Another great Mega Man game with a soundtrack that's up there with MM2. The addition of charged shots make taking on any robot master without their weakness more viable although I preferred the simplicity without it. I feel the same way about the "secret" paths that lead to the balloon & wire. Now every time there's an odd looking pit or an area that could walk-off to another screen I feel like I have to check it just incase. The length also feels slightly too long again. I'm convinced by this point that the perfect formula is just the robot masters & then Wily. I did however appreciate the increased difficulty.

Honestly I think this game was a bit hit and miss with it's boss and weapons, but I think it made up for a lot of the game with how the Cossack levels and wily levels shook out. Like it more than 1 and 3, but a little less than 2. Here's the order.

8- Bright Man
7- Ring Man
6- Dive Man
5- Toad Man
4- Dust Man
3- Skull Man
2- Drill Man
1- Pharaoh Man

The best of the NES Mega Man games I have played so far. First time we get somewhat of a story which was a welcome change in my opinion. The one-screen sub screen was a very welcome addition as well. What a huge improvement compared to the previous three games that was.
I enjoyed most of the stages and most of the bosses. The bosses were a more difficult than they were in the previous games but they were fair. No replaying stages either. And yes we still get the boss rush room which I am not a big fan of but other than that most bosses were unique and had interesting patterns.
The weapon variety was a lot better than the previous games too.

Best one so far for me. The levels hit the sweet spot that I felt was missing in 3 with them not feeling too short but none of them overstayed their welcome. It provided a nice challenge too. The upgraded Mega Buster allowing you to charge it up now is a great addition to me. It allows for a new style of playing. Would you rather wait for a more powerful blast or try to shoot down your enemies immediately Especially since they’re different levels to the charged version. Dr Cossack’s castle is way better than the Doc Robot levels and I’m hoping nothing as lazy and frustrating as those levels will show up in this franchise ever again. Wily’s castle isn’t stupid easy like in 3, and no stupid puzzle boss like in 2. I’m gonna be honest though some of the power ups kinda suck, but it honestly felt the most versatile for this game’s weapon wheel.Bright Man’s power is just the time ability Flash Man had. Pharaoh Shot is just a better Mega Buster and that’s cool I guess, but it shows cause I only used it for the final boss. Being able to detonate the drill bomb manually was nice as well but it’s just a better Crash Bomb from 2. The Dive Missiles were cool for taking care of enemies that were annoying to hit with your Mega Buster, and Rain Flush was a nice screen nuke ability. These are better than 3 and even 2’s weapon wheel since the only thing used there by everyone is the metal blade with how broken it is. Overall I could definitely see myself coming back to this one over the other 3 so far, but they’re flaws. I think some of the level design is a little odd but the branching paths were nice. Also we’re 4 games in and Mega Man’s gameplay hasn’t really done TOO much. That’s not a bad thing but it makes it a little harder to fully enjoy these games when you’re playing them back to back. I still really enjoyed my time though which is why it’s getting 4 stars from me.

At first I wasn't sure if I was completely sold, but nah, this is actually really good, hell I like it more than 1 and 3. I think what makes this game stand out compared to its others (even 2) is its content. We have eight Robot Masters, four Cossack Citadel stages, and four Wily Castle stages for a grand total of sixteen levels. The best part is, none of these levels overstay their welcome, which is something I can't say for something like Mega Man 3 where they reuse four level maps and aesthetics for rematches of Mega Man 2 bosses that felt more annoying to play. The weapon catalogue also feels a lot better this time around, with most weapons feeling good to play while the niche ones are used well for when they're needed. By the final boss, I had most of the weapons completely depleted but was still able to finish the game. The only issues I had were with the final bosses, Wily Machine 4 and Wily Capsule. Wily Machine 4 has a horrid hitbox in the second phase that made fighting it so much worse than it really should've been. Wily Capsule is definitely not as bad but I just don't like that you can't hit it with the Mega Buster especially since the refills come before the boss rush and due to the Robot Master weaknesses, you really need a lot of ammo. Other than that though, pretty good level design, great weapon choices, solid bosses, and a larger amount of content that doesn't overstay it's welcome. Overall, I'd say this game has a lot of great qualities that prevent the series from getting boring to me playing these back to back, and I'll be looking forward to the next one.

CAPCATHON, GAME 14: Mega Man 4 (NES, 1991)

[Note that I played this game on the PS1, as part of the Rockman Complete Works series.]

Compared to its immediate predecessors, Mega Man 4 doesn't seem to have many immediate, "core" improvements to the series' formula. It instead chooses to refine the level designs in order to give the player a much smoother experience- however, it doesn't always succeed, and while still being a great time, in some ways it's lesser than MM2 or 3.

