Mega Man X6 - Level 4 Nightmare Zero and the Black Armor

So it's a commonly bandied tidbit that X6's designers coded Zero's Black Armor to be obtainable in-game, without the use of a code. It follows the heels of the practice set forward in X5, but in a comical misstep by no means atypical of this game's rushed production, Capcom lanced themselves into a contradiction concerning the armor's prereqs; specifically, fighting Nightmare Zero at level 4.
For the uninitiated, the way boss levels work in X6 is a deal less obtuse and decidedly more active than in X5. Your character's rank directly correlates to the level he'll encounter bosses at. Ranks themselves are tied to the amount of Nightmare Souls your character has collected. 5000 are necessary before bosses bare their sharpest.
Now, there's another somewhat unrecognized oddity to X6's coding: should you collect 3000 Nightmare Souls with either character before defeating all eight Nightmare Investigators, Gate's Lab will open up. It's an obscure third alternative to beating High Max or slugging through things the typical way. Unlocking the endgame has another effect, unfortunately: it closes off both the Nightmare Zero and High Max fights and fast tracks to Dynamo. You can put two and two together and realize how moronic this game's production can be. You are locked out of a fully coded, prepped and ready secret by X6's own paradoxical bullshit.
There is of course an obvious workaround: using a Gameshark to boost boss levels to 4 irrespective of in-game rank or Nightmare Soul total. Oddly, as routine as this trivia is, there don't seem to be any showcases of collecting the Black Armor the intended way, without use of the code obtained at the end of the game. So I figured it was worth a look-see.
The happenings in the video are self-evident. It's simply a showcase of the fight itself and the subsequent goodies, as well as a small expose on the Black Armor's merits should there be any curiosity to such. Although I know people genuinely looked through this game's code ages ago to find this little curiosity, I'm honestly surprised the game itself actively provides the armor if the conditions are set. But the bigger surprise is that Nightmare Zero has coded changes at level 4, and he's a good deal meaner.
The most obvious and devious change to his routine concerns his large crescent slashes. Ordinarily whenever Nightmare Zero teleports away from your position, he'll invariably follow up by throwing three large projectiles across the top of the screen at one of two speeds. These are castrated hilariously by either ducking or jumping behind their terrible hit detection.
On level 4, though, Nightmare Zero will pause briefly and add a fourth slash to his set, and this is an absolute killer, if not apparently so at first glance. After another brief pause Nightmare Zero will segue into a new attack while you're busy being herded by the screen-hogging crescent. If it's a slow moving one, you're really fucked. You can't climb the wall to get over top of it, so the only option is to do a well-timed dash and static jump maneuver that handles any of the four attacks he can launch into at random, the standard 3-shot combo being the deadliest option.
Besides this, Zero's AI is more aggressive in subtle ways that go decently far in intensifying the fight. He has basically had all his occasional trickery given a significant frequency boost. He has a greater tendency to string longer sequences of attacks together before teleporting, usually double dashing or launching the first of his fast-moving shots at the worst of times, meaning your placement in battle needs to be carefully considered. His veritable Giga Attack has also been given more appreciation, and he'll no longer launch into it only from specific actions: now it's purely instead of occasionally about proximity (ala X5) and can also be used independently. This also curiously allows for the same exploit Maverick Zero in X5 granted, but it's much more precise to pull off here. Not worth it except for show. Lastly and least importantly, past half health he adds a projectile to every saber slash, not just the ones in combos. Then there's the usual flurry of shots that's always a bother.
You can't even cheese his worst attack set with the usual methods. Jumping behind Nightmare Zero as he's firing his crescents this time will immediately send him into a Giga Attack when he's finished, and the wall behind him is not a place you want to be when that's used. You could optionally jump back in front of him and high tail it after his fourth shot, but you'd better be damn sure of the safe spots.
I skip all awful dialogue because nothing changes based on unlocking the Black Armor. You don't even get a notice from Alia. You just kinda have it when you enter a stage with Zero. Oh, presentation.

