Mega Man 4

Playing through the series for the first time this year, I can't understand why the common consensus is that this is where the series started to go downhill. For me, Mega Man 4 is a leap in quality and when the series finally becomes truly great.

One of the best aspects of this sequel is the charge shot, which is one of the most iconic abilities on all of videogames (maybe Metroid did it first?) It changes everything about the pacing and strategy of the series and rejuvenates it in noticeable ways, especially with some of the best boss fights yet. Combat feels much more methodical and deliberate, making for memorable encounters. The rough patches that plagued the first three entries are gone, while the levels are packed full of great ideas, challenges and boss fights. Even the soundtrack is a step-up after the mixed bag of Mega Man 3.

At this point in the series, it comes down to comparing the levels and bosses themselves so I'll be more specific with this review. So many of these levels are devious but fun. Make no mistake: This is the most challenging entry of the series and it doesn't even depend on the cheap platforming of past entries. There is hard platforming here but it's excellent like in Ring Man's stage that requires some expert timing and precision jumps. One of my favorites is Dive Man's stage that changes the gravity to present some real nasty jumps around spikes that made me grip my controller extra tight. Sometimes the stages just have a cool idea like Bright Man that has enemies you want to avoid killing since they light up your path. Or, Toad Man whose stage uses water to push the player around in unexpected ways, making for some wild platforming sections. Every level is full of creative and varied ideas that make the game exciting to work through.

From beginning to end, Mega Man 4 is excellent in the way Mega Man 2's best areas were while making vast improvements to the controls. Even the bosses are much better here, as exploiting their weakness doesn't make them trivial. Maybe people just didn't like the challenge here but this is one of the series' best entries for me.