Mega Man Zero 4 (Game Boy Advance) review "When did Ciel learn to drive?"

It would be easy to suppose that someone hit the hard limit on their Return-On-Investment quota, but as a creator who has never banked on the profitability of his craft, that’s not something to which I can relate. The gaming industry is a harsh mistress, mister or whatever you want to call it. Most fans regard this title as an artificial end point to the deeply lore driven narrative for which we had been yearning for decades.

We can easily see that INTI Creates themselves are fans, especially with the games they’ve worked on since and the parallels to this and the original series they’ve been peddling on their own terms. Passion projects all. The build up of this complicated story is evidence that the developers had planned for a fifth instalment, which we were never to get.

In reality, stories abruptly end without a satisfying conclusion every minute of every day, but fiction affords us a chance to provide conclusive resolution and rationality to the existence of the characters and events in which we become so personally invested. The unique interactivity of video games provides an opportunity for us to contribute our own effort toward the outcome of the story, regardless of its complexity. In this case, it is natural to feel robbed when the promise or potential we see is not realized, or realized to our satisfaction.

It was a big risk for INTI Creates to concentrate so much energy, effort and money into world building an otherwise touch and go franchise. Mega Man’s legacy is primarily “jump’n’shoot” and “lemons of death” which means most players don’t become emotionally involved in the scenario. The villain of the moment is behind bars, or dead, or an alien, or whatever. Dr. Weil does not do business so tidily, however.

The intro stage of this game is more involved and complicated than any in the history of Mega Man Zero. We have a prologue scroll that informs us about the nature of Reploids, their purpose as allies and partners of humanity, and the perversion of that purpose. Mavericks conflict with humanity and thus humans pit Reploids against their own kind in a war that decimates nearly all living things on Earth.

One refuge is made for humans, the utopian Neo Arcadia, until Zero, in his exploits with the Resistance lead by Dr. Ciel, eliminates their leader. Dr. Weil, exiled from Neo Arcadia many years ago, returns and assumes leadership. It is here that the action proceeds, with anyone who opposes Dr. Weil being forced to flee their beloved home.

We join the action in a truck and caravan chase, no less, putting on display the powerhouse of coding that INTI Creates has achieved since the humble beginnings of soldiers on a desperate foot race for our titular hero, Zero. A number of Reploids swarm a doomed caravan of trucks, until our hero arrives and destroys them all.

As the player, this is where you step in, after Zero has leapt dramatically from the truck that Ciel drives. When did she develop these skills? And when did Zero master what looks like a crotch grab? They don’t call it that? It’s called “Zero Knuckle”? What do you mean he’s finally stealing enemy abilities?

It’s difficult to avoid the impression that INTI Creates rolled two games into one, having learned that they wouldn’t have a sequel in which to gradually implement their ideas. We shouldn’t be too surprised to see that they decide to boldly go instead, dropping the entire roster of level boss baddies right on your lap upon successful rescue of the humans.

The translation is leagues better than anything we’ve experienced in this series so far, but harsh dialogue conflicts with smiling and friendly looking character portraits, muddying the visual novel lite approach to storytelling. The story is even more of a mixed bag than usual and the plot holes are even more gaping in the rushed together development. I couldn’t tell you if it actually was, but that’s the impression I get.

As it works out, there is only one haven of nature left, “Area Zero” (c’mon…) and the Neo Arcadian refugees make the mistake of telling the Reploids they don’t trust their destination. Neige, a world travelled reporter is better informed than that, fortunately. Wait. Wasn’t the world ruined with just one safe place to be? It looks like the world-building hasn’t quite kept pace with the story they intended to tell. Rats!

Like I wrote. Plot holes. Gaping ones, but let’s not think too hard about all of this. With any hope we’ll get some answers as we play through. That’s your journey and beyond the purview of this review. The promise is unfulfilled because of the questions raised, not because they didn’t try hard to make things clear on the way down. That’s a reference for those who know.

As game mechanics go, the familiar elements are all present for role call: Eight bosses and a new lead villain serving under Dr. Wiel, though that gets complicated with other relationships on the hoof, as you’ll learn. You have three weapons to work with and nothing more. The buster gun, recoiling for no apparent good reason other than looking cool; the ever reliable Z Saber and its elemental functionality; and finally the aforementioned crotch grab Zero Knuckle. Yeah, I know, the enemies that give up weapons aren’t humaniform.

The Elves make a grand return and this time no one has to die! Yay! Like, really. They’re like babies and all so darned cute, and then there’s the issue of raising them…boy is this a brutalist series. Moving on, having completed the introduction level and its many scenes, not cutscenes, you’re introduced to an Elf that will give you all the abilities that found chips will not. I mean seriously, Frog leg chip? Anyway, she resides on a satellite, an expansion of the previous title’s mechanic, and will grow and enhance Zero as she does. You can even adjust what bonuses she will give you, within given limitations.

Pretty freaking cool. There are so many excellent ideas in this game that it’s easy to see how they were expanded in their homegrown series, now as many installments long as they want it to be. Freedom! Speaking of freedom, while you’re in the business of protecting the Neo Arcadian refugees, you’ll be hunting down those eight bosses who were itching to rip Zero to pieces in the introduction.

Talk about intense! The pace of this game does not let up for a second, and with so many inventive level gimmicks and ideas to overcome, this truly is a masterpiece of game design. The music approaches a cinematic quality, presenting character themes and hard rocking action tunes that push the tone very hard and set a dramatic stage. It’s the best the GBA has sounded this side of the Nintendo DS.

While the ending of this game was definitely less than we hoped for, it doesn’t hold back for a single moment. Knowing this was the last hurrah of this series, INTI Creates gave better than they got, referring to the enthusiastic response from the fanbase. Each game in this series has a high average rating, which is more than the three dimension games can claim even with rose tinted glasses.

This four game rollercoaster stands out as the pinnacle of story driven game design in the gritty, wartorn future of a world populated with Reploids. Perhaps other series did it better, but I dare you to find a series that is as bold as this one in its setting. Wartime stories are a popular fixture of human culture, since we’ve experienced so much of it, historically speaking. How much of the sudden stop was caused by the proximity to real world events? It wouldn’t be the first time that such a story got too close to the sun and the wax melted, predicting its tumultuous descent and demise.

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Community review by hastypixels (September 14, 2025) Retro, and moreso all the time.