Well, they basically took Mega Man Zero, & made it more open. You have a map, though, it's not as good as the maps used in the Metroid or Castlvania games. You have loads of sidequests you can take up, & there are warp points, so you don't have to do alot of backtracking on foot. You basically switch armor, to get to new area's, as each armor has it's own abilities. I'm not sure what else to say, but, I remember seeing pics of the first game before it came out, & it looked cool, but, I wasn't going to get it. But, once I heard it was a Castleroid game, I snatched that right up, & pretty much played it non stop until I beat it! I don't have an opinion on the 2nd game yet, since, it's not out yet, but, it sounds like it's going to be really good, & fixes some of the problems in the 1st game, like the map.