[@Silvermoon1k]

That had to be the most amazingly detailed description I've ever read. I almost wanna call you insane for typing up such a detailed work

[@RenanMMz]

The nice point in the Zero fights is that you get completely destroyed up until you learn how his patterns work, but when you learn them it becomes really easy no to-damage

[@CrimsonMoonM]

This is the Zero Nightmare's nightmare, having X practically dancing around his every attack in nothing but his blue undies.

[@Blahblahblah28504]

Thanks to the Tweaks mod, I finally fought Nightmare Zero at level 4. He's surprisingly such a bitch to fight.

[@waluigimaster]

The fact that it seems like they made us miss out on the chance to fight a level 4 Nightmare Zero where he's changed to be more threatening makes my eyes water a bit. You had barely any excuse there Capcom.

[@Axle_J]

Its 2020 and i'm only just now learning about this lvl4 nonsense. Capcom wtf lol

[@Recklesssmasher]

No need to blame Capcom. Blame Capcom Studio 4 for not only rushing, but understaffing themselves by not outsourcing the MegaMan Xtreme development to Minakuchi Engineering because if they've done that instead of tanking everything by themselves, X6 wouldn't be what it is.

[@Zenocide]

@@Recklesssmasher That's still blaming Capcom though? Besides, this game wasn't even suppose to be made. I'm currently replaying it for the first time in years (with Tweaks) and it's actually kind of insane how much dialog there is for a rushed game. I'm glad they still made it despite its flaws. The music is pretty good and the game is a bit more fun once you have most of your equipment. Tweaks is sort of a "could have been" but I found out how insane their default settings were so I'm doing a hybrid vanilla with some personal QOL changes.

[@hessiankyojin]

This is why Zero hid himself to repair himself.

[@Loseirdo]

Going into Infinity Mijinion's stage with the Black Armor was a nice touch following your X6 Minimalist run. Shows just how much BS you really had to put up with to do that stage as unarmored X, even if it was a bit friendlier than Ground Scaravich or the Gate stages.

[@barrickfischer]

Zero in original color screams cool hero & sidekick. But Zero in black screams AWESOME to me. 10 years later and this is still a good game to me

[@Foxhound3857]

Oh Capcom, you never fail to blow my mind with your incompetence. Make a great game, recycle it over and over, fuck up simple things time and time again, come out with a new great game, and do it all over again.

[@Andrewsafb71]

Gameshark code for level 4 bosses (Thank you +Mageman17): 300CCF5F 0003

[@normalguycap]

Hide, you don't disappoint. I laughed quite a bit at your toying with Zero. Your commentary made him seem much more threatening.

[@UmbreonMessiah]

Less hilarious answer than "Capcom": It is actually impossible to get Zero's Black Armor legitimately, or see that fight legitimately, because of how Mega Man X6 is programmed.

[@darc22005]

Started showing off toward the end of the zero fight XD

[@RenanMMz]

He was showing off during the entire fight

[@henry700]

Hideofbeast rip my brother, been riding with you ever since I was 13, im 26 now

[@thefutt21]

RIP? Please tell me it isn't so

[@MilesTormani]

Black Zero even has his own damage sprite...

[@MrSeong-kr2dj]

They added the block attack sprites on X armors in X5. Then Zero and X with shock buffer equipped in X6. Black Zero and X armor already had it in X6.

[@AguyNamedHorse]

damn, i didnt know level 4 bosses were hardcore like this, I never had high rank or 3000 souls so I never witnessed this shit. Thank God, else I woulda chucked my ps1 over a quarry

[@Cupshadow]

there is a hack called megaman x6 tweaks that allow you to fight nightmare zero lv.4 with customized Soul table. You will able to fight nightmare zero lv.4 after you collecting 1500-3000 nightmare souls

[@Ryuzekia]

Nightmare Zero, spams the shit out of his Giga Attack, no surprise there.

