Looking Back: Mega Man 4
As part of our celebration of the Mega Man series hitting its 25th anniversary, we are featuring a look back at many of the games of the Classic series. For this entry, I’ll be looking at Mega Man 4, a game that receives much criticism for both trying new things and for making the Mega Man formula feel tired and dated.
There’s a fair argument that can be made regarding the difference between the first and second sets of three NES installments. In terms of pacing, all three of the second set of games follow the same formula– eight Robot Masters followed by a fake bad guy’s castle, followed by Skull Castle. The pacing of gameplay itself was also forever changed by the Mega Buster. Additionally, the level of graphical detail is noticeably improved in the second half of the NES installments. But as mentioned before, the real legacy among many critics is a negative one. For a lot of people, Mega Man 4 is when the series started to tank.
A lot of criticism is leveled at the supposed lack of innovation with Mega Man 4, and while there is some truth to that, there is also an incredible amount of new material introduced with this game. The big innovation, as any fan knows, was the Mega Buster. To compare this to Mega Man 3’s slide is an understatement; due to its nature as a high-powered but time-delayed attack, it was perhaps the single most radical change introduced in any sequel to the original game. It alone changed how a player experienced the games in a major way.
While many critics denounce the Mega Buster and Capcom has banned the Blue Bomber from using it in recent installments, it’s hard to make a cogent argument that Mega Man 4 was not pushing the series in a new direction. Unfortunately, it’s also hard to argue that the developers had a good sense of how to balance out the Mega Buster with the other mechanics in the game–- it stays the most powerful and practical weapon in the weapons arsenal from beginning to end. Later games would address the balance issue in various ways, and while the fandom is divided about the Mega Buster, everyone can agree that it was one of the more substantial innovations in the series.
Beyond the introduction of the Mega Buster, Mega Man 4 brought about a number of other innovations that have gone mostly unnoticed. There was, of course, Eddie and his random item drops, the aforementioned fake bad guy and his fortress, a much more fleshed out story, the introduction of secret paths and optional items, the introduction of the skull facade for the Wily Machine, and in lieu of a floating alien or giant robot that forced the use of the least utilitarian weapons, the Wily Saucer was the final boss for the first time, complete with unique music befitting a final showdown.
Despite enacting all those innovations and introducing a number of now-staples to the series, there are some grounds for disdain of this game. Something that has gone under-reported is how many elements of Mega Man 4 are improved or tweaked elements of fan favorite Mega Man 2. Not only are the final levels strikingly similar, but many of the weapons and even Robot Masters are fairly similar. Pharaoh Man fights like Quick Man while his weapon resembles the Atomic Fire and Metal Blade. The Ring Boomerang is a slightly improved version of the Quick Boomerang, the Skull Barrier is a mobile version of the Leaf Shield, Drill Man resembles Crash Man both in looks and weapons, and Bright Man is essentially a rehashed (and more difficult) Flash Man. Even the reconfigured Rush Jet is a maneuverable version of Item-2 while the Balloon Adapter is Item-1 with more animation. While Mega Man 4 made strides in other areas, the weapons and enemies took perhaps too much from everyone’s 1988 favorite.
By itself, Mega Man 4 is a solid installment that successfully pushed the series in a new direction, though maybe not with the right kind of recalibration needed to make room for the change in gameplay brought about by the Mega Buster. And while this recalibration would take time, and some aspects of the bosses and weapons felt like retreads, MM4 did make leaps and bounds in changing the formula of the series. Unfortunately, its successor built upon the wrong trend started with this game.
Screenshot Credits: VGMuseum
James is TMMN’s Features Contributor and world traveler. He is currently in a faraway land, but he occasionally sends messages in a bottle. If you require more of his love, he left behind a sentient Tumblr account that updates all on its own.
The views expressed here reflect the views of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mega Man Network.
Tags: 25th anniversary, editorial, Mega Man 4, Mega Man Classic
Filed under: Editorials
For me, 4 is an odd one.
When I think back to it, I’m always like “eh, it’s ok”, but then any time I go back and play it, I love it.
