Mega Man X4 (PlayStation) review "Zero is clearly the star and winner of the “developer favourite” award in this game."

I remember being disappointed with MMX4, but I came at this one in reverse, which is to say my introduction to X on the PlayStation was through MMX6. In comparison the artwork was less refined, voice acting terrible, animation sub-standard and story, forgettable. Granted, I had jumped in well after its heyday, and I missed all the hype.

Hype? More like “yipe!” X and Zero couldn’t even duck! That was a big deal, back then. Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure that Mega Man can duck in Mega Man 11. Oh well, I suppose he’s short enough that it doesn’t matter. Sorry little buddy, facts are facts.

Speaking of facts, MMX4 not only struts on the PSX runway, but slays. Sprites are large, colourful and well animated. Level backgrounds feature plenty of variety, though some elements come off as short-looping animated gifs, but such are the teething pains of first generation console games.

There’s a lot more story to go around, this time, and after the perhaps-too-long-intro plays, not quite sure what to do with its runtime, we’re greeted with a typical start screen. You can choose from starting right into the game, messing with some options, or loading/saving your game file. That’s right, no more codes thanks to the PSX’s external save files. We’ve come a long way, now.

Assuming you’re as impatient for action as I was, you’ll jump right in and be confronted with the choice of playing as either X or Zero. Be careful, since you won’t be switching between characters for the duration of your run. X plays as you expect as a ranged warrior featuring his signature adaptive buster. He is just as agile as Zero, who has traded in his buster for the eponymous Z-Sabre, now able to adapt weapon abilities as attack techniques that add to your combo list.

For now, all you’re choosing is either ranged or up-close-and-personal combat. One key difference is that while Zero can improve his health bar with heart tank collectibles, there are no body part upgrades in store for him. That’s strictly X’s territory, and as with previous titles, the upgrade capsules can be found in various place in several levels.

Now it’s not all explosions and Maverick hunting, as there are a number of hidden items to track down. Revealing them will require creative use of your weapon abilities, in some cases. While you’re about this, you’ll notice that there’s a great deal more dialogue. Each boss has their own background and story, and overarching plot structure provides some dramatic tension as a foundation for it all.

There’s a new (?) force in town, called the Repliforce, though it’s not clear what they do or why they exist. Zero has a new friend in the Colonel, and a romantic interested in Iris, his sister. Not sure how that works. Story has never been a strong suit of the X series, and it doesn’t fair any better here, either. With all of that said, there’s a big ship in orbit called the Sky Lagoon, and in the opening level, you learn that it’s under attack.

We don’t know by who, though. You rush to the scene as your chosen character and are treated to the most fluid gameplay the series has known up until now. An enormous green dragon chases you along a walkway, and you’ve got to get a handle on the controls or die a sparkly death. I know they’re orange orbs, but “orby death” isn’t nearly as catchy.

You get to the end of the walkway, destroy some industrial machinery and encounter at not-at-all suspicious Maverick Hunter at the power core. He warns you that it’s been sabotaged and it’s time to go. It’s too late to prevent the Lagoon from crashing into a poor, nameless city, so you’d better escape! Needless to say, you do. For some reason you teleport directly down to the crash site and encounter a wounded but safe Iris, and then its time to deal with the green dragon mechaniloid. Once you’ve got that wrapped up, the Colonel shows up and refuses to surrender after protesting that they have nothing to do with the attack on Sky Lagoon.

Oh boy. “Soldiers never lay down their arms!” Look, I’m sure there’s a good reason for that, but the translation doesn’t stand on its own, but then, neither does the voice acting or animation, as mentioned. In terms of story this game has a soggy laundry list of flaws, and may be one of the main reasons we don’t see enough female characters in this franchise. It only adds insult to injury that this game was released in the same year as the poor showing of X3.

With those complaints registered, if we turn our attention to the meat of this dramatic cluster of an action platformer, we’ll see that there’s a ton going on that’s actually quite compelling. X and Zero have never looked better, with fluid animation and razor sharp physics. The afterimage trail that occurs after a dash or dash-jump is a terrific visual tell for its successful execution.

Zero is clearly the star and winner of the “developer favourite” award in this game. As he was underserved in X3, it’s easier to understand why the developers would want to explore the mechanical possibilities of this character. Some weapon abilities don’t add much to Zero’s skills, but others transform him into a whirlwind of destruction. By the time you’ve collected them all, the only thing you’re hankering for is a change of wardrobe.

Because the boys are quite fashionable, right? X has many styles, attacks and moods to choose from, but Zero is stuck with his default fox-meets-a-bishie ensemble, which has limited mileage. Rumour has it the developers vetoed an ultimate armour design for Zero, though if you are determined, he has a secret option for this just as in previous games.

MMX4 is one of the most controversial titles in the franchise, mostly for petty reasons, some for darn good reasons. Many will agree that Iris got a raw deal, contributing to the view that men can’t write women. My recommendation is to at least play this once, because it does have its merits. Just bear in mind that it isn’t what we might call “peak.”

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Community review by hastypixels (August 25, 2025) Wisdom comes from effort and mistakes.