History VideoGame / MegaManIV

The fourth of the five ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' outings on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, ''Mega Man IV'' for the most part follows the formula of its three predecessors, but this time around takes things a couple of steps further.

* VideogameSettings:
** AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Toad Man's stage.
** BlackoutBasement: Bright Man's stage.
** BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Pharaoh Man's stage.
** DiscOneFinalDungeon: Wily Station. Twice, in fact.
** EternalEngine: The Wily Station and Wily Battleship levels. The ''Mega Man 5'' Robot Master levels, due to being located in the Wily Station, also count.
** LocomotiveLevel: Charge Man's stage.
** SpaceZone: The Wily Battleship.

[[caption-width-right:270:The Rock goes portable... [[OverusedRunningGag once more]].]]

The remaining Robot Masters from ''5'' NES... ''weren't'' held over for [[VideoGame/MegaManV the following outing]], which took the Game Boy subseries in a totally different direction.

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:Ballade]] appears onboard the Wily Battleship-- heavily damaged, but alive. Bear in mind that he had ''completely exploded'' before then.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: Compared to [[VideoGame/MegaManIII the previous game]], the enemy placement is a lot fairer and the levels are generally less troublesome. Additionally, the Item Replicator allows ItemFarming to mitigate most of the game’s challenge.

* UtilityWeapon: A few weapons have upgraded utility from their original NES appearances. The Ring Boomerang, for instance, can grab items for Mega Man, and the Rain Flush can freeze the quicksand in Pharaoh Man's stage, and put out lethal fires in Napalm Man's stage.

The city is holding a robot expo one day, when Dr. Wily's saucer appears in the sky and transmits a signal that causes all the robots to go nuts. Worse still, Wily has rebuilt eight of his previous Robot Masters, and has evidently decided that third time is the charm for the Mega Man Killer series, which this time is represented by Ballade. Fortunately for Mega Man, Dr. Light has gotten tired of sitting ineffectually on the sidelines, and has equipped his lab with the ability to produce upgrades and items for Mega Man, so long as he can find enough P-Chips to make the upgrades.

* DCN-025: Bright Man, gives [[LightEmUp Flash Stopper]]
* DCN-026: Toad Man, gives [[HostileWeather Rain Flush]]
* DCN-028: Pharaoh Man, gives [[ThePowerOfTheSun Pharaoh Shot]]
* DCN-029: Ring Man, gives [[RingsOfDeath Ring Boomerang]]

* AllThereInTheManual: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] This time around, the only detail not explained in the game is that Wily is attacking a Robot Expo. Everything else is explained in the cutscenes that this game introduces to the series.

* DegradedBoss: Press'n, miniature versions of the Wily Machine from [[Videogame/MegaManIII the previous Game Boy game]], appear in the final stage as a SmashMook-type enemy.

* [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Mega Man Is Charging Up And Firing At You!]]: At the end of the [[AttractMode intro cutscene]].

* UtilityWeapon: At one point the player encounter an optional sidepath blocked by fire; one needs Rain Flush to douse it. Additionally, the [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang Ring Boomerang]] can grab items behind walls in addition to harming enemies.

The fourth of the five ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' outings on the GameBoy, ''Mega Man IV'' for the most part follows the formula of its three predecessors, but this time around takes things a couple of steps further.

* HumongousMecha: Instead of a Wily Machine, Wily fights you using the "Wily Robo Iron Golem", one of these - built in his own image, [[{{Pride}} of course]]. In contrast to the Wily Machines on the Game Boy games before it, it not only completely dwarfs Mega Man, but it's so tall (for Game Boy standards at least) that beating it requires two phases-- one to knock it down to a lower height, and another to destroy its head and fully defeat it.

* OhCrap: Mega Man has this reaction to the [[HumongousMecha Wily Robo Iron Golem]] rising up in its [[https://youtu.be/lWkHvCR_lns?t=4s accompanying cutscene.]]