It’s not my favorite Mega Man game by any means, but it’s still an excellent game and better than 80% of the NES lineup.
MM4 was always fun for me. I never really used atomic fire in MM2, but used pharaoh shot all the time! and it was fun how you can charge it, hit an enemy with the ball then still fire a fully charged pharaoh shot!
There’s nothing wrong with including or improving upon aspects from a previous game. It also introduced the Wire, which allowed mega man to head bang!
The music was also amazing in this game!
I remember when I first played 4, I think it was my second mega man game, 3 being my first, that or I played it after 2. It was a great game! had a nice mix of difficult and extremely easy robot masters. Toad man was super easy, while pharaoh, ring and bright were a bit tougher, but none of the fights were too annoying, and all the powers were pretty great!
Wow, I didn’t know this one had such a history or distain. I love this one! I mean, MM3 is my favorite, but MM4 is very close in the NES series. It’s got some of my favorite robot masters, fantastic music (especially the Wily battle theme) and has my top favorite opening with Mega Man riding on top of the train to that AWESOME music (I used to start it up and just watch the opening ’cause of how cool it was).
So I guess this one has a ton of nostalgia for me. Perhaps the main thing is that I didn’t grow up following the Mega Man games; I had to work back from MM3 and I really had to work to get ahold of MM4 (it was the only one I bought and didn’t borrow). So I didn’t look at MM4 as a change to the series, I saw it as MORE MEGA MAN OMG…you know what I mean. Still, I think the fact that I can still go back and play it and have a good time says that it stands the test of time; especially after already having played so many after it.
I disagree on the “Mega buster is best from beginning to end’ part. The mega buster takes time to charge, has a very focused area of damage and can’t fire in multiple directions. This is where the weapons kick in. Each weapon has a special feature that the mega buster doesn’t have, like Pharaoh with it’s flying orb, so you don’t have to worry about airborne enemies, or the rain flush being able to hit enemies that are invinsible (it can hit mets while their hats are closed), and so on. I do agree with everything else, though. MM4 did many things good, but could’ve been done better, and the next installment indeed did a lot wrong (not hating here). Good review, and I’m glad you left out the music. It speaks for itself that’s one of the best parts in the game. Can’t wait for the next one.
Hmm, all this time, I thought the “grounds for disdain” thing was reserved for MM 5…
I quite like this game. It introduced the mega buster, which as pointed out, became a mainstay of the series. Beside which, it’s still a lot of fun. About the only thing I thought was odd is how *slow* it takes for the boss life meter to fill out. You’d think that’ll be a non-issue the fourth time around…
Ahh, this is actually the best NES Megaman game to date. This game had the best weaponry before 9 came out, best level design thanks to dozens of platform elements and also the best set of fortress bosses.
There are underrated masterpieces in this world and Mega Man 4 is one of them.
This was an excellent write-up, though I’m quite worried that you guys are going to unfairly rip apart Mega Man 5 & 6. #5 especially, given that’s the game that had brought me into the series in the first place.
I don’t understand why anyone would have a problem with the Mega Buster. My biggest gripe with Mega Man 9 and 10 is the lack of charging action for the blue bomber. Then again, I started out on Mega Man X, so I didn’t really experience the world without charging until I went back to the early ones (which, by the way, are really hard).
Charging aside, 4 will always be one of my favorites, thanks to the random Wily stage filled with mets.
I never thought much of Mega Man 4. The music seemed off. The robot masters seemed uninspired. The Mega Buster was less impressive than I had hoped.
I actually thought the series brilliantly recovered with MM5, but shot itself in the foot immediately after with MM6 and how they horribly screwed up Rush (not that they didn’t do some of that in MM5, but the adapters were terrible). In MM4, the wire and balloon adaptors were attempted throwbacks to MM2, but they just didn’t work.
Still, for all of MM4′s flaws, it was far superior to the dreck of MM7 & 8. Only 4 bosses to start with, and in MM8′s case, embarassing voice acting that could only be matched by X4.
