So it looks like the third time was the charm. Mega Man has defeated Dr. Wily 3 times and the world is now at peace. However, even though Dr. Wily is gone it seems that the world isn’t as safe as Dr. Light and Mega Man once thought. A Russian scientist named Dr. Cossack has appeared with 8 robots of his own and is wreaking havoc on the world! Mega Man must once again suit up to take on Dr. Cossack and defeat his 8 robots to have peace again in the world.

Mega Man 4 was the first game in the NES series to be worse than the previous games. While I don’t think this game is much worse than 2 or 3 I do think it starts the decline in quality in Mega Man games for the NES. One of the biggest complaints about Mega Man 4 is the introduction of the Mega Buster. The Mega Buster is the regular weapon Mega Man has but charged up into a stronger blast. While I thought it was an interesting addition to the game it does modify the game play a fair bit compared to the older Mega Man games. If this changed hadn’t been made but the game was made similarly to Mega Man 3 I wonder if people would complain the game didn’t change enough to improve the game. You can’t win with a series like Mega Man without making someone else unhappy. Still, I think this is a great game and worth playing and I’ll explain why.

Graphics 9/10 – The graphics for Mega Man 4 are just as good as Mega Man 3. At this point if they weren’t I would be very disappointed. Level designs are still unique and interesting to look at. Each has its own style which includes specific monster types to each level. I’ve always liked that about the Mega Man series. The backgrounds are also better to look at than the nearly completely lacking ones for 1 and 2. Overall the graphics didn’t disappoint compared to the previous games which is why my rating stays at a 9.

Sound 7/10 – The music for Mega Man 4 was good overall. The variety was still there and the songs fit the level design and theme pretty well. However, I feel like it took a step back when comparing it to Mega Man 2 or 3 which is unfortunate. To be fair though, those 2 games had some great music. There were a few songs (like the password screen) which are painful to listen to. Then there were others like the Skull theme and the stage select which I think are great. Too many bad and not enough great songs to give it any higher of a rating than 7.

Addictiveness 6/10 – I honestly did not find myself drawn back to this game like I was to others in the series. I know I’ve played this game plenty as a kid but not as much as I played 3. It has the same replay-ability as the previous games in the series in that you need to figure out which bosses are hurt by which power ups. This isn’t as needed though because of the Mega Buster power. Using the Mega Buster you can beat nearly any boss once you have their boss mechanics memorized. While I like that you can beat a boss without absolutely having to have the power up they are weak to I don’t think it should be as easy as it is in Mega Man 4. It was always possible to beat the boss in the previous games without the right power up but you died more often than you beat the boss.

Story 7/10 – I did like that this story didn’t have Dr. Wily in it at first. It was almost like that era of the game was over and now it was someone else’s turn to try and best Mega Man. Unfortunately it turned out to just be Dr. Wily behind the scenes again only revealing himself after you beat Dr. Cossack. Then you had to go beat Dr. Wily all over again. I’m not sure if I would have been happy with Dr. Wily being dead and Dr. Cossack taking over but I don’t really like the kidnapped kid forcing Dr. Cossack to try and defeat Mega Man story. Stuff like that never works. Still, like I said before, at least it wasn’t just Dr. Wily from the start. This had a twist to it even if I didn’t love the twist. Kept the story fresher than if Dr. Wily was the villain from the beginning.

Depth 5/10 - I feel like this game didn’t have that much depth to it. You beat the 8 main robots and then go through a very linear progression through the 2 final castle levels. I do know there are some secrets in the game but I don’t feel like they really add much to the depth of the game. It’s not like a separate path through the game as a whole but only slightly changes how the game progresses. I really wish there were multiple ways to get through each level and possibly a different story line depending on choices you make as you play. I guess that sort of depth is a bit too much for a side-scroller on the NES.

Difficulty 9/10 – Mega Man 4 does not lack for difficulty. Like all Mega Man games death is around every corner. Miss a jump and you die and go back to the start of the level. Boss fights, while easier than Mega Man 2 or 3 were, could end with only a handful of hits against Mega Man if you aren’t careful. Also, some of the levels in Dr. Cossack’s castle can become quite frustrating. It is definitely a game that will challenge a player until the levels become familiar. Like previous games in the series there is little variety in the level once you’ve played it through so replays of the game become much easier.

Overall – 8.0/10 – Mega Man 4 is in no way a bad game. It only gets a bad rap because it is compared to the 2 previous games that were wildly popular and successful. I still recommend this game to anyone who has played other games in the Mega Man series. It does pale in comparison to the earlier games but is still a good game on its own accord.

[edit]

Great review, but as I said in the previous review, you've plateaued since you already reviewed the best Mega Man game.

And thanks for the spoiler! 

Vanelan : yeah, after reviewing this game I remembered why it was downhill from here. I don't feel like this one was a bad game like I said but it was the first game to be worse than the one before it and that trend continues through the rest of the NES Mega Man games. I likely won't be reviewing Mega Man 5 honestly. I looked at it last night and it was definitely worse than 2, 3 and 4.