GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 11/12/1997
- Updated on: 05/02/2000
- Originally published on GameSpot: Mega Man X4 (PlayStation) Review
Some video games the masses can enjoy, and some video games cater to the hard-core fanatic of a specific genre. Flight sims are a good example, as are most golf games. What many don't realize, though, is that even a genre as innocuous as the simple platform shooter has a hard-core fan base - a league of players that can run faster, shoot longer, and generally destroy any side scroller in one sitting. These blister-thumbed few need something better, faster, harder. Mega Man X4 was created for them.
First, you must be a fan of the motif to even understand this game. By motif, I'm talking about anime and all the Speed Racer-esque backgrounds, bizarre character names, and recycled sound effects that go along with it. In addition to the game's general aesthetics, all the cinematic scenes are 100 percent anime, right down to the shamefully bad voice acting. The first scene introduces you, by means of a frantic music video, to all the games major characters. From there, you are thrust into the action of the game's first two-stage level that serves as a teaser to the rest of the story.
Through much in-game exposition, we learn that General and Colonel (great names!), under instruction from the evil Sigma, have incited Repliforce, an army of reploids formerly allied with our heroes, the Maverick Hunters, to riot. Following Sigma's plans to destroy the human race that created them, they have demolished a Maverick Hunter base and promise to continue the destruction until their final weapon is complete, and the earth is vaporized, or something like that. It is, of course, up to Mega Man X and his faithful partner, Zero, to foil their plans and save the earth from destruction.
Inventive it is not, but this latest installment in the extensive Mega Man series does sport enhanced graphics, a new soundtrack, gigantic bosses, and one other notable enhancement - this is the first of the series that lets you play as X or Zero. Capcom is hyping this feature as providing "two separate adventures." While it does increase the game's replay value, it's decidedly not two separate adventures. The game follows one scenario with a few differences, such as sidekick and dialogue, depending on the character you choose - much like Sonic and Knuckles or Resident Evil.
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Mega Man X4 (PlayStation):
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