Mega Man 2

Name: Mega Man 2
Year: 1988
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Platformer
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: Countless times

Mega Man 2 is widely regarded, by critics, fans, and even it's creator, as the best game in the series.  To a modern audience, it may be hard to see why - "you can't even shoot up!", you may complain - but for old school video game fans, this is action platforming distilled down to it's essence.

Everything in Mega Man 2 is about precision.  You can only shoot forward, but your bullets travel the entire length of the screen, meaning that as long as you've lined up and timed your shot correctly, you're going to hit it.  There's a lot of tricky jumps, but unlike Super Mario Bros, Mega Man has no acceleration - jumping from a standstill is the same as jumping from a run.  This is crucial for platforms that appear and disappear at a moment's notice.  Running to the right as fast as possible is never the best strategy - the game rewards you for thinking about the enemy's patterns and plotting out the best strategy.

As with other games in the Mega Man series, the first eight levels can be played in any order.  The first eight levels are each dominated by a "robot master" (level boss), and everything in the level is themed around them (e.g. Air Man's level is set in the clouds, full of moving platforms, and patrolled by robot birds).  Although you can beat the levels in any order. besting a robot master grants you use of their weapon, and since different enemies are weaker to certain weapons, it adds a layer of strategy to what order you tackle the levels in.  After all eight levels are completed, Mega Man faces Dr. Wily's multi-leveled Skull Castle, where the disparate elements from different levels (as well as a couple new things) all come together to create the ultimate challenge.  It gives you the sensation that the game has been testing you and preparing you for the battles that lie ahead.

To say that Mega Man 2 was and remains one of the most popular NES games is an understatement.  The game has inspired cartoons, comic books, fan games, original songs, and even laments on how hard it is.  If you're a fan of jumping, shooting, and walking to the right, and you want to see just how far those three simple concepts can be stretched, this is the game to play.

Graphics & Animation: 4 (Excellent)
The graphics are superb; everything is bubbling with creativity.  In the last game, the enemy robots looked like robots built with specific functions in mind.  Here, it's the exact opposite; you'll fight robotic frogs, monkeys, prawns, baby chicks, and so much more.  The design team does a great job of taking something from nature and then adding bolts and joints in just the right place so you can still tell it's a robot.

Music & Sounds: 4 (Excellent)
Mega Man 2 is famous for having some of the best music in gaming, let alone for the NES.  Like all Mega Man games, every level has it's own music, and almost all of them are unforgettable.  The music alone has inspired everything from remixed music to rock covers with original lyrics to original songs with original lyrics about the game.

Controls & Level Design: 4 (Excellent)
The level design here is the strongest in the series.  The developers have this uncanny knack for introducing a new enemy, obstacle, or gimmick in an environment where you can easily understand what it does, and then they keep combining it with other obstacles to keep you on your toes.  The controls, a hallmark in the series, always reinforce the feeling that any death or hit was caused by your ineptitude and not a problem with the game.

Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
The worst thing I can say about Mega Man 2 is that it doesn't have as strong as a story or theme as some of the other games in the series.  I've never been quite sure what the plot is here; the intro screen suggests that this set of robots were built by Dr. Wily directly to fight Mega Man, but other sources (including the credits of this game and Mega Man 3) suggest that this was another batch of robots designed by Dr. Light that Wily turned.  Unlike Mega Man 1 or 6, I have no idea where most of these levels are suppose to be taking place.  Still, each robot master has a strong theme within his own level, and there's great cutscenes to help you get into the action.  Like Mega Man 1, the ending sequence has a melancholy sense of a solider coming home after war, and it's fantastic.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 4 (Excellent)
Technically, Mega Man 2 is the second shortest game in the series, but you'd never know it from playing it; it just feels like such a complete experience.  Everything about the game design (the trial and error, learning enemy's patterns, the large health bar that always leaves room for improvement) encourages players to keep coming back and getting better.  Mega Man 2 is also the only game in the series to feature two difficulty levels, Normal and Difficult.  While this decision has been poo-pooed by many Mega Man diehards (largely due to the fact that "difficult" is the original Japanese version and "normal" is an easier version for us dumb Americans), as a kid, having an easier option to start with helped me get into the series, hone my skills, and really appreciate it instead of being alienated by the high entry level of some NES games.

Total:19 (Excellent)