What happens when you take a good game and then just make more of it while also expanding on the combat AND ironing out the flaws? You get a fucking awesome sequel.

The game kicks off after the events of Zero 1, and you're greeted by such a banger off the rip in one of the best intro sections in any Megaman title.
Not long after, you get to the new Resistance base and you're greeted by one of my favorite characters of all time, motherfucking ELPIZO!! Boasting an awesome design and interesting motivations, he is such a good icon that represents how Zero differs from both the X and OG series. Of course you also reunite with Ciel and then you're thrown right back into the classic mission-style stages of Megaman Zero.
One thing I do like about how the stages are set up in Zero 2 compared to Zero 1 is that you're given the portrait of the boss you're going to fight, which does kind of go back to the series' select the robot master roots. Granted, I still like the idea that there's much more motivation for defeating each Robot Master beyond "they're being controlled by Dr. Wily!" or "they've gone Maverick!". In Zero, you're given reasons like "we need to secure the factory for supplies!" or "we have to shut down their information systems!", it really sells the idea that you're an underground rebellion trying to take down Neo-Arcadia.

I think I should mention the two new weapons.
Firstly, you've got the Chain Rod. It acts as a sort of grappling hook that can also act as a longer-range melee option. In my opinion, this is the better of the two additions; it is SO much fun experimenting where you can go. I would often climb cliffs and find Cyber-elves, which felt like the game congratulating me for exploring. Always nice when a game rewards you for exploring.
Next, you have the Shield Boomerang. This one felt a little less exciting. You can hold it out and it acts as a """shield""", and if you charge it, you can throw it. Notice how I said """shield"""? Well, that's because it RARELY works as a shield. Most projectiles you want to actually shield just go right through it and hit you anyway. It feels like the game is punishing you for using it, which is weird. I only found ONE portion of the game where it was useful, which is a massive shame.
With the addition of new weapons, we also got the addition of new suits and EX moves.
The new suits alter some of your stats like attack, defense, and speed; they're neat and are generally just nice additions (but I only used them for cosmetic purposes rather than for their benefits LMAO).
EX moves on the other hand are great. A lot of them feel like great additions to Zero's moveset (my favorite being the rising slash I got from the Phoenix boss). I think the one big downside to these is that you have to have an A rank when you kill the boss, and I think that's really punishing because it factors speed into the ranking system; meaning that you're punished for taking your time exploring the map and you're locked out of getting the EX move. Granted, you can use one of the A- Cyber-elves, but there's more stages than Cyber-elves and you're bound to miss some on a first playthrough.

Overall? The game is just an improvement of Megaman Zero, an already great game! Seriously, the stage design feels so much more open and dynamic, the elemental chips do a lot more in this game, and can I mention the music? Seriously, for being on the GBA, this is awesome!

Colorblindness Rating: A
Same as the first game, all's good in this game.
I wanted to make a comment on how the charging can be a little odd, but it's less of a color thing and more of a feel thing, especially since weapon upgrades make charging faster and there's also Cyber-elves that make charging faster.

Huge step up from the last game in almost every regard. The map and game design is on the whole less frustrating, going through a level feels fluid rather than sluggish. The new tools to play with such as EX Skills, Forms, are a welcome addition though the requirements for unlocking are a bit too harsh. Bosses are fun but I feel as though they weren't as tightly designed as the first game. Cyber Elves no longer being missable, along with being easier to upgrade is a great change, and makes the game feel less punishing overall, though I can't say I'm a fan of the penalty for using them. The plot has a much more interesting conflict and villain, but once again it isn't as fleshed out as it could have been which was disappointing. The art is top notch as always, and the music is even better than the previous games. Overall this game is better in pretty much every single regard, and I had a blast playing through it.

I wanted to write a detailed review about this game, but "GT" went to the character limit, and excluded my words (this company is on my blacklist along with Keiji Inafune), but I'm going to give a nice summary in questions.

Is it one of the worst games in the saga? Yes

Is it one of the worst games I've ever played? No

Is the game known for having really bad level design? For sure

Is he unplayable? No

Did I have fun after screwing up the game's rule of using the saber instead of using the buster with the quick charge cheat? Yes

Do I hate this game like some must? No

Is this game bad? X6 level, it's bad, but if you play another way it becomes a little more fun

Do I recommend this game? So, if you want to know the Zero saga; maybe (but I recommend playing buster with a quick charge cheat), but you might not like it either, it's a very controversial game like X6, but unlike X6, the story matters and I found it much more interesting than Mega Man Zero 1 ( In fact, I found the game more fun than the first), so if you care about the lore, do what I said, but if you just want to play a good game in this saga, maybe 3 and 4 (I haven't been much yet in depth on these two, but they say they are better than 1 and 2), but it's that thing, maybe you miss an event from the previous games, do it at your own risk.

