History VideoGame / MegaMan4

* GrapplingHookPistol: The Wire, found in Dive Man's stage.

* PullingThemselvesTogether: Don't shoot a Skeleton Joe with a charged Mega Buster or Pharaoh Shot attack, and it'll do this after a short while.
* QuicksandSucks: The first part of Pharaoh Man's level involves this.

* RingsOfDeath: The Ring Boomerang.

* SeaMine: Located in [[UnderwaterBase Dive Man's stage]].

* SmartBomb: The Rain Flush is the first weapon in the series to act as a means of destroying all enemies onscreen, and it's damn good at it, since not only is it [[AlwaysAccurateAttack completely unavoidable]], [[UnblockableAttack all shields, even Metall helmets, are ignored by it]].

* SpreadShot: The Dust Crusher is of the Exploding Shot variant.

* ThisIsADrill: Drill Man, and by extension the Drill Bomb.

* YouDirtyRat: The Rattons in Toad Man's [[DownTheDrain sewer stage]].

** After being put on a bus in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', the Item 1 platform maker from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' makes a reappearance as the Balloon Adapter, and is now an optional pick-up.
** Due to it being nerfed from the last game, Rush Jet now behaves as the successor to the Item 2 jet board due to its forward velocity being uncontrollable. However, you can minutely adjust the height.

** The Robot Master selected theme as heard in ''Mega Man 2'' would later become a SignatureSong in the series, but this game first marked its return.

** The tune that plays when a robot master is selected is a throwback to the same tune from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', another hint to the player that Dr. Wily is TheManBehindTheMan. Indeed, starting from ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'', this tune became the standard and Dr. Wily's involvement was no longer a plot twist.

The fourth game in the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series for the NES. It was released in Japan in December of 1991, closely followed by a North American release in January of 1992. The game wasn't released in Europe and Australia until nearly a year later, in December of 1992. It has since seen numerous rereleases, including the ''Rockman Complete Works'', ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'', UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, UsefulNotes/PlaystationNetwork and ''Mega Man Legacy Collection''.

See also ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'', a [[GameMod ROM hack]] that plays like a love letter to the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series and Creator/{{Nintendo}} as a whole ([[Franchise/{{Kirby}} some games]] [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} in]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy particular]]) and ''VideoGame/MegaManTheSequelWars'', a planned FanRemake of this game, ''5'' and ''6'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis in the style of ''VideoGame/MegaManTheWilyWars'' which saw the ''4'' remake release in 2023.

* GameBreakingBug: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cXOfi2Y8PA It is possible to]] ''kill'' Dr. Wily as he's ejecting from his exploding Wily Machine if you fire the Rain Flush and time it just right, so the rain starts as he's flying out. However, doing this will mess up an EventFlag that ends the level, meaning you're stuck in that room, forcing you to reset. Though obviously unintentional, given how you essentially break the "never harm humans" rule of being a robot, [[FridgeBrilliance this makes sense]].[[labelnote:*]]But hey, at least [[ForWantOfANail you change the timeline]] so that Wily's future plots, the [[VideoGame/MegaManX Maverick Virus]], and the [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Elf Wars]] never happen, right?[[/labelnote]]

[[caption-width-right:350:My name is Mega Man, and -- [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Skull Man, why are you distracted by Toad Man?]][[note]]'''Back; L-to-R:''' [[HotSubOnSubAction Dive Man]], [[ThisIsADrill Drill Man]], [[FrogMen Toad Man]], [[DemBones Skull Man]], [[RingsOfDeath Ring Man]], [[NefariousPharaoh Pharaoh Man]], [[BlindedByTheLight Bright Man]], and [[TrashOfTheTitans Dust Man]]\\\

[[caption-width-right:350: My name is Mega Man, and -- [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Skull Man, why are you distracted by Toad Man?]]]]
The fourth game in the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series for the NES. It was released in Japan in December of 1991, closely followed by a North American release in January of 1992. The game wasn't released in Europe and Australia until nearly a year later, in December of 1992. It has since seen numerous rereleases, including the ''Rockman Complete Works'', ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'', UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork and ''Mega Man Legacy Collection''.

