Playing through as an adult via the Mega Man Zero/ZX collection on Switch.
MMZ 2 takes all of the excellent gameplay that the 1st entry had, but improves upon a lot of the issues that it has, though it does compound some as well.
The level design in 2 is much more exciting and interesting, possibly because they removed the inter-connected world that was a cool concept but completely under-utilized. The game also feels more balanced, with enemies and bosses still posing a threat but not doing an unfair amount of damage. The biggest improvement is with the cyber elf system. Cyber elves take much fewer crystals to raise in this one, requiring much less grinding!
Unfortunately, the rating system persists in much the same way, punishing you for using the cyber elves that the game encourages you to find. What's worse, the game has added EX Skills that you can get from beating bosses like classic Mega Man, but you only get them if you're at an A rank. That's so lame! So in order to get these skills you have to consistently speed through levels without dying and not use any elves. You're also penalized on your next mission even if you use an upgrade elf between missions! I still really do not like the ratings.
Another very welcome addition is the different forms. While very few of them end up being all that useful, everyone loves unlocking new stuff and dressing up your character in different outfits (or in this case, color schemes). I enjoyed unlocking all of them and particularly appreciated the Energy form which makes enemies drop more energy crystals. Though, funnily enough, there must be a translation error because the description makes it sound like they drop more HP refills, not EC.
The story continues to be one of the most interesting in the series, and I was very sad when a certain character was killed at the end.
All in all, MMZ 2 is a big improvement over the first game, which is already very fun. So we're just moving up in the world. On to number 3!
MMZ 2 takes all of the excellent gameplay that the 1st entry had, but improves upon a lot of the issues that it has, though it does compound some as well.
The level design in 2 is much more exciting and interesting, possibly because they removed the inter-connected world that was a cool concept but completely under-utilized. The game also feels more balanced, with enemies and bosses still posing a threat but not doing an unfair amount of damage. The biggest improvement is with the cyber elf system. Cyber elves take much fewer crystals to raise in this one, requiring much less grinding!
Unfortunately, the rating system persists in much the same way, punishing you for using the cyber elves that the game encourages you to find. What's worse, the game has added EX Skills that you can get from beating bosses like classic Mega Man, but you only get them if you're at an A rank. That's so lame! So in order to get these skills you have to consistently speed through levels without dying and not use any elves. You're also penalized on your next mission even if you use an upgrade elf between missions! I still really do not like the ratings.
Another very welcome addition is the different forms. While very few of them end up being all that useful, everyone loves unlocking new stuff and dressing up your character in different outfits (or in this case, color schemes). I enjoyed unlocking all of them and particularly appreciated the Energy form which makes enemies drop more energy crystals. Though, funnily enough, there must be a translation error because the description makes it sound like they drop more HP refills, not EC.
The story continues to be one of the most interesting in the series, and I was very sad when a certain character was killed at the end.
All in all, MMZ 2 is a big improvement over the first game, which is already very fun. So we're just moving up in the world. On to number 3!