Mega Man X4 (PlayStation) review "I never thought I'd play a great action game where the villain lineup includes a mushroom and a peacock..."

Mega Man X4 knows what you want and what you expect, and either pays that content in spades or makes no pretense about how its campaign is going to unravel. You know the instant its tale kicks off with a peaceful republic of Reploids called “Repliforce” that eventually things are going to come to blows between them and the Maverick Hunters. You know that you're going to fight eight of them, that they're all going to have special weapons for you to acquire, and that each new toy takes a greater helping of health from one of the other seven Mavericks.

And of course, you know a familiar villain is waiting in the shadows, manipulating everything. Though the game somewhat hides his identity, it doesn't go so far as to make his eventual reveal a shocking twist. Hell, you can tell who it is just by the shape of his silhouette. After all, X4 knows what it's doing and seeks to deliver the goods without bullshitting you.

The experience begins with a choice we've all been waiting for since game one: X or Zero? No, not that halfhearted attempt at a choice that X3 gave us, where you could play as Zero temporarily once per level. You actually get to straight up choose, control, and fight as Zero. You get to battle Mavericks as Zero. You get to take on the Repliforce and their puppet master as Zero. And you know what? It feels damn good. You get all of the speed of X, plus a saber for slashing, effectively transforming the experience into a hack 'n slash platformer.

The only thing you don't really get is a healthy collection of additional ordnance to fire off that may be useful against another boss. Sure, Zero acquires new techniques, but they aren't as satisfying as the arsenal you gather with X. Then again, there has to be a trade-off of some kind... One can't have all the glamour while the other gets the shaft.

After you've completed the initial stage, the game gives you the usual option of eight levels ruled by the likes of Web Spider, Split Mushroom, Frost Walrus, or Jet Stingray. You might be wary of your travels, expecting the same sort of lackluster material delivered in the previous outing. Then you enter a stage, you hear the music roar like it did with the first two titles, see the crisper presentation and experience environments with new life breathed into them, and you realize that Capcom hit the right notes this time.

You enter Magma Dragoon's level inside of a volcano. A catchy little tune kicks in as you blur past pits and down slopes, avoiding fireballs that come at you from all angles. Some roll downhill, others ascend or descend, demanding the most of your timing. From there, it's onto a collection of platforms that crumble as the fireballs nail them, and then to a segment where you hop into an armored mech to avoid lava while pulverizing other mechanical threats.

Cyber Peacock dwells in perhaps the most creative level up to this point. He lives in cyberspace, where you maneuver your way through corridors and along platforms while avoiding orb-like obstacles that slow you down. With this stage, each of the first half's segments gives you a rating based on how quickly you cross their finish lines. If you're skillful enough to land an S rating, a portal ushers you into a secret chamber that holds one of the many goodies on offer: a device to permanently increase your health, a sub-tank that refills your hit points when used (but it must be filled with restorative power-ups first), or a body upgrade.

Yes, X4 remembers the exploration aspects of its older siblings, still providing you with alternate places to scope out for new items, some of which require either suit updates or artilery from your foes. For instance, you can't get through some of the wooden structures in Web Spider's home unless you've toppled Magma Dragoon and taken his fire-based gadget, which then allows you to secure one of the hit point power-ups.

As always, the updates to your armor provide all kinds of nifty bonuses, from a midair dash to nearly infinite weapon energy. Plus, you get your choice of two different ways to bolster your blaster: one that allows you to rapid-fire four charged shots, and another that leaves behind a massive plasma ball when a charged shot makes contact with an enemy. The ball continuously pulsates, damaging anything else that touches it (or repeatedly harming a tougher foe colliding with it).

Other stages bring the noise when it comes to memorable moments. Jet Stingray harks back to Overdrive Ostrich from X2 by putting you on a high-speed jet ski. You first race your way out of a cave without crashing or falling to your doom, only to cruise out to the ocean. There, Stingray himself makes an appearance to drop mines on you, hoping you slip up while avoiding perils and die a screaming, burning death.

Even when levels don't feature fancy gimmicks, they manage to impress. For instance, Split Mushroom's level has you ascending the kind of laboratory a mad scientist would operate, complete with scenes where you dash up a spiral staircase and battle wheel-like machines that bounce down the stairs. After that, you negotiate a series of crumbling corridors and an elevator with hazards designed to crush you. You also have Slash Beast's locale, a level where you battle on a moving train. At some points, you super jump across the screen to avoid perishing on cars while they explode, only to later on destroy some cars yourself while riding in armor.

It all comes to a mostly appropriate boil with the final stages, pitting you against bosses relevant to the plot, some of which you don't actually want to harm. However, harm you must because that's how conflict works. The only real downside here is that the final levels are too brief and forgettable. They're done in the blink of an eye, and serve more as padding for the area boss. The obligatory recap stage hits before long, where you battle the eight Mavericks again, followed by a three-part final boss encounter that proves to be one of the toughest (and most fun) in the series up to this point.

Mega Man X4 doesn't accomplish any new feats. It sticks to formula and even tells you through its storyline that it's not interested in changing things up just yet. Rather, it wants to play to its brand's strengths and give you the kind of experience its immediate predecessor should've been. Even if X3 left you jaded, you should still give this sequel a spin. Do so before the series sours, as it ends up doing after this point...

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (January 07, 2024) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.