Mega Man 2

For the first time easily in over seven years, I sat down today and completed Mega Man 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I had not played this game for a long time, since my NES days of sitting around the house when I was a kid, and playing Mega Man, with not a care in the world. Mega Man 2 was the sequel to the original Mega Man, also for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Mega Man was known for having some of the most difficult levels of any game on the console. It goes up on the difficulty scales with games such as the original Contra, or Castlevania. It also has some of the most ridiculous Cover Art I have ever seen in a Video Game. But enough about the original game, we want to get into the details of the sequel right? on we go...

The original Mega Man did not sell well, and as a result was sure to go unnoticed in the whirlwind of amazing Nintendo games for the console. But what did we know huh? Because Mega Man 2 was released (although it had a big gap from Japan to America to Europe) on the Nintendo Entertainment System almost two years later since the original in North America. Europe were the unlucky ones, getting it December 14th, 1990. But to the surprise of Capcom, Mega Man 2 was met with critical praise, a lot of the time being named in the Top 10 Video Games of All Time. Mega Man 2 also added many elements to the series which would be critical to the series in later installments.

Now when I review Video Games, I generally focus on three main points, the Graphics, Sound and Gameplay. Why the Graphics and Sound do play a role of course, nothing is as important as the Gameplay. This is of course, where Mega Man shines. The Gameplay in this game is so amazing for many reasons, one: the Controls are just fantastic, and solid beyond belief. You wont find controls as solid as this a lot, and you really do need the solid controls for reflex moves, for example, there's one point in the game where you have to guide Mega Man down this narrow line...and at the edge there are spikes. Hit the spikes, your dead straight away, and you really do need to use your reflexes well for that. Another reason why the Gameplay is great is the Level Design. They really did think about these levels before they made it, the Enemies are in the right places, and the obstacles are challenging, but not so much that I felt like chewing my controller.

I cannot stress just how fun playing Mega Man 2 can be. Mega Man 2 is one of those games where you complete it, and then a few days later complete again, because you just had too much fun on it. I think that really helps the replayability factor of the game too, because not many games you can play once, and feel like playing again days after. And why the game is actually...kind of easy, Mega Man 2 can also be frustrating as hell at points, like in Wily's Castle there was a end Boss where you had to use your Crash Bomber to blow up these orbs, and it killed me figuring out the technique for this, it really did. I sat there for a good half an hour before I could complete it. But its safe to say that for the most part Mega Man 2 is much easier than its prequel.

But Wiley's Castle is not going to be a walk in the park, trust me. Wiley's Castle is basically completely different from the rest of the game, believe me, you are not going to get through that Castle as easy as you think you are. Its a completely different ball game. But why I have been going on about the awesomeness of Mega Man 2 for a while now, I have to point out a few problems that arise throughout the game, although not many. One of the problems is that the bosses (although there are a few exceptions) are extremely easy. I mean the bosses at the end of the levels can easily be defeated in less than ten seconds, no problem, and my last problem with this game is that sometimes there are too many Enemies or obstacles on screen and it starts to flicker because of it, now this is something that the Developers of the game really should have watched out for in the first place, everybody knows this happens with a lot of Nintendo Entertainment System games, so they could have prevented it but kept it in the game, not a good move.

But these minor problems aside Mega Man 2 really does shine as one of those golden games of the Nintendo Entertainment System era, and will forever be known as a fantastic Action/Adventure game. Now some of my favorite moments of this game is the Castle Levels, simply because they give the biggest challenge to the Gamer, and also because the ending may not be an epic boss, but it is so satisfying knowing you completed the game, and knowing that it was worth your time and you want to play this game again later on... there's something about the experience of completing Mega Man 2 that makes you extremely happy and I honestly cant pinpoint it.

But something I have not talked about yet is the Soundtrack, or Music if you will for Mega Man 2. It is amazing. Mega Man 2 has provided me with some of the best beats (see...I'm Hip) in Video Game history, and as an example I will turn to none of than my favorite track in the whole of this game, the first level of the working up to Wiley's Castle. It is epic, its a battle spiritually between are hero Mega Man and the evil Dr Wily, that's exactly what it reminds me of...Yeah I am a loser for looking so deep into a Video Game song, but it really is an epic song, and gets you pumped to take down the evil Dr Wily. In fact, to be honest practically the whole Soundtrack is awesome, from the Boss Levels, to Wily's Castle this game does not let up on the Music. Awesome.

Ok I think it is time to finish this off. Mega Man 2 is an amazing game, and is on the line of just a great game to a classic game. A great game...is a great game. A classic game however, is a game that not only is known as such, but is replayed over and over again. Mega Man 2 my friends, is a Classic game. I love this game, and although I am not sure about it being Top 10 worthy, it has stolen my heart from the mountains of crap I have been playing recently. The Nintendo Entertainment System is now stuck on my Television. Awesomeness.