Rockman 4 Minus Infinity (Retro)
User Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): December 6, 2014
- Release Date (EU): December 6, 2014
- Release Date (JP): December 6, 2014
- Publisher: Puresabe (Capcom)
- Developer: Puresabe (Capcom)
- Genres: Action/Platformer
- Also For: Android, Computer, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, OUYA
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
Review Approach:
Well here it is, something maybe no one expected, a reveiw of a game, not just any game, a well received rom hack! Rockman 4 Minus Infinity.... even I dunno why is called that, sounds like a math equaison. Oh wait, no one has done this yet? Well I will, hope others will too, I mean why not? Is a game, right? If you have played the original Rock Man IV by Capcom, then try this one, you may either like it better or worst, but here is my opinion and review of the game. Since 2008-2014, is gone though a few revisions over the years until is finally finished with a Version 1.00 patch, I will reveiw the most recent one, but first here a rather long description.
Made by the talented ROM hacker Puresabe, comes "Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity." This game is based off of Capcom's Mega Man IV game and is a rom hack that does what others only dream of achieving. The levels, bosses, weapons and even the choice of music of the original Rock Man IV have been improved to a level that far exceeds an aesthetic standpoint. Bosses have new attack patterns, weapons and moves (such as the distinguishable ‘desperation’ moves that speed up the music and make the bosses agressive and faster).
The levels have branching pathways and hidden bosses from past Mega Man/Rock Man games that won’t fail to put a smile on your face (such as Shadow Man robbing the Pharoh Man's Egyptian temple, or Crash Man hiding in the weapons artillery of Drill Man’s stage), the music is very well chosen from a variety of different games, and new enemies from earlier and later games in the franchise, not found in the original Rockman IV, make an already fantastic piece of programming a platforming masterpiece.
Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed…
Starting off I replaced the "What should be box art" With a snapshot of the title screen, seeing as is a rom hack, it does not have actual box art as is never released as a cartridge. So you will have to suffer with that, also this is a NES/FAMICOM game and apperently the RETRO Category has no option for NES, instead it has for just about everything else, so I guess we will have to deal with that.... but look at that new title screen? The logo has infinity sign in a mega man game. Is basically what the X in Mega Man X stands for. "That's right. X, It's a variable. It represents unlimited potential." - Dr. Thomas Light
Anyway on to important news, as you can see from the title screen, yes is was a 6 year developement cycle to reach final version, and boy is it worth it. Let's see what we get for this.
There is a options scren you can use to alter game difficulty, as you can see here, you can choose between oringinal Japanese language or "ENGRISH" Which is listed as "ENGLISH" As coming soon, i find this amusing, sadly this is final release and it never has happened. You can choose from preset options, or customize your own, Main changes the behavior of certain elements in the game, making bosses more difficult to deal with, some even including desperation or if you play final fantasy VII and ever used the Final attack materia, they do that too on defeat. There is more difference but not recommended for first impression, think of it as how some zelda games have second quest. Next is damage that changes how much damage you take from enemies from 100% to 50% or 150% then the most loved feature, a critical hit option. YES, there is critial hits in this game, just like in JRPG how random normal attacks deal additonally more damage, that exist in this game and is so cool! You can even change the drop rate of items from enemies you defeat to always drop, or never drop any. Another nice feature is Fail-Safe, with it on, it starts you with 2 items known as spike guard, that prevents instant death of spike damage, by only leaving you with one hit point on touch, and trampoline, which if you fall into pit holes, you bounce back up high enough to land to safety only losing 8 points of life, kinda like beat in Mega Man VII. Another thing is the "E.GEN" Or energy generator, it unique that it gives you a item that allows you to recover some special weapon energy after losing a life, which was a problem in the past if you died multiple times fighting a boss with its weakness weapon. (The previous items you can get normally during game play but can be optionally started with using these options) You can also change your max life cap to anything lower than full, you could play with only 1 life point if you want, or number of starting lives and energy tanks, lots of possibilities.
