Mega Man X4
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| Mega Man X4 |
|---|
| System(s): Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation |
| Publisher: Capcom |
| Developer: Capcom |
| Genre: Action |
Mega Man X4, also known as Rockman X4 in Japan, is the 4th game in the "Mega Man X" franchise - a spinoff of the Mega Man franchise with more complex platforming and a darker storyline. It is the sequel to Mega Man X3. The game was released on the Sega Saturn and the Playstation in Japan and the US, but other international releases only got the Playstation version.
Mega Man X4 was the first Mega Man X game designed for 32-bit hardware, rather than ported upwards, and so the character sprites were redrawn to take advantage of the ability to have larger sprites and more vibrant palettes. Another major change from Mega Man X3 was in the handling of the character Zero; he was now selectable from the start of the game as a character that can be played the whole way through, with his own storyline perspective, and an entirely different, melee-combat-oriented playstyle compared to X. Besides these changes, however, gameplay is otherwise similar to it's previous entry.
Plotline
The plot for Mega Man X4 is presented by both fully-animated full motion video (FMV) cutscenes and in-game text. The storyline differs slightly depending on whether the player chooses X or Zero. Taking place in an ambiguous year in the 22nd century (21XX) and following the third defeat of the "Maverick" robot 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 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 jurisdiction of the Maverick Hunters. 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.
In X's storyline, X partners up with a robot named Double, who turns out to be a spy for Sigma.
In Zero's storyline, the strained relations with Repliforce cause a rift between the bond of himself, his girlfriend Iris, and Colonel, who is Iris' brother. Zero also learns some shocking secrets about his past from Sigma.
Bad Voice Acting
Mega Man X4, like Mega Man 8, suffered from a localization job which involved subpar English language voice acting. A pivotal scene which shows a major character's demise is turned from tragic to comical merely by the poor vocal execution of Zero screaming "What am I fighting for?!", and as such the scene became a popular source of parody and meme in videogame pop-culture.