This article is about the NES game. For the Game Boy game, see Mega Man IV.
- "Mega Man shattered Dr. Wily's plans three times and world peace has been maintained so far... but history repeats itself. Dr. Cossack, a mysterious scientist, has invented eight powerful robots and sent them after Mega Man. Mega Man starts for the battle again, this time equipped with the powerful New Mega Buster!!"
- ―Mega Man 4 opening
Mega Man 4, written as Mega Man IV in the Title Screen, known in Japan as Rockman 4: Aratanaru Yabou!! (ロックマン4 新たなる野望！！, Rokkuman 4 Aratanaru Yabou!!, which means, "Rockman 4: A New Evil Ambition!!"), is the fourth game in the Mega Man series released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game introduced the New Mega Buster as well as the concept of a "fake" villain (Dr. Cossack).
Overview[]
Mega Man 4 was the first game with a new antagonist, Dr. Cossack. The game also introduced the New Mega Buster, an upgraded version of Mega Man's Mega Buster. This upgrade allows him to fire Charge Shots for more damage. Eddie, a robot that gives Mega Man a random item, was also introduced.
Story[]
Dr. Cossack's message
A year after Gamma's defeat in Mega Man 3, many thought Dr. Wily was dead after he was crushed in the last game, and the world had been living in peace so far. However, Dr. Light received a message from a Russian scientist named Dr. Cossack, claiming to be the greatest scientific genius in the world and having been far too long overlooked, and sent eight of his strongest robots to destroy Mega Man and prove he is better than Dr. Light:
From the instruction manual:
- Good Evening, Dr. Light. Allow me to introduce myself - I am Dr. Cossack. You may not have heard of me, but soon the world will know my name.
- Over the years, you have been hailed as the greatest robot designer in the world, while my robotic creations have been totally ignored. I cannot allow this to continue. The world must be made aware of my genius!
- From my Siberian citadel, I've sent eight of my most powerful robots to destroy that titanium troublemaker, Mega Man. Once they have obliterated him, I will place his broken body on display for the entire world to see. Only then will I be allowed to take my place as the greatest robot designer of all time!
- Dr. Cossack
Cossack's army of robots began to make their move, so Mega Man went after Cossack with his New Mega Buster.
After defeating the robots and Dr. Cossack, Proto Man appears and reveals the truth: Dr. Wily, despite what many people believed, survived the events of Mega Man 3 and had coerced Dr. Cossack into sending robots and standing for him as a puppet leader by kidnapping his daughter Kalinka and holding her hostage. With Kalinka rescued by Proto Man, Wily steps out of the shadows, scolds Proto Man for betraying him, and dares Mega Man to come to his newest Wily Castle. Mega Man heads to Wily's citadel and defeats him once more.
Bosses[]
Stage Select Screen bosses[]
| Model No. | Name | Weapon | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| DWN-025 | Bright Man | Flash Stopper | Rain Flush |
| DWN-026 | Toad Man | Rain Flush | Drill Bomb |
| DWN-027 | Drill Man | Drill Bomb | Dive Missile |
| DWN-028 | Pharaoh Man | Pharaoh Shot | Flash Stopper |
| DWN-029 | Ring Man | Ring Boomerang | Pharaoh Shot |
| DWN-030 | Dust Man | Dust Crusher | Ring Boomerang |
| DWN-031 | Dive Man | Dive Missile | Skull Barrier |
| DWN-032 | Skull Man | Skull Barrier | Dust Crusher |
Fortress bosses[]
Other media[]
A vision of the game's events in Mega Man #55.
Mega Man 4 had a manga adaptation.
The Archie Comics Mega Man series began laying the groundwork for a Mega Man 4 adaptation in its fourth story arc, Spiritus Ex Machina. Following up on the series' adapt of Mega Man 2, the arc introduced Dr. Cossack, his daughter Kalinka, and Pharaoh Man when they attended the Advanced Robotics Trade Show. After the Mega Man 3 adaptation, Dr. Wily and the X Corporation abducted Kalinka, which also saw the stage set for the Mega Man 4 adapt as Dr. Cossack announced his intentions to conquer the world near the end of the series.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
See also[]
- Rockman 4 board game
- List of Mega Man 4 enemies
- Mega Man 4 walkthrough
- Mega Man 4 script
- The Mega Man Homepage's Password Generator for Mega Man 4
Trivia[]
- The opening scene shows Mega Man with blue hair while in the ending scene it is black. This inconsistency is probably caused by limited color sprite resources on FC/NES.
- The Wily Machine in this game is the first to have the skull motif, a trend that is followed by all succeeding games. This is also the first Mega Man game with the Wily Capsule itself as the final boss.
- This is the first game to feature a unique soundtrack for the final boss.
- Despite the fact that the eight bosses of this game were built by Cossack, their serial numbers are identified as DWN instead of DCN.
- Of all the classic Mega Man games, Mega Man 4 takes the longest time to fill the life gauges for Mega Man and his enemies.
- This is the only numbered game in the series to feature two water-themed Wily Numbers, Dive Man and Toad Man.
- When Dr. Wily appears after Mega Man destroys Dr. Cossack's machine, he was essentially "teleported" into the room.
- Mega Man's blue eyes turn orange momentarily during the weapon acquire sequence.
- It is possible for Mega Man to "kill" Wily after he escapes from his Wily Machine 4 in his escape pod by using the Rain Flush. However, doing this will result in Mega Man getting stuck in Wily's chamber, forcing a reset.
- Two of the Wily Numbers, Ring Man and Skull Man, share the same intro pose.
- The credits soundtrack is a remix of Mega Man 2 opening track.
- This is the first Mega Man game with two boss castles.
- This is the first Mega Man game since the original where players can revisit completed stages from the stage select screen. In this case however, Mega Man does not need to battle the bosses again. He will just teleport out upon entering the boss chamber.
- This is the first Mega Man game to feature "hidden" paths to acquire special abilities.
- This is the first Mega Man game in which all Numbers take only one unit of damage from the standard Mega Buster (likely due to the addition of the charge shot).
- Proto Man's whistle is missing when he appears after rescuing Kalinka.
- This is the only Mega Man game where all the Numbers have their own NetNavi counterpart from the Mega Man Battle Network series.
Behind the Scenes[]
- The eight winners (out of 70,000 contestants) of the boss character contest each received a golden copy of Rockman 4.[1][2]
- The game was developed and released in 1991, when Russia (then part of the USSR) garnered international attention, as a result of the dissolution of the USSR. Dr. Cossack, as the second antagonist, shared the same first and middle name (Mikhail Sergeyevich) with Gorbachev, then-president of the USSR. In two weeks after the game's release, USSR officially ceased to exist, and Gorbachev resigned.
