Great game in all with an interesting new biometal system. It's just plain MegaMan fun!
The first difference fans may find in the game is that you can choose to be a boy or girl human. The story plots are different for said humans, but only in a few minor details. As a human you can avoid some robots, talk to other humans, and crawl under low ceilings and the like.
The realy new thing Capcom thew in was the Biometal system. At any time you can change into one of 5 robots (and 2 secret ones) that resemble a character from past MegaMan games. Each form is unique and will help you. You get half of a biometal from each of the 8 bosses you will fight. When you combine both halves, you can use your special moves that drain your special meter more requently and use a more powerful special move.
The bosses in the game range from normal dificulty to downright hard. In clasic MegaMan fasion, the player has to find the boss' pattern of attacks (and more importantly, how to dodge them) in order to properly defeat it. In theory, every boss can be defeated without a scratch on you, but that is highly unlikely. Each boss has a weak spot on them and some have an elemental weakness(Fire melts ice, Ice freezes Electric circuts, and Electricity...does something to Fire). But if you attack these points, you will have to "repair" the biometal fragment you recieve from the boss, but its not to big of a deal. The bosses also respawn after a little while, so you can go back and get a better boss fighting rank. (gloat material, i guess)
There is only one problem I got with this game. It is a free roaming world. Usually, that is a good thing, but in MegaMan ZX you will be spending half of your time trying to find the boss' stage. There is a map, but it only shows the places you've gone and it is not very accurate. So if you have a mission in area F and you've never stumbled apon it while looking for area E, G, or I, you have a problem. Though running around aimlessly you may find a good power up or colectable, it is just frustrating sometimes.
There is an easy, normal, and unlockable hard mode. To the casual gamer, easy mode is still rather chalanging. But to a MegaMan veterin, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Normal is hard, and hard is brutal! So you might want to play easy if you are new to the games. Besides dificulty, the main differences between easy and normal mode are boss patterns and moves and the two unlockable forms, so you might want to play normal if you are a fan of the game. Also there are differences between the two genders in regards to story plot, so there is a nice deal of replay value. To get through one story takes between 5-7 hours, depending on your ability to play the game successfully and on your luck at finding the area your mission is at.
In all it is a nice game that goes back to the good ol days of side-scrollers. Any old-school gamer, MegaMan fans, or anyone who enjoys a decently challenging game.