[@GlitchanBlack]

Bruh, for me it's just him spamming Shin Messenkou. The glorious gift of "Owari da."

[@g44briel]

Zero and Kuchiki Byakuya (from Bleach) has the same voice. lol

[@jda2898]

In the end, we can't get the Black Zero without cheats, right ?

[@Zenocide]

Not without codes or hacks sadly. There's an area in one of the Secret Labs that screamed Ultimate Armor X capsule but I've never heard anybody talk about it.

[@TheBanishedWind]

Use hacking to get Zero before pwning Nightmare Zero and challenge the fake in Commander Yammark's stage. Supposedly, a secret dialogue will take place.

[@DarkonFullPower]

The lvl 4 Zero fight cannot be done without hacks because of how the game is coded. But it IS there. This video shows the changes from lvl 3 to lvl 4.

[@rosheavaleth4925]

To make this posible: Use the legal code of ULTIMATE ARMOR to do this really easy 1.- Pass the intro stage, then put these codes enable final level 800CCF36 0005 5000 souls 800CCFA2 1388 2.- Enter infinite Mijion stage and die then save. 3.- you will see sigma final stage open and have PA level soul, disable the old codes and put these ones: disable final level 800CCF36 0000 4.- enter infinite mijion again, and disable the code above, then beat nightmare zero lv4. 5.- you will see the zero, alia and gate cutscene, and ta-da you have your SEMI legal black zero and ultimate armor.

[@TheGoodWillSpreader]

Doesn't works, Dynamo pops out instead.

[@rosheavaleth4925]

You need to start a new game bro

[@akio2595]

Richard Glez since when was using ultimate armor x illegal?

[@hagihayusiwi6527]

i want this nightmare zero to be playable along with all of his moves of course

[@xnamkcor]

If you've listened to his commentary you'd know that he does get damaged often. He just scraps those runs.

[@keiang3]

Obviously, he was demonstrating the Black Armor's increased defense for us lesser men. He just stood there and took it like a hero.

[@HideofBeast]

If I'm not at a place in life where I can do this by the time that beta hits I'm forfeiting my name.

[@nickname9351]

Sooo?

[@Yanzakuza]

You can legitimately get both the Ultimate armor and Black Zero on the same save file in X5 by going to the Light capsule in Virus Stage 3 with either character, suiciding to return to the select screen and doing the same process with the other character. But nothing you do in X5 has any bearing on X6. So you probably used a code to get Black Zero in X6. And an X4 no-dash, minimalist challenge would be kickass. LOL good luck with those jumps in Slash Beast's stage.

[@valorthefox]

Evil Nightmare Zero laught is evil

[@Desilent49]

I know but it's apparently coded to be able to get it without it, though thanks to the coding of the game it can only be gotten through a cheat code :u Correct me if I'm wrong (again)

[@FlameG102]

DEM HITBOXES. Holy shit. just jump into his saber to avoid saber waves. that was just amazing. then i saw you not get hit by a buster shot. wow. also, I always wondered if it was actually true or not, the tidbit.

[@Loseirdo]

The X vs Zero theme is awesome.

[@shukterhousejive]

Huh, that battle almost looked ... fun? Good to know one the few bright spots in this shitheap was coded into the abyss

[@NoUsernameGoodSir]

Does High Max have any differences on level 4?

[@Zaranell]

Good to see you back, Hide! Do you have any projects planned at the moment, or are today's videos kind of a one-off thing?

[@ADM1500]

Does that mean you could obtain Zero's black armor even if you already have X's ultimate armor?

[@Desilent49]

For real? There's an actual legit way of getting Black Armor Zero in X6? I knew this game had some cracked up coding but that's just insane, seriously how did they miss something like that. Besides that having a harder Nightmare Zero fight would have been neat since he isn't terribly difficult in X6...well normally.

