After surviving the agonizing hell that was Jet Stingray's level, I was ready to have a good time with X4 again.
That's where Magma Dragoon's stage comes in.
In my opinion, this is easily the best-designed level in the game. It's exactly what a Mega Man X level should be: fun, fast, thrilling, and while it can be challenging, it's entirely possible to navigate through on your first try.
That's how I view level design in a 2D platformer like this: if it's theoretically possible for someone with quick enough reaction skills to breeze through without memorizing it, it's a good level.
That's not to say this level doesn't have its tricky parts.
But even the tricky parts, such as the fireballs rolling your way as you're dashing uphill, give just enough warning for you to react in time.
Just because I love this stage so much, I do a few tricks here.
Such as jumping over those big missile-shooting robots, which is tougher than it looks. I bail on the one at the beginning, but show off in the second area.
Immediately after, I show off by doing the lava dancing in order to take out the two Ride Armor enemies. I had time and interest to practice that since the level itself was such a breather.
Magma Dragoon himself is also my favorite boss in the game. He's very tough and very reaction-based - but still entirely manageable.
The way he works is like Vile or Spark Mandrill in X1 in that he can chain any combination of attacks in any order, he never has to do any two in sequence, which means you need to be on your toes the entire time. But at no point is he unfair in any way. See, X6? This is how it should be done.
It's the good kind of challenge I love so much in these games. Too bad stuff like this got rarer and rarer as the series went on and we got to X5 and X6.
I also include the lame mid-game boss fight with Colonel here.
Not much to see, it's probably my least favorite part of the game. I paid absolutely no attention to the fight, and put in no effort - but I think it's only fair since neither did Capcom.
Basically what you do is you dodge his three shots by dashing, jumping, and dashing, and you can sneak in two shots in-between the dodges. He tries to teleport on top of you - which sounds dirty in some sort of futuristic science-fictiony way - and you just move away from your position, and he'll never come even close to hitting you.
He's supposed to be a high ranking official in Repliforce, commanding an entire army, but he keeps spamming the same two attacks that X can dodge with his eyes closed.
I'm sorry, but that fight is just so lame. Colonel's most lethal weapon is him boring X to death due to how the fight just drags on for six months without anything noteworthy happening.
