Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon

The Good
There are some good things about the graphics such as the brighter colour palette and the animated backgrounds. On the upside, the software areas have larger roads and are easier to navigate around. Music seems to improve and come on the Tandy Sound side as opposed to the PC Speaker sounding tracks from previous games, but still repetitive. The variety of viruses and battlechips does well compared to where variety is lacking. Not much else to praise.

The Bad
No idea what the designers were thinking, but every sprite is miniaturised, throwing away what details they did have in the previous games. No matter which different opponents you face in Blue Moon or Red Sun tournament, the progressing path is just a straight line. Could have been more interesting if you lost a tournament match and went in a different direction instead of a game over.

As for the storyline, why would I expect anything better? More bad guys after everything seems fine and because Wily cannot make it, let his son do the evil work. What really gives a cringing feel is the ending, which feels like Noah's Ark without an ark. Just let Duo murder the entire population and it takes their cheers for Mega Man to make it all go away. There's just no morale or reasoning anywhere.

The Bottom Line
Well this blue sequel came from another blue title and it didn't get any better. It's shocking to find that this game series doesn't take place on Earth, but some weird planet with strange names like Netopia. Yeah networks and paradise are all the rage. Also the Red Sun twin brother doesn't extend the game's entertainment. You may play through this game once, then decide to move on to the Pokemon universe instead.