Personally, I missed the Mega Buster greatly in both MM9 and 10.
And Bright Man? I hate you. Roahm Mythril does too.
Really, the main thing that comes to my mind when I think of this game is the music. It’s very hollow and depressing sounding (of course I can’t knock Skull Man’s theme, and a few others.) I definitely don’t rank it up there with Megaman 3, but most of the core robot master stages are really strong. I especially like Toadman’s level for being so atmospheric and well designed.
@Top Man
I don’t understand how voice acting can hold so much weight when it comes to assessing a game’s quality, especially since it was released at a time when voice acting in video games was just being implemented…
^
As minute a factor as it may seem, though, aesthetics still play an important factor on one’s evaluation of a video game, or any form of entertainment. Personally, I don’t like (professional) animation that looks like it was tweened to death in Flash, story be darned, and yet there’s people who’ll eat it up (not to mention it’s all over the place now). But then again, I’m sort of an animation snob. I also wouldn’t want to play a game full of screeching noises someone had the nerve to call sound effects.
Having said that, I actually have no problem with MM8 except that music wise, it may be a little dull in some areas.
As for MM4 and the article, it seems to have a negative slant, yeah? I never grew up with an NES, I was a Sega kid. So when I finally got around to playing the stuff I missed by… other means, I’m pretty sure I played the Mega Man series in order, with my only experiences being MM7, MMX, MM Soccer and MMI GB. The first game I liked, but is pretty hard in a lot of cheap ways. I don’t think 2 ever clicked for me. The level design I can’t get behind, and the Robot Masters I just didn’t care for save for Heat and Quick Man. 3 was too long, and the weapons are all boring or redundant, which kind of defeats the purpose of Mega Man in my eyes. Plus, I just really hate Gemini Man’s stage aesthetically (there’s that word again), and I’d have to deal with it twice.
To date, the only two classic games I don’t like are MM2 and 3, and I can only watch tool assisted runs if I must refresh my memory of the games. 4, however, was the first classic game that really spoke to me, so it probably holds a place in my heart as the “must play” NES Mega Man game. As stated above with absolute truth, it had the best weapons until Mega Man 9 came out. The stages had nice great art direction mixed with some imagination, even if it didn’t make sense (I appreciate the surreal landscape for Ring Man’s stage for what it is). It’s not as amazing as the art in 5 and 6, but it’s getting there. The music, when I first heard it, I’ll admit seemed off compared to 2 and 3 (about the only thing I’ll give those games). However, the Complete Works renditions of the stage themes made me a believer, in the sense that it’s not really the composition of the tunes, but the instrumentation and execution.
I love Dr. Cossack’s role, especially when the next couple of games haven’t been spoiled for you yet. It really does seem like a new contender for world domination has stepped up to the plate, and it was pretty original for Mega Man at it’s original time of release. This is something I feel THIS article should have stated, even if it goes without saying. Perhaps the author doesn’t like Mega Man 4? Should it have been written by Heat Man?
I should also mention 4 is the only game I bought for the Virtual Console, because I wanted to actually experience playing this on a TV. Still held up for me, too. And it’s just a lot of fun to experiment with all the weapons, in that I felt like they did everything right even if some are rehashed (to compare Pharaoh Shot and Flash Stopper to Atomic Fire and Time Stopper is seriously, seriously understating the useability of the former).
As a final note, I gotta shout out to MM4:MI. It just made everything about MM4 a million times better, and I felt the creator of that hack couldn’t have picked a better base to work with. It’s just too bad it’s not an official product.
@DRJ
Exactly, its minute, but for some reason it seems to be a big deal to a point where it becomes one of the main reasons to hate the game for some people, which I think is complete nonsense.
Maybe it’s a nostalgia thing, being the first Mega Man game (hell, first VIDEO GAME I’ve played.), but I really did love Mega Man 4 a lot. The soundtrack was pretty awesome, especially Pharaoh Man’s level, Dive Man’s level, and the Cossack Citadel stages!