[@Comickid15]

You doing a no damage run or something? Your dancing around and not actually hitting anything at the end of the boss fight and the beginning of that midboss drove me nuts. EDIT: You know those "Try not to get angry/unsatisfied" videos? I feel those two moments could fit perfectly in those.

[@MrMixtape]

The entire point of the video was to show off Nightmare Zero at Level 4, obviously he's not gonna kill the boss fast as possible

[@1tonyvalle]

I don't know if this has been asked, but I've been curious lately about what Nightmare Zero is saying. I know what "maniacal laugh" and"death cry" are, but the rest I have no clue: what are the other three when he dashes, uses slash attack, & giga attack?

[@jacariwatsonallard8603]

Owari da: it's over Shine!: Die! Soko Made Da: That's far enough! Nigeru Na Yo: Don't Run Away Dashing: Nigeru Na Yo Giga Attack: Owari Da Genmu Zero Kai: Shine! Soko Made Da

[@Mageman17]

Since I can't seem to make a reply, just PM me for the gameshark cheat code. I currently have both Ultimate Armor X (via button code) and Black Zero (by fighting Nightmare Zero Lv. 4 with the cheat code) in the X6 save file on my emu.

[@milosteodori9619]

Can you please tell me the code? i can´t figure to send you a PM in this new youtube.

[@Mageman17]

Try this code (it was originally for a lower number and I took a guess on how to make it 4, it was also from a fairly unpopular website), since posting that comment, I have progressed thru much of the game and I don't have a save with no Zero yet. Also, pSX didn't wanna play nice with my ISO copy and/or cep. 300CCF5F 0003 P.S. I hate the new youtube as well.

[@Andrewsafb71]

+Mageman17 Thank you so much for posting the gameshark code for level 4 bosses!

[@WeedgokuBonerhitler]

Awesome video, but man I miss your voiced commentary.

[@HuskyVerbatim]

I like how people are acting shocked about him taking damage, when he had to in the past to get through a bed of spikes in either X2 or X3.

[@ExplodingOdin]

I shall join in your nerdiness. That other line is "Koko made da", which literally means "This is it!"

[@BlueBladeofFate]

I'm fine with the stalling during the fight cause I like Nightmare Zero.

[@dakota4711]

1:43 Imagine if there were no walls and you had to dodge it instead... o3o

[@raakone]

If you fought him in the Blizzard Wolfgang secret area, that would be the case!

[@Ultimaterockmanx135]

I found a code for the japanese version(NTSC-J) on a jul thread, I didn't make it all thanks go to EternalSoft. Requirements: Epsxe 1.90(it didn't work in an older version and I don't know if it'll work on 2.00 and future versions) + any version of Cheat Engine + Rockman x6 iso. Instructions: Open epsxe and load the game. Open Cheat Engine. Open Epsxe in Cheat Engine, click on "Add Address Manually" and type the following code: 00B25FBF select Byte on Type. Now, reach the warning screen and change the value to 3. Don't do it before because it'ill restart to the default level. Defeat Zero and enjoy.

[@miguelmedelguantecura3504]

Al menos, podemos ver a este Zero Nightmare en El X-Challenge

[@xnamkcor]

I can't say for sure, but I recall getting Black Zero. It my only guess at the time was the game read my X5 save, which sounds crazy. I remember getting the Ultimate Armor or Black Zero manually(no cheat code) in X5. I don't have the time to test this, but I'll try if I have to. PS: Are we ever gonna get a No-Dash X4 run?

[@ExpressionOfShock]

Didn't you say in the descriptions for the X6 Boss Rush that you were done with this game... something about having incinerated it as well as several unfortunate bystanders? ಠ_ಠ I'm glad you changed your mind.

[@Phandiw]

I said essentially this same thing on your discussion page, but after I removed the "google hangouts" thing that I have no desire for, my comment seems to have disappeared as well. I'll say it on this video instead, then. "On the off chance that you're still into gameplay videos, I hope you'll grace us with your mad commentary and gameplay skills again when the time comes to try out Beck and Call."

