Mega Man 4

Overview

Mega Man 4 is an NES action platformer released by Capcom on January 8, 1992. While not straying too far from the formula of its predecessors, Mega Man 4 nonetheless introduced some new gameplay features such as the Mega Buster charge shot, an item-dispensing ally named Eddie, and was the first game to feature someone other than Dr. Wily as the initial villain, and a character who didn't turn out to be Wily in disguise.

Mega Man 4 was re-released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Gamecube as a part of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection.

Plot

In addition to the plot of the game itself, Mega Man 4's prologue divulges the origin story of Mega Man, told via graphic cutscenes much like Ninja Gaiden's. Once a normal housekeeping robot named Rock, Mega Man volunteered to be turned into a fighting robot when Dr. Wily's wild robots began running amok.

After defeating Dr. Wily for the third and seemingly final time, a new problem arises in the form of an evil scientist named Dr. Cossack, whose eight robots are making due destruction in Wily's absence. Dr. Light equips Mega Man with a powerful new weapon called the Mega Buster, setting the game into action.

Of course, Dr. Cossack was blackmailed by Dr. Wily to do his bidding, as Wily had kidnapped Dr. Cossack's daughter Kalinka. Proto Man returns Kalinka to Dr. Cossack's side as Dr. Wily curses Mega Man for ruining his mad scheme. The game ends with another showdown at one of Dr. Wily's many castles, but Dr. Wily escapes before Mega Man can truly defeat him.

Gameplay

The biggest change to Mega Man 4's gameplay is the new inclusion of the Mega Buster charge shot, which would become a standard feature even in the Mega Man X series. It allows Mega Man to store up a powerful burst that can inflict three units of damage to enemies and even Robot Masters. In fact, it becomes the preferred weapon to use against a few of them. Certain enemies also have a gimmick requiring the use of the Mega Buster to defeat them.

Mega Man also keeps all of his previous abilities from Mega Man 3, including the slide and his canine compatriot Rush. Additionally, Mega Man can also find two special items called the Wire and Balloon hidden in certain stages. The Wire acts like a grappling hook that can launch Mega Man vertically, and the Balloon creates floating platforms nearly identical to Item-1 from Mega Man 2. The inclusion of Eddie is a minor addition as the items he dispenses are chosen at random.

Stages

Robot Master Stages

Dr. Cossack's mechanical minions consist of a standard group of eight Robot Masters. As usual, Mega Man will gain their weapon powers when he defeats one.

DWN-025: BRIGHT MAN
Bright Man's stage evokes a power plant, with enemies that can either turn out and turn on the lights when defeated. Mega Man will also have to make use of robotic grasshoppers to cross dangerous spike floors also guarded by robotic totem poles. 
 
Bright Man can stop time with his Flash Stopper, which can be dangerous if he decides to tackle Mega Man with his body.

DWN-026: PHARAOH MAN
Pharaoh Man's desert tomb consists of sinking quicksand and robotic mummies with heads that aren't wrapped too tight. 
 
Pharaoh Man also takes a page from Mega Man's new book with his charge-up Pharaoh Shot.

DWN-027: DRILL MAN
Excavating god-knows-what in the name of science, Drill Man's stage is fairly straightforward until the end, where switches must be used to make an invisible ground appear. 
 
Drill Man himself likes to burrow into the ground and reemerge at Mega Man's feet, then drill-baby-drill him with his Drill Bomb. 

DWN-028: RING MAN
Ring Man calls home amongst a bizarre circus/planetarium crossover. Giant robo-hippos in precarious balanced positions and disappearing platforms juxtapose the playful mood. 
 
Things come full circle with Ring Man and his fast-acting Ring Boomerang, but like many Robot Masters, the true danger comes from how quick Ring Man is and the high amount of damage you will take if you so much as touch him.

DWN-029: TOAD MAN
Taking a page from some turtles, Toad Man's sewer hideout is initially drenched in some pretty heavy precipitation that will push Mega Man back as he jumps. Toad Man himself will shake and shimmy a rain dance to get his Rain Flush mojo moving. 
 

DWN-030: DUST MAN
The humble Dust Man doesn't mind hanging out in a rubbish-themed stage whose most significant feature is a huge trash compactor that Mega Man will have to blast his way through. Dust Man's Dust Crusher is used in tandem with a powerful vacuum that makes him temporarily invulnerable.  
 

DWN-031: DIVE MAN
Safety takes a dive, Fridays after five in Dive Man's dangerous aquarium. The rising and falling of the tide can affect the height of Mega Man's jump as he batttles robotic whales and stingrays. The submarine-themed Dive Man can both fire his homing Dive Missiles and pretend he is one as he barrels toward Mega Man.

DWN-032: SKULL MAN
Skull Man's mountainside dinosaur dig is comprised itself almost entirely of bones. It's not so much scary as it is arduous. His Skull Barrier makes him invincible, but Skull Man can't do anything but stand there while using it. More dangerous is when he deactivates his shield, he'll make a quick sprint towards Mega Man.


 

Castle Stages

In addition to the Robot Masters, Mega Man will also have to fight through both Dr. Cossack's and Dr. Wily's castles. This was the first Mega Man game to feature multiple castles, starting a trend subsequently seen in Mega Man 5 and Mega Man 6 of a "psyche-out" acting as a thinly-veiled ruse to hide Dr. Wily's involvement.




 

Music

Mega Man 4's music was composed by Capcom employees with the pseudonyms Ojalin (Minae Fujii) and Bun Bun (Yasuaki Fujita). Yasuaki Fujita had previously composed the music for Mega Man 3.