Old School Games: Mega Man 2

Part two of my mega man retrospective! In many people's opinion this is the best Mega Man. Do you like Mega Man 2? Would you like to know more?



Mega Man 2. I never owned this as a kid, but a cousin of mine close to my age had it. I rented it a few times. It was good. It still is good. I love this game. It is simply a must play and a must own. It has all the elements you need for a good Mega Man. Eight bosses, some random, some elemental. You've got excellent level and sound design. What more do you want from a video game?



Looks exactly the same as the first Mega Man. Just more of it. Bigger mini boss enemies. It seems like more enemies appear on scream. The music this time around is just as memorable as the first, if not more so. Capcom really had their stuff together back in the nintendo days.



What makes this different from Mega Man 1? E cans appear. I assume they stand for energy. They change the game significantly. In the first one, if you were near death and close to the boss you could grind against enemies to refill your health, not from here on out. You can pick up E cans and refill your energy. Also included is a password feature. When I was a kid, Mega Man was one of those games that would get left on for days, fingers crossed no one messed with it. Even though the passwords are done in this akward grid system, its much apreciated from the first game.



Level design has some really memorable moments. Giant robots, little platforms, quick moving beams, the disappearing cubes, and so much more. I put as much of it as I could get to in the pictures. I mentioned the music earlier, but every level has a theme that plays throughout and it just fits perfectly. Even the robot master select screen. Of course, when a robot gets introduced you hear a version of that oh so classic tune play and it just gets me pumped for Mega Man action. I didn't have time to finish the game today, but I played enough to give me that feeling that only the Mega Man games can give me.



When playing today, I don't think a smile ever left my face. That's how fun this game is. Its in any good Mega Man collection, should be on virtual console, but really, play this on the Nintendo the way it was meant to be played. Two buttons and a d-pad.



One final thing, just take a quick look at the cover. Not as awesome as the first Mega Man, but still great.



Also check out the European cover!



Look for more Mega Man game write ups and other old school games from randombullseye, right here on Destructoid!