LET'S GOOOOO) and on top of that his Lv. 2 Z-Buster color is blue just like the one he shoots at Vile, while having a nice switcheroo with a green Lv. 3 Charge Shot. all the instances of X's UI have been properly replaced too: a Z on the health bar, Zero appearing in the opening and stage clear, the 1UP heads that look like Zero, also the silhouette during the ending cutscene is a nice touch, makes me wish the actual game did that. not only does all his sprites look natural, but so is all the new dialogue for this hack. not only is X still X but I appreciate that the Dr. Wily hologram doesn't go "haha I'm....LE EVIL!!!!" but instead is portrayed as a mysterious ally that might have more importance then you think. the new post-credits dialogue is also nice and might I say a better sequel hook than what the actual X1 does. gameplay wise Zero shoots a little higher and he can also jump higher, as well as deal more damage compared to X. Zero does use up more weapon ammo then X does but the Special Weapons in X1 are so good that it shouldn't matter too much. some of the bosses were also changed up a bit, for example Flame Mammoth's attacks have less breathing room, Armored Armadillo's rolling is much faster, and Chill Penguin's slide....slides more, props to making Chill Penguin more challenging.
unfortunately there's something about the hack I'm really mixed on, and that's the dopplegangers some Mavericks have during the Sigma Fortress stages. you see I'm a weird guy, I'm the type of person that plays X1 by collecting all the Armor Parts but skipping the other collectibles, as well as restricting myself to the Buster during the boss battles. the Storm Eagle doppleganger fight was surprisingly fun with the Buster, unfortunately I can't say the same about the other ones, especially Sting Chameleon that one was a bit of a pain especially with his invisibility mechanic affecting both of them at the same time. I was also surprised that Velguarder has one as well, isn't he supposed to be the warm-up before Sigma? I appreciate the Lv. 4 Charge Shot doing more than one damage to Wolf Sigma to compensate but now it deals too much damage to the point where it can kill him in just three shots, making the double doggys more difficult to deal with then the actual final boss. I'm kinda mixed on this mechanic in general like what is this, X Challenge? forgive me if this came across as rude, I just feel the dopplegangers a little unnecessary. outside of that the only other negatives are just personal nitpicks of mine (why is there a random Hoganmer at the beginning of the intro stage, why isn't X's theme Central Highway so the song doesn't go unused, why won't Zero be my friend), but I'm nowhere near a programmer so I understand that a hack like this requires a ton of work and time, I respect the craft.
for me I'd rate this hack four stars, but I don't want to ruin the 5.0 Avg. Rating it currently has so I'll just leave my rating blank. if you're itching to properly play as Zero in Mega Man X1, this hack is a must. shoutouts to CF for making this as well as Falchion22 and Programmer Peru for laying the groundwork. it'd be cool to see a future update but if we don't then it's all cool, would highly recommend playing