Let us board our DeLorean and travel back to 1997. Gaming was going through a massive transition, as was American culture in general. We were still excited about anime and wanted nothing more than to lick rigid Playstation cutscenes up and down.
We pressed our noses longingly against the panes of computer shops that ran the Mega Man X4 intro over and over. We said "Ohhhh!" Now we say, "Ohhhh," as in, "Oh God, my eyes feel like moles are scratching them."
I'm not even referencing Mega Man X4's awful English voice acting. I don't need to. The low quality of the anime stands by itself, like a putrid pair of underwear.
Maybe it's not the worst thing to crawl out of the FMV Hell pit, but it's definitely reeky budget anime. The stiff movements, the lack of backgrounds--
Okay, Sigma and Zero tearing shit up was pretty cool, if not speared by a few too many speedlines.
The quality of the voice acting in Mega Man X games improved as years went on, but Sigma only stopped sounding like Oscar the Grouch by Maverick Hunter X. Which, by the way, contains an OAV that's far less repulsive than Mega Man X4's cutscenes. Alas, it is entirely too short.
I guess I should appreciate game history for what it is now...but I wonder how much it would have cost the animation team to colour in X and Zero's eyes.
Related Links:
FMV Hell: Star Studded Casts: Do You Give a Crap?
FMV Hell: Sonic CD
FMV Hell: Lunar, the Silver Star