Another thing i like is the pause menu. Like any other game it shows your status menu. At the bottom it shows all the items you collected, the items are compareable to using bolts to buy new equipment from auto's shop in later Mega Man games. If you want to know more about specific items, you can press B button to access another screen that displays descriptions as well as power (How much damage it deal to enemy) Speed (how fast it travels) Rapidness (How many times can you fire it on screen at once) and Cost (How much weapon energy each usaage consumes) Does this not remind you of Mega Man Legends? This is a nice touch to the game as it helps optimize usage of items by knowing more about it. Also you can exit stages you already cleared, unlike the games at the time where you had to buy a EXIT or escape unit. Apperently this R.BUSTER is Rock Buster Minus Infinity, funny name, including the message "Thanks to solar energy, you can fire infinitely" First time the idea has been explained that is how he never runs out of it. PRO TIP: You can switch weapons mid game without pause, by using the A & B buttons on controller 2, more reason why playing this on emulator is recommended, you can simply map buttons to bumper/trigger on moderen controller using emulator.
There is a extra options screen, but only those who can beat the game and get good ending will be able to acess it. During the game, your performance will be tested on a scoring system by Proto Man, or should i say BLUES Since this is the Japanese game. (Do your best to impress him) At the end of the game, he will grade you and give you hints and tips on how to get better score , you will get something special if you score 100. After playing some games like Mega Man X5 I really dislike grading systems, in that game specific, i find it difficult to improve ranks and grades since the game never mentions What the player did wrong or how to improve it, you are likely to get lots of grade drops than rank ups. Counting other games like Mega Man Zero series, or battle network, is just something i never liked, perhaps if they explain how to get better grades would make things clear, or a scoring system that isn't Letters like B,A,S and such, more lik 7/10 or 100, this game does the grading a well tollerable way.
This rom hack of a NES game is impressive, it uses 1 Mega Byte file size, which no official licensed NES game has used before, it also uses a MMC5 which stands for "Memory Mapper Control" and is used in games like Castlevania 3 Dracula's Curse. To be more precise about what it does... umm let me explain. *Ahem*
If you honestly wanna know more about it, here is a source, where I got the info from, it also has a list of games that uses it, Official licensed, not rom hacks. There is some rom hacks simply to patch MMC5 into the game.
MMC5
List of games
Basically it means it makes the game do things more advance for the NES or just make games perform better, less slowdown, lag, and stuff. There is also a MMC3 option for more accessability, i guess for people who can't find a MMC5 compatible hardware. The good news is it works on Nintendo's Virtual console, so that is nice. Use your preferred injection method, but if using emulator, better to use MMC5, this one does not work on it apprently. Trust me, I tried on 3DS already, MMC3 works fine, MMC5 does not work at all.
Closing statement, this is a very nice and fun game, probably one of the best NES style Mega Man games. I recommend anyone who plays Mega Man or to least try this one if you already play Mega Man IV, you just may like it. Please note is of the Japanese game so you need that rom specifically to patch it, no other version will work.
With Azure Striker Gunvolt sucessful enough to get a sequal, I hope Capcom Finally hire Inticreates to make another Mega Man game, and i don't mean base it off of Gunvolt or Mighty No.9 I mean a Mega Man 11, or X9 or Legends 3, I even buy a new battle network or Starforce game, or a HD collection of any of those series. We'll just have to wait and see, but right now I'm focused on Gunvolt 2. Please don't disappoint us.... again, in one year.... I'm looking at you INAFUNE.
Anyway on to important news, as you can see from the title screen, yes is was a 6 year developement cycle to reach final version, and boy is it worth it. Let's see what we get for this.
- New music soundtrack for the game, based on existing music from other games, not even limited to NES titles.
- All stages completly redone, using slightly more advanced graphics and level layouts.
- New enemies, from past and future titles of the series.... and other games entirely.
- "Nostalgic nods" to other games.
- New story and sequences, including automated cutscenes mixed in with gameplay that is seemlessly intergrated.
- New boss battles, original cast of Rock Man IV is here and has new attack, and patterens as well as new battles and gimmicks.
- Packs content and full of surprises.
Here is a walkthrough of one course. First you start Skull Man stage off with finding Beat who is one of your other robotic pets like Rush, who is trapped in a bird cage like in Mega Man VII, then you hike your way across moving platforms until you get to spinning saucers from Mega Man V, then climb a latter to the annoying drop platforms from the first Mega Man in Guts Man stage, then you jump across some more platforms from Mega Man III, as well as the spinning tops, then you float on a bubble up to find your other robotic... Toolbox, Eddie, who supplies you recovery items... just after he gave you directions. while also was a different color, then a auto scroller section that has shark missles (Kinda like bullet bill from Super Mario Bros.) But explode when shot, not done yet, you then use Rush Search (Yes that I said, no rush coil here) To find recovery items, restore life, then fight the robot T-Rex from Mega Man VII Slash man stage and it breaks the floor on defeat until you are falling down with your bird pet floating you through spike floors all the way to the boss, all while listening to adventure island 2 music. That is just one level. Congratulations, you just experienced 5 Mega Man games in one level.
