- Home
- Old School Video Games
- Playstation One (PSX)
- Mega Man X4: X return the the platforms with a good bang! Reviewed
Mega Man X4: X return the the platforms with a good bang! Reviewed
- By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
- Published 01/16/2010
- Playstation One (PSX)
- Unrated
Title: Mega Man X4
System: Playstation
Publisher: Capcom
Circa: 1997
Intro
This game again expands on things, bringing more to the world of Mega Man X. It also, finally, offered some good innovation. It was the first to allow you to choose your character and the story changes slightly depending on who you choose. While only a few things changed in the game, it does offer something different from the other three entries into the series.
Story
The game begins when the Sky Lagoon is attacked by forces unknown. A member of the Maverick Hunters appears, Magma Dragoon, and tells your character of the pending collapse of the Sky Lagoon. Repliforce, an army of Repliods, those to protect people, are rising against the humans and pursuing the goal of a utopia for Repliods, free of human. The Maverick Hunters moblize, sending in either Zero or X, whoever you choose, to face down this latest menace.
The story changes slightly depending on who you choose to play as. X and Zero both will face friends and more in battle. Each is unique to the character and their relationship with the person. X and Zero both know most of the bosses and will talk with them before fighting them. This is something that helps build and expand the world that Zero and X live in. The game has cutscenes you will encounter whoever you play as, helping you really get a grasp on the characters in greater detail
Gameplay
While Mega Man X3 introduced Zero as a Playable Character, this game takes him into his own right. How you get through the game changes greatly depending on who you play as. Both X and Zero have unique abilities and must fight within those abilities. In a small way, it also impacts the difficulty of the game, depending on how one handles the two different styles of play. When you choose X or Zero, you are committed to playing through the game with the character.
Mega Man X, as always, has his buster, dashes and upgrades. Unlike the previous entry, while X retains the ability to Air Dash, he gains the ability to hover instead with the leg upgrade. He retains something of a massive attack with the completion that draws its power from damage X has taken. While only a single strike, at mid range, it is very powerful.
Zero focuses on melee combat. When he defeats the Mavericks, he gains techniques. This allows him to gain a double jump, mirror body, and several other techniques. He does not have his Z-Buster this round, as there were game balance issues around it. Even lacking a ranged weapon, Zero is a very formidable fighter. As he gains these abilities, it gives him an edge or what he needs to take on a different foe or reach a certain area.
The Sub Tank system also saw a big change. The total number of Sub Tanks has been reduced, but what one has to boost their battle ability has changed. Instead of four health tanks, you now only have two. These are also changed by the fact they recharge from all health picked up. This is a welcome change from the traditional mode of only when the character's health is full. The two new tanks offering something different. The first of the pair is a Weapon Sub Tank, allowing the player to recharge their weapon energy. The second is an EX Tank, giving the player four lives to start with instead of the usual two. There are times when these small changes are very helpful.
Multiplayer
None.
Controls
The changes in controller allowed for some expanded options. While X's controls are largely unchanged, Zero is something of a different creature. Using a combination of direction and button, different attacks can be launched. Overall, it remains fairly simple to use either character.
Graphics
The change in technology and method of game storage helped the game greatly here. The graphics changed greatly from X3 to X4. While the previous games has only improved slightly, this game offered very marked improvements. While it has three dimensional backgrounds, the play field remains in 2D, which helps for the overall style of the game.
It is also worth noting the animated cutscenes are quite well done.
Sound Effects & Music
The music remains on par with what one would expect for the series. There were some small changes in it had a few specific themes for some fights. The newer addition of voice acting is also a double-edged thing. While there are points it definetely helps the game, in a case like Zero's where he has some phrases he uses with specific attacks, it gets a bit annoying.
Obscurity
This is known for being a better game, but it does get overshadowed by the later entries.
Summary/Author's Take
It had been a while since there was a Mega Man X game that I had really sunk my teeth into when I came across this one. I got it because I loved the series before this, though not so much MMX3, and liked the idea of being able ot play as either X or Zero honestly. What I got from this game did not disappoint honestly. While I did not like every little change in the game, namely the conversion of the two subtanks, it still head a lot of things that X3 had lacked. The newer cutscenes to advance the story only helped and made it that much more enjoyable to play.
Story: 93% Two different story lines are presented, characters have relations. Cutscenes.
Gameplay: 92% Big improvement over the previous entries.
Multiplayer: n/a None.
Controls: 89% Standard Fare here, one new button.
Graphics: 87% Improved nicely, added cutscenes.
