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Rockman 4 EX

Levels: Good

Graphics: Okay (palette change)

Music: No Change

Enemies: Eh (hp changes)

Bosses: Okay

Weapons: No Change

Castle: Good

Difficulty: HARD (MEDIUM-HARD with Flash Stopper spam)

Comments: Rockman 4 EX is a war of attrition. A lot of other hacks inflate their difficulty with obnoxious insta-death sections, but 4 EX prefers to wear you down enemy by enemy. Sections will repeatedly hammer you with foes that shrug off your mega buster shots, and there aren't any E-tanks on the main path to stanch the gradual blood loss. Every stage feels like a massive uphill climb to conquer — well, until you grab Flash Stopper and realize how quickly you can trivialize some of the hack's most punishing gauntlets. Like all of AYCNN's hacks there's a lot of great level design here (the scrolling crusher in Cossack 3 is a great idea!), it's just that this particular hack leaves you feeling exhausted rather than satisfied when you finally reach its summit.

This hack is definitely challenging, and will likely overwhelm you, but if you're willing to push through all of that, you'll find something special. Full disclosure: I love palette swaps, and this has them in spades; I don't think a single enemy has retained its original color. Stages are very colorful, as well; Toad Man's being my favorite in terms of palette. Even the way that things are put together is beautiful; Drill Man has a dark underwater section (in fact, there are a lot more underwater sections, making Rush Marine more useful), and Pharaoh Man has these neat little hatches high up into space. Sub-bosses show up in stages different from their originals, as well, which really switches things up. The Giant Mettaur boss has a really neat aesthetic, too. I wouldn't call this a masterpiece, perhaps, but it's still quite interesting, especially from a visual standpoint.

This hack is much harder than the original but not kaizo hard. In the original I use nothing but the Rock Buster in some levels with a few exceptions but in this hack it is mandatory to use your special weapons you gained from the robot master to move forward. There are enemies above you and some requires your protective shield like the Skull Barrier for pit related enemies.

If players played the game so blind without looking at the editor then this hack got some nasty surprises based on enemy placement. This game is possible to beat if you're good and patient.

• 1-ups are too rare.
• Weapon & Life Energy pickups in stages aren't frequent enough.
• Regular enemies have too much health.
• Bosses move too fast for classic Megaman standards.
• Enemy placement is atrocious.
• Difficulty relies heavily on cheap level-design.

Learn how to make well-designed levels with tough but fair difficulty before releasing horrendous hacks like this. Replaying the same stages over and over again to avoid most of the badly placed obstacles isn't fun. At all.