Mega Man Zero 4, known in Japan as Rockman Zero4 (ロックマンゼロ４ Rokkuman Zero Fō), is the fourth and final game in the Mega Man Zero series for the Game Boy Advance. It was released on April 21, 2005 and was made by Capcom and Inti Creates.
The gameplay remains the same as that of its predecessors: Zero must navigate through difficult obstacles while fighting Mavericks.
The customization system from Mega Man Zero 3 returns in a more complex, detailed form. Players can still mix and match different chips for Zero's body to modify and improve his abilities; however, instead of obtaining completed chips from bosses, Zero must instead create chips using parts dropped by enemies. The Elemental Chips, a mainstay of the series and technically a part of this system, are omitted. If two to four parts are incorrectly mixed together, a Junk part is created, which has no apparent use other than to make the "Junk Armor". In turn, when all pieces of the "Junk Armor" are equipped and the Cyber-elf is deactivated, Zero's attack power will drastically increase in exchange for halving Zero's defense (simulating the Proto Form from previous games).
Zero does not gain any new main weapons during the course of the game. This time, he starts out with the Z-Saber and Buster Shot again, along with a new weapon, the Zero Knuckle, a powerful weapon chip implanted in Zero's arm that allows him to punch enemies with incredible physical force. In addition, when Zero defeats an enemy with the Zero Knuckle, he can steal that enemy's weapon and use it as his own, though he can also toss it away if the player wants to discard it or the weapon runs out of ammo.
The Cyber-elf system is simplified this time. as Zero uses just one, but very powerful, upgradable Cyber-elf named Croire (the default name is given by Alouette; the player can choose another name by talking to Resistance members). Depending on the name, her development will differ. This Cyber-elf can be upgraded by feeding her Energy Crystals. The player may choose to talk to her for encouragement or hints at item recipes. In addition, the use of the Cyber-elf no longer penalizes the player for its usage, except for when Croire's total level is set above that of the current max level. Though akin to a Satellite Elf, this one mimics abilities of other elves, allowing her to augment Zero's abilities of the Hacker, Nurse and Animal kind.
New to the series is a Weather System that affects the stages that Zero travels through. Depending on the weather, the terrain can be affected in a number of ways, such as removing, obscuring, or adding new obstacles. Stages that have a flashing border indicate a harder experience, whilst non-flashing ones will be easier. This can be changed right before the mission briefing. Playing on a harder stage may amplify the boss's strength as well as grant them the use of their EX Skill. Instead of finishing at S or A rank like previous games, completion of a stage in its harder form will grant Zero an EX Skill, while easier ones will not, and will also result in a penalty at the end of a mission.
A new Easy Mode is exclusive to this game. Energy Crystals are non-existent, and Croire starts out at Max Lv. 15 with Lv. 5 abilities, but cannot level up any further. In addition, all stages are automatically set to 'Easy', thus no EX-Skills can be obtained. Lastly, instant death hazards are weakened (for example, Spikes and lava only damage Zero slightly, and the player cannot die from falling off screen, as Zero will simply float back up).
The game also has a Hard Mode, but it is now integrated into the options of gameplay when unlocked, instead of holding "L" while starting a new game. In this mode, Zero starts out with a color similar to his "Black Armor", Croire is still available, though she cannot be raised, and all stages are automatically set to 'Hard', forcing the player to enter each stage in bad weather, even though EX Skills cannot be learned.
Ultimate Mode can be unlocked by collecting all enemy parts in the game and fully upgrading Croire. In this mode, the player can utilize all of Croire's abilities right from the start, and without any penalties. Again, this can be unlocked as a gameplay option, and the player does not need to hold "R" when starting a new game.
Like the previous game, there are also seven minigames that can be unlocked once certain criteria are met. They are as follows:
Most of the mini-games involve Zero's Z-Knuckle and the weapons it acquires.
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