We find ourselves in the shoes of the hero, Mega Man X, or his trusty ponytailed companion Zero. Yes, for the first time, you have the option at the very beginning as to which character you'll play as through the game. Once you make your selection, you're stuck with him! Once again, the situation with the rampaging Maverick robots continues to be as dire as ever, perhaps even worse. After Sigma's fall yet again, a second army parallel to the Maverick Hunters has been growing in size called the Repliforce; they proclaim similar goals, which all involve the defeat of any Mavericks, and are led by the cleverly named General and Colonel. It really IS a full-fledged army!

Trouble ensues when the floating city, the Sky Lagoon, plunges from above into the metropolis below, killing every citizen, both human and Reploid alike. X (or Zero, depending) is sent to investigate and discovers Colonel on-site. Colonel refuses to accept any questioning about the incident and thus is immediately labeled as a Maverick, thus becoming X/Zero's enemy. Offended, Colonel retreats, then makes a huge speech to the Repliforce about building their own utopia, blah blah blah they should be separate from the humans, blah blah blah universal health care, blah blah blah vote Republi—er, I mean, Repliforce... So now the Maverick Hunters have made an enemy, and as such, you'll need to pay some of the high members of the Repliforce ranks to see just what's up.

The trend of having X face off against a selection of eight different Mavericks remains alive here. Pulling inspiration from both flora AND fauna this time around, we're treated to such novel characters as Web Spider (an obvious choice of power), Storm Owl, and Frost Walrus. (That last one is HUGE, by the way.) But things do seem a little strange when you're also facing against things like Split Mushroom, Slash Beast (no particular animal, I guess), or... Cyber Peacock... What is a CYBER PEACOCK?! That sounds like one of those security programs you install to keep your kids safe from internet predators and such. As per the norm, each Maverick is susceptible to another Maverick's weapon, and it's up to you to figure out who is weak to which weapon. Ah, the Mega Man formula... never fails. X gets actual new weapons; Zero, on the other hand, only gets elemental add-ons and special moves for his Beam Saber. That's... something.

Both X and Zero control well enough. They occasionally feel a bit slippery but for the most part, I felt as though I had a good command on them. Dashing off walls, a staple in the X series, hasn't seemed to have improved any, control-wise; it's still pesky on the thumbs. Sadly, Zero's buster has mysteriously disappeared, and he can only use a Beam Saber, thus resulting in more really close combat situations than X. Battles with Mavericks become far more voracious in nature, as you can no longer keep your distance.

X can also seek out Dr. Light's capsules that are hidden in various Maverick stages to gain some weapon and armor enhancements. This isn't anything new, and in fact, it's actually a bit of a downgrade from X3, where X could enhance his parts twice each. The only way he can do that now is via cheat codes where he can get the Ultimate Armor (or, for Zero, some sort of ebony sheen). Heart Tanks can still be found here and there to increase your health bar; E-Tanks are now limited to two, which is a bloody shame (but X4's a little easier overall as a result). You can also snag a W-Tank to refill all of your weapon energy at once. That can be handy on rare occasions.

As a sidenote, the capsules are also starting to get odd. The holographic Dr. Light clearly knows what's going on in the world today... but didn't he die many years ago? Perhaps Dr. Light is, in fact, still living somewhere. (Capcom failed to indicate the precise life expectancy in 20XX, so anything is possible.)

Both X and Zero have their hands full with this adventure, particular Zero since he's, y'know, holding a saber and all.

For some reason, I imagine someone at Capcom really was proud of their work in Mega Man X2 when you were able to ride a hoverbike through part of Overdrive Ostrich's stage. They stood up during the planning meeting for Mega Man X4 and said, "Hey, everybody! Remember when we did that hoverbike thing? Let's make an entire stage of just that, except make it harder, with more enemies in the way, with carefully placed explosives, and too many pits to fall into! Whaddya say?" And the other designers threw crumpled wads of paper at him. Late into the night, when all the other programmers were fast asleep in their Cap-cots, he secretly snuck that level in (yes, in one night — determined little bugger, ain't he?). And thus, an annoying stage in X4 was born! No, really, it's not fun. It's more a practice in memorization than in skill, and it's irksome. Luckily, this was an isolated incident. As for that employee, you can still hear his ghostly wails from the custodial closet. Some say he was marauded by his teammates. Others say he just lives in there now. No one knows for certain the fate of the renegade designer...

The PlayStation was able to afford us improved graphics, and they are definitely a step up. Anime sequences pop up from time to time, and although they suffer from extreme compression and graininess due to the limits of the CD medium at the time, they're still appreciated. The introduction looks to bring in some cuteness to the otherwise normally gruff game with animated Reploids giving each other winks and smiles. In the game itself, 2D graphics are still in play, but boy, do they look pretty! Some of the environments are absolutely impressive. The jungle stage, in particular, has some magnificent water and rainbow effects that are tantalizing to the eye while still reinforcing the industrial nature around you. Kudos to Capcom for also putting subtle details in the background of Frost Walrus' stage: the frozen remains of past ice Mavericks Chill Penguin and Blizzard Buffalo are duly noted. Character portraits are a bit odd-looking, but perhaps it's because there's no pixel outline for the heads, blending them into the psychedelic backgrounds someone shoved in there. All of the sprites are well-animated, and I appreciated the detail put into each Maverick design. That being said, X looks strange. Somehow he's managed to increase in height, making him seem a little more stretched out and cartoony. You get used to it, of course, but it is a minor quarrel. At least Zero looks robust.

But if LOOKING strange wasn't enough, X's voice is beyond ridiculous! The Mega Man X series is supposed to represent a far more serious aspect of the Blue Bomber chronicles. So why did ANYONE think it was a good idea to hire a high-pitched woman to voice him? X should NOT, under any circumstances, sound like an 8-year-old girl! You have to hear him holler every time he jumps around, so you'd better get used to it. The other actors provide more suitable vocals for their respective characters (albeit with varying degrees of successful pronunciation of words — they must have hired Japanese voiceover artists with little knowledge of English again).

Then again, the voice acting's not all bad...

...hmmm, actually, I guess it was. As long as we're gabbing about audio, I will point out that although the songs aren't particularly memorable, the soundtrack is assuredly a huge step up from that of Mega Man X3. It's a neat blend of rock and electronica that actually works well in giving you that subliminal boost of energy to keep on going, even when things get rough.