Mega Man X4
Mega Man X4 is the fourth game in the Mega Man X series. This game was originally released on August 1st, 1997 for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation in Japan. The PC version was released in January 1st, 1998, and runs in operating systems after and including Windows 95. It was part of the Mega Man X Collection for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2.
Background
Following the third defeat of Sigma, Cain Labs issues an initiative to create a supplementary military force to complement the Maverick Hunters. The army, called the Repliforce, is a strict military regime led by General and his second-in-command, Colonel.
Six months following the inception of the group, Cain Labs finds its methods to be ineffective, questionable, and potentially dangerous in the Maverick defense. To make matters worse, behind the scenes, General has been meeting with a mysterious figure who plots the Hunters' demise, insinuating that they are a "significant threat" to the Repliforce's jurisdiction.
Mayhem breaks out when the Sky Lagoon, a massive floating city, is sent crashing down onto the city below it, killing millions of civilians, humans and Reploids alike. The game begins here where either X or Zero is dispatched to investigate possible causes of the disaster only to become entangled, once again, in a struggle against Sigma to save the world.
Characters
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- X
- Zero
- Double - A short, yellow Reploid (voiced by Yasunori Matsumoto in Japanese and Jeremy Felton in English) who appears at the beginning of X4 and says that he is assigned to be X's assistant. He appears to be a kind, but a little bumbling Reploid who genuinely admires X, and appears to be concerned about X's safety. However, Double is revealed during the final levels to be a spy for Sigma, at which point he transforms into his second form, a much slimmer and more demonic version, with purple arm-blades, and confronts X. This goes with the Japanese love of puns, as Double could also have been translated as "Devil", but it would be most possibly indicating his "double identity". He has been called "Jello Man" due to the gelatinous appearance of his limbs, and perhaps his liquid metal nature. He reveals the mild-mannered Double to be a farce and shows himself to be truly violent, he taunts X as to how he wants to destroy him. When X finally finishes him off, Double's final words are that he would see X in "the after life".
- Sigma
Repliforce
- CV: Jin Yamanoi (JP) Matthew Meersbergen (EN)
- Young, high-ranking commanding officer of the Repliforce military. He had a friendship/rivalry with Zero. When the Repliforce War started, he actively fought against X and Zero. Colonel was not unintelligent, but his pride, which sometimes lead him to disregard common sense, made him partly responsible for the start of the Repliforce War. When confronted by the Hunters in the aftermath of the Sky Lagoon incident, Repliforce refused to disarm and follow X and Zero back to Maverick Hunter Headquarters for questioning, arousing suspicion amongst the Hunters and causing them to label the Repliforce as Maverick. Though Colonel undoubtedly had the authority to order his forces to comply with the Hunters, he did not use it. Following the Hunters' request likely would have cleared the Repliforce of any involvement in the disaster, but not even a personal appeal from his friend Zero would change Colonel's mind. Eventually he was destroyed by either X or Zero (depending on which character the player chose, although canonically, it was Zero). Colonel was the result of the Perfect Soldier Program, originally designed as a perfect fighting Reploid and compassionate peacemaker in one, but when scientists could not reconcile both sides within a single reploid, they made him as the fighter and his sister Iris as his counterpart. Colonel recognized his sister's fondness for Zero, and at first he was glad to see Iris happy. After the outbreak of the Repliforce War, however, he did everything he could to prevent the relationship between Zero and his sister from growing both out of brotherly-protection and Zero's reputation as a dangerous Reploid. He makes a small Cameo in Mega Man Zero 2 where his "spirit" is used by Phoenix Magnion as an attack. He makes another Cameo in the Mega Man Maverick Hunter X OVA, The Day of Sigma where he is standing by Sigma after X's conversation with Chill Penguin.
- General
- CV: Ryuzaburo Ohtomo (JP) Mark Hagan (EN)
- Leader of the Repliforce. When Sky Lagoon was destroyed, the Maverick Hunters accused the Repliforce of being Mavericks. Due to military pride, Repliforce as a whole refused to lay down arms and submit to questioning after the accusation, which was seen as suspicious. General, insulted by this, decided to create a "Reploid nation" on the Final Weapon space station, and while he in an announcement said that the movement had nothing to do with rebellion or insurrection towards humans, the overall situation seemed to further "prove" that Repliforce had gone Maverick. These events, which, as it turned out, were instigated by Sigma, started the Repliforce War. General was defeated by Mega Man X and Zero, but not killed. When he saw that the Final Weapon had been set up to destroy the Earth, he sacrificed himself to stop it.
