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Wow, what a complex hack.

EACH LEVEL is a kind of puzzle. Some are for reaction, some for attentiveness, and somewhere you just need to be faster.

There are peculiar, but interesting abilities here. That's where the beginnings of "secondary abilities" come from, except for the main ones. This clearly shows the Wood Man shield. In addition to the shield, the Accelerated Running function appears. Or the Flash Mаn ability. In addition to freezing time, it also has the function of "Dark bullets sphere".

About the Puzzle: "This moment is noticeable in Wily Castles". And not a joke. Because you are really already thinking about how to pass the locks in a different way. Levels of Robomasters - you can pass without problems, almost without using abilities. In castles, these abilities and logical solutions are mandatory.

Robomasters are bosses with a modified AI. Someone was lucky, and they became more interesting. And some, alas, have become as simple as possible, or dishonest.

Bosses in the Castle: Honestly, they haven't changed much. Only changed their weaknesses and slightly changed the AI. The most boring of all in the castle was the Dragon. He flew cleanly up and down, and besides... the screen abruptly turned red, THEREBY IRRITATING MY EYES. THE BOSS MERGED WITH THE RED BACKGROUND... BRUH...

You know, I was told that this is a good hack. Yes - good. With a reservation: It will not work for everyone. Therefore, here Roevsky was mistaken, saying that the hack will go for everyone. Honestly, I recommend it, but for hardcore fans or fans of puzzle levels.

Although, no, I recommend it to anyone who wants to experience something new

Rockman Gray Zone

Levels: Excellent

Graphics: Excellent

Music: Excellent

Enemies: Good

Bosses: Excellent

Weapons: Good

Castle: Good (Nearly Excellent/Platforming Heavy)

Difficulty: MEDIUM

Comments: Gray Zone is one of the most gorgeous hacks of Mega Man 2 to exist. Every level is a delight to behold, and the music selection is on point as well. While its color scheme and foregrounds are its strongest suit, Gray Zone is no slouch in the level design department either—it contains a lot of clever tricks and stages, especially when it comes to the Wily levels. The bossess are a well-balanced and fun, hiding some nifty tricks up their sleeves. Unfortunately, the game gives you an interesting repertoire of weapons to test out on barely any enemies, as the Wily levels are almost exclusively platforming focused. Still, it's a really wonderful hack with a nice comfortable difficulty. Gray Zone is a strong recommendation.

This hack is pretty hard, but it's worth it for the incredible beauty that it displays. Really, the worst of it is in the actual level design. One of my pet peeves in a Mega Man hack is those maze levels, where taking one wrong turn puts you back several screens, and nothing fits together logically, and Flash Man's stage is exactly that. There are also the Lightning Lords in Crash Man's stage, which go above and below instant death lightning, but many times, they don't sync up properly, so it could actually be impossible to cross, if the game doesn't time them correctly. As always, the quick beams are obnoxious, too, often requiring perfect timing down to the split second. Many of the Wily stages have generally punishing design, as well. Other than that, you'll have some occasionally cheap enemy placement - Crash Man's stage comes to mind once again - but some of it is pretty reasonable. Actually, Heat Man's stage has those disappearing blocks that are actually laid out in a fun and engaging way; I didn't even want to skip them with Item 2.

The visuals are absolutely stunning in most stages. Flash Man's stage is an iridescent glass labyrinth with some neat touches, like backwards tiles, as though you're on the other side of a mirror. Heat Man's stage has an underwater area that reminds me of technological decorations from the mid-'80s, like you'd often see in electronics stores of the time. There's a Wily stage that resembles The Matrix, and has some neat visual elements that affect gameplay. The music really makes the areas special, too; Crash Man's stage has music reminiscent of an old Kemco title, which draws the visuals together quite well. Likewise, Heat Man's stage begins in a nighttime marina with the music from Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64, which makes it feel like a very special night. In fact, almost all of the music in this hack is excellent; Wily 6 has an incredible twist on an old classic that might've been my favorite tune in the whole game. Even the opening with its beautiful green cityscape is greatly enhanced by its lovely music. If you're willing to struggle a bit for an unforgettable experience, then definitely give this one a try!

This is simply the best complete 'standard' Mega Man 2 hack I've played. It rivals even the highly revered Rockman No Constancy, and I'd argue that Rockman 2 Gray Zone is even better in many aspects! When I say 'standard' I mean to exclude super hacks such as the likes of Rockman CX or Minus Infinity, where the hacking efforts are so extreme that they're practically new games. But as far as extensive hacks that still feels like you're playing a Mega Man 2 game, as if you're playing a 'Mega Man 2: Part 2', it doesn't get any better than Rockman 2 Gray Zone.

Gameplay - 10/10

Simply phenomenal. From the extremely well designed new level layouts to the complete overhaul of your weapon arsenal, to the revamped enemy AIs, it's very hard to keep a good balance of gameplay and difficulty when hacking new gameplay elements. Couple that with the necessary skills to actually hack a game, this is one heck of a hack that pushes the ingenuity of the hacker WINED of design and programming. The robot masters levels range from easy fun to challenging, all without the usual unfairness and frustrating cheapness that are all too rampant in many other hacks. And unlike other hacks, there really isn't any areas that felt flawed or out right cheap(ie. Exhaust's flashman stage, Ultra's Wily 4 boss on hard, Deus Ex Machina, etc.). I greatly enjoyed this hack through and through. Job well done!

