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+----- Thread: Mega Man 4 (/showthread.php?tid=335)
Mega Man 4 - EdenMaster - 22nd February 2003
<i>Mega Man 4</i> is a standout game in this already great game series. Featuring:
Dust Man - Who fires exploding dust and sucks you towards him.
Pharaoh Man - Who jumps a lot and fires fireballs, some small, some huge.
Dive Man - In an underwater level, he shoots homing missles and charges you like a torpedo.
Bright Man - Who stops time momentarily while he shoots you. Not too diffrent from his predecessor Flash Man.
Drill Man - Drill Man shoots drills out from his arms, then burrows underground where you can't see him, then launches out right underneath Mega Man a few seconds later.
Ring Man - Throws Rings, thats about it.
Skull Man - Has the ability to use a skull shield, which protects him from anything, until he throws it at you.
Toad Man - Jumps around and does a weird dance causing acid rain to pour down.
Gameplay is pretty decent. Some parts are challenging, none of the levels can really be called "easy". The bosses have a bit more kick in them now too.
Music, once again, is very addictive. Graphics are very good. Dust Man's level in particular is very well done.
The background consists of conveyor belts, hammers, gears and other mechanical stuff.
Later on in the level, you find parts where some garbage is burning, and that looks really cool.
I rate <i>Mega Man 4<i> a 7 out of 10, it's a great game, I recommend it highly.
Mega Man 4 - Dark Jaguar - 18th August 2006
MM4, to me, was the last truly epic one before they just starting spitting out more on the treadmill. Don't get me wrong, they were all great, but the first 4 to me are the ones that really defined it and the rest just copied it. MM1 started it all, MM2 refined the gameplay to make it truly epic and made the "extra items" really stand out. MM3 added Rush as the source of the "extra item" powerups and further refined the gameplay to epic proportions and is still one of my favorites, with an inclusion called the "slide" which while silly looking wasn't just a cheap puzzle solution but an important instant speed or escape tool you had to use in battle (all future games used this in some form or another). MM4 finished the formula by making the levels a little longer than before, having unique bosses and two different end fortresses, hiding powerups in hidden alternate paths in two levels, and most importantly changed the dynamic of battles throughout this and all future games by adding the Mega Buster to Megaman letting him charge up a powerful blast. MM2 did include a similar feature in the form of Heat Man's weapon but this game made it Megaman's own and designed the whole game around it with enemies that needed that extra power for you to beat them, thus rather than firing shots in bursts you now could either do that or you would go into "survival dodge" mode for a while building up power and waiting for a good moment so you could use that shot without wasting it. When that thing missed, you always felt like you were doomed, due to the extra working in building it up.
After this game, the look of the series went a little more "cartoony" so this was also the last one to have a more serious look to it (not that the later ones had anything wrong with them, they still looked Megaman to me and they did a good job, plus I love the look of Megaman in MM8, though I do hate his look in Powered Up). At any rate, this was the last game to really add something major to the gameplay and it was these first 4 that really defined all later games.
Mega Man 4 - A Black Falcon - 18th August 2006
(this isn't a review, just commentary...) I've always loved MM4. It was perhaps the first Mega Man game I played; I know I played it on the NES a few times in the early '90s, and don't remember playing any other Mega Man games on the NES back then, much less the Game Boy games... so nostalgia certainly is a part of why it's my favorite of the classic series. Even without that, though, I agree that it was a great game... I wouldn't say that it was the last MM game before they started all seeming the same -- "Mega Man games are all the same" is a criticism I've heard since at least Mega Man 3 -- but I would agree that after 4 the classic series went downhill. 5 is decent but too easy, 6 is just bland, 7 okay but nowhere near as good, and 8... blah... (Mega Man & Bass is solid, and probably better than 6, 7, or 8, but not 1-4, but it's oh so hard...) Still though, if you include the spinoff serieses, the game system has continued to evolve -- X added the wall-climb, for instance, and X5 has crouching and shots that don't go through walls anymore... Mega Man IV's (remember the convention to use roman numerals for the Game Boy titles and numbers for the NES releases) "money" system was also a major addition to the series, I'd say -- though it was only used in IV, V, 7, 8, and MM&B, I believe... 6 should have had it, coming out after IV, but that game was a complete rehash, so I'm not surprised that it didn't have it...
Anyway, the point. Mega Man 4 is a great, great game. The bosses are awesome, the levels very well designed, and the graphics and music are the height of what is possible on the NES... Mega Man 2 might be the popular favorite, and I'd say that it's the second best classic Mega Man game, but 4 gets my vote. From the bosses (Toad Man, Pharoah Man, Skull Man, Ring Man, and... uh... the other four...), it's my favorite game in the series. { 4 2 1 3 MM&B 5 8 7 6, I think}
Mega Man 4 - Dark Jaguar - 18th August 2006
Megaman 5 for Gameboy on the other hand, THAT was an amazing game, and it did change things up a bit with the boomerang style weapon that you not only had to charge but couldn't even fire your normal gun until it came back. Plus, it was just plain well designed.
Mega Man 4 - A Black Falcon - 18th August 2006
All of the Game Boy Mega Man games are good, despite the rehashed bosses, but yes, IV and V are clearly the best two, and V has by far the most innovations in the (GB) series... I only had I and IV though, so I mention those ones first. And IV was the first one with the points (P-chips in that case) and store...
Mega Man 4 - Dark Jaguar - 19th August 2006
I never really saw the store as that big a deal frankly. I prefer searching levels for one of a kind items in odd places to running around places I've already been grinding myself some bolts or chips to purchase a special item. MM8 sorta mixed the two by making the bolts themselves limited items that were hidden in special spots and could only be found once, but you couldn't buy every upgrade in a single game and had to pick and choose (further, you couldn't turn in an upgrade to buy a different one).
Mega Man 4 - A Black Falcon - 19th August 2006
Yeah, MM8's system worked well, forcing you to choose which things you want... two very different ways of doing it, a "money" system where time is all that matters to getting items versus a "special collectables" system where you need to find the hidden items... for a game like Mega Man 8's system might be better, but still, trying a money system in Mega Man was an interesting idea that did add to the game. You are right that the item buying system is not a major addition to the base gameplay in some ways, but still, it is a gameplay system addition, even if it doesn't have the impact of the charge shot or something...
Mega Man 4 - Dark Jaguar - 19th August 2006
It may have been an addition, but to be honest they probably shouldn't have bothered. For example, MM7 had the shop but almost every single item in the shop was also hidden somewhere in some level if you followed certain clues and had rush dig them up. I much prefer that way of doing things to just running through a level and quiting until I get the bolts or chips I need for something.
Mega Man 4 - Dark Jaguar - 14th February 2011
Incidentally, I always wondered why this game in particular gets so overlooked in the Mega Man series. People either pass over it or say this is where it all went downhill, which I don't think is fair to this one. Some people complain about the Mega Buster, but I loved that addition.
I'm not sure who these radio show hosts are, but I agree with them on their review. This really should be considered part of the "trilogy of awesome Mega Man" on the NES, including 2, 3, and 4.
Mega Man 4 - A Black Falcon - 14th February 2011
As I said years ago, MM4's always been my favorite 8-bit Mega Man game. It's the first one I can remember playing, and I have always loved it... it's such a great, great game.
As for that video review, yeah, solid review. I might score it higher, but it's a fine review. (I agree about the music too, definitely some of the best in the series.)
Mega Man 4 - Dark Jaguar - 14th February 2011
Yep, though I loved 2 and 3's as well. The opening music of MM4 (both the background story and the part where he gets the "NEW MEGA BUSTER!!!") are also very memorable.