- CV: Yuko Mizutani (JP) Michelle Gazepis (EN)
- Colonel's sister reploid and presumably Zero's lover; According to the manual, Iris is the closest person to Zero and the feelings seem to be mutual. Iris was an attempt to create an ultimate reploid, and using her brother's soul she was able to transform into a mecha, to avenge her brother's death. She died in Zero's arms, with her last words "I wanted to live in a world where only reploids exist,.. With you, Zero.". She also appeared in Zero's memories in the end of X5, in which he was deeply apologizing for his actions. Iris was also the navigator in the GBC game Mega Man Xtreme 2.
Gameplay
At the beginning of the game, the player chooses to play either as X or Zero. Though both of them go through the same stages, they operate differently, and get different challenges from the terrain. They must avoid obstacles like falling debris and spikes, and destroy enemy robots to reach the end of the stages.
X wields a plasma cannon on his arm (X-Buster) that he uses to attack from a distance. It can be charged to fire stronger shots. He can dash to go beneath enemy shots, or also to jump twice as far as he usually can, letting him get to hard-to-reach places. When he defeats one of the eight bosses, he will gain a new weapon for his Buster, which fires an attack similar to one of the boss'. They have limited ammo, however, which is shown by an energy bar next to his health bar. In some stages, X will find capsules that contain upgrades that greatly enhance his capabilities.
Zero is more melee-oriented, and must get up close and personal with his foes. Though he is more prone to being damaged than X, his Z-Saber's power and accuracy compensate. Not all of his moves are weapon-based, so he learns different skills from the bosses, such as ones that increase his movement skills (such as double-jumping and air-dashing). From other bosses, he gains battle techniques, similar to those seen in Street Fighter.
New Features
The gameplay is similar to the previous installments of the X series, but there are some important changes:
- The player plays as either X or Zero, and follows only the actions of his/her character for the duration. Some events change depending on the character (for example, X must fight Colonel when 4 bosses are defeated, but Zero is spared the combat for an anime cutscene).
- There are only two Sub Tanks to find, but they fill with more energy than before. Also, they are filled with every health item found, not just when X or Zero have full HP.
- Two new Tanks have been added: a Weapon Tank, which will fill all of your Special Weapons up; and an EX Tank, which increases your default lives from three to five, should you have to start over or reset. However, in the European version of the game, the lives go from two to four.
- This is the second X game to use full motion video, in the form of anime-style cutscenes. The Japanese and European PlayStation/Sega Saturn versions of Mega Man X3 were the first to do this, but those scenes were not as integrated into the story as the ones in X4. Some fans have expressed the opinion that the English dubbing is subpar, as X has an "effeminate" tone (his voice was done by a woman), and Zero speaks as if he were out of breath. This bad translation is the reason that made the producers eliminate the dubbed dialogues in Mega Man X5.
- This is the first X game where your characters have conversations with the bosses before the battle begins, rather than the boss simply entering the room and attacking immediately. For this reason, there is no music specifically used to accompany the boss's entrance, as was the case with the first three games.
Repliforce And Mavericks
| English name | Japanese name | Stage | Copied Weapon | Learned Technique | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web Spider | Web Spidus | Jungle | Lightning Web | Raijingeki (Thunder God Attack) | Twin Slasher/Z-Saber |
| Cyber Peacock | Cyber Kujacker | Cyberspace | Aiming Laser | Rakuhouha (Fallen Phoenix Crush) | Soul Body/Ryuenjin |
| Storm Owl | Storm Fukurowl | Air Force | Double Cyclone | Tenkuuha (Sky Command) | Aiming Laser/Rakuhouha |
| Magma Dragoon | Magmard Dragoon | Volcano | Rising Fire | Ryuenjin (Dragon Flame Blade) | Double Cyclone/Raijingeki |
| Jet Stingray | Jet Stingren | Marine Base | Ground Hunter | Hienkyaku (Flying Swallow Legs) | Frost Tower/Hyouretsuzan |
| Split Mushroom | Sprit Mushroom | Bio Laboratory | Soul Body | Kuuenbu/Kuuenzan (Sky Waltz/Sky Slash) | Lightning Web/Raijingeki |
| Slash Beast | Slash Beastleo | Military Train | Twin Slasher | Shippuga (Hurricane Fang) | Ground Hunter/Raijingeki |
| Frost Walrus | Frost Kibatodos | Snow Base | Frost Tower | Hyouretsuzan (Ice Fury Slash) | Rising Fire/Ryuenjin |
It`s so confusing that Tenkuuha(which Technique Learned from Storm Owl.) is useless. It can only change color of Z-Sabre from green to purple.