Difficulty - 7/10

The difficulty is perfect IMO. Just a tad harder than the original Mega Man 2, and not hard enough to the need of savestates or ripping your hair out. I'd say this is just a bit easier than No Constancy or Exile. Most robot masters levels are fun and in a normal difficulty range. And the robot masters themselves all pose a fun challenges with your good old Mega Buster. But if that's still too much for your skill set, using their weapon weakness will do the trick easily as in the original MM2. The only truly difficult stage is Airman's, but even so, it is definitely doable with enough practice ...and once you do, it's very satisfying! Each Wily level includes a specific challenge that are quite interesting...and once figured out, again, will make you feel very accomplished. The only truly difficult section of the game is Wily stage 4. But even then, the stage starts you off with a 'practice' section before throwing you the real deal. Great difficulty design all in all!

Music - 9/10

The music for the game ranges from decently enjoyable to just amazing. The title screen, Wily 3 and 6, etc. are all amazing tunes. I love the music in this game and the quality are just great. From a personal preference, I still prefer Exile's OST to this one, but this one is objectively amazing in its own right!

Graphics - 9.5/10

The graphics are great. Some of the best works for a hack. The graphics are completely revamped and every level looks very nice from beginning all the way to the end...which is rare for most hacks as most efforts start to get sloppy in the later Wily levels in many hacks. Great job!

Hacking Effort - 9.5/10

This is a great hacking job from all the new graphics and music, to all new weapons and boss/enemy AIs. Like I mentioned, it's one thing to know how to hack, but to have the ability to hack AND design a good hack is to be commended. And WINED did a tremendous job with Gray Zone. Just phenomenal.

Overall - 9.5/10

All in all, this is an amazing hack and what a great job well done by WINED. I enjoyed this one thoroughly from beginning to the end with little to no issues. With the amazing overhaul of the levels, weapons, and enemy AI designs along with beautifully hacked graphics and musics, this is one hack not to be missed! Here's to hoping WINED will eventually get around to releasing Rockman 2 Hybrid Hex! :)

This hack is amazing . It´s a complete hack with excellent music and theme . The bosses IA is very well done , The musics are awesome and works perfectly with the dark and sad theme of the stages . The graphics are excellent , using in most part cold and black colours .

The description says a new challeging , and they´re right . It´s provides a tricky challege compared to the original game . I admit that there some parts that can be cheap , like wily 3 with invisible platforms and wily 4 where you can´t see megaman behind black shadows . Without save-state , this parts can be frustrating , but every hack have some issues .

Download it away !

Rockman 2 Gray Zone is an example of a good MM2 hack. It's hard, but not impossible (despite what everyone seems to believe...), the weapons, enemies, and bosses are significantly changed, stages look very different, and the soundtrack is excellent.

Air Man's stage is indeed somewhat hard, but with practice and understanding of the Mega Man 2 engine, it isn't too bad. The game includes two weapons that will help here, the new Leaf Shield (Bug Shield) will make you run faster, and much like the original Quick Man stage it gets way easier with practice.

I really must stress how good the music is. None of the compositions truly stand out as bad, and even the mediocre ones are still pretty catchy. The artwork is especially good; I believe this is the nicest looking MM2 hack all the way up to the end, and the palettes are a lot more varied than most hacks I've seen while still looking good in each individual stage.

I highly suggest you try and translate the readme to figure out some of the weapons; Holding select slows the Nitro Burst (Crash's weapon) and you can aim it up and down, holding B lets you keep hold of the Darkness Bit (Bubble), Heat Blaster (Air) breaks walls, Psychic Sword (Metal) is useful in the hidden segment of Wily Stage 4... really, there's a lot of neat stuff available to you, and much like Deus ex Machina and Yendor Code the better you are at utilizing them the better you'll be at the time.

I don't lie, it's still much harder than the original game. It's definitely not going to be something you breeze through on a single afternoon, and that can be offputting to a lot of people. I won't tell you you're wrong for not liking it, but I do think that one shouldn't be so quick to dismiss it. Give it a try.

That's what happens when you write a review without thinking, you give out FALSE info. Now that I have taken the time to play this hack thoroughly, I can tell you what I said was a lie: This hack didn't seem too bad the first few levels, but then again, neither did Exhaust. Truth be told, this game gets REALLY unfair, especially later on.

My first gripe is Airman's stage, which is the very epitome of hell that the red glowing scenery suggests. If you don't have the Flash Stopper for BOTH laser bits, you will never clear the stage(Unless you are a Megaman GOD). In Quick Man's stage, there are plenty of evil tricks thrown at you, especially the slippery nobs at the end.

Then we get to Wily's Castle, and the evil factor gets EVEN WORSE! There's a spike scaling puzzle that seems impossible at first, and almost is. You have to use the number three on the wall, let it scale till it's almost at the bottom, jump on it, THEN fall off onto the next platform. Too soon, you die. Too late, you die. The castle bosses all take a certain weapon to beat, so make sure you didn't use up all your weapons when you get to the bosses. The second stage has Jet Stingray's theme playing in the background as the stage serves you jet challenges worthy of the Megaman Ninja Warriors. The 3rd part has plenty of invisible walls and spikes, but at least points out most of it. ...Even then, the tricks continue to be evil. The fourth part gives you a case of De Ja Vu, as it uses the SAME MELODY used in Rockman Exile's 4 Wily Castle stage. To make matters WORSE, much of the stage is shrouded in black, concealing yourself and making it hard to move around. The stage will test your best judgement to the max. The stage is nearly impossible without save-states. Challenge is one thing, but removing the ability to see your guy isn't challenge. It's BULL****! Especially when you have invisible exploding enemies dropping on you!

So yeah, forget I said "This game tries to be fresh instead of hard."