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 While Mega
Man definitely had a cult following, it wasn’t until Mega Man 2 was released in 1989
that the Mega Man franchise began.
Nintendo Power ran a cover story on the game and it was featured
in the cartoon Captain N: The Game
Master. It didn’t take long
for casual NES players to notice that Mega
Man 2 was a must-own game. At
first glance Mega Man 2 looks
exactly the same as its predecessor and in many ways it is very
similar. The graphics look
virtually identical to the original but there are subtle changes. The main idea is also the same, you are
a robot boy named Mega Man and you must help your creator Dr. Light
defeat the vile Dr. Wily. Mega Man 2 takes place one year
after the first game in the classic year 200X. Once again you must first
destroy Dr. Wily’s Robot Masters, in whatever order you choose, before
you finally can vanquish him and once again you earn the powers of each
Robot Master that you conquer.
There are a few differences,
though, that put this game above the original. First off, now you have to battle eight
Robot Masters instead of six.
Also, along the way Dr. Light will give you three other tools to
help you win. A platform that
climbs walls, a rocket that carries you across chasms and floaters that
you can use in triplets to move up and across large spaces to get to
ladders. You also find and can
carry up to three reserve energy tanks that you can use when you are
about to die. These are a big help
because just like the first game Mega
Man 2 provides a fair amount of challenge. Another big change is that this time
around there is a password option that was sadly missing from Mega Man.
 Positives:
The “choose your own adventure”
style of play continues in this classic sequel. The game also ups the challenge level
by making the game longer but makes it easier and more fun than the
original by having perfect controls (avoiding some of the frustrating
deaths of Mega Man) and by
providing a password. All of the
songs are killer, the graphics are bright, clear and colorful. What can I say, this game is pretty
darn sweet…
Glaring
Negatives:
There wasn’t much wrong with Mega Man and there’s even less
wrong with this game. There are no
glaring weaknesses but I wouldn’t mind some passwords within Dr. Wily’s
brutal final castle. I also wish a
story was more incorporated into the game.
Graphics
and Sound: Great
I love the bright blues and reds
of Mega Man 2. The sprites are also big and easy to
distinguish. The Mega Man series
has some of the best music on the NES and this one may have the best
music of any game in the series.
One of the upgrade in Mega
Man 2 is all of the moving backgrounds that look awesome and don’t
slow down the game or cause flicker issues.
Gameplay
and Controls: Superb
Mega
Man 2 continues with a
couple gripes I had with the first title in the series. You can’t duck and you can only shoot
your gun straight ahead. It also
can be annoying when you jump and get knocked into the spikes below but
those are minor complaints for a game that offers precise jumping and
lots of fun weapons and equipment at your disposal. It is always fun to figure out where to
use your tools that Dr. Light gives you, if used correctly some levels go
from being quite hard to super easy.
Features:
Choose your own adventure
The main feature of this game is
that you can play the levels in whatever order you want. You also get unlimited continues and a
password after you defeat each Robot Monster. This is also the only Mega Man title to
have two difficulty levels. The
Hard Mode is the original Famicom version while the Normal Mode is an
easier American version.
Fun?:
Definitely
There are so many different ways
to go through this game. You can
focus on what weapon you need to beat each boss or you could figure out
when each tool should be picked up so you can use them to breeze through
certain levels. Of course, tough
guys will choose the hardest path just to make the game a little tougher.
 Challenge: Pretty
Tough
The password option and unlimited
continues take away a lot of the challenge but you still have to be
pretty good to make it through Dr. Wily’s final castle.
Replay:
Yes
There are so many different ways
to enjoy this game plus the controls are perfect. This is one of those classics that
everyone loves to play.
2
Player: No
But the game is hard enough that
you could just take turns after each Game Over.
Online
Manual?: Yes at Nintendo Age
Yes
check Nintendo Age, they have a
scan of every manual on the NES.
Bottom
Line: A Must Own
Mega
Man 2 takes everything
that was good about Mega Man and
improves upon it. If you are a fan
of platformers or shooter then you have to pick this one up. If you aren’t this could be the game
that changes your mind.
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