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Review: Mega Man 4 Beta

Play Mega Man 4 Compilation (Beta 11.2012) Online

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tornadocam
09-11-17 04:14 PM

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tornadocam
09-11-17 04:14 PM

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Mega Man 4 Beta

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8.7

tornadocam's Score

7.9

09-11-17 04:14 PM

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tornadocam

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Time to review another Mega Man game. This time I am going to be reviewing Mega Man 4 Beta as the title suggest it is a hack of Mega Man 4. Mega Man 4 is one of my all time favorite video games. I was so glad when I got the original game. It is often regarded as one of the top 100 NES games of all time. Therefore, it should be no surprise that several hacks exists. How does Mega Man 4 Beta compare to the original as other hacks. Well lets find out?

Story: 6

Okay the original game had an awesome story to it. The original Mega Man 4 offered something new to the franchise. What made the original plot so good was that it offered mystery, suspense and had a plot twist at the end. Beta changes the plot around some and its a so-so job at it. Like the original game the game starts off introducing the players to Mega Man. Robots Rock and Roll were created. One Day, Dr. Wily took the other robots and reprogrammed them to take over the world. Dr. Light knew he had to do something. Rock having a sense of justice was turned into the fighting robot Mega Man. Mega Man shattered Wily's plan three times and heads out for the battle again. Okay the original game and other hacks introduced Dr. Cossack. He is not mentioned in the story at all in Beta. Also when starting the game the logo in the center is the Stardroids symbol from Mega Man V for game boy. When you make it to the gate of a boss you see a K symbol as in King's army from Mega Man and Bass. Okay is anybody lost yet? Why do you have two different symbols? The Stardroids are not referenced and neither is King in the plot. Yet the logos give you the impression that they are in the game. The plot leaves a cliff hanger.

Maybe the maker of this game wanted to offer suspense so they left off who we are fighting in this game off. Normally I wouldn't mind that but using different enemy logo's adds confusion and gives the plot a lost feeling. There were so many possibilities with the plot. You could have had the Stardroids return for revenge or you could have had King. So yeah something got lost along the way. Thus the plot gets brought down to a rating of 6.

Graphics and controls: 7

If anybody has read my Mega Man 4 and other Mega Man 4 hack reviews you probably know how I really was blown away by the original's graphics. The original game had very good graphics and showed what the NES was capable of. In Beta the backgrounds, color and stage designs have been changed. One boss is entirely new King Man replaced Dive man in Beta. I liked the middle age theme in his stage. I really liked how the colors have been changed they go along well. The stage designs are very good and so are the sprites. However, there are some glitches in this game. A few glitches will cause Mega Man to vanish. This is bad because you cannot see were you are on a platform when you need to make a jump.

Mega Man 4 had some of the best controls in the NES Classic line for Mega Man games. Beta the controls were so-so. I like how it does not take as long for Mega Man to charge his buster that was a nice change. The speed of the controls is bonkers in this game. It seems one moment Mega Man speeds up way too fast other times he slows down. This can send you right into a pit or an enemy. Therefore I give the graphics and controls a 7 out of 10. The glitches and control issues bring this down.

Sound: 10

The sound in this game was left unchanged. I really liked the original games soundtrack. It was my favorite NES track of Mega Man games. The tunes are just awesome. It makes you want to relax and listen before starting to play through them. Enemies have a powerful sound to let you know they mean business. Mega Man buster shot has its original pow sound like it did in the original game. It was nice the makers did not bother the sound at all. Therefore I give the sound a perfect 10 out of 10.

Replay Value: 6

When I saw this game had been uploaded on vizzed I was eager to play it. The main reasons being it is a Mega Man game. Second its a hack of Mega Man 4. I was curious to see how well the game played to the original. I had fun playing this game but it seems like something is missing. The game is not a terrible game. But its not a blow me away game. I will be honest it would be pretty hard to top the original but I have played a few hacks that came close. Maybe what is missing is a better plot, better controls and other issues. The game is fun to play through and I liked the colors. Now with that being said I probably won't play this one as much as I do the others. The things this game had going for it like the colors, backgrounds, and sprites make it interesting. Its a shame the game has other issues that cancel that out. So I give it a 6 out of 10. Nothing real horrible but nothing real special either.

Depth: 7

The depth has been changed in this game. Mega Man 4 had very awesome depth to it. The original game had secrets, hidden items, long stages and required the stages to be revisited. I would say the original game had a 10 or 9 rating. This game scales that back some. From what I have found during my play through the secret areas have been omitted. The stages are still long and require time to complete. The stages still require re visitation to get all power ups. Removing the secret areas brings the rating down some. I give the depth a 7 out of 10.

Difficulty: 10

The difficulty in this game was good for the right and wrong reasons. I will start with the right reasons. The enemies have been sped up in this game from the original. They move a lot faster also they can jump father. Enemy placement is brutal in this game. Enemies will gang up on you quicker than the original game. The pits and spikes are plentiful in this game. The bosses have been sped up. Also the enemies shots as well as the bosses attacks do more damage than the original game. I like reasons like that it offers a good challenge.

Now for the wrong reasons. The glitches cause some difficulty because you cannot see were you need to jump due to mega man vanishing. Also the controls add a lot of difficulty. The controls can cause Mega Man to speed up this can send you right into an enemy or a pit. Sometimes Mega Man seems to appear sluggish causing you to miss you jumps.

The glitches and controls add difficulty to this game but again they are for the wrong reason. Enemy placement, increased attacks and adding speed to enemies is for the right reasons. Therefore I give the difficulty a 10

Overall 7.9

Okay here is my final take on Mega Man 4 Beta. Beta seemed like it was offering something new. I like how King Man replaced Dive Man. I also like the castle theme in his stage. That seemed like it was trying to add something new. I also like how the makers of this game changed the stage layouts and colors. In addition, the sound was find in the original game so no change was needed. I really think the makers of the game were really trying to add something new.

I had fun playing this game but compared to the original it just does not surpass or measure up to the original game. I think the makers could really improve on this game. Fixing the plot, glitches and controls would be a huge improvement. Maybe they will make a better version of this game. If those issues were fixed this game would be a very good game.

The plot needs to be cleaned up. I am all for adding suspense. But most Mega Man plots tell the player who the bad guy is or supposed to be. This version leaves us guessing. Also having two different bad guy symbols just seems to make the plot lose its charm. The glitches really need to be fixed. Its frustrating to die due to a glitch in the game. Also is frustrating to die due to issues with the controls. The controls are just irritating in this game.

Overall I give the game a 7.9. It is not a horrible game but as I stated earlier nothing really special at the same time. If this game was to be cleaned up the rating would go way higher. So would I recommend this game? Well if you are a novice player at Mega Man games then by all means play this game. Maybe you will not find the issues to be a bother. If your not a novice player at Mega Man games then I would not recommend this game. This game will cause you to get frustrated due to death and lots of it in this game. Plus this game's problems can turn some new players off from Mega Man. If you want to play a very good Mega Man game. Play Mega Man 4. That game, which is the original, is just so awesome and is a great game. So yeah 7.9 seems about right. The game has things going for it but just has issues that need to be corrected.

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(edited by tornadocam on 09-11-17 04:15 PM) Post Rating: 1 Liked By: DragonSlayer22,

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