Video Game Review: Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2

Nintendo Entertainment System

Mega Man 2 is a game that holds a special place in my heart. While I had a huge collection of NES games when I was a kid, for some reason I never actually owned a Mega Man game. I did, however, have a friend in the neighborhood who owned the original Mega Man and its sequel - Mega Man 2. It was always a treat going over to his house and playing these games together. We were never good enough to come anywhere close to beating either game, but I still hold fond memories of our time playing. It was fun, but it involved a lot of dying. A LOT of dying.

20 years later I got my hands on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the Nintendo GameCube. I played through Mega Man 1 and 2 and managed to beat both games for the first time in my life. But for some reason my progress stalled out after this. I had intended to make my way through the entire series, but I ended up playing a little bit of Mega Man 3 and then never touching another Mega Man game again.

Another 10 years goes by. When I first start reviewing games for this blog, my mind immediately turns to playing and reviewing the Mega Man games. I did play and review Mega Man back in 2015. But since then, I haven't played another title in the series. Once again, it seemed like my progress with Mega Man had managed to stall out.

It is now the year 2017. Two years have passed since I last played the original Mega Man. I actually had to go back and read my old review to see what I had said about the game. And I think a lot of what I said turned out to be very accurate.

I gave the game an A, stating that the only reason it didn't get an A+ is because I remembered liking Mega Man 2 better, so I knew there had to be room for improvement in the series. Now that I have finally gotten around to playing Mega Man 2, I find that to be a pretty spot on.

The game is definitely a big step up from the original Mega Man in nearly every way. Graphically, the game still looks basically the same. Things are perhaps a little clearer and a little more colorful in this game. The stages certainly seem to be much more creatively designed. The music, however, is a large improvement upon the original Mega Man. There are so many iconic themes to be heard while playing this game. This becomes evident right from the game's very opening scene. Prepare to really rock out as you play this game.

Gameplay remains nice and simple. The same basic controls have carried over from the first game. You run, you jump, and you shoot. Mega Man 2, however, offers a few extra features that can really help you if you take proper advantage of them. For example, you earn extra health packs that you can save in your inventory. You can hang on to these health packs and then use them when you find your health running low. If you use this item properly it can really help you in the middle of some of the game's difficult boss battles.

You also earn the ability to generate platforms and ledges that will help make certain areas of the game easier for you to access. All you do is pause the game to enter your menu, and then make your selection from three different platform varieties. These things comes in handy big time, particularly during Heat Man's stage. You can simply generate a platform to appear and rocket you across a large gap. Otherwise you would have to memorize a complex pattern of disappearing and reappearing ledges and jump your way across. I tried to do this for a few minutes on my recent play through, and it did NOT go well. Thank the maker for the magic platform.

The setup of the game is similar to the original's. I think there are more stages, but I could be mistaken. Regardless, you are given the ability to select what order you would like to play the game's stages in. Knowing the boss characters' weaknesses is key to progressing in the game. For example, the Bubble Gun makes quick work of Heat Man, so you want to make sure you defeat Bubble Man before trying to take on Heat Man. Knowing this order will help you greatly as you play. It is not necessary to know the order, however, and you can still beat each stage's boss with your default weapon. Its just a little more difficult this way.

After beating all the robot stages, you then attack Wily's Castle. I had been cruising along until I hit this area. It is the most difficult part of the whole game. There are four or five sections, each one with a new boss character to defeat. The dragon gave me fits, as you have to leap from platform to platform as you fight him. One bad step and you fall and die. If the dragon hits you with his fire, the recoil likely knocks you off the platform and you die. The dragon can quickly be killed with the boomerangs, but it is so difficult focusing on just staying alive that it makes the fight very challenging.

The other bosses are not as difficult, but there is one that requires a very unique strategy to defeat because it is nearly impossible to beat on one life. I don't know if I went about it the wrong way, but my strategy was to make it to the boss, and use my weapon to destroy all the barriers that were protecting the boss's vulnerable spots. Then I would die, and when I would come back the barriers would be gone and I could immediately go for the kill. This required a lot of backtracking and multiple attempts to complete the stage because I kept screwing up so many times.

The game ends with you having to fight each and every robot boss in the game one last time. Knowing the proper order, these enemies shouldn't be too hard to defeat. Dispatch them, and you move on to battle Dr Wily. I found the last segment of the game to be very difficult, and it took me many many attempts before I was finally successful.

Beating the game was a rush and gave me a decent sense of accomplishment. The game dares you to rise to its challenges and then rewards you when you complete those challenges. When I was done with Mega Man 2, all I could think was "Man! I can't wait to play more Mega Man games." That is the sign of a truly great game in my opinion. When I finished Mega Man 1, I was like "okay I am good on Mega Man for a little while." Two years passed before I ever played Mega Man 2, in fact.

So I think it is very safe to say that this game deserves an A+. To me it is the quintessential Mega Man game. When I think Mega Man, I immediately think of Mega Man 2. Not the original game, nor any other game in the series. THIS one. It takes everything right about the original game in the series and improves it tenfold.

Hopefully another two years doesn't pass before I finally decide to play Mega Man 3. I have actually never beaten any of the Mega Man games past 2, so most of this game will be uncharted territory for me. But for now, my experience with Mega Man 2 will be hard to top.

Overall:

A+