[@xnamkcor]

I don't think X8 is possible without dashing. The spike "maze" in Primrose's stage is probably most absolute example. X4 was early enough that a No-Dash run is still feasible. I've gotten to the Sigma stages using Web Spider's weapon, but I took damage all over the place due to my bad gameplay skills.

[@thatfunnyguy2111]

funy how when you unlock zeros night mare form he appears grey and black and not the epic purple version !

[@xnamkcor]

Capcom sucks. You need to beat Zero at Lvl 4. You need 5000 Souls to make Zero Lvl 4. As soon as you get 3000 Souls the final levels open and Zero becomes unfightable. Zero is more aggressive and goes longer without taking a break in his attacks. He now ends one of his attacks with an additional attack and then does another attack while that is on-screen.

[@megamanzerofanx8205]

hideo fala logo qual a diferença entre nigthmarezero para o negro qual cheat do zero roxo qual cheat do level va fala

[@Juuhazan_]

What's with the quick snippet of sound at the very beginning of the video? also pls come back hide senapi

[@HideofBeast]

Capcom.

[@nin10doadict]

The game was at your fucking mercy.

[@Yanzakuza]

I haven't looked THAT deep into the game for something intangible like that, but Capcom's not exactly known for rewarding you for buying their past games. And outside of Final Weapon's top path, you can just barely make those jumps between exploding trains on Beast's stage by literally having one foot on an edge, making a leap of faith and then mashing the jump button like a madman. I wanna see Hide do an X8 challenge. That game's dickery is off the charts if you don't dash.

[@comuthewolf7983]

HideofBeast - the best Megaman X

[@ryan_ford522]

Lol. Manipulating nightmare zero towards the end of the fight was really funny

[@KarlSturmgewher]

3:33 should've played Zero's Stage clear theme to confirm you unlocked him.

[@voidsurger7038]

I dont think this happens in X Collection, as I never got the cutscenes explaining Nightmare Souls on the GCN version. I'm currently testing this out on the PS2 version.

[@GBA-049]

XxN1TR0FUS1ONS Mega Man and More It works. You just need to collect a lot of souls before all 8 mavericks are defeated.

[@xnamkcor]

Click on your name, Subscriptions, Click on HideofBeast's name on the left. At the top of the list it will say "Subscribed" with a green check. Hove over that. Check the second check box.

[@Shinkada]

So wait. Was the end of that video... Gasp... The FIRST TIME HIDE HAS EVER TAKEN DAMAGE?

[@YashVardhanTanwar]

What code did you use to get the bosses at level 4 regardless of the souls ? Can't find any code for that. Did you find it yourself ? If yes, could you please tell me how to hack into a game and find codes ? :D

[@traivonreed8321]

superb timing. I envy gamers like you...

[@TieDyeFTW]

Wow, this kid's good as fuck.

[@DeathG4n]

Damn man you are sickeningly good.

[@pftmclub]

i can unlock black zero without cheat codes?

[@rmjose]

because he does not need it

[@25shadow11]

could some one tell me what the z. nightmare says when he punches the ground in English please? like at 1:55

[@25shadow11]

Maanis369 I wondered for YEARS what he said. thank you SO much for ending this question!

[@25shadow11]

Maanis369 be sure to tell him he is a cool dude

[@Mega_Mikey]

+Maanis "DB" "owari da" means "it's the end" by itself. "owari" meaning "end" and "da" being a casual way of saying "it is". "the" is not translated in japanese and is simply understood in the english translation. or it could be "it's over"/"it's finished", which would sound better to me in the context of two people fighting.

[@25shadow11]

Omglosser thank you!

[@thischannelisfuckingdeadyo7453]

Omglosser I know this comment is old but what does he say at 0:20?

[@NonRandomUser]

Looks like rumors of your death have been greatly X-aggerated. Kind of like Zero.

[@PilesOfJuicyMeat]

Whoa dude I didn't know you were putting up new videos. I have you subscribed but it doesn't email me for some reason. Oh well.

