It's the general consensus that I've heard for quite a while. Mega Man 2 is often considered the best out of the entire series, both classic, X, and extended. Recently I've played through the game, as part of my retro game streams every Tuesday at https://www.twitch.tv/bradicalradical , as part of the Legacy Collection on Steam.
So what do I think? Is this the best one? It's certainly a strong contender. As of this writing, I am working my way through Mega Man 6 and I would like to reserve judgement until I've played all of them. But as it stands... I still enjoy Mega Man X more, but that game has the power of nostalgia, so it's certainly hard to compete with. But what makes Mega Man 2 such an incredible game, one that is often deemed as the best platformer.
Let's talk about the irrefutably good aspect – the music. From title screen to credits, the music is beyond fantastic in this game. Composed by Takashi Tateishi, every song is full of energy and suits each level beautifully. I cannot mention the music of this game without bringing up the joy that is Dr. Wily's Castle. It's the adrenaline fueled song that I am confident you have heard before. I can pretty confidently say this is probably the best song in any Mega Man game. The only one that may compete with it would be Zero's theme. If you enjoy retro music and don't necessarily want to play the game, then absolutely do yourself the favor and look up the soundtrack on YouTube. It's that good.
Along with the music is the enjoyable sound design that you'd find in any retro platformer. The bloops bleep in a rather pleasant manner. But jokes aside, the every sound effect is as good as you'd expect. Suits everything well.
How about the story? Well, Mega Man 2 is still a classic platformer so the story is pretty much nonexistent. The year 200X and Dr. Wily has escaped justice and had built 8 more evil bots. Mega Man has to rise to the challenge and defeat the robots. And that's it. Short, sweet, and works. No complaints here.
So the biggest aspect of Mega Man 2, the gameplay. How does it hold up compared to Mega Man 1? As far as controls go, Mega Man pretty much controls the same way he did in the first game. Normal run, jump, single shot and quick shot. Mega Man has to use these to travel through each level and defeat an army of enemies while he navigates numerous bottomless pits and spikes. Speaking of level design, I only had a few complaints.
The major complaint I had was that later on in the game, during Wily's castle, you needed a few key items in order to progress. I recall needing a few of the numbered power ups in order to progress through a few stages and had to grind in order to get enough ammo to move forward. There was also a boss about halfway through the final stage where I needed Crash Man's specific power up to defeat the boss. Not only was this the only way to kill the boss, I also needed a certain amount of this ammo and had to use it in a very exact manner in order to win. I generally dislike this type of game design. It slows things down and forces me to grind for ammo. I shouldn't have to grind in a platformer.
Other than those complaints however, I enjoyed a lot of the level design. Each suited their boss in a fun way. Every level was colorful and presented enjoyable challenges along the way. The bosses were also well designed. Each looked unique and interesting; had their own style and move set. All around, I liked the bosses from this game quite a bit. I can't recall disliking any bosses terribly much. I was a bit underwhelmed by Heat Man, who's power up I despised and was literally just a lighter, and Flash man, who was very underwhelming in his fighting style.
Other than those few complaints, I enjoyed Mega Man 2 quite a bit. I think I liked it more than Mega Man 1, but only because it feels like Mega Man 2 gave us a bit more – which is exactly what you want from a sequel. Similar to the first, but also expanding upon ideas, gameplay, design, ect. The same, but more and better. In that regard, Mega Man 2 passed with flying colors and earned my rating of 8//10. The game does lose points over the few segments where I needed a specific power up to progress and the slightly underwhelming bosses.
What do you folks think? Is Mega Man 2 the best Mega Man game? Is it the best plaftformer? Is it worthy of the 8/10 or should it have ranked higher? Let me know in the comments and considered following the blog so that you can get email updates whenever I post a new entry. I know it has been a tad sparse but I hope to be uploading much more content soon. Thanks for reading and, as always, good night and joy be with you all.
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