Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. And welcome dear reader to the last edition of Mega May 2012. We’ve looked back each Friday this month at the first major Mega Man adventures, and seen how the series went from a slow start to a meteoric rise with some solid sequels. With the franchise still in full swing, it was only a matter of time until the franchise would reach its fourth chapter. And thus Mega Man 4 would see a release. But was this more Mega Man quality? Or was this really the start of a steep slope for the series?
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1991
PUBLISHER: Capcom
GENRE: Action Platformer
Mega Man was still a massive success for Capcom by 1991. The previous games were successes for the company, and the NES, that there was clearly no signs of stopping this franchise from continuing. And thus not long after Mega Man 3’s release, Mega Man 4 would begin work.
Unlike the more tumultuous situation involving the creation of Mega Man 3, Mega Man 4’s development went along a lot more smoothly. It was the debut of Hayato Kaji, who would work on many of the later games in the series. Not to mention it would once again do what its predecessor would and add more development into the story, some new characters, as well as some new abilities for the blue bomber.
Mega Man 4 hit shelves on December 14th, 1991, and did solid numbers, though definitely not to the level of the previous two games before it. At the time, the game received high critical praise, though in most recent years, it has been cited by many critics as the start of the essential quality downfall that the games had seen before. Is that really a justified statement? Was the fourth installment the beginning of the slippery slope?
COVER STORY
Once again the covers continue to get better, as Mega Man once again looks more like his real form, despite another sorta creepy looking face. Enemies in the background look like their actual forms, you see the castle in the background, and once again that beautiful purple Capcom border makes it all complete. How did the European box art go about?
Actually, it’s almost the exact same cover, save for a more truer look for Mega Man than the version used in the US box art, and the lack of that sweet border. In fact, by this point, both the NTSC and PAL boxes would look similar. Both boxes are definitely pleasing to the eyes, but one thing I’ve always hated is the title font. It’s too generic and bland looking in comparison to the ones used before. But that gripe aside, it’s easily one of my favorite box arts for the series.
STORY
In the year 200x, the world once again appears to be at peace, with no sign of Dr. Wily since his defeat in Mega Man 3. All is well. Until all of a sudden, robots once again begin to attack different parts of the world. A man going by the name of Dr. Cossack begins to tell the world that all this time Dr. Wily was working for him. Tired of Wily’s failures, Cossack has decided to finally step out of the shadows and finally attempt to take over the world without Wily’s help. Once again, it’s up to Mega Man and Rush to thwart this foe. But is this Raging Russian telling the truth?
MEGA MEMORIES FROM CM WATERS
As a favor to a good friend of mine, I have invited CM Waters to share his thoughts on these classic titles. You can check some of Chris’ work over on his Watersfall Industries blog. Once more for Mega May 2012, here’s Chris’ thoughts on Mega Man 4.
“All right, personal backstory time! The year is 1992. We’re going to the nearest game rental store (don’t think it was Blockbuster…could have been Shop Rite’s rental section for all I remember). Anyway, after seeing the series in the NES Game Atlas and so wanting to play it, I made it a goal of myself to pick up the first Mega Man, as I wanted to start the series.
Mega Man’s 1 to 3 weren’t there.
BUT…to my shock, there was another game there. My first foray into playing as the Blue Bomber himself: Mega Man 4.
Now yes, in comparison to the first three games retrospectively, Mega Man 4 IS a downshift. That being said, despite what others may think about this game, I still enjoy the hell out of it. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking here but Mega Man 4 is still a fun game to me.
Also what I liked about this game compared to the first three was the fact that the story wasn’t just in the manual, but they actually spell it out for you in a cutscene at the start (something that would carry over for future Mega Man games as well). Plus, we get a nice little history lesson in the process of why Mega Man became what he is.
Is Mega Man 4 as good as the first three? Honestly, no, but that does NOT make it a bad game at all. Like I said, without it, I wouldn’t have become a fan of the series like I am today. So I say if you’re playing this series, clear your mind of any previous thoughts about it and play it for yourself.
Now let’s see if my friend north of the border has similar thoughts. Take it away, Ray!”
GAMEPLAY
Mega Man 4 is a one player action platformer. Like the previous games, you once again control Mega Man who has to defeat eight robot masters in order to face off with the evil Dr. Cossack. Similar to Mega Man 3, Mega Man’s controls are moving with the D-Pad, jumping with the A button, shooting with the B, and sliding by holding down on the D-pad and pressing A. A new ability given to Mega Man is that his arm cannon has been upgraded to the Mega Buster. Holding the B button will charge up his regular shot, making for a more powerful blast which can do more damage than the weaker shots.
Once again the game has eight robot masters to do battle with. And as always, defeating each of them will earn you their power. The roster for this edition contains:
TOAD MAN: Dwelling in a sewer-like area with robot rats and giant robot snails, Toad Man is the easiest robot master in the game. This giant toad shaped robot will jump about, do a dance, and send an unavoidable rain shower on you that will do damage. However, you can literally just dodge his jump by sliding under, and keep shooting him, and he will never touch you. You get the Rain Flush, which has you shoot a weapon in the air, which will send a rainfall that will kill all enemies on screen.
DRILL MAN: Living in the mines is Drill Man. This tricky robot master will do two attacks. First is firing drills, and the second more devious trick is drilling underground. He’ll pop back up under you, meaning you have to move fast to stop him. Defeating this tricky foe earns you the Drill Bomber. Not only does it work as a basic weapon, but when you press the B button, it will explode, causing even more damage. And like the Crash Bomber and Hard Knuckle before it, it can break through certain walls.