There is a options scren you can use to alter game difficulty, as you can see here, you can choose between oringinal Japanese language or "ENGRISH" Which is listed as "ENGLISH" As coming soon, i find this amusing, sadly this is final release and it never has happened. You can choose from preset options, or customize your own, Main changes the behavior of certain elements in the game, making bosses more difficult to deal with, some even including desperation or if you play final fantasy VII and ever used the Final attack materia, they do that too on defeat. There is more difference but not recommended for first impression, think of it as how some zelda games have second quest. Next is damage that changes how much damage you take from enemies from 100% to 50% or 150% then the most loved feature, a critical hit option. YES, there is critial hits in this game, just like in JRPG how random normal attacks deal additonally more damage, that exist in this game and is so cool! You can even change the drop rate of items from enemies you defeat to always drop, or never drop any. Another nice feature is Fail-Safe, with it on, it starts you with 2 items known as spike guard, that prevents instant death of spike damage, by only leaving you with one hit point on touch, and trampoline, which if you fall into pit holes, you bounce back up high enough to land to safety only losing 8 points of life, kinda like beat in Mega Man VII. Another thing is the "E.GEN" Or energy generator, it unique that it gives you a item that allows you to recover some special weapon energy after losing a life, which was a problem in the past if you died multiple times fighting a boss with its weakness weapon. (The previous items you can get normally during game play but can be optionally started with using these options) You can also change your max life cap to anything lower than full, you could play with only 1 life point if you want, or number of starting lives and energy tanks, lots of possibilities.
Another thing i like is the pause menu. Like any other game it shows your status menu. At the bottom it shows all the items you collected, the items are compareable to using bolts to buy new equipment from auto's shop in later Mega Man games. If you want to know more about specific items, you can press B button to access another screen that displays descriptions as well as power (How much damage it deal to enemy) Speed (how fast it travels) Rapidness (How many times can you fire it on screen at once) and Cost (How much weapon energy each usaage consumes) Does this not remind you of Mega Man Legends? This is a nice touch to the game as it helps optimize usage of items by knowing more about it. Also you can exit stages you already cleared, unlike the games at the time where you had to buy a EXIT or escape unit. Apperently this R.BUSTER is Rock Buster Minus Infinity, funny name, including the message "Thanks to solar energy, you can fire infinitely" First time the idea has been explained that is how he never runs out of it. PRO TIP: You can switch weapons mid game without pause, by using the A & B buttons on controller 2, more reason why playing this on emulator is recommended, you can simply map buttons to bumper/trigger on moderen controller using emulator.
There is a extra options screen, but only those who can beat the game and get good ending will be able to acess it. During the game, your performance will be tested on a scoring system by Proto Man, or should i say BLUES Since this is the Japanese game. (Do your best to impress him) At the end of the game, he will grade you and give you hints and tips on how to get better score , you will get something special if you score 100. After playing some games like Mega Man X5 I really dislike grading systems, in that game specific, i find it difficult to improve ranks and grades since the game never mentions What the player did wrong or how to improve it, you are likely to get lots of grade drops than rank ups. Counting other games like Mega Man Zero series, or battle network, is just something i never liked, perhaps if they explain how to get better grades would make things clear, or a scoring system that isn't Letters like B,A,S and such, more lik 7/10 or 100, this game does the grading a well tollerable way.