Mega Man controls just as well as he did in the previous game. He retains his slide, as well, but he has a new trick up his sleeve, the Charge Shot: by holding down the shoot button, Mega Man will begin charging his Mega Buster, and by releasing it he will fire a larger energy shot. There are two variations of it; a smaller spherical bullet and a longer blast. It's a great change, and the single greatest innovation the game brings. It's great to have a powerful offensive tool always at the ready even when other Special Weapons may be unavailable.
Speaking of the Special Weapons, I found them to be just as situational as the ones from 3. Some of them do have utility in certain situations, like with the walls that can be broken with the Drill Bomb, or with the Rain Flush's screen-clearing capabilities, but for most of the game I found myself mostly using the Mega Buster.

Rush returns (as do Rush Jet, Rush Coil and Rush Marine), but by going through some secret pathways in two Robot Master stages, you can find two extra "transport items": the Balloon, that can be used to create floating platforms to jump on, and the Wire, an awesome grappling hook that extends to the entire vertical height of the screen and allows Mega Man to hang from ceilings. They're well hidden and hard to find, but it's worth it to get them.

Most levels are well-designed and smooth to navigate; like the previous games I felt like the mistakes I made were my fault and not cheap shots. The levels and bosses that inhabit them are just as cute and colorful as always, so I'm satisfied on that front.
What I appreciate less is the second half of the game's habit of peppering a lot of spikes about the levels, which is never great considering that coming in contact with them means instant death- even a minor slip up means starting from the checkpoint. While not the end of the world, I feel like this cheapens the levels a bit and detracts from the levels' appeal, especially contrasting them with the much easier bosses.

I think that this is about when series fatigue sets in for the classic Mega Man games. While it's still a fun and well-made game, you couldn't be faulted for thinking it's a bit boring. I'd still recommend it, but less enthusiastically than 2 or 3.

Si bien Megaman 4 mejora mucho de lo que hubo en Megaman 3 lo cual lo hizo ser peor que megaman 2;
Lamentablemente aun con eso no logro llegar al nivel del megaman 2
Porque?

1- La banda sonora si bien supera a Megaman 3 no llega a lo que fue el Megaman 2 Destacando temas como el del castillo de kozak o el tema de Ringman y Dustman

2- La batalla final es decepcionante y diria hasta que muy injusta y rara En especial en la parte donde peleas con el willy escondido Necesitaras un arma especifica con una habilidad de la misma que nunca te explican que existe.
Y si, estoy hablando de la habilidad de carga del pharaoh shot

Pese a eso El juego supera a Megaman 1 y 3 con creces
Por cosas como que el mismo Posee un buen level desing, unos diseños de robot masters mas unicos y la implementacion del mega buster el cual se quedaria instaurado en la franquicia....

Hasta que un mono lo quito en megaman 9 y lo vendio como DLC.....

Capcom siendo Capcom damas y caballeros

Even though this is by far my favorite of the classic series, it's very clear that this game still have that air of mediocrity that permeates MM5 and MM6 at parts.

Half of this game is fantastic, the best the NES has to offer in action platformers, the other half is stuff like ToadMan, you can barely qualify it as a boss.

I'll still defend MM4 for all its flaws though, because albeit not consistent in its quality, its lows are less low than 5 and 6's lows, and a lot of the level design set pieces of the game show genuine effort put into them.

MM4 more than any other classic Mega Man exemplifies the heights that the development team could reach if not for the strict deadlines imposed by Capcom at the time.

Pretty decent Megaman game. It's definitely my least favourite out of the Classic Games that I've beaten but still a pretty solid and enjoyable game.

I've heard alot of people praise the weapons selection in this one which is actually one of the reasons I picked to play this one. Personally I'm mixed on it.

The Pharoah Shot is cool and has quickly become one of my favourite weapons in the series, aside from that I quite enjoyed the Rain Flush, Dust Crusher and Bright Flasher. The rest I wasn't the biggest fan of, the rest classic game I played was 9 so going from the Jewel Satelite to the Skull Barrier as the shield weapon was a big whiplash, the Dive Missile i liked on paper but didn't really use much, Drill Bomb was a pretty standard bomb weapon that didn't blow me away and I actually really disliked the Ring Boomerang which alot of people seem to praise. People say it's the buster replacement but I really hate the short range. Anyway I've ranted about the weapons enough.

The music was pretty nice, the level design and aesthetics didn't really stick out to me aside from Pharaoh Man's stage.

Overall a perfectly fine Megaman game just not one I would put in the top tier of classic games.

I still need to replay MM5 and 6 yet, but at least for now this one is the best between the 8-bit (counting 9 and 10). It's the first to make the player really explore, and although we have 4 extra stages like on MM3, this time they're not just harder versions of already completed stages with 2 bosses each. Now it makes sense to play those 4 stages and don't look like a waste of time
The two secret weapons are also a nice addition, alongside the charged buster that would appear on various games from now on.

I easily reccomend it