Mega Man IV

"Possibly one of the best Megaman games out there."

Gameplay (10/10): Just how can you improve the controls of this game? It's simple. You can't. Megaman has brought back his easy to use controls and his trademark abilities. Among them are the slide, powershot, and Rush abilities. Now the powershot has a kickback that likes to throw you off cliffs, which is kind of cool and unfortunate all at the same time. For those of you unfamiliar with the GB Megaman games, most of them are remakes of the Nintendo games. In this case it is a remake of Megaman's 4 & 5 on the NES. The levels are not exactly the same, but are redone to feel different. There are two sets of four bosses and a final area. When you beat a stage you get the bosses weapon, this weapon can be used to defeat another boss. This weapons can also affect different areas, rain can stop sand, put out fires, and the power slide can go threw certain kinds of blocks.

Graphics (10/10): Just how can you improve the graphics of this game? It's simple. You can't. There is nothing out there that could make this game look nicer unless if it was in color. All the backgrounds look great, as well as the characters and special abilities. There are also added cut scenes and the coolest boss select screen of any Megaman game. Each boss has its own highly detailed picture of the stage or boss to go along with it. If you wait on the title screen a very cool intro comes up too. What more could you ask for?

Story (1/10): Just how can you improve the story of this game? It's simple. Take it out. It goes along the lines of something there being robot expo that Dr. Wily takes over using his mechanical creations. These robots then go to take over the world. Megaman once again sets out to defeat Wily for the umpteenth million time.

Music/Sound (10/10): Just how can you improve the Music/Sound of this game? It's simple. You can't (yes, this is a case of deja vu). Every song is well done and sounds better than its NES big brothers. Capcom has also put in 2 new boss themes, which are absolutely awesome (and this is a Gameboy game we're talking about here). The sound is also extremely well down. There is nothing here that will bother your ears or make you go insane. In short, it's all good.

Challenge (6/10): This game will definitely be hard for most of you. But luckily Capcom has put in numerous things to make the game less challenging. The hyper buster will save your life and get rid of that overwhelmed feeling. Thankfully this game has no stages that stand out in difficulty like in Megaman 3 or platforms that send you to an early retirement. It is nothing that any gamer can't beat without trying.

Replayability (7/10): Finally the Megaman series on the GB has something that people can start coming back for. Capcom not only put in a store to buy powerups, but they also put in the hyper buster for casual gamers to make your life easier. There are also hidden letters to among the stages that are either needed to gain access to the final area or to get a familiar weapon to help you destroy those hard to hit enemies (hidden poorly I might add).

Conclusion: Just how can you make this game better? It's simple. We'll, you get the point. This is a very solid and well-done game containing memorable bosses and good stages. There is a little bit for everyone here. Unfortunately it is rare and expensive. My final rating for this game is a 9/10 (not an average).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/04