Mega Man 2

"The best Mega Man game in the series, and well worth checking out :)"

FOREWORD

My introduction to the Mega Man series on the NES. It was during a PE session whilst at secondary school ............. BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT right now ... what do I think of this part of the series ? Read on ...

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

Mega Man HAS to rank as having one of the most original plots I've come across. You are a robot called, shockingly, "Mega Man". You're a little blue dude that was created by Dr Light to serve the forces of good, but Dr Light's nemesis Dr Wily stole your blueprints and used them to create his own set of EVIL robots, each of whom has a unique power of their own (usually given away by their name - e.g. Woodman / Bubbleman).

MEGA MAN, however, has the power to absorb THEIR powers once he has defeated them, and this adds a really intriguing, original and FUN element to the game. You get to turn their powers on their allies !! =)

Your objective in Mega Man 2 is to find and stop Dr Wily - plain and simple. Unfortunately to GET to him you're going to have to go through all the robots he's created since Mega Man (and there are quite a few).

GRAPHICS - 6/10

It's a NES game, come on. The graphics are very ... cute. Mega Man is a little, round-of-face blue dude that runs around changing one of his arms into a blaster to shoot his enemies (or into the weapon of one of his defeated adversaries when he so chooses).

I should also point out that when he uses one of their powers, he himself also changes colour to reflect the power he is using - e.g. when he's using Bubbleman's "bubble lead" he turns a grey colour, and so on.

There are plenty of enemies on each level, and their movements and methods of attacking vary with the difficulty level you have picked. If you go for hard difficulty they attack more ferociously, and with more attacks per enemy, so watch out ;)

Dr. Wily's evil robots are well designed, with each showing off their power to good effect. They are not re-hashed versions of Mega Man either - each of your nemeses are unique in their appearance and movements.

SOUND - 6/10

The music on each stage is foot-tappingly enjoyable, and whilst Mega Man's standard moves can get a little repetitive (both the jump and shoot commands are bleeps, albeit different ones), by the time you're a fair way into the game you'll have plenty of other weapons to choose from, and that creates a whole different set of sounds for you to enjoy.

CONTROLS - 8/10

As with most NES games, the controls are EASY PEASY to get to grips with. You've only got two action buttons - jump, and fire. As such you can pick up the game and play it with a degree of skills within a couple of minutes, no problem.

Mega Man is very responsive to your commands, and he NEEDS to be, because there are portions of the game where your positioning on blocks and so on has to be PINPOINT accurate, or you'll fall and die :(

Switching between weapons is a very easy process - basically you call up a list of available weapons (and this pauses the game for you), pick the one you want and WHAMMO ! On it goes (immediately, so you can easily switch mid-fight if you want/need to), and away you go !

PLOT - 8/10

As I said at the outset I think that the plot of the Mega Man series HAS to rank as one of the most unique I've come across. This title is a good example of that. Because Mega Man's "power" if you like, is to absorb the powers of enemy robots he's defeated, you have to use a degree of thought as to which order you take out your enemies in.

You have to defeat them all before you can get to Dr Wily, but if you do it a certain way it becomes considerably easier (as each of your enemies is vulnerable to one of their allies attacks).

It is this progressive element to the plot that keeps the pace of the game lively. There are certain levels that you CANNOT complete until you've defeated other robots (but the game very helpfully lets you in anyway just to show you) ;)

GAMEPLAY - 8/10

High-quality fun can be had in this game, even though it is for a console that has been out of production for YEARS and years and years. Mega Man is a feisty little devil, and the more enemies you slay (as in, the more BOSSES you slay) the more powerful he becomes, which is a GREAT motivator.

Some of the enemies you encounter during the levels (like the bubblebats) are just really amusing to fight against, and when you work out which order to defeat your opponents in you will wind up entering the boss fights with a "ha HAAAA ... check THIS out" mentality that again, helps promote your enjoyment of the game.

REPLAY VALUE - 8/10

Very high in spite of the console's overall limitations. You will have to play it a few times to glean the best order to defeat your opponents in, and then after that it's just a case of coming back to it when you fancy some mindless carnage in a cute package really !! =)

The game ISN'T difficult to play.

VALUE FOR MONEY - 10/10

DEFINITELY worth every penny it costs. The only problem you might have is actually FINDING a copy since the NES and its games have been out of production for such a long time :(

OVERALL - 8/10 (This is NOT an average)

This is a very good example of how an aesthetically simplistic game can bring HOURS of enjoyment. Mega Man 2 is not difficult to play, or groundbreaking in terms of its mechanics, graphics and sounds, but the underlying concept and gameplay are so compelling that I'd sooner put it on in place of games that are being produced even TODAY !!

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* The Mega Man 'plot' is a very unique and enjoyable one.
* Picking up your enemies powers after they die promotes better replay value, and increases your enjoyment of the game during regular play.

MAIN BAD POINTS

* Limited graphics and sound.
* Difficult to get your hands on a copy nowadays since the NES has been extinct for YEARS.

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

If you find a copy up for grabs ? Then I would definitely recommend checking it out (as long as it doesn't cost you the earth of course). Mega Man 2 is a great title, fitting in well with the other Mega Man games in the series. In my opinion this is the best title IN the series ;)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/04