Mega Man X4

"Who thought X and 0 could be so fun,,,,yes Mega Man X and Zero"

I've played this game off and on the Saturn quite a few times. This is one of my favorite games in the Mega Man X series and it really starts to make you feel the general overlaying story of the Mega Man and Mega Man X series. I especially like playing as Zero who relies on his saber. All right now for a break down.

Music 8- This game really has very good tunes, but none really stand out as earth shattering. The tunes are crisp and clear. The type you just listen to. Still it is nice to see a game with general good music over concentration on a few tunes and leaving others to rot. As usual the first form final boss tune to fits the style of well you'll know when you beat it.

Graphics 9- Vibrant 2d backgrounds. Everything is easy to see and the movement of Zero and X is very well done. Bosses are detailed. The anime cut scenes are impressive and really fit the with the game's graphics instead of contradicting them.

Story X 7- X has quite a nice story over all, but his story, to be honest is not too special and feels like his other stories too much sometimes. He really has only 1 special story element to be honest. Still he does have a decent story.

Story Zero 9: Now this is better. First Zero has more to his story. Second he is involved much better with the characters in his story than X is and his 'battle' which I will not say is more endearing to see. Also Zero has more anime cut scenes if you like those to help tell his story. Sure cut scenes don't make a story, but when Zero's story is already better to me at least, then anime cut scenes just give it an extra edge.

Game play X 8- Once again X can dash, jump, gain weapons from defeated bosses, get upgrades and shoot his X buster. The upgrades allow him to be more versatile when he gets them. The weaknesses help X to pummel a boss to the ground. Problem with X is trying to shoot and dodge becomes an annoyance and the game is harder with him over all than with Zero.

Game play Zero 10- Zero gains skills from the bosses he beats which are done by controller motions. No it not is stuff like down, down, down, back, back etc...no it is quite simple and fast to do. Only one of Zero's learned abilities consumes energy making planning with Zero much easier. One cool thing is Zero can dodge and attack very well. His saber is quite strong and over all the game is much easier with him.

Characters 7- The characters are easy to get attached to especially the major story character...problem is that events need to happen more often in the game to feel for the characters. Not much can be known from so few scenes. More story scenes could have helped the characters out, but with what they did it was still nicely done.

Replay 6- On one hand I like to play this everyonce in awhile, but after a bit I get bored and go to something else. This game was meant to be played for 3 to 5 days then not played for 6 days then played for 2 days then not played for 1 day. In other words it is fun to replay, but not for huge periods at a time.

Over all 8- Good music, graphics, story, characters and decent replay value. A game that doesn't throw out one for the other. And you get to play as Zero and X which helps to understand them better through their stories.

To rent or buy: Sadly the Saturn is dead so you'll have to buy it if you can find it or the PS version if it is decent...haven't played that version myself so I would not know. Still I recommend this game to any Saturn player who still likes to play action games on the system and craves Mega Man. Sure it may seem like more of the same, but the story of Mega Man that spans several games makes it worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/01, Updated 03/10/01