History YMMV / ZeroRanger

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlHKKdtLuqo The Sea has Returned,]] Stage 2-3's music, considered by a majority to be the best track in the game. Hearkens back to both ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' and ''VideoGame/TowerOfHeaven'', with an impressive saxophone sample.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lqOQndPSNY Sky XXXX Days,]], the ''real'' Stage 2-3 boss music, and a fittingly climactic, yet heroic track as Grapefruit finally engages the heroine(s) in a spectacular MirrorBoss battle.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Poor, poor [[spoiler:Despair. She was created from the Lotus Jewel and tasked to destroy all lifeforms aside from humanity. Because of this, she goes insane from the [[MeaningfulName despair]] and loneliness from being separated from her sister and turns against humanity]].

* ItWasHisSled: The game is well-known for its infamous endgame where [[spoiler:losing to the TrueFinalBoss will [[DeletionAsPunishment erase your progress and force you to restart from stage 1-1]]]]. Some players will even ''warn'' those interested in this game about this twist to save them any surprise frustration, while some people interested in the game and who are aware of the twist will ask for completed savefiles from others just so they don't have to [[spoiler:engage in a battle where their save file is at stake]].

* ItWasHisSled: The game is well-known for its infamous endgame where [[spoiler:losing to the TrueFinalBoss erases your progress and forces you to restart from stage 1-1]]. Some players will even ''warn'' those interested in this game about this twist to save them any surprise frustration, while some people interested in the game and who are aware of the twist will ask for completed savefiles from others just so they don't have to [[spoiler:engage in a battle where their save file is at stake]].

* ItWasHisSled: The game is well-known for its infamous endgame where [[spoiler:losing to the TrueFinalBoss erases your progress and forces you to restart from stage 1-1]]. Some players will even ''warn'' those interested in this game about this twist to save them any surprise frustration.

* ItWasHisSled: The game is well-known for its infamous twist that [[spoiler:losing to the TrueFinalBoss erases your progress and forces you to restart from stage 1-1]]. Some players will even ''warn'' those interested in this game about this twist to save them any surprise frustration.

* BrokenBase: Do the [[ReferenceOverdosed endless slew of shout-outs]] serve as a love letter to shmups and anime? Or do they take away from the game's unique identity?

* FanNickname: GREEN ORANGE's Despair form, which takes on the silhouette of a twin-tailed woman, is sometimes referred to by fans as "Music/HatsuneMiku".

* GoddamnedBoss: The orb squad in 2-4. Individually, their attacks are fairly weak and singular for a penultimate [[spoiler:(antepenultimate, counting the TrueFinalBoss)]] boss, but they come in four waves: one, then two, then three, and finally ''six'' at once. Worse yet, if the player fails to destroy all of them in one go, Despair will create more orbs, up to three at a time. This can make for a tedious, frustrating fight if the player fails to properly pace their attacks. In fact, most high-level players opt to [[ViolationOfCommonSense absorb the orbs and intentionally suicide to destroy all of the orbs at once.]]. Worst of all, you have to do this fight all over again every time you start from 2-4, which can eat away at your continues [[spoiler:and leave you with too few lives for the TrueFinalBoss]].

* GoddamnedBoss: The orb squad in 2-4. Individually, their attacks are fairly weak and singular for a penultimate [[spoiler:(antepenultimate, counting the TrueFinalBoss)]] boss, but they come in four waves: one, then two, then three, and finally ''six'' at once. Worse yet, if the player fails to destroy all of them in one go, Despair will create more orbs, up to three at a time. This can make for a tedious, frustrating fight if the player fails to properly pace their attacks. In fact, most high-level players opt to [[ViolationOfCommonSense absorb the orbs and intentionally suicide to destroy all of the orbs at once and skip the final wave of orbs]]. Worst of all, you have to do this fight all over again every time you start from 2-4, which can eat away at your continues [[spoiler:and leave you with too few lives for the TrueFinalBoss]].

