Mega Man 4: The Review

While on the subject on the Mega Man series, here is one that I can honestly say I have a very huge attachment to. This one is Mega Man 4 and I remember getting it at Blockbuster years ago back when the NES was still active and making games. I do believe this might have been the first Mega Man game I ever played or one of the first. So, why did I enjoy it and what was different about this one than the previous three Mega Man games? Well, you had the Mega Buster and plus two hidden items that you could pick up in two areas being Dive Man and Pharaoh Man. I will explain those ones in tips in using the K.I.S.S. method meaning Keep It Simple Stupid.

Pharaoh Man Stage: It’s real simple and right near the beginning of the stage. Keep going straight until you reach a point where you can go down to advance and on the far right. I recommend using Rush Coil to jump over that area and move to the right. Continue to do so until you reach the item. Then you go to a different area in the stage continuing on to go destroy Pharaoh Man. Random note is that I always go to him first.

Dive Man Stage: To put it simple, keep going forward and then later there is an area with the second Mini whale boss, drop down and avoid spikes at all costs. It’s really easy to do so and you just have to pay very close attention on where they are and not move into position to touch them. Once you get to the bottom, take the secret item and then proceed the rest of the way. Unlike Pharaoh Man’s stage, this back tracks a little but not too far. Just keep going forward and you’ll be there before you know it.

Well, as far as this game goes, it does have a bit of a story. Looking upon further examination, you would see that there is a new scientist named Dr. Cossack, a Russian that is bent on you guessed it taking over the world. He built eight new robots and they aren’t Wily’s creations, a first since the very first Mega Man game.

Graphics: Well, nothing needs to be said. It’s the same as the previous three Mega Man games in my honest opinion.

Game Play: It’s fun, challenging and has some secrets. The controls are very easy and responsive without fail. You wouldn’t have to be overly complex to get it down. Hold your attack button down and you can then perform a Charged shot. I should also point out that this game is the first one in the NES collection to let you go back and replay the robot masters in case you miss an item.

Differences: Well, as I mentioned in the top paragraph, you now have the Mega Buster and two items, one being a wire and the other being a balloon that you get on top of. Come to think of it, it reminds me of the item in the Mega Man 2 game when it was around. There are two castles, which would be used in the next two Mega Man games, Mega Man 5 and 6.

Mega Man 4 was pretty good and something I want to comment on when it comes to being stale. I didn’t think that it got stale there as far as the Mega Man series go but that’s up for debate. The game play was identical yes but it works. Its style was different for the time but this game is acceptable and was pretty good and enjoyable. To me it has good replay value and I’d say get it if you like Mega Man more so. I have one final question about this game. Why in the world hasn’t this been put on the Virtual Console? It’s a crime not to put up a classic game like this in there.

My final words on this game would be this: while the game is identical to the previous games in the Mega Man franchise that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Personally, I always this was one of the easiest Mega Man games bar none. You just can’t go wrong with a classic.