A lot of the stages were built brilliantly with clever gimmicks and excellent enemy placements! The only time I didn’t like the level design was Ring Man’s level and the miniboss rush of doom. THAT… was sadistic.
It’s by no means perfect, but I still love it to death~
I’mma go off topic with this for a bit, but I think Classic shouldn’t be the only one that gets love.
I personally feel like the “Looking Back” series should span the franchise instead of just one series throughout the course of the year so as to be a good refresher course at what each game brought to the table.
Just throwin it out there.
It’s probably my least favorite in the Classic series. It’s tough to explain overall but it just all felt underwhelming in all departments for me. It’s a solid game, it just lacks the charm that I feel in the other games in the series.
I actually got to play this game pretty late so I don’t have any nostalgia for it, but it still ended up being my favorite in the series. It took what I liked about the previous games and did it better in my opinion. The only thing I’d say is weaker might be the music, but I still think it’s great overall.
Personally, I felt like the Mega Buster only became a problem in 5 because of the rest of the weapons being way less useful. 4′s weapons are some of the most useful in the series which is part of why I love the game.
Does anyone actually hate the charge capability of the New/Super Mega Buster? Did anyone really want it removed for MM9 and 10? I for one loved the innovation of both the Power Shot and the Slide. They’re a huge part of my Mega Man style; utilize Mega Man’s agility to evade enemies until my Power Shot is charged, then obliterate them all. I missed that greatly with the latest two Classic titles.
@Acrosurge They’ve got Protoman for that. Why does everyone complain MM9 and MM10 don’t have the charge shot or slide? PROTOMAN PEOPLE. PROTOMAN. Or aren’t you skilled enough to take the 2x damage?
@someone: I wasn’t skilled enough to want to pay extra for a character who has the abilities the standard character should have in the first place…
I thought MM4 was a great game with some minor flaws. The levels are brilliantly designed (save for the overuse of instant death traps that would become further overused in future games) and really fit each robot master extremely well, where some of the stages in past games (especially 3 with Topman and Shadowman) had rather odd, nonsensical stage themes.
The music is amazing in this game; I particularly liked Diveman’s “high surf” theme, Brightman’s technological nightmare, and Dustman’s cold, depressing theme for a place where robots go to die. The mini-bosses were a nice carry-over from prior games and had some unique strategies for beating them (even if there were far too many of them in Ringman and Diveman’s stages).
The Mega Buster was a huge selling point for this game, and I think it created the possibility of beating every Master with both Master weapons or just your standard weapon, where this was a feat only reserved for the most skilled in previous games. Rush was still useful, despite not being as broken as in the previous game. Eddie’s frustrating roulette was often comical.
Was the formula getting overdone? Maybe to some, yet I saw it as expanding more than simply treading water. By contrast, I think a good example of what would happen if you simply reused a formula and added nothing tremendously new (or took those things away) would be Megaman 10.
One other note I forgot to mention– the stages in this game seem to fit together very well under the Dr. Cossack theme. None of these stages are bright and cheery in the least– you get a sewer, a crypt, a junkyard, a space station, a factory, etc. The most welcoming place you get to go to is an ocean full of mines and deadly sea life. Cossack himself lives in this dark citadel surrounded by snow and ice, and his Robot Masters feel just as cold and unforgiving. I thought the designers did a great job in tying these all together– imagine how different the lineup would feel if someone like Topman, Gyroman or Clownman found their way into this game.
@DarkDream: Agreed, but it’s a matter of time and availability. These articles took James a while to complete before he had to go on to take care of other things, and we just really don’t have time to do everything.
I kind of wish the idea had been brought up earlier– there are probably enough Mega Man games that we could have spent the entire year counting down with one game a week– more if we start getting into side-games, etc.
But by this point, we’re so busy with other things this holiday season (I have at least nine games to review on my plate as we speak, among others) that we just aren’t able to do as much as we’d like.