SFX & Music: 84% Good but the lines tacked to attacks get annoying ... fast.
Obscurity: 51% Which one?
Overall: 88% A Better Mega Man X game.
System: Playstation
Publisher: Capcom
Circa: 1997
Intro
This game again expands on things, bringing more to the world of Mega Man X. It also, finally, offered some good innovation. It was the first to allow you to choose your character and the story changes slightly depending on who you choose. While only a few things changed in the game, it does offer something different from the other three entries into the series.
Story
The game begins when the Sky Lagoon is attacked by forces unknown. A member of the Maverick Hunters appears, Magma Dragoon, and tells your character of the pending collapse of the Sky Lagoon. Repliforce, an army of Repliods, those to protect people, are rising against the humans and pursuing the goal of a utopia for Repliods, free of human. The Maverick Hunters moblize, sending in either Zero or X, whoever you choose, to face down this latest menace.
The story changes slightly depending on who you choose to play as. X and Zero both will face friends and more in battle. Each is unique to the character and their relationship with the person. X and Zero both know most of the bosses and will talk with them before fighting them. This is something that helps build and expand the world that Zero and X live in. The game has cutscenes you will encounter whoever you play as, helping you really get a grasp on the characters in greater detail
Gameplay
While Mega Man X3 introduced Zero as a Playable Character, this game takes him into his own right. How you get through the game changes greatly depending on who you play as. Both X and Zero have unique abilities and must fight within those abilities. In a small way, it also impacts the difficulty of the game, depending on how one handles the two different styles of play. When you choose X or Zero, you are committed to playing through the game with the character.
Mega Man X, as always, has his buster, dashes and upgrades. Unlike the previous entry, while X retains the ability to Air Dash, he gains the ability to hover instead with the leg upgrade. He retains something of a massive attack with the completion that draws its power from damage X has taken. While only a single strike, at mid range, it is very powerful.
Zero focuses on melee combat. When he defeats the Mavericks, he gains techniques. This allows him to gain a double jump, mirror body, and several other techniques. He does not have his Z-Buster this round, as there were game balance issues around it. Even lacking a ranged weapon, Zero is a very formidable fighter. As he gains these abilities, it gives him an edge or what he needs to take on a different foe or reach a certain area.
The Sub Tank system also saw a big change. The total number of Sub Tanks has been reduced, but what one has to boost their battle ability has changed. Instead of four health tanks, you now only have two. These are also changed by the fact they recharge from all health picked up. This is a welcome change from the traditional mode of only when the character's health is full. The two new tanks offering something different. The first of the pair is a Weapon Sub Tank, allowing the player to recharge their weapon energy. The second is an EX Tank, giving the player four lives to start with instead of the usual two. There are times when these small changes are very helpful.
Multiplayer
None.
Controls
The changes in controller allowed for some expanded options. While X's controls are largely unchanged, Zero is something of a different creature. Using a combination of direction and button, different attacks can be launched. Overall, it remains fairly simple to use either character.
Graphics
The change in technology and method of game storage helped the game greatly here. The graphics changed greatly from X3 to X4. While the previous games has only improved slightly, this game offered very marked improvements. While it has three dimensional backgrounds, the play field remains in 2D, which helps for the overall style of the game.
It is also worth noting the animated cutscenes are quite well done.
Sound Effects & Music
The music remains on par with what one would expect for the series. There were some small changes in it had a few specific themes for some fights. The newer addition of voice acting is also a double-edged thing. While there are points it definetely helps the game, in a case like Zero's where he has some phrases he uses with specific attacks, it gets a bit annoying.
Obscurity
This is known for being a better game, but it does get overshadowed by the later entries.
Summary/Author's Take
It had been a while since there was a Mega Man X game that I had really sunk my teeth into when I came across this one. I got it because I loved the series before this, though not so much MMX3, and liked the idea of being able ot play as either X or Zero honestly. What I got from this game did not disappoint honestly. While I did not like every little change in the game, namely the conversion of the two subtanks, it still head a lot of things that X3 had lacked. The newer cutscenes to advance the story only helped and made it that much more enjoyable to play.
Story: 93% Two different story lines are presented, characters have relations. Cutscenes.
Gameplay: 92% Big improvement over the previous entries.
Multiplayer: n/a None.
Controls: 89% Standard Fare here, one new button.
Graphics: 87% Improved nicely, added cutscenes.
SFX & Music: 84% Good but the lines tacked to attacks get annoying ... fast.
Obscurity: 51% Which one?
Overall: 88% A Better Mega Man X game.
Spread The Word
Comments 
Comment posting has been disabled on this article