See also ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'', a [[GameMod ROM hack]] that plays like a love letter to the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series and Creator/{{Nintendo}} as a whole ([[Franchise/{{Kirby}} some games]] [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} in]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy particular]]).

* DualBoss: The Cockroach Twins from Cossack Citadel 3.

* AutoScrollingLevel: The third Cossack stage is one of these, a rarity in the series.
* {{Balloonacy}}: The Balloon item plays with this trope, making FloatingPlatforms out of large, red balloons.
* BarrierWarrior: Skull Man. You too, once you receive his Skull Barrier.

* BigBad: Dr. Cossack. Until we learn that he was a pawn in [[TheManBehindTheMan Dr. Wily]]'s plans.

** Parts of Bright Man's level become this if you shoot the 100 Watton enemies that fly through the area. Shoot a Dompan to turn the lights back on.

* BossArenaUrgency: Mothraya destroys part of the floor with one of its attacks.

* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Were you expecting Pharaoh Man's stage to be anything else?

* ChargedAttack: This is the first game that allows Mega Man to charge up his Mega Buster. The Pharaoh Shot is this too.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[KidnappedScientist Dr. Cossack]]. A special note is that this is the first classic Mega Man game to [[HijackedByGanon pull this trick]] (and certainly not the last!).
* DiscOneFinalDungeon: [[GloriousMotherRussia Dr. Cossack's Citadel]].

* DownTheDrain: Most of Toad Man's stage and part of the first Wily Castle level.
* DramaticThunder: Cossack's Siberian Citadel is introduced this way.

* GloriousMotherRussia: The Cossacks; {{Fanon}} has taken it UpToEleven.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''My name is Mega Man, and -- [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Skull Man, why are you distracted by Toad Man?]]]]

* BigBad: Dr. Cossack. [[spoiler:Until we learn that he was a pawn in [[TheManBehindTheMan Dr. Wily]]'s plans.]]

* BossRush: As always, the Robot Masters have to be refought before the FinalBoss. [[spoiler:However, in this game, the ''absence'' of the BossRush in Cossack Citadel tells the player that Dr. Cossack is not the FinalBoss.]]

** Skull Man's design is a big hint about why Dr. Cossack is challenging Mega Man and trying to take over the world: [[spoiler: He looks suspiciously like a robot that Dr. Wily would design, foreshadowing that Wily is the true mastermind of this plot.]]

The fourth game in the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series for the NES. It was released in Japan in December of 1991, closely followed by a North American release in January of 1992. PAL territories didn't get it until nearly a year later, in December of 1992. It has since seen numerous rereleases, including the ''Rockman Complete Works'', ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'', UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork and ''Mega Man Legacy Collection''.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Compare the [[http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/box/4/4/4/563444_29033_front.jpg US Boxart]] with the [[http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/box/4/4/4/563444_59407_front.jpg European one]]. Though unlike other instances of the trope, the Japanese art (pictured above) is just as, if not more, dynamic and hardcore than the Western art.

* DummiedOut:
** Pharaoh Man's level was originally supposed to include a [[Art/TheSphinx Sphinx]] MiniBoss on the path to the [[{{Balloonacy}} Balloon Item]]. This boss did not make it to the final release, and the only data left of the Sphinx was the snake on his forehead, its chin, and some sort of sphere that Mega Man would have stood on during the battle.
** Unused sprites of Cossack and Wily pointing and talking are present; presumably, these would've been used in the post-Cossack Catcher cutscene.

* DamselInDistress: Kalinka Cossack, who's being held hostage by... [[HijackedByGanon Dr. Wily]]. However, Mega Man doesn't rescue her; rather, Proto Man does.

* TempleOfDoom: Under the sandy desert, this is what Pharaoh Man's stage becomes.

* BubblyClouds: Subverted somewhat with Ring Man's stage, which begins in a cloudy tower but then goes into space and is filled with hippos and small floating Saturn-esque enemies. Played straight with the third Cossack stage, which takes place in the sky above the citadel and where platforms are often obscured by clouds.