Upgrades
X
Arm
- Found in Storm Owl's stage, this new gun comes in two forms: Stock Charge and Plasma Charge. Stock Charge allows you to store up to four charged shots, to quickly damage enemies (at the cost of a slightly longer charge time). Plasma Charge unleashes an enormous blast that penetrates and damages even strong enemies, and leaves behind energy balls that continuously damage anything touching them. Plasma Shot is the preferred choice among most players. Both guns also allow X to charge special weapons.
Helmet
- Found in Cyber Peacock's stage, the helmet allows X to fire uncharged special weapons without using energy. Charged special weapons will still use energy.
Body
- Found in Magma Dragoon's stage, this armor reduces damage while building energy for the Nova Strike, a devastating energy dash attack (sometimes referred to as the Body Slam or Giga Attack).
Leg
- Found in Web Spider's stage, the boots let X perform the Air Dash and the Hover.
- Air Dash: X dashes in midair. Useful for reaching high places, or quick getaways.
- Hover: By pressing the "jump" button while already in the air, X hovers. Without moving, the hover lasts for four seconds. You can also move left or right while hovering, but then the hover only lasts for one second. Sometimes handy for avoiding some enemy shots.
Once the player has collected all four parts of the armor, X gains acces to the armor's Giga Attack, the Nova Strike. As in MMX2, the Giga Attack meter is filled when the player receives damage from enemies.
Ultimate Armor
- This is a secret armor that can only be used if a secret code is entered on the player select screen. For the PS1 version, push O twice, then left six times, then press and hold L1 and R2 and hit X. For the Saturn version, hit B twice, then Left six times, then press and hold L and R and hit Start. On the PC version, just hold Down and hit Enter. If the code is entered correctly, then when X teleports to the intro stage, the green-blue parts of his armor will be purple. After that, go to any capsule and get in to get this armor. It looks very different from the regular armor. It automatically uses the Plasma Shot gun, and can perform the Nova Strike an unlimited number of times. The Nova Strike attack is changed from a more spherical shape to a triangular head.
Zero
Black Armor
- As with X's Ultimate Armor, Zero's Black Armor must be accessed with a secret code. For the PS1 version, hold down R1, then press Right six times, then release R1, then hold down O and hit START. For the Saturn version, highlight Zero, hold R, then press Right six times. Release R, hold down B, and hit Start. On the PC version, just hold Up and hit Enter. If the code is entered correctly, Zero's armor will have a dark grey color scheme. This armor is purely a graphical change, and has no effects on Zero's abilities. It is seen mostly as a reference to the gray-armored clone that Zero destroyed in Mega Man X2.
Vehicles
- Ride Armor Eagle
Found in Storm Owl's and the Final Weapon stages, this blue armor can hover indefinitely, but each time it takes a hit, its altitude drops. It has a blaster, which shoots powerful homing shots when charged.
- Ride Armor Raiden/Probe
Found in Slash Beast's and Magma Dragoon's stages, this red armor is designed for hand-to-hand combat, which can also smash crates, rocks, and even train cars. It is also lava-proof, which allows you to take it into the fight against Dragoon.
- Ride Chaser Adion
Found in Jet Stingray's stage, this bike zips along at menacing speeds, able to shoot down enemies or ram into them. It can also air-dash. This Ride Chaser was designed by none other than Dr. Cain himself.
- Ride Chaser Hornet
An illegally-modified version of the Adion used only by Jet Stingray's brigade.
Items
- Energy and Weapon Pellets
Ranging in two levels of potency, these recharge your HP or weapon energy, and also store energy in the Sub and Weapon tanks for future use.
- Full Energy Restore
This recharges your HP to full capacity.
- Sub Tank
This stores extra HP energy for when it's needed. You can get two tanks in the game. It takes sixteen pellets of any size to completely fill one tank. You don't need to be at full HP to fill these, unlike in previous X games.
- Weapon Tank
This refills weapon energy for all of your weapons, and needs to be filled with weapon pellets.
- Heart Tanks
These give your player more HP, so he can take more damage. There are eight; one in each stage.
