Mega Man IV (1993)

Mega Man IV (1993)
Protagonist(s): Mega Man Genre(s): Action Platformer Platform(s): Game Boy Release Date: October 1993 Developer(s): Minakuchi Engineering Publisher(s): Capcom Series: Mega Man Predecessor: Mega Man III Successor: Mega Man V

Mega Man IV (or Rockman World 4; ロックマンワールド4 in Japan) is the fourth of the Game Boy Mega Man/Rockman World games, released in late 1993. Once again, it was developed by Minakuchi Engineering, who also made Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge and Mega Man III. It borrows Robot Masters from Mega Man 4 as well as Mega Man 5

Plot

In the year, 20XX, In a normally peaceful day in the city, Dr. Wily has used a neurotransmitter to take control of all the robots in the annual Robot Exposition. He then sends 8 of his Robot Masters from Mega Man 4 and 5 to lead the mind controlled robots to world domination!

Why it Rocks

1. A simple, but fun story with some amazing cinematics, especially for the Game Boy.
2. The game introduces a shop system for the first time in a Mega Man game, as well as the Power Saver.
3. Great music remixes from the NES games, as well as some awesome original songs, like Ballade's theme and the Wily stages.
4. The Robot Master stages have some new set pieces and graphics added, and are generally just as fun to play as they originally were.
5. The game's difficulty is more accessible to newcomers, while still being a fair challenge for veterans. If you get four Game Overs, Dr. Light will upgrade your Mega Buster to have it shoot and charge faster.
6. Excellent graphics for Game Boy standards, as with the previous games.
7. Most of the weapons that were brought back have improved, such as the Ring Boomerang being able to grab items.
8. Ballade's weapon, the Ballade Cracker, is basically an explosive version of the Metal Blade from Mega Man 2, as it can be thrown in any direction.
9. Ballade's death scene is pretty emotional, although it somewhat comes out of nowhere.
10. Unlike the previous handheld entries, you can go back to the previous 4 Robot Master stages to grab items, such as the Beat letters that you missed if needed to.
11. Much like the NES games, there's a boss rush near the end of the game where you have to fight all of the previously defeated Robot Masters.
12. Beat the bird is back, and he is just as awesome here as he was in the console entries.
13. Proto Man makes a few appearances in the later levels of the game, leaving power-ups for Mega Man to take.

Bad Qualities

1. Crystal Man's stage can be annoying and tedious at times, although it's one of the few stages that has 2 pathways to make it more interesting.
2. The charge shot from the Mega Buster adds some knockback force to Mega Man, which can make some levels frustrating.
3. The game sometimes suffers from slowdowns, but it rarely hurts the gameplay.
4. Many of the bosses are too easy, especially with their weaknesses, such as Toad Man who is just as laughable as he was in the fourth NES game. It could be because they have 19 hit points, compared to 28, like the NES games.

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