If you’ve played as many video games as I have over a lifetime, it’s tough to settle on which one you think is your all-time favorite. I do know however that through most of childhood I had a clear favorite in Mega Man 2. It would be interesting to go back and take a tally of how many times I rented this game. I probably would have been better off buying it outright. While I think Mega Man 3 might be the best in the series when you look at it objectively, I still think the second game is my most beloved retro title.
So with that being said, how do I write an objective review of one of my all-time favorite games? I guess by just telling you flat out that I love it. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about Mega Man 2. The follow-up to the original game in the franchise brought along with it many of the conventions that we think of when we look back at the blue bomber. The increase to eight selectable robot masters, the use of energy tanks to refill health, the password system and Dr. Wily’s castle with teleportation room all originated in the second game and carried on throughout the entire Nintendo Entertainment System run. On the other hand, the scoring system was removed, Mega Man no longer died by touching spikes while flashing and once you defeated a stage, you weren’t allowed to go back. In other words, the team at Capcom improved upon a promising formula, and had a hit on their hands.
The story is refreshingly simple in the first two Mega Man games. In this one, Dr. Wily is out for revenge against Mega Man for foiling his earlier plan. To do so, he builds eight robots specifically to defeat him. That’s all the story you need right there! The levels are a little lengthier and much more colorful than the previous game. Each stage has a theme that matches with the robot master at the end. The enemies are some of the best in the series, in particular the larger characters. Whether it’s a giant lantern fish, or a fire breathing robot dog, there are plenty of memorable encounters.
As before, each boss has a weapon you can obtain by defeating them. In turn, each boss has a vulnerability to another’s weapon, making it a game all about trial and error discovery to see which weapon works best against which character. The bosses themselves still seem a bit unbalanced if you go at them with your normal arm cannon, with a few being total pushovers and a few being difficult to face without the secret weapon. The most annoying characteristic of some of these early bosses is that they will simply run straight at you, making it very difficult to avoid when they are constantly jumping. Later on, the bosses in Dr. Wily’s castle are awesome to behold. If you’ve never encountered the Mecha Dragon before, just wait until he shows up!
There are two difficulty levels; normal and difficult. Think of normal as an easy mode and difficult as normal mode, because that’s the default difficulty in the Japanese version. So if there was ever a great starter game for the series, this would be it! The game is short once you are good at it, but the first bunch of play-throughs should result in plenty of game over screens, making it a meaty challenge. Dr. Wily’s castle in particular takes practice to master. The tough part about reviewing the game for me is that I’ve played it so much I’ve literally tried everything and know how to best defeat every enemy, so bosses like the one on the fourth stage of Wily’s castle don’t stump me the way they did when I was young. I can definitely remember that it took several rentals before I finally finished the game though.
The replay value of the game comes from it’s open-ended nature. Been there, done that? Just go through the game in a different order. Want a challenge? Only use your arm cannon. There are plenty of difficult platforming sections that can be avoided once you obtain the jet sled, wall-crawler and floating platforms, but if you are looking to increase your credibility, maybe it’s time to go through them without assistance. There are many ways to make Mega Man feel fresh. Every now and then I discover a new technique.
The graphics are a step up from the first game, but are not up to par with the games that followed it. The art direction may be superior to a few of the sequels, but let’s face it, the graphics are still a lot less detailed. The music similarly isn’t as complex as later games, but it is more iconic and miles beyond the majority of games that ever released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The sound effects are the weakest part of the package, as they received a huge upgrade by the time Mega Man 3 rolled around. If you can’t tell the difference, you just haven’t played enough Mega Man!
A used copy of the game will run around $10, but there are several digital methods of obtaining the game on modern systems for less. Nintendo 3DS and Wii both have it as part of their virtual console service. Playstation Network has an enhanced PSOne Classics import version that will play on both Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable. If you have a copy of Mega Man Anniversary Collection, it’s also included. If you are at all interested in playing what I consider to be one of the greatest games ever made, there are plenty of terrific options!
Source:
http://retro4ever.com/review-mega-man-2-nes/