Mega Man ZX Advent
Year: 2007
Rating: E10+
Time Played: 410 minutes / 6.83 hours
One hallmark of the Mega Man franchise is the ability to absorb the powers of each boss and use them against other enemies. It’s interesting that in the decades of this franchise’s history that there have been so few opportunities to actually turn into these bosses. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t realize Mega Man ZX Advent was referencing the character introduced in Mega Man X7 until I was almost through playing the game. In a sense, this is the first game where you play as Axl the whole way through.
Story-wise, there’s nothing terribly interesting to write home about here, and the voice acting feels shrill from the DS speakers—both of which are made worse when you have to replay cutscenes near the endgame because you failed to pass the long gauntlet. Still, the draw here is the almost Metroidvania-like collection of boss abilities that help unlock other parts of the world and reward exploration with additional benefits. While there isn’t much benefit of playing as any of the bosses for an extended amount of time, the different control schema for each gives the game some variety.
Much of Mega Man ZX Advent is like its predecessor, Mega Man ZX, which was an evolution of the popular Mega Man Zero series. The controls are fairly tight and the platforming occasionally challenging. Combat takes some getting used to, but mostly in the same “memorize the boss movement and attack pattern” that comes with all Mega Man games. Ultimately, those who can master this game’s controls are rewarded with a challenging and full experience that builds on all the Mega Man games that came before it.
A fun Mega Man game where you actually play as the bosses, I give Mega Man ZX Advent 4.0 stars out of 5.