4 has always been my favorite game of the NES era. The soundtrack is superb Toad Man and Wily 2 are favorites of mine, the latter being one of my favorite songs in the series. It’s also the only 2-fortress NES game that has 2 songs for each fortress. MM5 and MM6 only had 1 song per fortress.
all the weapons are neat and useful. Rain Flush is your screen clearing weapon; Flash Stopper freezes enemies; Ring Boomerang is fast and ripping; Pharaoh Shot is powerful and can act as a protective umbrella; Dive Missile is a seeking weapon that can hit annoying enemies from a distance; Skull Barrier can shield you easily while you’re platforming; Dust Crusher is basically a stronger Mega Buster; Drill Bomb is basically a Dust Crusher that can explode when you want it to.
The least useful is probably Dust Crusher, since it doesn’t do anything fancy aside from being strong. It’s kind of overshadowed by Pharaoh Shot and Drill Bomb.
The items are also very cool. Wire Adaptor, although a bit situational, was a really cool idea and was infinitely fun to use. Balloon Adaptor was a huge improvement over Item-1, which is good.
The stage design didn’t really disappoint me, either. Ring Man has crazy platforming portions with those disappearing platforms, Bright Man has the lights turning on and off along with those grasshopper rides, a Dr. Cossack Stage has an auto-scrolling portion on the roof, and one the Wily Fortress had that one bizarre stage that ONLY had mets.
I went back played some of the other NES games recently; MM3, MM5 and MM6, to be specific. MM4 is definitely still my favorite.
@someone: I liked playing as Proto Man. His shield added a great dynamic to his style. But this is really no rationale to devolve Mega Man.
It would be like taking Sonic’s Super Spin Dash in any given Sonic game, giving it to Knuckles, and forcing Sonic to play as he did in Sonic 1 with the Spin Attack only. Why would you do that? Especially when Sonic’s mechanics are built around speed, just as Mega Man’s mechanics are built around evasion and attack. Taking Mega Man’s primary tools from him is not a developmental step forward, in gaming terms.
Mega Man 4 is definintely my favorite Classic Series Game. It has tons of weapons ranging from Robot Master Weapons to Rush to Mega Man Adaptors with the inclusion of Wire and Balloon.
It has tons of great platforming action or other nice stage elements in it such as the rainbow/snake platforms in Ring Man’s Stage, The lights going in and out in Bright Man’s Stage, Dust Man’s compactor, the switches that create land in Drill Man’s Stage, thge rain and sewer current changing how fast or slow Mega Man goes in Toad Man’s Stage, quick sand and floating head platforms in Pharoah Man’s Stage and more!
It was the first classic game to do the 2 fortress story, and it introduced the Mega Buster and Eddie!
It had a really good into before the game showing how Rock became Mega Man and what lead up to the events of Mega Man 4.
It has the second best weapon set in the series, second only to Mega Man 9.
Music is all up to opinion, but I love Mega Man 4′s Soundtrack it’s really solid. Not my favorite one in the series, but like any other Mega Man Game, it has many good songs.
This isn’t all that I love about Mega Man 4, but I feel like I have said enough, haha. Definitely my favorite Classic Game.
Not my favorite edition, saying this as someone who enjoys just about every classic series game (well, aside from 8). I love the opening cinematic and Dr. Cossack was a bright spot. I also enjoyed Bright Man’s stage — some good difficulty there. But overall, I remember feeling that the levels in this one are a bit short and easier to get through than the games surrounding it. Anyone able to back that up or dispute it?
I absolutely love the whole 6 classic games on the NES as they are one truely awesome package to play through again and again. For me though, Mega Man 4 is the true poster child of the classic series not Mega Man 2 and I think new players should consider playing 4 first as IMO it is the best crafted game of the bunch and it deserves more praise !
- Second best weapon selection after MM9.
- Ideal stage length for all 8 RM (for reference: stone man is an example of way too long and Flash Man an example of too short).
- Cossack fortress stages and bosses are way better than Proto Man’s and Mr. X’s.
I have others reasons but I don’t want people to TL:DR me lol.
People can say what they will about the latter half of the NES Mega Man titles but even with their flaws they’re still some of the best action games on the console.