It’s not always easy being awesome.
Just ask Mega Man.
After starring in two of the greatest games of all-time within the span of about a year,
nothing short of incredible was expected from his next.
After all, Mega Man was riding a wave of unreasonable quality, so unreasonable expectations were
a given.
And anything less than incredible would’ve been a wipeout.
That’s the context in which, twenty years ago, we were given this.
Mega Man 4 was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, and coming after the classic
duo of Mega Man 2 and 3, the game already had an uphill battle.
But even more than that, Mega Man 4 was also the first 8-bit Mega Man released after the
launch of the Super Nintendo.
Symbolically, it’s actually quite fitting that the first Mega Man game to drop off in
quality, however slightly, would release as its legendary console generation was also
coming to an end.
In a way, Mega Man 4 faced the same problem as Mega Man 3.
How do you follow a game that was already a classic?
But where Mega Man 3 got creative with its answer, Mega Man 4 takes a more...routine
approach.
In fact, this is the first Mega Man game where creativity dropped off.
Instead, Mega Man 4 maintained the status quo with an important exception, ushering
in the era of the controversial Mega Buster.
For the first time, the Blue Bomber could actually charge his buster and unleash a devastating
power shot.
It certainly helped players like me with Mega Man’s notorious difficulty, but at the same
time, Rock feels a little bit too powerful.
Part of the appeal of prior releases had been that very weakness—that you were the underdog
against these robot bosses that had an almost unfair amount of firepower.
In this one?
Not so much.
In fact, the bosses’ diminished creativity also plays a role here, as their weapons are
often less impressive than your very own Mega Buster.
And yet, there’s something important to remember about Mega Man 4.
This is still a Mega Man game, which instantly puts in the upper-echelon of the NES library.
Mega Man’s trademark action-platforming is as sharp and ruthless as ever, and though
the creativity was a bit down overall, Mega Man 4 still provides a few very memorable
bosses...most notably Skull Man and the classic Pharaoh Man.
Mega Man 4 marked a shift in the Mega Man series, a turning point where the games went
from masterful to “still better than almost everything else.”
Not a bad drop in your quality, but when standards are so high, opinions are bound to be split
on a game like Mega Man 4.
To me, it’s an NES classic no retro gamer should be without.
To you?
Well, it depends.
You pay in small amounts...or do you charge it?