Blank Drive
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| Zero with the Blank Drive (and Cutter Chip) equipped. (Artwork by Spin Attaxx) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Blank Drive is one of Zero's weapons in Make a Good Mega Man Level: Episode Zero, received from Dr. Hyde after defeating SRARA Up n' Down in Mega City. The Blank Drive is unique in that an elemental chip needs to be equipped to use it, and it will do nothing without one. Unlike the other three weapons, which all gain different attributes with different chips but work the same regardless, the Blank Drive's attack (and how much ammunition it uses) completely changes depending on the chip equipped. However, all Blank Drive variants share the same pool of ammunition.
Each Blank Drive variant has its own name, as relayed by Dr. Hyde when calling her on the Z-Phone with the Blank Drive equipped, but they're colloquially referred to as "[chip name] Drive" among players.
Contents
Blank Drive variants
Cutter Chip
The Cutter Drive (called the "Mikatsukikurossuki" by Dr. Hyde) creates four cutters that travel a short distance out in a circle before boomeranging back to Zero, similarly to the charged Boomerang Cutter in Mega Man X. The cutters are able to pierce enemy shields, and their wide radius makes it ideal for quickly clearing Zero's surroundings. Against enemies with no damage values for the Cutter Chip, it does 2 points of damage by default.
Flame Chip
The Flame Drive (or "Akumanohide") works like the Blazing Torch from Mega Man 11. With it, Zero shoots a fire core diagonally up in the air, which stops and sends a large spread of fireballs out across a roughly 90° area. These fireballs create explosions after hitting a target, and leave a trail of flames as they travel; the trail does 1/4 of the damage the fireballs themselves deal. If the initial fire core hits a target before stopping, it will be destroyed without creating any fireballs. Both the fire core and the fireballs do 1 point of damage to enemies, unless they have special damage values for the Flame Chip.
Icicle Chip
The Icicle Drive (or "Kesshowa") creates a shield of icicles around Zero, protecting him from projectiles and most other hazards. The shield can take up to eight hits before dissipating, with a sound cue playing on the last three as a warning that the durability is almost up. With each hit, the Blank Drive's energy decreases by one bar. Once the shield dissipates, Zero is given a few frames of invincibility. When used in water, Zero will float up to the surface. By default, the shield does 1 point of damage to enemies.
Zap Chip
The Zap Drive (or "Inazumakeiei") functions similarly to Mega Man 11's Scramble Thunder, with it shooting a giant ball of electricity that splits into two ground-crawling bolts. However, the bolts remain the same size, and are capable of piercing shields. Any enemy hit by the sparks will be briefly paralysed akin to the Spark Shock. Normally, the initial shot is fired downwards, but it can also be fired upwards to hit enemies on or near ceilings. The Zap Drive does 2 points of damage by default.
Psycho Chip
The Psycho Drive (or "Kurotsukiwa") shoots three large shots of slow-moving psychic energy that home in on enemies. These shots penetrate enemies that are killed by them, making it very useful for rooms filled with lots of weak enemies. If a shot doesn't kill an enemy, however, then the shot is destroyed. The longer the shots remain on screen, the less time they take to turn around when detecting an enemy. By default, the Psycho Drive does 2 points of damage to enemies.
Giga Crush
The Giga Crush is an unlockable feature of the Blank Drive, and is the strongest weapon in the entire game. To unlock it, Zero needs to collect every single elemental chip, defeat the five Golems and collect their chip efficiency upgrades, then talk to Dr. Hyde in Mega City. With it, the Blank Drive is able to attack without having a chip equipped, releasing a powerful screen-wide explosion that instantly kills all enemies and minibosses onscreen. The power of the Giga Crush is mitigated by its ammo usage, with one use using up half a full bar of energy. Against bosses, it tends to be much less effective, but on average a single Giga Crush can wipe off 1/4 of a boss's healthbar.
When using the Giga Crush, Zero will briefly change his form depending on his current costume; the default "Hasty" costume turns him into Zero Soul, the Original costume turns him into Absolute Zero from Mega Man X: Command Mission, and the Hooded costume shines a pair of red eyes from underneath the hood.
When playing as Fake Zero, the Giga Crush is activated by holding down while using the Blank Drive.
Notes
- The sound made when using the Giga Crush is lifted from the Mike ability found in the Kirby series, itself a powerful screen-clearing attack.
- The Blank Drive is the only weapon in MaGMML: Episode Zero not to have a Destroyable Block associated with it appear in-game, almost certainly because the default Blank Drive did nothing in the devkit.
- In the devkit for MaGMML: Episode Zero, the Icicle Drive rendered Zero immune to spikes; however, no levels made use of this, and the spike immunity was removed in the final game.
