Mega Man 4

Mega Man 4 takes place in an unspecified year during the 21st century, described as the year "20XX". One year after the events of Mega Man 3, a mysterious Russian scientist, Dr. Cossack, unleashes an army of robots with the intention of world domination, much like Dr. Wily before him. Concerned over the situation, Dr. Light calls upon his own greatest creation, the hero Mega Man, to go after Cossack's Robot Masters, who have seized control of eight cities. He also creates the support robot Eddie and equips Mega Man with the New Mega Buster, an upgrade for his Mega Buster. Upon defeating the eight Robot Masters — Toad Man, Bright Man, Pharaoh Man, Ring Man, Dust Man, Skull Man, Dive Man, and Drill Man — Mega Man makes his way to Cossack's icy fortress. However, in the middle of his battle with Cossack, Mega Man's brother Proto Man teleports in with Cossack's daughter, Kalinka. The girl begs Mega Man to stop fighting and explained that Dr. Wily had kidnapped her, forcing her father to build an army of robots and antagonize Mega Man as ransom. With Wily's plan undone by Proto Man, he steps out of the shadows, furious for his betrayal. Mega Man pursues his nemesis and fights through the scientist's Wily Castle, but Wily manages to escape in the end. Mega Man escapes as the fortress begins to self-destruct, and rides home on the top of a passing train, where he is greeted by Roll and Rush. ==Gameplay==

fires a Mega Buster blast at Toad Man. Holding down the firing button charges the arm cannon to release a powerful shot. Mega Man 4 features similar gameplay to the previous three games. The player must complete a series of eight stages in an order of the player's choosing. The protagonist, Mega Man, is able to run, jump, shoot, and climb his way past obstacles and enemies; the game also retains the slide ability which debuted in Mega Man 3. At the end of each stage is a Robot Master boss. Upon defeating a Robot Master, Mega Man gains the Robot Master's signature weapon, which can then be used by the player in subsequent stages. Once all eight Robot Masters are destroyed, two separate sets of linear stages must be completed to finish the game. One major addition to the gameplay in Mega Man 4 is the "New Mega Buster", an upgraded version of Mega Man's arm cannon. By holding down the firing button, the player can now charge a shot, resulting in a blast far more powerful than the standard shot. This feature was later used in subsequent incarnations of the franchise. The hero's dog Rush makes a return from Mega Man 3 with the ability to transform into "Coil", "Jet", and "Marine" modes for navigating different environments. Aside from Rush, two additional support items called the "Wire Adaptor" and the "Balloon Adaptor" also aid the player in reaching areas not normally accessible. However, these hidden adaptors must be found in the stages rather than being awarded for defeating a Robot Master. Like the Master Weapons, the three Rush modes and the two adaptors are each limited to an amount of weapon power that drains when in use. The character "Flip Top" Eddie is introduced in Mega Man 4. Eddie, who went on to appear in later Mega Man games, provides the player with a random item (such as health, ammunition, or an E-Tank) at designated points in some of the levels. ==Development==

Mega Man series artist Keiji Inafune, credited as "Inafking", stated that the development team had very few problems while working on Mega Man 4. Inafune designed Dr. Cossack and Kalinka as two new storyline characters for the game. Cossack, who was originally named "Dr. Vice", was made much younger than Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. Inafune also considered giving him American traits, but decided upon influences from Russia instead. The musical score for Mega Man 4 was composed by Minae Fujii, credited as "Ojalin", while the sound programming and sound effects were handled by Yasuaki Fujita, credited as "Bun Bun", who had composed the soundtrack for Mega Man 3 the previous year. ==Reception and legacy==

Mega Man 4 has received mostly positive critical reviews. Reviews contemporary with the game's release by the United States magazine Nintendo Power and the United Kingdom publications Nintendo Magazine System and Total! all found Mega Man 4 to have high quality graphics, sound, and gameplay. Lucas M. Thomas of IGN stated that, as a stand-alone title, the game is one of the best experiences available from the NES library, although not when compared to its superior predecessors. He enjoyed the use of a second set of castle levels to significantly extend the length of the game, a tradition carried on by the next two titles in the series. Nutt and Speer admitted that the series was beginning to deteriorate with this game, likely due to the growing reputation of the more powerful Super Nintendo Entertainment System at the time of its release. The NES version has also been re-released on Japanese i-mode mobile phones in 2005, worldwide on the Wii's downloadable Virtual Console service in 2010, and on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2011. A fanmade ROM hack of Mega Man 4 known as Rockman 4 Minus Infinity (R4MI) was released in mid-2012. Created by developer PureSabe, the ROM hack has received positive reception for its extreme difficulty and creative transformation of the original game's source material. == Notes ==