Mega Man X4

"You'd Think Mega Man Would Just Say To Hell With It By Now Eh?"

Well I must say, this game has restored my love for the Blue Bomber. I mean maybe it's just me, but I personally hated MMX5 (PSX) and it left a very bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it was the dull, uninspired animations, or maybe it was the extremely annoying story (that didn't do anything for the game and was conveyed with a bunch of really slow in-game cut scenes). Either way, MMX4 has rejuvenated the series for me (it may have come out before X5, but I never got to try it the first time), reminding me just why I spent so much time with Mega Man during the NES and SNES days.

Story: The story, like its always been, is fairly simple. That's not bad though, for me that's a major plus, because when I think Mega Man, I expect fast, action-oriented gameplay. Not some fast gameplay jumbled in with some slow story making a mess of things (much like MMX5). Anyway, the story is starts off with everything happy and peaceful in Mega Man Land, the reploids are obeying the Humans, nobody is the wiser, and Mega Man can enjoy his pancakes in peace -all is well. Then for some reason, the reploids call a large meeting and their General (yes, they have a General) tells them all that they need to be free and have their independence from the Humans. In typical rally fashion, the crowd of reploids (or repliforce, as they would like to be called -being independent and all...) chant various phrases in unison, and there we have it, the reploids are fighting the humans, the world is distraught, and poor Mega Man must put his pancakes aside once again, and fight for the feeble Humans. He's not alone this time though, Mega Man brings Zero with him to the fight.

Graphics: For 2D graphics, this is really great. Definitely one of, if not the best looking Mega Man there is. There are some great animations here, Mega Man and Zero's normal run is very fluid, they both have nice breathing animations when idle, the button response is excellent. The backgrounds are great as well. For example, the beginning half of the Jungle level has a beautiful running stream that you follow, the splashes when you jump in and out are very nice. Another impressive background is in the Space Station level where you're running up a long set of spiral stairs. It gives a nice effect that the background and the foreground are all revolving around you as you run.

The weapons all look nice, albeit many being a little under whelming in terms of flair. They do their purpose very well though, which is using them to defeat bosses easier. They're balanced and seem to be appropriate for who their supposed to defeat. As for each character's default weapon, X still has his trusty X-Buster, and Zero has his light sabre-esq sword. This poses somewhat different gameplay experiences for each character, which is good incentive to play as both.

Another thing I must point out are the anime cut scenes. They're very nice and really show a lot was put into this game. They don't skimp on them either, there are quite a few of them spanning the game. First, there's the intro, then each character has a cut scene during the beginning of their respective quests. After you beat the first level you're given another cut scene showing the reploid rally. Finally, you're treated to another ending cut scene for each character after defeating the last boss (just try to guess who that is. *hint, his name rhymes with Bigma and starts with an S). So as you can see, the story is conveyed with some very nice cut scenes, very effective in an action game when you don't want to read 1,200 text boxes just to get to the next level.

Sound: The sound is also very 2D-ish. Great digitized sounding effects and BGMs. Most of the BMGs are upbeat and sound quite nice, complimenting what's going on in the game very nicely. There is really a wide range of sound effects in the game. Each weapon has a nice sound effect to go along with it, from the X-Buster's typical shooting, to Zero's light sabre wannabe sword, to all of the special weapons. There are also some nice voice samples during the cut scenes and while performing certain moves in the game. A well rounded package here.

Gameplay: Well you know each character's weapons are a little different, now let me go in a little more about each character's basics. Mega Man's gameplay is almost exactly how it's been for so many years, very balanced and lot of fun and action. Zero plays slightly slower because his sword is only for close combat. Though Zero's pace is somewhat slower, his game is still very fun. To make up for him not being able to shoot across the screen, his sword is a little more powerful than the X-Buster and can be swung a few times in a row for a nice combo. As for how you use Zero's specials after you defeat bosses, they're used with quick button presses and the special button. For example, one special can be performed by pressing down and Y, another with Up and Y, ect.

Anyway, if you don't know how Mega Man games play (which you should!), you're basically given eight stages to choose from, each with a boss at the end. Once you defeat the boss, you get to take his weapon and add it to your arsenal. The main use of each of the boss's weapons are to defeat other bosses easier. That isn't their only purpose though, you'll need many of them to find some of the game's special items (such as heart tanks, which raise your health bar, sub tanks, which give you a spare health bar, and armor upgrades which give you special benefits [only X can get armor upgrades]).

Now about the actual control. Maybe it's just me, but the default controls were really hard to adjust to, it became a pain to pull of dash jumps (your basic high jump). Luckily the game lets you configure the controls to your liking, other wise this game would be much less to my liking. After adjusting the controls, I found the Saturn controller to be the best suited controller for Mega Man in my opinion.

Replay: Now this score is really the low point of the game. The replay isn't too bad though, it gives you two very enjoyable adventures to go through, but they're not too long. This is the kind of game I can see someone going back to every now and then though, so that helps the score. All in all, it will likely only take you a few days to beat the game with both characters.

Anyway, my final thoughts on this game are very positive. I had a great deal of fun with it and if you're a Mega Man fan, you will too. This game definitely ranks among my favorite for the little blue wonder!

Pros: Excellent animation, great balance and level design, classic gameplay, great sound
Cons: A little short, sometimes tedious, not much of a challenge

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/01, Updated 09/04/01