Yup. Back where I started. Again.
Due to my illogical love of the series, I felt like playing a Mega Man game again, but rather than replaying one of my old favorites, I decided to press onward with the series. So the choice was between Mega Man & Bass and Mega Man X4. I decided to go with the latter, as I really had no sense of what to expect of it, while the former seemed pretty set in stone for me.
Being the absolute maniac that I am, however, I decided to beat Mega Man X, Mega Man X2, and Mega Man X3 first, for the simple reason that beating all three of them on my copy of Mega Man X Collection would result in me unlocking Mega Man Battle & Chase, a Mario Kart clone in the Mega Man universe! Great, right?!?!?!
Well, I ended up really enjoying Mega Man X, as always, and slogging through Mega Man X2 and Mega Man X3 to get back here, so I was already a bit burnt out on Mega Man by the time I reached my goal. But now I can race go-karts using Mega Man, so it all paid off.
Mega Man X4 is the sequel to Mega Man X3, and features very similar controls to its predecessors, albeit with a few of the innovations from its Playstation peer Mega Man 8. Like the other X games, you can dash and climb up walls, but like Mega Man 8, you get more of a 32 bit look to the game, and there are additional buttons coded so that you can quickly switch between special weapons and your X-Buster.
Unlock previous X-games, however, you can play the complete game as both X and Zero, which is a nice feature. I admittedly didn't play at all as Zero, but its nice to know its there, and other people seem to enjoy playing as him. Compared to the pathetic appearance of Zero in Mega Man X3, this is a really nice feature.
The game looks excellent graphically, but definitely has a strong Mega Man 8 vibe to it. The controls are similarly kind of clunky, and the hitboxes don't feel quite right for his size. The bosses and enemies generally have cool looks and designs, and feel the freshest since the original Mega Man X. The game also features some anime cutscenes into it, and they are certainly better than the absolutely dreadful ones from Mega Man 8.
The levels are generally fine, but the bosses are far too easy. Most have a long period of stun after getting hit with their weapon weakness, and can be hit again before they can even hit an attack. Even the first two rounds of the end boss were so easy that I literally didn't get hit once after a few practice rounds. The final boss was at least challenging, though.
The music was definitely not memorable, although it wasn't nearly as dreadful as the flotsam and jetsam that populated Mega Man X3.
The story was actually extremely interesting, though! The plot, rather than focusing from the get-go on Sigma or some wicked team attempting to bring back Sigma, centers on a side group of Maverick Hunters in a kind of morally grey environment that really leads you to question which side of the battle you really should be on. There are several pretty good twists along the way that makes this probably my favorite Mega Man story ever! If only the gameplay could have matched the story...
All in all, this game wasn't bad. There were definitely things about it that struggled to impress, but it was a pretty nice first fully 32 bit entry into the series for Capcom, and they played around with several ideas here that, if refined, could have been done really well in a subsequent game. I'll give this game a 7.2/10.
Next up in console entries, I'm still working on Mass Effect 3 while I can, and I'm thoroughly enjoying a nice luxurious replay of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I'm also working, when my kids are not awake, on a playthrough of a throwback for me that I began in high school and never finished. Here's a tease below:
-TRO
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