- 1-Ups and the EX Tank
The helmet-shaped items offer extra chances to complete the game. The EX Tank increases the default amount of lives you start with.
Miscellaneous
- Unlike Mega Man 8, released about the same time as this game, differences between the Saturn and Playstation versions are negligible. The Saturn has properly-looping music (it doesn't fade out and restart anywhere) with some minor additions (the battle against Eregion and the second part of Frost Walrus' stage have a few seconds of crescendo added to the starts of both) and a few extra effects (such as a warping effect, seen in the backgrounds of Magma Dragoon's stage, and the second part of the Sky Lagoon stage), but the PlayStation version has better polygon transparencies (for example, the searchlights in the first part of the Sky Lagoon stage). Otherwise, both versions are identical. The PC version seems to be based on the PlayStation version, but has Sigma's two battle themes reversed (his first battle theme on the console versions plays when you fight his "Ugly Head" form, and his second battle theme plays for his "Grim Reaper" form.) These battle themes can be interchanged by renaming the sound files associated with them. Also in the PC version, neither X nor Zero make the water splash in Jet Stingray's lair when teleporting whereas they do in the Saturn and PlayStation versions.
- Another noticeable difference exists during the introductory video and the credits, where the American versions played an instrumental track in both cases. The Japanese version (Rockman X4) used the song "Makenai Ai Ga Kitto Aru" (I Surely Have Unbeatable Love) in the opening video, while the song "One More Chance" was played during the credits. Both songs in the Japanese version were performed by Yukie Nakama.
- Some fans debate whether X's or Zero's scenario is considered canon to the main plot, as Sigma, Colonel, and pretty much the whole cast of X4 had to be destroyed twice (once by each Hunter) if both scenarios were considered canon. This creates a major plothole, so the split is disregarded and not even realized by some fans.
- It should be noted, that in Mega Man X5 that if you fight The Skiver with Zero, The Skiver makes mention of Zero fighting Colonel and Iris, and during Zero's ending he thinks of Iris. So it is most likely that Zero at least fought both of them, while X was the one that fought General and Double.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. |
- Originally, the American release of the Playstation version of the game was up in the air. Sony would not grant Capcom the permission to release it due to the fact that it was a 2D video game; at the time, Sony wanted only 3D games for their system. After much debate, Sony caved in and released it.
- The Japanese Sega Saturn version of the game was sold with a special box that included a model of X in the Ultimate Armor, which was manufactured by Bandai, and part of their Rockman X3 "Mega Armor" line of figures. The manual in the jewel case was also labelled "Limited Edition" in red. The PlayStation version, however, did not receive any form of special release.
- This game is also the first in the X series to feature a mythical creature as a Maverick (Magma Dragoon).
- The frozen remains of both Blizzard Buffalo (Mega Man X3) and Chill Penguin (Mega Man X) can be seen in Frost Walrus's stage, at the beginning of the stage and in the mid-boss room, respectively.
- One of Split Mushroom's attack patterns is very similar to that of Gemini Man from Mega Man 3. He creates a holographic double of himself, and both dash around the entire arena.
- Magma Dragoon's attacks include his own fire-based variants of the "Hadouken", "Shoryuken" and Akuma's Dive Kick, as a reference to the Street Fighter series, and he even screams the names of these techniques. He also wears a large-bead necklace similar to Akuma's.
- General's attack pattern is similar to that of the final boss from Capcom's Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. In both fights, the head is the weak point.
- The white fade of the background during Magma Dragoon's death explosion animation is slightly longer than the others, because of an event that takes place afterwards as part of the story. Oddly enough, after defeating Dragoon the second time, the background fades to white for the same extended length of time.
- Web Spider shares many similarities with the Bospider, a boss from Mega Man X. They each have a scope-like eye, have a red ornament on their abdomen, and deploy small spider drones to attack the player. The key difference between the two bosses is that Web Spider is a Reploid, while the Bospider is a Mechaniloid.
- On the back of the PSX game case, it says "Play as X or Zero for the first time!". This is incorrect. In Mega Man X3, one can play as Zero during certain parts of the game. However, except for one miniboss in Doppler's fortress, Zero cannot fight any boss or miniboss, since the metal doors in the levels will not open when he walks up to them. The tagline on the Mega Man X4 box could be interpreted to mean this is the first time that X and Zero are both fully playable characters.
- When entering a boss chamber, the word "WARNING" flashes on the screen prior to the boss appearing. This is the first Mega Man game to use this graphic, and it's been continuously used in the series ever since.