Now having this unlockable is a nice touch, i always like the idea of unlocking content, it adds to satisfaction, if you can achieve required goals, games now and days have you buy it as DLC, having the option to unlock manually OR Buy patches is fine. This game has 3 achievements, yeah, just like on PSN and XBLA. From this snapshot, I have them all, from clearing the game at least once, you can unlock this. It has a time attack/speedrun mode, pick a stage and try to get best clear time, The Mechanical Arena, is basically the boss rush, Limited Arena, adding more challenge by adding further restrictions to player, in this mode you can only use one weapon that is selected on menu. If using special weapons, you can pause and unpause to refil all weapon energy, more challenging, some bosses are skipped depending on weapon chosen. Then My Arena, allows you to make customized boss rush, very cool. If you thought the two boss rushes weren't hard enough, there is THE TRUE ARENA which will make you more upset than Playing street fighter V 50 People survival mode if you haven't cleared it cause Too hard, too much time. Here you will fight every enemy in the game, including secret bosses that can kill you in one move, and a Exclusive boss that is not in main game, the whole playthrough should take about 30 Min depending how good you are, is not easy and no joke. There is very limited recovery items, no lives, and if you lose at any point, you start all over, beating this earns you one achievement of 3. HINT: Is that the Mega Man ZX Omega biometal? Geez the references here. Audio player is sound test, play music, or sound, check records of your game play, and the extra config.... is TOP SECRET So you have to discover on your on.
This rom hack of a NES game is impressive, it uses 1 Mega Byte file size, which no official licensed NES game has used before, it also uses a MMC5 which stands for "Memory Mapper Control" and is used in games like Castlevania 3 Dracula's Curse. To be more precise about what it does... umm let me explain. *Ahem*
If you honestly wanna know more about it, here is a source, where I got the info from, it also has a list of games that uses it, Official licensed, not rom hacks. There is some rom hacks simply to patch MMC5 into the game.
MMC5 List of gamesBasically it means it makes the game do things more advance for the NES or just make games perform better, less slowdown, lag, and stuff. There is also a MMC3 option for more accessability, i guess for people who can't find a MMC5 compatible hardware. The good news is it works on Nintendo's Virtual console, so that is nice. Use your preferred injection method, but if using emulator, better to use MMC5, this one does not work on it apprently. Trust me, I tried on 3DS already, MMC3 works fine, MMC5 does not work at all.
Closing statement, this is a very nice and fun game, probably one of the best NES style Mega Man games. I recommend anyone who plays Mega Man or to least try this one if you already play Mega Man IV, you just may like it. Please note is of the Japanese game so you need that rom specifically to patch it, no other version will work.
With Azure Striker Gunvolt sucessful enough to get a sequal, I hope Capcom Finally hire Inticreates to make another Mega Man game, and i don't mean base it off of Gunvolt or Mighty No.9 I mean a Mega Man 11, or X9 or Legends 3, I even buy a new battle network or Starforce game, or a HD collection of any of those series. We'll just have to wait and see, but right now I'm focused on Gunvolt 2. Please don't disappoint us.... again, in one year.... I'm looking at you INAFUNE.
Verdict
What I Liked ...
- Typical Mega Man gameplay the series is best known for but with new content and features. (Your skills will be tested)
- Altered music, graphics and gameplay makes the game memorable.
- Extra content that could put moderen games to shame.
- Is a rom hack, so is free.(everyone likes fre stuff right?)
What I Didn't Like ...
- Is a rom hack. (Not that is a bad game, just if it was legit or more specific, official, it could have been ported to consoles for people to enjoy)
- Works on NES hardware. (Possible to put on repoduction flash cart of some sort, but was designed for emulatior i believe. If it had been for modern hardware, limitations would be removed.)
10
Gameplay
Now to the biggest part, the gameplay, well in all honesty, is a Mega Man game, it feels like one, it plays like one, but all the new features make it feel like a game that you wish you had played back in 1990. Having the new content of weapons that do different things, having new challenges, and hidden collectables, it makes it own Impression by making you forget you are actually playing a Rom hack of Mega Man IV. If you played original Mega Man IV before, you may find this satisfying.
7
Presentation
While this is a straight up hack of Mega Man IV, it is still nice in presentation, having mid game cut scenes transitions intergraded into gameplay, is a nice touch, it also has enemies from other Mega Man games and music from other existing games, some from snes which converted well. The altered stages adds appeal to wanna explore multiple times making it nice to check for any secrets or just replaying your favorite parts. This rom hack file size weigh in at 1 Mega Byte, double the size of original i believe, making it impressive working with in system limitations.
7
Lasting Appeal
This game has enough content to keep one busy for a decent amount of time. Is flexable sometimes. It has options screen to ajust difficulty, having options like that makes it new to a Mega Man game, is a good thing. There is also unlockable content, 3 achievements exist, try and get them all with no cheats, i dare you. Also there is modes like time attack, and boss rush, sound test, or even access to mods and such, the game has a modding options for more fun in future revisits.
8.5
out of 10
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