Mega Man Zero 2/Sand Wilderness

'It has been one year since Zero came back to life to fight for peace. He has helped Ciel, a human scientist, along with the Resistance, a group of Reploids falsely accused of being Mavericks, escape the reaches of Neo Arcadia's regime. Zero was forced to adjust to this new world, and has been constantly fighting ever since he defeated Copy X, a corrupt take of the original X. Copy X's protectors, the Four Guardians, have been reduced to three, with Phantom's misguided self-destruction in his attempt to stop Zero. Harpuia, the wisest of the Guardians, has stepped in to take Copy X's place as leader of Neo Arcadia.'

'Ever since these events, Zero has been endlessly wiping out the massive hordes of Pantheon troops advancing their way to the Resistance, forcing them to abandon their damaged base. Zero is hopelessly lost, having become extremely worn down from fighting for a full year. His weapons are broken, and his skills have diminished. He must find the Resistance, if he has any hope of surviving...'

As the game begins, you'll see a worn-out Zero fighting his way through a sandstorm, and be given a prologue of what has happened since the last game.

In a brief moment, the sandstorm clears up, but Zero is soon swamped by a massive horde of Pantheons coming his way. He tosses aside his tattered cloak and gets ready to fight, even in his weary state.

With that, the game has begun...

Sand Wilderness
You start out in the opening level with a worn-down version of the subscreen from the first game, right down to Zero's mugshot. It's no suprise that means most of the items you had are gone as well.

This intro stage is simplistic at best, but has a few dangers along the way. The controls are the same as before. Adjust them as you like, and get ready. You must start advancing right, as Pantheon Gunners are coming from behind, and they'll never stop. They won't shoot, but destroying them is meaningless, and even Zero is sick of it. It's time to make your move and get through the desert, and you only have a worn down Buster and Z-Saber at the ready, which means there's some leveling up to do before they can really do some damage.

The first strech ahead has a couple Pantheon Gunners ready to fire three shots at you, unlike the group coming up from behind. They can be easily destroyed, but then after getting past two, you'll approach a pair of Shabarollers. They have two spinning sections guarded by shields, which only let up to let them fire needles at you. Use your Z-Saber to damage them and get through. Destroy 3, and you'll get Cyber-Elf M-orina.

Next, there will be a few pits to jump over, which can be made easier by dash-jumping, but lead to instant death should you fall down them. However, be careful, as another new enemy, Shaball, appears several times. You can get hit if it rolls into you, or if you ignore it, it will open and fire spiked bombs from its pod. Cut through them before they get you and move on. Destroy 4, and you'll get Cyber-Elf Itemeter.

However, this is merely the start of your troubles. An old enemy is back to get you, with some new weaponry equipped...

Sub-Boss: Golem Type E
Right away, this intro stage kicks into real difficulty with the first sub-boss in the game, Golem Type E. It's a variant of the original you first faced, but has electric rods that fire three beams on each side. The sub-boss itself is simple; pay attention to the side that it's going to fire from, as that's the direction you need to dash to get away. The hard part is the timing. Golem Type E is unforgiving, and the damage it causes packs a wallop. Its hit box is a little awkward, so using the Z-Saber is risky. Charge up the Buster Shot Gun and fire at its upper chest to cause some damage. You can dash-jump if you seem to be missing it. Be careful taking this one down, because this is just the first one in your way.

After a few more pits, and a couple more Pantheons, you'll encounter a second Golem-Type E, this time with pits in the ground, making it much harder to dodge the shots from the Golem. Be careful and destroy it (make sure you're below solid ground when you do, as the controls lock up when it explodes), and you'll get Cyber-Elf Stoccum.

