Ah, Mega Man 4! When Russians build robots, Mega Man fights for truth, justice, and the American way by smashing them to bits! This was my favorite Mega Man title for years, until I finished MM5. More on that with that review. Anyway, for the 3rd annual sequel for the Mega Man line (which was like the COD of the 1980's), let's see what I have to say.

Graphics: Unfortunately, not a whole lot of improvement on the graphics. They look good and are better than MM3, but my issues with the 2D Robot Masters remain unchanged. The backgrounds are significantly improved, and Skull Man's stage is the pinnacle of that. Otherwise, I don't need to say a lot. It looked better than last year.

Sound: MM4's soundtrack, while lovable to me, is only decent at best. Themes such as the Wily fortress themes are a bit grating on the ears, and don't even get me started on the charge up noise for the Charge Shot gimmick. In fact, I'll talk about it next.

NEW GIMMICKS: MM4 introduced to us the Charge Shot, which admittedly sounds cool, but is rather useless once you realize that it takes time to charge just like the Atomic Fire of MM2 or Pharaoh Shot of MM4, but also comes with a charge up noise that I swear will drive a player insane if he/she listens to it for 5 minutes on end. The shot itself is also quite disappointing, since it is more lengthy than wide, you are not gonna be able to hit a lot of enemies with the thing, since it is barely wider than a standard pellet from your buster. What is good, however, is the fact that they improved the slide! YES! Mega Man can slide infinitely when the forward, down, and turbo A buttons are held down, instead of sliding then taking a hop like in MM3! Speed Run heaven!

Addictiveness: Not a whole lot to say yet again. As with all Mega Man titles, experimenting with your arsenal of toys will be the prime factor to your replaying of each title. The weapon selection in MM4 is generally better than that of MM3, with great weapons like the Ring Boomerang, Pharaoh Shot, and Flash Stopper to boot. 

Story: WE GET A CUT SCENE THAT EXPLAINS THE SERIES HISTORY! Other than that, it matters not. Does anyone really care about the story in Mega Man? Ever?

Depth: The two fortresses will keep you company. If you hate them as much as I do, then kiss depth good bye. Other than the 8 Robot Masters, which are a given, there is nothing more to offer... Unless you care for items like the Balloon or Wire, but they aren't really necessary for anything.

Difficulty: MM4 definitely ranked up the difficulty of the Fortress stages, and there seems to be a smooth transition from Robot Master, to Cossack, and finally Wily. Unlike MM3 or MM1, which was too easy (former) or unfairly hard (latter), the MM4 fortresses are certainly a challenge, but not a insane or impossible challenge. You are not going to break a controller any time soon, but you will die a couple of times.

Overall: MM4: GREAT. Play it if you haven't yet. Dr. Cossack may rank up there with TF2's Heavy for most Russian video game character ever. You won't regret the experience.

Good review man. One thing though, you say that nobody matters about the story but I never have tried any of these games so I want to know them. Can you include them next time? Other than that, good job

juuldude : if you haven't played any  megaman games I recommend starting off with the easiest of the classic

If there is any MM game in the classic series that is easy, it is MM5, which is my favorite on the NES. You can straight up murder all the bosses and slaughter enemies easily with a charged Mega Buster.