Coming off the heels of the SNES trilogy, Mega Man X4 was the first X game made specifically for the Playstation, and as such, it took the series in a whole bunch of new directions.
The biggest evolution was arguably in the story, X4 had a far darker narrative that looks at the series from a more morally grey lens, focusing primarily on a growing conflict between Reploids and humanity. It's easy to forget with that infamously wonky voice acting, but X4 is the game that handled a vast majority of the world-building we tend to remember the series for, and it set up a lot of the themes that the Zero games in particular would proceed to further develop. But even on its own, X4's story has no shortage of memorable and iconic Mega Man moments, like Split Mushroom's Sigma reveal, the several confrontations against Magma Dragoon, X telling Zero to kill him if he ever goes Maverick, and of course, Iris's death which does genuinely land for me despite that line. I love how much more personality the Mavericks have now that they get pre-match dialogue, and Sigma is at his absolute best here as an antagonist too, spending most of the game as a literal specter manipulating things from the background.
Of course, the real draw for Mega Man X4 is in the gameplay, and with a new engine, MMX's gameplay got a massive boost in terms of fluidity. It feels so good to fly through the levels in any of the PS1 games perfectly aligning shots with all the enemies, but X4 is especially satisfying by virtue of having the best level design. X4 also introduces the ability to play as Zero, who's built around some addictingly fun combo-focused swordplay. Instead of getting special weapons, Zero gets special moves like in a character action game, and his full kit gives you a ton of options for taking down enemies and bosses. I really can't just play X4 as one of the two characters, I always play as both X and Zero whenever I do a replay of X4 because they both offer equally fun yet still unique gameplay experiences. As I mentioned in my initial review of X4, I also think X's fourth armor in this game is quite possibly the best armor in the entire series so playing as him gets especially fun.
The level design in X4 is primarily focused on constantly tossing new and inventive ideas at you, all of which are a ton of fun. There really isn't a weak Maverick stage in the bunch, from a typically incredible train stage for Slash Beast, to hopping across airships in Storm Owl, to the Ride Chaser segment in Jet Stingray, to the speedrun challenges in Cyber Peacock, to the beautiful scenery in Web Spider, to the trippy teleporting in Split Mushroom, to the incredible flow of platforming in Magma Dragoon. The boss fights are also consistently fun too, with a highlight being Magma Dragoon's Street Fighter-inspired encounter. Sadly, the endgame stages are generally quite a bit shorter and easier than you'd expect, but they maintain the same addicting sense of flow that the Maverick stages had, and also pack some incredible boss fights that leave you feeling satisfying regardless. I said it before but I'll say it again, Sigma's X4 fight is easily his best. Dealing with his multiple heads and wide array of attacks can feel overwhelming at first, but it's immensely satisfying to get through and you're given a fair amount of leeway so it never feels like completely BS.
The Mega Man X games are also known for their collectables, each game having Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks, and Armor Parts to find across all their levels that you'll often need to backtrack for. Some games like X3, X5, and X8 go way too overboard with the backtracking and side collectibles, but in the case of X4, things feel incredibly streamlined so going for a least backtracking run can be incredibly fun. You'll only need to backtrack once as X and not at all as Zero, and either run doesn't feel especially unmanageable. In general, I love how refreshingly basic X4 is compared to some of the other games in the series. The levels do have a fair share of crazy setpieces but they never feel gimmicky, and there aren't any wild shoehorned mechanics that detract from the action. It's just pure, raw innocent fun that won't take you more than two hours to blaze through.
And on a presentation level, Mega Man X4 stands out especially well. Sony almost refused to release X4 due to it using pixelart, and it even got a bunch of poor reviews at the time for this decision, but I'm glad Capcom stuck to their guns here because this is still one of the prettiest games of all time. The spritework is so intricate in X4, with bold colors, complex moving backgrounds, and carefully integrated pre-rendered 3D models without them coming across as out of place (cough X5 cough). I absolutely adore the way this game looks, the aesthetic is perfect. The soundtrack is just as good, made by one of my favorite Capcom composers, Toshihiko Horiyama. I already praised the music in this game quite a bit in my Mega Man Music Reviews series, but just to recap, I love how X4's soundtrack perfectly balances being intense and adrenaline-pumping with being somber and melancholic, keeping the action going while also fitting with the game's darker story. Highlights include X's Intro Stage, Cyber Peacock, Web Spider, Magma Dragoon, Jet Stingray, Sting Mushroom, Final Weapon, Iris, and Sigma 2nd. And of course, I can't go without mention the game's Japanese OP theme, Makenai Ai Ga Kitto Aru, a melancholic 90s synth pop banger that ranks as my favorite vocal track in the franchise.
Mega Man X4 easily ranks among the best action-platformers the medium has to offer, it's a perfect fusion between style and substance. It's got fluid movement, punchy combat, bombastic levels, flashy visuals, and a heart-pumping score, but it's also got a darker narrative that expands on the Mega Man world in some big ways, and a high skill ceiling that allows for some incredible combo potential, speedrun potential, and minimal backtracking potential.
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