In the original Mega Man, Capcom laid down the foundation for one of the greatest platforming series of all time. Six stages with a unique “Robot Master” boss battle at the end of each. When defeated, Mega Man gains that particular bosses main weapon. The newly acquired weapon will totally annihilate another boss, but which one? This is the key to the Mega magic – figuring out which robot master (and stage) to tackle next.

It must be said, the entire series almost never continued after the release of the first game. The original sold poorly. So poorly in fact Capcom wasn’t interested in a sequel at all. Creator Keiji Inafune claims the development of Mega Man 2 was a “rouge effort”. He was given the green light by Capcom to develop the game, but only if he (and the rest of Team Rockman) did so around other projects. Mega Man 2 features the same basic concept as the original, only in TRUE sequel form, Team Rockman, greatly added to it. Since its 1988 release, Mega Man 2 has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. The game is the highest selling in the Mega Man series and is Capcom’s 20th highest selling title ever. Pretty good for a side projectt!

Instead of Six Robot Masters to defeat before reaching Dr.Wily’s fortress, there are now eight. The number has since become “the norm” for Robot Masters in Mega Man games. Next, the point system found in the original has been completely removed. I like this, Mega Man shouldn’t be about points anyway.

Energy Tanks have now been added to Mega Man’s arsenal. The tanks can hold extra health for MM, allowing MM to fully heal his life-bar. The tanks are perfectly placed throughout the games levels, just out of reach. Once a Robot Master is defeated, you will no longer be able to return to that stage - another change from the original MM. Passwords have also been added to avoid having to play over the entire game if you lose every life. A new one is given after the defeat of each Robot Master. Another improvement. 

The most important new features may be the three most recent creations by Dr. Light for Mega Man. They are different types of platforms for helping Mega Man in reaching some otherwise tough-to-reach items and or areas. You’ll obtain the three forms in a special message from Dr. Light after defeating Air Man, Flash Man, and Heat Man. There are two selectable difficulty modes now as well.

The final improvement and obviously the most noticeable are MM2′s enhanced graphics and sound from the original. So good in fact, when Mega Man 2 was released on the NES in 1989, it was arguably the best looking and sounding game on a home console.

Huge enemies, great animations, and bright colors are everywhere. Each of the eight “Robot Master’s” stage’s is vastly different from one another. From the huge waterfalls of Bubbleman’s stage, the wildly inhabited forest of Woodman, or Flashman’s constantly blinking icy flashbulbs, Mega Man 2′s graphics will no doubt impress you. The music in every stage is equally impressive, every single bit of it is memorable, making this the best soundtrack on the NES.

The title track and clips of gameplay are included in the video below. Mega Man2 is so good, it’s incredibly hard not showing the entire game. But since that’s just not possible, here’s as much gameplay, awesome music, and bosses I could fit in. -SPOILER- The last seven minutes of the game are also shown in the video.

Score
Overall
Mega Man 2 has everything you could ask for in a 2D platforming game – great graphics and sound, addictive and rewarding gameplay mixed with fantastic stages. The game is nearly perfect. If I HAD to say something bad about MM2, it would be that I wish it were longer – a common negative for fantastic games, especially on the NES. This doesn’t matter one bit, in my opinion, Mega Man 2 one of the top 3 games on the NES (SMB, SMB3). Some MM fans may say the third installment is the series pinnacle, but ask anyone who can remember buying them both in-store and they’ll likely tell you the sequel had a greater impact on their gaming universe. Needless to say, Mega Man 2 is one of the greatest platformers in history. If you haven’t played it, you need to – it’s simply brilliant.
User Score: [ratings]