DUST MAN: This trash filled level filled with crushing plafrorms, and debris you have to get out of the way, is where Dust Man lurks. His main attacks are a vacuum that pulls you backwards into him, and a cluster of dust that breaks into four pieces. Defeating him earns you the Dust Crusher. A dust block that can split into four after impact.
BRIGHT MAN: In this electrical lab, you’ll face off with plenty of oddities like robot grasshoppers, and totem poles. After some intense platforming, you’ll face Bright Man. He’s very much like Flash Man in Mega Man 2, as he will freeze you in place, and try to jump on you, causing major damage. Defeating him earns you the Flash Stopper. It will freeze enemies in place for a short period of time.
PHARAOH MAN: This desert level is filled with robot bugs, mummies that throw their heads, and plenty of tricky enemies. You’ll face Pharaoh Man, who has the power to shoot a dangerous giant charged wave of energy. Defeating him earns the Pharaoh Shot, a charge attack that you can shoot in all directions but straight up and down, and can be one of the more useful attacks in the game.
SKULL MAN: In this stage consisting of entirely bone platforms and skeletal areas, with skeleton robots that throw bones at you, has Skull Man, probably my favorite robot master. He shoots a basic attack and jumps about. His main weapon is a shield of skulls that can block all attacks. Defeating him will earn you his Skull Barrier. It can repel most attacks.
RING MAN: In a level filled with platforms to jump, eyes with ring shields, and hippos on platforms, Ring Man rules within. He will jump about, and shoot rings at you. Once defeated, you earn his ring boomerang. a decent ranged attack which uses an okay amount of energy.
DIVE MAN: This mostly underwater level is filled with giant robot whales and spiked mines has Dive Man, a robot that looks like a submarine. His attacks include a fast charging strike, and firing heat seeking missiles at you. Defeating him will earn you the Dive Missile, which home in on enemies.
Once again, Mega Man has the help of his trusty dog Rush to get him through some tricky spots. He once again uses the Rush Coil, the Rush Marine, and the Rush Jet. However, the Rush Jet no longer has great controls like before hand. Rush will move straight forward, unable to stop, while you can move up and down. The other two work the same as they did in the previous Mega Man games.
Also added to the game are two new items you can find in certain stages to help you in your platforming perils. First off is the Balloon, which like Item 1 in Mega Man 2, shoots three platforms that you can stand on for a short period of time. The other is the Wire, which by pressing up and B will shoot a cable to the ceiling, which can get you items that not even the Rush Coil can grab.
Another new addition is Fliptop Eddie, a small red robot that appears in certain levels. He’ll open up his head and out of it will pop anything from energy to an E tank. It’s all random, so you never know what you’ll get. Other than that, there are really no new abilities in the game.
Once you defeat all eight robot masters, you will head to Dr. Cossack’s castle in Moscow, where you will have to defeat all of his hazards, while facing off with many of the robots you fought before. Standing in the way are a few new dangerous bosses like a giant robot moth, a giant ball throwing robot, and two wall walking bots. Once you survive all that, you’ll face off with Dr. Cossack. But you soon discover the truth. Proto Man shows up with Cossack’s daughter Kalinka. It is revealed that Cossack was being forced to do all this by, who else? Dr. Wily of course.
You once again have to head through Wily Castle, deal with more robot enemies, and face of in a rematch with the eight robot masters to once again try and stop Dr. Wily for a fourth time. But, and really without spoiling much, Dr. Wily escapes as his castle gets destroyed, and Capcom more or less bluntly tells you to wait for next year because Mega Man 5 is clearly next.
The game once again has decent control, a scaled down, yet still daunting difficulty, and little to no issues with hit detection. Once again the game uses a six red orb password system, and there are plenty of E tanks you can collect. By now, if you’ve played the last three, you’re definitely aware of what to expect. But is that a good thing?
GRAPHICS
As expected by this point, Mega Man 4 has excellent graphics, though more or less par for the course compared to the last game. The biggest graphical plus is the opening cutscene which has some excellent graphics not just for the Mega Man series, but for the NES in general, it looks really beautiful.
MUSIC
Again, a solid soundtrack, and some of the best music on the NES, but I’d be lying if I said that I enjoyed this soundtrack even close to other games in the series. Personally, between this one and 5, they’re definitely the most lacking in quality. But you will still manage to find something great in it. Just don’t expect Mega Man 2 quality music.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was the 2nd Mega Man game I had completed, though this one through a week long rental. I remember working hard to beat it, and again I was very satisfied. Though due to being unable to find other Mega Man games at the time, and my disdain toward emulation, I remembered loving it more fondly then. Flash forward six or so years later when I played it on the Mega Man Anniversary Collecti0n, and I found it very lacking, and really just a filler game.
Mega Man 4 is a solid title, just like the others, and has great gameplay, graphics, and some okay music. But honestly, this is definitely the point where you could tell the Mega Man franchise was starting to wane. I think with the ending being pretty much a blatant “see you next game” message instead of a more satisfying ending is the major reason I feel that way. Not to mention the fact that the series was starting to get stale in so many other ways doesn’t help matters much. But that’s just how I feel. I still say however, despite my mild disdain to it, you should definitely give it a shot just like the rest.
RANKING: 5th
And that will do it for the 2012 edition of Mega May. I know I have two more 8-bit outings to cover, but we can give it a year to talk about them. Plus, there are two sequels that definitely deserve a look as well, considering how much they play like the ones of old. But that will wait until 2013. I hope you enjoyed Mega May, and we’ll see you next week with something that’s not Mega Man related.