** Stage 1-4 has the unnamed crystal skull boss, which fires orbs that block your shots and take many hits each to defeat. While they aren't instant-damage like most other projectiles, instead inflicting {{Knockback}}, they might bully you around enough times to damage you anyway. As such, this boss is easily a barrier to those trying to complete the first loop. It's also the FinalBoss of White Vanilla / Light Mode, not only potentially snuffing out a 1CC attempt but also being difficult to get good grades on.

* ThatOneBoss: Stage 1-2 and 2-2 has [[VideoGame/RType Artypo]], who not only fires lightning-fast bullets but also blocks your shots with its Force Device. Fire at the Force too much and it unleashes a special spread attack, which can be fatal if you fire at the Force while it's at the bottom half of the screen. Its tendency to shield itself also makes a bane amongst speedrunners and those otherwise trying to get the Z-rank time bonus in White Vanilla / Light mode. It is possible to near-instantly kill this boss with the back shot, but getting into position to do it is a near-suicidal effort. In comparison, the boss following it, 2nd Apocalypse, is a more straightforward fight.

** The "Lightning Battle" achievement requires you to beat White Vanilla / Light Mode in 15 minutes or less. However, if you unlock the TrueFinalBoss of this mode, the time spent fighting it counts towards your play time, meaning [[DoWellButNotPerfect you can fail the achievement by making an effort to actually fight the boss]]. This is an additonal problem if you also want a high score, since the TFB is worth a ''ton'' of points (reaching a x12.8 Boss Break multiplier in particular allows you to farm points off the boss's flunkies so now you have to choose between the achievement or your score. You can avoid this problem by getting to the TFB in under 13 minutes (the fight has a 2-minute time limit), but that's far easier said than done.

** The "Lightning Battle" achievement requires you to beat White Vanilla / Light Mode in 15 minutes or less. However, if you unlock the TrueFinalBoss of this mode, the time spent fighting it counts towards your play time, meaning [[DoWellButNotPerfect you can fail the achievement by making an effort to actually fight the boss]]. This is an additonal problem if you also want a high score, since the TFB is worth a ''ton'' of points so now you have to choose between the achievement or your score. You can avoid this problem by getting to the TFB in under 13 minutes (the fight has a 2-minute time limit), but that's far easier said than done.

** The "Lightning Battle" achievement requires you to beat White Vanilla / Light Mode in 15 minutes or less. However, if you unlock the TrueFinalBoss of this mode, the time spent fighting it counts towards your play time, meaning [[DoWellButNotPerfect you can fail the achievement by making an effort to actually fight the boss]].

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: If you [[ThatOneSidequest actually]] get a Z-rank in White Vanilla / Light Mode [[spoiler:in the Great Oppressor timeline, G.O. congratulates you, awards you her "eternal gratitude" in [[RainbowSpeak multi-colored letters]], and after [[{{Beat}} several lines of silence]] as if you were expecting a better reward, she just cheerfully tells you to '''GetOut''' and [[AWinnerIsYou closes the shutters]].]]

* ScrappyMechanic: [[spoiler:The save file getting erased after losing to the final boss has become one of the game's most reviled mechanics for a lot of players, as not only hours of progress are lost, but your continues are lost as well.]] Mercifully, once you beat it, you never have to deal with this again unless [[spoiler:you decide to hard-reset Erasure]], as [[spoiler:this sequence is not part of the Great Oppressor timeline]]. However, [[spoiler:if you know where your saved game is, you can back it up and restore it if you fall to the Lotus Jewel.]]

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: If you [[ThatOneSidequest actually]] get a Z-rank in White Vanilla / Light Mode [[spoiler:in the Great Oppressor timeline, G.O. congratulates you, awards you her "eternal gratitude" in [[RainbowSpeak multi-colored letters]], and after [[{{Beat}} several lines of silence]] as if you were expecting a better reward, she just cheerfully tells you to '''GetOut''' and closes the shutters.]]