** AbsurdlySpaciousSewer/DownTheDrain: Toad Man's stage.

** BuildLikeAnEgyptian/ShiftingSandLand: Pharaoh Man's stage.

* DWN-025: Bright Man, gives [[LightEmUp Flash Stopper]]
* DWN-026: Toad Man, gives [[HostileWeather Rain Flush]]
* DWN-028: Pharaoh Man, gives [[ThePowerOfTheSun Pharaoh Shot]]
* DWN-029: Ring Man, gives [[RingsOfDeath Ring Boomerang]]

* AllThereInTheManual: This time around, the only detail not explained in the game is that Wily is attacking a Robot Expo. Everything else is explained in the cutscenes that this game introduces to the series.

* LawOfInverseRecoil: The Super Mega Buster averts this - unlike in ''VideoGame/MegaMan5'' (or indeed any past or future game with a chargeable Mega Buster), firing off a Charge Shot in ''IV'' will push Mega Man back a few pixels, making it somewhat more riskier to use.

* UtilityWeapon: At one point the player encounter an optional sidepath blocked by fire; one needs Rain Flush to douse it.

* HailfirePeaks: The final four Robot Master stages combine elements from their NES games and Fortress levels.

* HumongousMecha: Instead of a Wily Machine, Wily fights you using the "Wily Robo Iron Golem", one of these - built in his own image, [[{{Pride}} of course]].

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:Ballade]] appears onboard the Wily Battleship heavily damaged, but alive. Bear in mind that he had ''completely exploded'' before then.

* DCN-025: Bright Man, gives [[LightEmUp Flash Stopper]]
* DCN-026: Toad Man, gives [[HostileWeather Rain Flush]]
* DCN-028: Pharaoh Man, gives [[ThePowerOfTheSun Pharaoh Shot]]
* DCN-029: Ring Man, gives [[RingsOfDeath Ring Boomerang]]

The remaining Robot Masters from ''5'' NES... ''weren't'' held over for the following outing, which took the Game Boy subseries in a totally different direction.

* CollapsingLair: Twice. Firstly, Wily's tank, the setting for the ''Mega Man 5'' Robot masters, starts blowing up after the second battle with Ballade, forcing you to escape. Then, Wily's spaceship starts to explode after the final battle, though this time Mega Man escapes in a cutscene.
* CollectionSidequest: The ''Mega Man 4'' stages have an optional sidequest to collect the letters "B E A T" to gain access to Beat. With the ''Mega Man 5'' stages however, collecting the letters "W I L Y" is required in order to access the second battle with Ballade.
* DegradedBoss: Miniature versions of the final Wily Machine from [[Videogame/MegaManIII the previous Game Boy game]] appear in the final stage as a SmashMook-type enemy.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Ballade]] comes to repent working for Dr. Wily, and blows himself up in the game's climax to allow Mega Man to escape Wily's exploding ship.

* [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Mega Man Is Charging Up And Firing!]]: At the end of the [[AttractMode Intro trailer]]
* RearrangeTheSong: As per tradition, the Robot Master stages and boss fights use rearranged versions of the corresponding music from their games (though the ''Mega Man 4'' boss theme is heavily rearranged and barely recognisible). Unlike the previous three games[[note]]''Mega Man II'', while having an original soundtrack, didn't have a boss theme at all for Quint and just used the standard boss battle music for Wily[[/note]] however, Ballade and Dr. Wily have their own boss battle themes.
* SequelEscalation: In a pretty big way. There's more of an emphasis on storyline, purchasable upgrades, cutscenes, many more levels, the series' traditional teleporter room BossRush, Beat, and even Proto Man makes an appearance.

The fourth of the five ''[[MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' outings on the GameBoy, ''Mega Man IV'' for the most part follows the formula of its three predecessors, but this time around takes things a couple of steps further.

* SequelEscalation: In a pretty big way. There's more of an emphasis on storyline, purchasable upgrades, cutscenes, many more levels, the series' traditional teleporter room BossRush, Beat, and even Protoman makes an appearance.