The ZX Series

We've finally left the last generation of consoles behind for good and now are up to the current generation. Following up the Game Boy Advance's Mega Man Zero series is the Nintendo DS's Mega Man ZX series. 200 years or so into the future Reploids and humans have put together some ground rules. Reploids have to have life spans around 100 years or so, and humans are going to start integrating mechanical parts into their bodies so the distinguishing features between reploids and humans are going to start to blend a bit. You can still tell if a person is a reploid or not by a little mark on their forehead, but the difference between the to groups is virtually negligible.

Mega Man ZX is a very transitional series with the real intention behind it to tie Legends back to the main series. You have the seeds planted in Zero, and they are nurtured in ZX. We're going to find out where the Mega Men Units come from and we'll start to grasp how carbons came to be.

The series has had two antagonist per game, and all of them different people. The way the game goes is one of the characters will get a hold of a Biometal, which contains the soul data of the past heroes (X, Zero, the guardians). The biometals have the ability to merge with someone to take on the form of one of those heroes, as well as some unique ability they each possess. When merging with a Biometal, known as MEGA Merging, weapons will appear in the characters hands, they'll be able to dash and jump higher and the like.

As far as gameplay goes, it's very similar to the Zero series with a few extras mechanics and a more open world. Players have different forms to make use of at different times and they have their intended uses (although a lot of them aren't very good), and the series has some of the best music of the franchise hands down.

There's only two games in the series and so far no news on a third. I doubt the series is dead in the water, but Inti Creates got distracted with the new Mega Man 9 game and they're making some remix albums at the moment. I've said repeatedly that title for title Zero is the best series in the franchise, but that's only because this series is just starting. Hopefully we'll see a new game in this line very soon.