[@0MPMatt]

Welcome back, showboater. :P

[@GlitchanBlack]

1:42 Owari da.

[@TheUnfavored]

YOU DA BEAST

[@megamanzero6594]

Blast him already!

[@treyyazzie1377]

Megaman knew what's up with zero

[@AxeJuggla]

Ok, we get it. You are a master at X1-6. now do some ZX for crying out loud! Doesn't even have to be a "minimalist no dash saber only charged shot run". Just throw your Megaman knowledge at us with some commentary, and have a grand ole time.

[@megamanzerofanx8205]

o codigo que estou falando no comentario abaixo do pow p zero do site megaman mmx dicas e do desafios nivel 04 entrem no site e verao

[@ZigTheHunter]

Oh God this game is abysmal, this is just more proof to it; a pretty major overlook here that this fight is unaccessible normally, but gives you a reward, so it was obviously meant to be in the game. As well as a whole slew of other problems show this is one poorly made game. The more you know about this game, the less you will like it. Anyways I am curious as to why you didn't use the saber on him here, since its sort of his weakness, and it might change his pattern.

[@advmx3]

It is in the game though. It wasn't hidden or anything. They just did the horrible decision of removing Hi-Max and Zero after unlocking Gate Stage. It would be a fixed issue IF they hid the "unlock gate stage" when you get like 6k souls. Anyway, this game was rushed as hell. I just think the developers of this game started to cry when they noticed that all the feature they added were locked because of a stupid choice.

[@overdalcy]

when I use this gameshark of lv4 I also put ultimate code to feel the real 100% ! Using the Ultimate giga attack makes easy even so!

[@miranAElunes]

you're so good

[@Cvdf3]

Damn, fucking great.

[@PhantomkenX]

i beat zero with his own sword

[@juanhernandezvaldivia3188]

como es eso posible? tengo entendido que cuando llegas a nivel 4 ya no se puede pelear contra nightmare zero ni hight max

[@miguelmedelguantecura3504]

Game Shark

[@raitoyagami8574]

I want Nightmare Zero to be my Japanese teacher.

[@fakhrulzainal5384]

raito yagami K

[@feckno1]

pause between 1:15-1:16 to see X's Head LMAO below zero's hp bar

[@overdalcy]

if you keep spending lives wont level up bosses level also?

[@huuvannguyen4656]

Zero nightmare lv 4 or higher only available through a code

[@megamanzerofanx8205]

galera ja sei que lol olha vao no google e pesquise megaman mmx dicas quando entrarem no site entederao oq eu vou dizer agora vao para o megamanx6 e olhem o cheat pow p zero e verao pode parecer que sou doido mas nao sou lembre se olhem megaman x6 no site megaman mmx dicas e verao o cheat pow p zero copiem no papel no menu pricipal digitem o cheat pow p zero e verao e muitos outros cheats eu juro disso como megaman zero fan

[@Nhelex1998]

this vid prove yu can be just as beast with x as zero so i solute yu my friend great vid as well

[@saga4298]

Why does nightmare zero sou ds like diavolo a bit

[@HienNguyen-zy4wx]

Nightmare Zero is vulnerable against Z saner that X owns you know?

[@xnamkcor]

"But nothing you do in X5 has any bearing on X6." Ah, you've looked at the programming and know this? I'm not experienced with programming so I can't do stuff like that. Thanks for checking for me. PS: Web Spider's weapon is the key to making the gaps.

[@ethicks]

lmfao

[@brandonbakhshi3786]

it took 3 minutes to kill him?

[@Phandiw]

: D

[@sfans4655]

Try beating him on android,unarmored x,and letting the whole song play until it loops back to the begining and youl find out how hard the boss can be especialy with the stupit fucking "owarita"energy from the floor move that can cause many deaths because fuck the move.But i did it. Edit:and for added challenge only 3 z saber attacks.

[@cosamherrera8743]

La rola esta chida