Our good buddy Zero is back in the third installment of his own series that involves no sharing of the proverbial spotlight with his pal X. I always liked playing as Zero in Mega Man X4, so I was happy to see him starring in his own Game Boy Advance line. Somewhere along the line he went through a wardrobe change, but I suppose that really doesn’t have anything to do with the game. I just liked his old armor set better.

The story is pretty much a continuation of the two previous Zero games, but there is enough of a set-up when you start a new game that you don’t miss out on too much if you haven’t played the other two already. This game also continues the trend of upgrading Zero with Cyber Elves. Is it just me, or do Cyber Elves sound like a Christmas experiment gone horribly wrong? There are several weapons you can gain for Zero besides the pistol and trademark sword he starts with. One feature I find particularly nifty is the ability to set one weapon to the B button, and a secondary one that can be activated with B when you also hold R. It reduces the need to open and close the menus as much as usual in a Mega Man game.

The gameplay is the all-familiar Mega Man formula. The game is all about trial and error. You have a selection of stages, each with a mid-boss and an end boss. You have to find which of the bosses are easiest to defeat with your standard weapon set, and then find the one that you can easily take down with the new weapon or power you collected off the previously defeated boss. There is a story tie-in before you start each level, as well as a short intermission somewhere in the middle of the stage as well. These are nice and help you feel like you are involved, and not just destroying every robot you come across for the fun of it. Although, when it comes down to it, all the levels have the same objectives. They might tell you at the start that this mission is a recon, or counter attack, but they are all really just search and destroy, and all play the same way through.

And before you ask, the answer is “Of course not!” You still cannot crouch. You have never been able to in a Mega Man game, and you probably never will be able to. With that said, the controls are exactly what you would expect. The standard running, dashing, and attacking hasn’t really changed at all. That isn’t bad though, as Mega Man games have always had very tight controls. There is just nothing new about it. Nothing new also sums up the graphics and sounds. They are nice, but nothing spectacular. They get the job done, and at least they are not a step backwards.

If you are interested in giving this game a shot, then be warned. This game is tough. It’s nothing impossible, but it will require you to be involved enough to memorize each stage from start to finish or else you will die. I think fans of the series that are already into the story will be able to jump right into it, as they will already have developed the patience required to enjoy this kind of game. Still, there is plenty of hardcore action here to satisfy non-Zero fanboys as long as they come prepared for a challenge.