SloppyDoughnuts fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Mar 24, 2017

EponymousMrYar fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Mar 24, 2017

• Zero 1 has a ranking system, checked on a per-stage basis, but doesn't do anything with it besides sneering at you if you can't hit its harsh requirements (like not using any Cyber Elves, the only source of permanent power-ups in the game). Basically, you're graded on completing mission tasks/not being slow/killing a bunch of enemies/damage taken/not dying/not using Cyber Elves. 96+ out of 100 gets you an S rank, 86-95 gets you an A rank, and so on down to F rank at 45-.
  
• Zero 2 uses nearly the same ranking system (thresholds for losing points due to damage are more lenient), but that game actually uses it to gate special attacks. You don't need to hit an S rank to get a special attack from a boss, but hitting an A rank is still tricky if you're not abusing your limited supply of Cyber Elves that outright give you an A rank in a stage.
  
• Zero 3 uses a similar ranking system and ability gating to Zero 2, but the damage thresholds are more lenient still. And in addition, two things make getting A ranks relatively easy. First, your rank is determined based on your average score across all stages you've done thus far, so as long as you're not being consistently bad you can probably do well. (The opening stage is pretty easy to get 95+ points in, for instance.) Second, you can turn permanent Cyber Elves into Satellite Elves and use two of those at a time, allowing you to get their effects without getting penalized for interacting with one of the major systems in the game. (This sort of thing is part of why I laugh at people who say that Zero 2 is the best in the series.) You do get -5 points if you enter Cyber Space (which turns a stage into easy mode by equipping you with all your permanent Cyber Elves at once), but at least that's a one-time penalty. The only point to getting S ranks is to unlock a few minigames, but to be frank those are just for bragging rights.
  
• Zero 4 uses a similar ranking system to 3, but in that game you only have one Cyber Elf. So instead of getting points for not using Cyber Elves and then slowly losing them as you use more (except Zero 3's Satellite Elves), you instead get negative points if your one Cyber Elf has more points invested than its stated capacity (which increases by 1 for each main-stage boss you've defeated). To compensate for this, you instead get more starting points for damage taken and get 10 points to your ranking if you enter a stage on its harder mode (which oscillates every time you enter a stage, even the opening ones, to allow for easy selection). It's clunkier than Zero 3's design, but at least it's not actively telling you to Git Gud like Zero 1 and 2.

NGDBSS fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Apr 12, 2017

Highwang fucked around with this message at 18:19 on May 9, 2017