Play Megaman IV Online

Summary

Mega Man IV on the Game Boy blends the classic side‑scroll action of the series with a few fresh twists that keep the handheld experience feeling new. Alongside the familiar Mega Buster—now able to fire a charged blast without losing the charge when hit—you can collect P‑Chips from enemies and hidden spots to stock up on health, extra lives, energy tanks, and even an Auto Charger that refills your weakest weapon automatically. The new shop in Dr. Light’s lab lets you spend those chips on items, while Rush reappears after you clear two stages, turning into a springboard or a jet to reach otherwise inaccessible platforms.

The eight Robot Masters are split into two groups taken from the NES titles Mega Man 4 and Mega Man 5, and each stage hides a letter. The first four spell B‑E‑A‑T, summoning the bird Beat for a helpful attack when you collect them all, while the latter four spell W‑I‑L‑Y, a requirement for unlocking the deeper fortress, the Ballade rematch, and the final Wily Battleship. Random items can also be found in secret rooms guarded by Eddie or left by Proto Man, adding a pleasant element of surprise.

Beyond the core stages, Mega Man IV introduces a boss‑rush mode where you face all eight masters again in Dr. Wily’s teleportation hatch—a first for the Game Boy line. The game earned praise for pushing the handheld’s graphics and gameplay to their limits, and it has resurfaced on modern platforms, from the 2001 Nintendo Power cartridge service in Japan to the 3DS Virtual Console and the Nintendo Switch Classics service in 2024.

Storyline

Mega Man IV opens with a huge celebration at the World Robot Expo when a flying saucer streaks across the sky, revealing Dr. Wily and his mind‑control machine. He broadcasts a signal that turns the robots at the annual Robot Master Exposition into a rampaging army, then dispatches eight rebuilt Robot Masters to different parts of the city. Mega Man and his dog Rush are immune to the signal, but Beat, the robotic bird gifted by Dr. Cossack, is crippled and loses four parts. After rescuing Beat’s parts, Mega Man defeats four of Cossack’s creations—Toad Man, Bright Man, Pharaoh Man and Ring Man—before chasing Wily to a tank‑like mobile base hidden in a forest. Inside, he meets Ballade, the newest Mega Man Killer, and after a hard‑won victory he also defeats Crystal Man, Napalm Man, Stone Man and Charge Man, robots Wily used to frame Proto Man, who now assists from the sidelines. Wily retreats to a secret space battleship, and Dr. Light equips Rush with a space‑flight ability so Mega Man can launch a one‑man assault on the new stronghold. Though he defeats Wily, the exploding station traps him until a damaged Ballade self‑destructs, creating a hole that lets Mega Man escape.