Mega Man ZX[a] is a 2006 action-platform game developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS.
Part of the Mega Man franchise, ZX is set two hundred years after the events of the Mega Man Zero series, and revolves around the efforts of the protagonist to recover powerful ancient artifacts called "Biometals" from the Pseudoroids, evil robots made to harness their power.
The game was later re-released in February 2020 as part of the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.
In the year 25XX, humans and Reploids – sentient androids initially created by Dr. Cain prior to Mega Man X – now coexist peacefully, successfully restoring Earth's former nations thanks to the technological efforts of Slither Inc.
A decade prior to the beginning of the story, Vent or Aile (depending on what gender the player chooses) loses his/her mother to a Maverick raid on an amusement park and becomes orphaned.
Vent/Aile suddenly reverts to human due to the realization that the hatred of the Mavericks that he/she has kept inside his/her heart is the last thing needed to unleash Model W's full power, thus resulting in his/her temporary defeat.
However, after gaining courage from the Biometals, he/she merges into Mega Man ZX and challenges Serpent to a final battle.
The game also adds metroidvania concepts into the level design, with more exploration elements than the main Mega Man series.
Additionally nine extra bosses from the Zero series appear as hidden bosses, Omega from Mega Man Zero 3, alongside eight "Mutos Reploids", with four each from both Zero 3 (Blazin' Flizard, Childre Inarabitta, Hellbat Schilt, and Deathtanz Mantisk) and Mega Man Zero 4, (Pegasolta Eclair, Sol Titanion, Fenri Lunaedge, and Noble Mandrago) where the Mutos Reploid bosses each occupy a hidden four-boss transporter room which is only accessed by inserting the GBA cartridge of either game into the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite GBA slot to fight the four from that respective game.
For the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection release, the gameplay had received some minor updates, where the previous dual-screen features were placed in a small support screen which is positioned based on the setting the player chooses[17] and the feature for unlocking the Mutos Reploids is now performed by a new Link Mode located in the main menu when accessing this game allows the player to face them by selecting either the Zero 3 or Zero 4 link to face against the 4 bosses from that respective game.
[18] News of a Mega Man game for the Nintendo DS first appeared on GameSpot, January 2006[19] on the same day that Capcom created an official teaser site.
The album consists of 2 Discs called Aile and Vent, named after the hero and the heroine of the game, and it is 131:37 minutes long.