Dangerous Territory
As you keep going, you'll find yet another new enemy feeding off a dead Pantheon, Condoroid MK2. It's a nastier version of the old Condoroids from the first game. They are much more elusive, and sweep in much faster than the old ones. Disturbing it, or destroying the dead Pantheons they eat will make them mad in a heartbeat. Watch out and destroy them before they get you. Destroy 5, and you'll get Cyber-Elf Birwin. Beware of the pits, because the cliffs are getting sketchier. You'll find some piles of junk from scrapped troops have piled up all over. You can jump onto them and climb up, but be fast, because they are unstable and crumble as soon as you touch them. Just before another Shabaroller, make the junk crumble, drop down, and you'll find a Cyber Elf box with Cyber-Elf Arnue. There is also a Life Energy Capsule further along the way if you've taken a beating. Beware of the increasing dangers, and move on. Condoroid MK2's, Shaballs, and a few Pantheons are up ahead. Get through with caution, and you'll eventually make it to solid ground. But you're not out of harm's way yet. What's up ahead is even worse than the enemies you've seen...

As Zero finally reaches a clearing, a group of Pantheons is there to head him off. However, a gigantic, glowing pincer claw comes rocketing in from behind! Zero realizes it only a few seconds to jump over this sudden attack, which creams the Pantheons in front of him. As Zero looks from behind, a huge Mechaniloid beast emerges from crumbling ruins; Mega Scorpia.

Boss: Mega Scorpia
Mega Scorpia is the first boss of the game, a giant mechanical scorpion sent to destroy Zero. For an intro boss, it's fairly simplistic, but the monstrous Mechaniloid has some nasty tricks it can pull than can leave you on edge.

You'll have to keep up with a scroll, since this beast refuses to let you get away. Mega Scorpia's weak point is its head. You can damage it quite well with a charged Buster shot, but do massive damage with the Z-Saber. Its simplest attack is a round of three bullets from its smaller claw; simply dash-jump over the attacks. Mega Scorpia will ocassionaly stop, but only to lash out its tail, not just to hit you; it's strong enough to smash through the ground and leave you a pit you must jump over. The most brutal attack it has involves its fearsome pincer. A few clicks and an orange glow from it will signal that Mega Scorpia is getting ready to launch it. This requires a good-timed jump to avoid it, since it's oversized and you can get clipped by it while jumping. After Mega Scorpia launches it, you'll have to avoid it again as it returns. Mega Scorpia will also try to block your attacks with its pincer, but the more you hit it, the more it will be damaged, until it finally gets destroyed, stripping it of its pincer attack and allowing you to finish off this boss with ease.

Mission Report
After Mega Scorpia is wasted, you'll receive a Mission Report. Like the previous game, this happens any time you successfully accomplish a mission. There is no Cyber-Elf reward for beating a boss now, so the Mission Report appears immediately. You'll be graded on how complete your objective was, how fast you were, how many enemies you wiped out, the damage you took in battle, if you died and had to retry part of the mission, and for the use of Cyber-Elves. Since this is the first mission, you don't have to worry about an objective or Cyber-Elf penalties, unless you played the game before. How well your final total is affects your ranking. The ranks are S, A, B, C, D, E, and F, the worst being F, and the best being S, or Hero rank. Here is the list of where rankings fall:


 * S - 96 to 100
 * A - 86 to 95
 * B - 76 to 85
 * C - 66 to 75
 * D - 56 to 65
 * E - 46 to 55
 * F - 45 and under

There are repercussions to having ranks below A, as you'll find out later that bosses will see you as less of a threat. Your average score must total at least 86 points to acheive a solid A-Rank, and at least 96 for a solid S-Rank. Your final scores will be averaged and determine if your rank goes up or down in future missions. If you do well enough, you'll be rewarded later. Try to shoot for A-Rank or higher on this first mission, because this is the time to cement a high rank. Finally, you'll be given a code name depending on how you got through a mission, and the skills you used to get through. S-Rank code names are much more worthwhile, as you'll start off with Hero and work up to Reedeemer if you stay at S-Rank.

Along with this, you may unlock Forms if you accomplished a secret objective during a mission. See the list for more details.

A Difficult Choice
With Mega Scorpia gone, Zero realizes he's finally cleared out all the troops heading towards the Resistance Base, but has exhausted himself to the breaking point and lost everything, passing out in the desert. However, none other than Harpuia discovers him, riding a mindless copy of Aztec Falcon. Harpuia, given the choice to finish his enemy off, wonders if it is honorable to do so...