Mega Man 2

"Almost as good as a glass of Pepsi... okay, it's better!"

Sequels to games are often lackluster in all aspects. I shouldn't even have to name names... you as gamers should be able to discern for yourself a few series of games that have long since reached their prime. (Final Fantasy to name one series that should have died after VI, if not before then). This is generally a golden rule in anything. Literature, movies, et cetera... and game series are certainly no exception.

But then, there's always that exception to the rule. The Mega Man series can certainly be considered the exception to the rule I just depicted to you above. Mega Man 2 is considered by a majority of gamers out there to be the best Mega Man game on the NES, and some go as far as to call it the best Mega Man game of all time. While I'm not one to agree or disagree with either of these statements, because honestly, I love all the Mega Man games on the NES equally... one can't help but understand to the fullest where this majority is coming from. They took all of the elements that made the original 1987 classic a smash hit, and gave it some ''flair.'' And not the type of ''flair'' found in Office Space either. =) This, my friends, is a good type of flair.

Storyline/Plot - 8/10

The storyline, like any NES Mega Man game, isn't implemented well into the actual game, so there's no real plot-driven action, but if you read the instruction manual, or even know a little Mega Man history, you can appreciate the storyline of Mega Man 2. Disgruntled from his defeat in the original Mega Man, the power-hungry Dr. Wily makes his return in the sequel. While in the first game, he actually stole robots and reprogrammed them to do his bidding, this time around, he actually builds eight of his own Robot Masters (the proper name of bad-guy robots), and deploys them to do his dirty work. Naturally, Dr. Light (Mega Man's creator and Dr. Wily's old colleague) and Mega Man know what he's doing, and go out to stop the madman from obtaining his goal of total world domination! It's a classic tale of redemption; it's just too bad you wouldn't know it just by playing the game.

Gameplay - 10/10

The gameplay of the Mega Man series is what makes the games so damn fun to play. You're able to do so much in this game, in comparison to other NES games, not only at the time, in 1989, when this game was made, but for the NES' entire lifespan. The concept of having a choice of eight different stages to go to in any order that you want is enough to make any gamer happy. To boot, when you defeat each of the eight Robot Masters in the game, you assimilate their Master Weapon (their primary weapon, in otherwords), to use in your ventures for the rest of the game. Each Robot Master has a weakness (or two, or maybe even three), so you have to mix and match to find which one works the best on which Robot Master. Sure, it's trite now for many gamers, everyone knows that the Metal Blade can kill Metal Man in one hit, but back when we first played it, it was fun to mix and match, was it not? And a few gamers out there have yet to play the game, and have to do what we did back then... and will have a blast doing it. The Mega Man series is the true non-linear paradise. Remember the hell that was the non-linear SaGa Frontier on the Playstation? Consider this the exact opposite.

Graphics - 9/10

Reusable sprites are found all over the Mega Man sequel, but that doesn't necessarily constitute a bad thing. Quite the opposite, Capcom wisely chose familiar aspects of their original masterpiece and brought they straight into the sequel. They actually did this for six straight Mega Man NES games, and more power to 'em. So how come I gave the graphics a 7/10 in my Mega Man review, and now give them a 9/10 in this review? Quite simple, really. The graphics were blatantly sharpened, giving them a smoother appearance. The enemies (and Mega Man himself) animate far smoother. And the game didn't seem as bland and colorless as the original did either. Capcom artists utilized brighter colors, and a wider array of shades on everything from enemy designs to backgrounds, as well as in stage development. The animation is smoother than the original, as well, as anyone can notice by playing the two games one after the other. You certainly won't be disappointed in this department... by NES standards, of course.

Sound - 10/10

The shining aspect of the game, Mega Man 2's soundtrack is incredible. The collection of MIDIs that are on the cartridge are some of the many old-school NES songs that are burned into my brain from my childhood, like a laser burns music onto a disc. While a few songs really do stand out to me as pure MIDI excellence (Crash Man's stage, Flash Man's stage, and Dr. Wily's Castle stage one), there isn't one boring or trite song in the game. The boss music is really cool too. Just put the game into your NES, or load it up in NESticle, start the game, and go right to Flash Man's stage. Then, let the game sit and enjoy the tune... God that's good stuff. =)

Control - 9/10

Naturally, control can't be too elaborate on a five button NES controller, but for what the game designers were working with, they certainly executed a workable control system out nicely in the first Mega Man, and kept it going into Mega Man 2, and throughout the series on the NES. It's all too simple, yet completely functional. Makes you yearn for the day when learning the controls to a game took two minutes, not two days. *cough* ANY Playstation2/Gamecube game I own... *cough*

Replay Value - 10/10

I may burn for it, but regardless, the replay value of this game is endless. If not only to mix and match weapons, Robot Master orders, and the like, then play the game over and over again because it's so fun. And it's not even hard, either. On either difficulty setting, the game isn't hard. So play through it, it'll take you all of what, an hour? The fact that the game is easy and relatively short (somehow I can beat this game twice as quick as the original, and the original had six Robot Masters, not eight) makes it a breeze (and a pleasure) to play over and over again. I must have beat the game a hundred times since I was a young elementary schooler in 1989. Oh the nostalgia!

OVERALL - 10/10

If you're looking for the true pinnacle of the Mega Man series, look no further than this title. While easier than any Mega Man game you could possibly ever play, that's part of the reason why the game is so fun. It's not a lesson in patience like many NES games are. Instead, it's a lesson in what videogames are supposed to be. If you don't own it, you should. It's the most common NES Mega Man game out there, and you could find it on eBay going for $5, easy. Trust me... it's worth every penny, and then some.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/27/02, Updated 05/27/02