Mega Man II

"Not exactly "Mega"."

Zap. Jump. Zap. Zap. Zap.

Very much like the action words above, Mega Man II for the Gameboy is a side-scrolling parallel, similar to most other games in its series. Mega Man once again has to thwart the evil ''Dr. Wily'' by fighting a new set of fiends - 8 fiends to be correct, meaning eight new stages for Megaman to conquer (as well as the ''Dr. Wily'' stages at the end).

For those of you unfamiliar to the formula of Megaman, it's a unique side-scrolling concept designed by Capcom. The idea is that each stage is normally one large ''beginning-to-end'' area featuring a boss with a unique ability. Megaman has an energy bar, and uses his regular ''Buster'' gun (which shoots ''beam balls'', looking more like regular white circles in this game). The idea is that the boss at the end of each stage features a unique ability that Megaman gains after defeating the boss. The game (and all games in its series) allows you to choose *which* stage you want to complete, first - of course, you can always go back to the stage select screen to select another boss if you reach the ''Game Over'' screen. It's a cool concept - the ability you gain from one boss can be used on other bosses, and depending on their weaknesses, they may or may not be easier to fight. Think of the concept as ''Rock, Scissors, Paper'' - beating ''Rock'' boss will give you an ability that will come in handy for ''Scissor'' boss. Of course, you have no idea what abilities will work better on which bosses - it's up to you to fight each boss, or to use your common sense.

Where this concept easily goes wrong is that abilities play too much of a significant role in boss battles. Rest assured, playing the entire game with Megaman's Buster gun is a challenge. However, with the right abilities equipped, a regular shot of that ability can remove up to 1/3 of the boss's energy bar. Do I hear ''cheap''? It removes the challenge of facing each boss, because all of them require a certain strategy that you use to beat them - strategies that become useless with the right abilities equipped.

Stages in Megaman 2 are typical of the series - or, rather, it's been toned down to the basic level of ''side-scrolling''. Case in point: almost every stage is simply a beginning to end path with pit jumps, ''spike'' jumps (that kill Megaman immediately), enemy encounters, and moving platforms. Of course, each stage is designed differently to camouflage this basic design - but it all plays out the same - so much that, in my opinion, the only thing to look forward to each stage is the boss, and how hard it'll be. But why worry? With the effectiveness of special abilities, there's simply no NEED to worry!

Even the toned down level of side-scrolling gets annoying after a while. Controlling Megaman is an uncomfortable feeling in the game - he feels like a robot, just based on the way he jumps and slides. There is no ''running'' jump (you don't jump farther by running first) - you jump the same length, and if you don't time it properly, or hit a spike, you're dead. The ''slide'' found in most other Megaman games is very ineffective in this game - it's only used when it has to be used, rather than for timing jumps.

One new feature in Megaman 2 is Rush, his pet robot dog! There's different forms of Rush in the game, each one allowing Megaman to access places he wouldn't be able to do himself. (Some ask why Megaman wasn't just designed to have such capabilities, but they're forgetting that Rush adds to the game!) One version of Rush allows you to do a high-jump by jumping on the spring on Rush's back, allowing you to reach a ''free life'' item. Another allows you to fly on Rush (sort of like air-gliding), and shoot enemies at the same time. Oh yes, but we're also forgetting that any ability in the game has its own ''bar'', meaning you can only use it for a while before it needs to be recharged! The air-gliding Rush, for example, has an ability bar that drains constantly as you use it - and is rendered almost completely useless because of how long you'll actually be *able* to use it.

Of course, there is some replayability to this game. Each stage in the game features certain items (energy tanks that re-fuel Megaman's energy, free-life icons) that can only be accessed by the different forms of Rush. Considering the fact that the different ''Rush'' forms become available by completing more and more stages, there *is* some point of returning to previous stages. However, in terms of *replayability* on the whole, there isn't a lot - there are no sidequests in the game - there is one objective in the game, and one only - to stop Dr. Wily.

The sound is very primitive of the stage sounds later in the series (on the Game Boy, as well) - as a first generation game, it can't compare against the likes of Super Mario Land, *or* its sequel, MM3! Almost every stage features a Gameboy-level tune of ''futuristic'' techno, an overall annoying soundtrack that isn't only due to the fact that I don't have a liking for techno.

Previously mentioned is the fact that Capcom tries to camouflage its stages with different backgrounds to hide its basic ''beginning-to-end'' stage concept. And what a job indeed Capcom has done! While not marvelously composed, the graphical backgrounds do resemble their stages quite well, and Mega Man, while simplified to a Gameboy level, indeed looks like Mega Man. Every enemy in the game is animated to a ''cartoony'' mixture of sprites, animations that resemble their instruction booklet versions quite well. Each stage, while basic, linear, and with almost nothing innovative to do, is designed quite nicely (the cloud stage, for example, features clouds that even show more complex shadows within).

After beating the eight stages available, you have one or two stages to complete before facing Dr. Wily - who does at least present a challenge in that ''special abilities'' won't work on him. That means you could actually be having your first *official* chance to actually use a strategy against him! He is quite difficult, after all - but the reward in the end is a very quick ending (which I won't even spoil). But well, I guess you can at least sa--- wait.

As with most early versions of Mega Man, this one features a password system that you must use as an alternative for saving your game - there is nothing critical to be said here, however, other than that there's no way you can show others your ''official'' file - heck, what *is* there to show anyway? The fact that it uses a password system just goes to show that it really can store all the file possibilities in the game (a very small number of possibilities, I'll say).

Mega Man has always been known for its side-scrolling ''goodness''. This version, however, has been torn apart by the capabilities of the Gameboy, or rather Capcom's issue of still getting used to the new Mega Man formula they were working on. The bad feel of Mega Man (jumping, sliding, etc.), the ''cheapness'' of special abilities, the narrowness of stages, and the ''cheesy'' futuristic techno tracks that play during each and every stage - what more should I say?

Pros
+ Bosses require unique strategy

Cons
- Special abilities render boss strategies useless
- Awful soundtrack

Overall: 5.4 / 10 (rounded to 5 / 10)

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/03