Es una mejora en casi todo aspecto del primero.

Empezando con el diseño de niveles, este mejoro mucho al aprovechar de mejor manera las armas y elementos, por ejemplo, al usar el elemento de hielo para congelar algunos bloques de fuego, usar el de fuego para quemar árboles y encontrar objetos ocultos, o con el simple hecho de que ahora con la nueva mejora del Chain Rod puedas columpiarte libremente. Sigue teniendo algunas partes tediosas como la de empujar enemigos que explotan, pero no llegan a niveles como el de la fábrica del Zero 1.

Ahora el sistema de misiones fue sustituido por uno más clásico, en el que debes elegir entre 4 jefes para luego ir a una misión intermedia y posteriormente, enfrentarte a otros 4, lo considero mejor ya que ahora no permite saltarte los elementos como podía pasar en el primero.

Ahora también podras adquirir nuevas mejoras, las cuales son las formas y las Ex Skills. Las primeras se obtienen al cumplir ciertos requisitos en un nivel y las otras al iniciar con un rango A o superior alguna misión. En cuanto a las formas, me parece una buena forma de variar el gameplay, aunque no me convence que tengas que realizar acciones repetidas en algunas. Y en cuanto a las EX Skills, me parece perfecto para incentivar al jugador para mejorar, además de no ser necesarias para el juego y poder usar un ciber elfo para ir directo a un rango A para obtener algunos.

Hablando de los Ciber Elfos, este juego también arregla mucho el tema del farmeo, ya que ahora a todos los Ciber Elfos le hicieron un nerfeo gigante en cuanto a los cristales que necesitas. A tal punto que para tener los que necesitas basta con jugar el juego de forma normal. Además de que con las armas se aplica esto último también.

Ya por último, la historia me pareció muy buena, no es tan interesante a nivel de Lore como el primero, pero me parece que está tiene un mejor desarrollo.

Asi que en conclusión, si no les convenció el primer juego, les recomiendo ampliamente este, es una mejora descomunal al primero y, para mi, un muy buen juego en general.

I don't know how anyone can make a departure look cool, but Zero finds a way. Mega Man Zero 2; a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still fumbles in certain areas. Weapon grinding has been reduced, the bosses are fun to fight against, the music is far more memorable than the first, and the levels are decently well designed... in the first half because the second half has its fair share of moments. Screen crunch is still prevalent throughout Zero 2, as enemies sometimes pop up out of nowhere, giving you little time to react like with the robot fishes at the beginning of Poler Kamrous' stage and those damn spike balls that can be found in multiple areas.

Zero has access to multiple forms in this game allowing him to perform certain abilities while playing through missions. These are unlocked by doing various things like defeating 50 enemies in a mission to obtain the X Form for example, that increases the damage of the Buster Shot and can fire more bullets at a time. These forms vary in power, defense, and speed; encouraging replayability in New Game+ playthroughs as each has distinct strengths and weaknesses. I can sort of say the same thing with the EX Skills, but these require getting an A or S Rank when clearing levels for the first time. At least the ranking system has a purpose rather than just bragging rights, but I don't think it's something you should worry about in your first playthrough. If you're curious, try getting at least a few skills to help you out like I have, but the basic sword slashing and elemental weaknesses are more than enough.

In exchange for the Triple Rod, we have the Chain Rod. Great as a weapon, but not great as a grappling hook. It feels unintuitive as the hitbox for this thing is utterly bizarre, leading to occasional moments where the rod should've clung onto ceilings, but didn't register for some ungodly reason. It's even worse when the game requires you to use it to reach across spikes and bottomless pits like in the final level, so I had to execute this cautiously. If this had some fine-tuning, I'm sure the Chain Rod would've been a worthy replacement, but it was more of a mixed bag than anything. The same thing applies to Elpizo; the main antagonist of Zero 2. He has decent motivations, but found him to be utterly predictable given his antagonistic nature and cocky demeanor toward Zero in the beginning; so I didn't feel anything toward the end when we encounter him. His fight is cool though, and I do love his voice lines, so that's some praise I could give.

There's not much more for me to say about Mega Man Zero 2. It ameliorates some things that were present in the first game, but at the same time, created its own set of problems that could've been fixed with minor adjustments, but I still enjoyed it for what it is.

Final Codename: Wounded Warrior