Mega Man Zero 2 - Neo Arcadia Train [Pacifist Run]
24In this pacifist run of the Neo Arcadia Train, Panter Flauclaws’ stage, Zero will deftly zip past all the enemies and hazards without laying waste to a single foe. In honor of his best friend’s more timid demeanor, I’ll be using the X Form throughout the stage. It’s thematically appropriate, and it serves a practical purpose during the boss fight as well.
The Neo Arcadia Train makes for an excellent choice for a pacifist run. Outside of the boss, there’s no mandatory combat. The stage flows nicely owing to its straightforward nature; there are only a few brief moments where you need to stop moving forward at all. The sense of speed is amplified by the motif of the stage; blitzing past everything on the speeding train is a visual treat, especially with the excellent parallax scrolling in the background.
One aspect to note is that, for this run, the train will be populated by groups of Pantheon Guardians. These enemies can be removed from the stage at the player’s discretion by tackling Phoenix Magnion first. In my opinion, it makes little sense to depopulate the stage, at least from an entertainment perspective. Sure, their presence does slow things down a tad, but the stage becomes both easier and duller without their presence. They’re not absurdly tricky to circumvent, but at least some thought and effort are required when they stand in your way. Plus, you get to watch them get eviscerated—not by Zero, but by the electrically connected arches that punctuate the train tracks.
The other major enemies to note are the Carryarms and Spikings. The latter is maligned by pretty much all players as the most annoying enemy in the first two games, mostly due to the meager amount of time you have to react to them rolling toward Zero. Here, you’ll encounter both varieties: those dropped from above by the Carryarms and ones that are already grounded. Memorizing their spawn points is your only reliable course of action, and in a fast-paced stage lacking any recognizable landmarks, the learning process is admittedly a bit tedious. Still, most of them aren’t too bad, but there are a few specific enemy groups worth discussing in detail.
The very first group of Pantheons is four-strong, and their placement precludes you from jumping over; wait for them to fall victim to an electric arch. Descending into the cabin below would be slower yet, thanks to a maliciously placed Spiking blocking a low ceiling. Zero’s only trip inside the train happens after the second set of Pantheons; leaping over them at the right time will avoid the hazard and place Zero neatly at the start of the cabin. The path above is unfortunately plagued by low-flying Carryarms. Their spawning patterns happen to be such that if you try avoiding one without slicing it apart by doubling back, you’ll just run into another one that manifests out of nowhere.
Climbing back up to the top demands a tricky wall jump over an incoming Spiking, at least if you’re trying to maintain speed. Another low-altitude Carryarm awaits ahead; walking forward for a bit will buy time for an electric arch to saw through the Spiking. The last noteworthy obstacle before the “miniboss” is another group of four Pantheons. These four are distant enough from each other that casually hopping between them is the answer. It may seem somewhat sluggish, but believe me, it’s far preferable to the Yadokroid-riddled hell that the bottom path comprises.
The stage’s miniboss becomes hilarious under these conditions. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a beverage as you watch the Carryarms do their work and take all the cargo. The fact that the key to this pacifist run is Zero acting negligently and abdicating his mission brings me no end of joy. I can imagine Elpizo furiously watching a monitor, screeching at Zero to cut the Carryarms down as they leisurely float away, all while Zero listlessly stands there. Of course, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity for a bit of taunting at the end there. Poor Elpizo; no wonder he went loony in his quest for power, putting up with stuff like this and his failed raid.
The question of how to approach bosses in a pacifist run is always an odd one. Brutally slicing Panter apart with the Z-Saber would be no good, given that the level itself requires no bloodshed whatsoever. The solution I came up with was to take a pseudo-minimalist approach and win using only uncharged Buster shots—this is the primary reason I chose X Form for this challenge. At 2 damage per shot, the battle becomes mildly taxing, yet it’s still speedy enough to grant full points on the time score, thus saving the fight from degrading into a pure slog. This approach, along with my usual inadvisable inclination to dance around a bit, lends the impression that Zero’s trying his best to avoid butchering Panter, which I feel captures the pacifist spirit well.
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed this run! Any comments or questions are welcome as usual.
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