Difference between revisions of "Mega Man II"

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! Stage !! Commentary
 
! Stage !! Commentary
 
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| Introduction || This game has one of the best NES introductions. The music is not only phenomenal, but it hearkens back to the ending theme of the first [[Mega Man]]. The story is ridiculous, as 2000 didn't seem that far into the future even in the 1980s! The cityscape in the distance makes great use of the limited tile set. The stage select with closeups of the bosses is very attractive, and the music continues to be good.
 
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| Airman Stage ||  
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| Airman Stage || When you first come in, the bright blue sky and the large animated clouds in the background really clue you into your location. The glassy look on the platforms is also a great artistic effect. I don't quite get the little red devils in the floor though. The giant floating spiked devil platforms are not only visually appealing, but make for a great test of patience. The lightning chariot robots are really cool and are pretty difficult without a vertical weapon like Metal Blade (I suggest this weapon for the entire stage). There is a great moment of panic when you fly behind the cloud and lose your position as an enemy shoots at you. The egg-dropping bird fits perfectly here, and the obscuring clouds help make it more complicated. The vertical interlude with the bomb spawners seems unnecessary. Then, there is a nice change up with a devil platform to another devil platform. This one requires a little bit of patience. The big blue blower guys are great enemies and make the pits here particularly dangerous, but there is a bug in the game which causes them to often disappear. Ending the level with the chicks over pits adds to the difficulty of the first encounter. I adore the music; the only thing I don't like about this stage is the amount of pits, they are a cheap way of increasing difficulty. Airman himself is a pretty straight-forward boss. His Air Shooter is very difficult to avoid, but he can be dispatched without too much trouble using the Mega Buster, but the Leaf Shield is the most useful as it stops his weapon and greatly hurts him.
 
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| Bubbleman Stage ||  
 
| Bubbleman Stage ||  

Revision as of 16:14, 20 November 2017

File:Mega Man 2 - NES - USA.jpg
North American box art.

Mega Man II is an action platformer made by Capcom, released for the NES in 1988, and the the second game in the Mega Man series. Like the first, the game is broken up into stages, each ending with a boss. Dr. Wily was defeated by Mega Man in the first game, but he built eight new robots and is once again trying to conquer the world.

I first saw this game in a Nintendo strategy guide and thought it looked amazing, so I asked for it for Christmas and got it (around 1990). The first time I played it, I started in Quickman's stage, because the strategy guide suggested his weapon for a lot of the sections in the game. Naturally, I got my ass handed to me! After a lot of trial and error, I eventually learned a better stage order and now I prefer: Metalman, Bubbleman, Woodman, Flashman, Airman, Heatman, Crashman, Quickman.

Status

I own this game for the NES and have beaten it on both normal and difficult skill levels.

Review

  • Overall: 9/10
  • Best Version: NES

Good

  • The graphics are colorful, well-drawn, and highly detailed for such a low resolution.
  • The music is extremely good, some of the best for the platform.
  • The game is difficult without being unfair and even has a difficulty setting for less die-hard players.
  • The ending cut scenes and staff roll is a fantastic way to finish the game.
  • Each of the bosses, despite being quite primitive, has a unique style which can be felt in their stage, fighting style, and weapon.
  • The bosses in the first four Dr. Wily stages are quite clever. The Mechanical Dragon is especially terrifying, well-drawn, and a good challenge.

Bad

  • The boss weapons are very unbalanced. Some weapons, like Lead Bubble only have two real uses in the game, while Metal Blade is so versatile, it's best to use it for most of the game.
  • The disappearing platforms from the first game are back, and even worse than before. Luckily, the Items 1-3 make them a little easier to deal with.
  • Later in the game, you have to deal with a lot of instant-death spikes and pits which are a lame way of increasing difficulty.
  • The Dr. Wily boss stages are pretty uninspired using drab colors and using mostly repeated enemies.

Ugly

  • Nothing, this game rocks.

Box Art

  • Mega Man 2 - FC - Japan.jpg

    The original Japanese release uses a cartoon style that perfectly matches the feel of the game and includes the bosses and various enemies.

  • Mega Man 2 - NES - USA.jpg

    The North America box art is notoriously bad using a comic book style. Mega Man is a person in a Spandex jump suit with tiny feet, a ray gun, and a visor. Quickman looks pretty good, but Metalman is atrocious, and strangely, he is commanded by Dr. Light!

  • Mega Man 2 - NES - EU.jpg

    The PAL regions received even worse box art with Mega Man being covered in chrome with a shiny dildo for an arm, and monsters that don't fit the game at all.

Documentation

  • Mega Man 2 - NES - Manual.pdf

    Game manual.

  • Original Japanese poster.

Maps

  • Airman Stage.

  • Bubbleman Stage.

  • Crashman Stage.

  • Flashman Stage.

  • Heatman Stage.

  • Metalman Stage.

  • Quickman Stage.

  • Woodman Stage.

  • Dr. Wily Stage 1.

  • Dr. Wily Stage 2.

  • Dr. Wily Stage 3.

  • Dr. Wily Stage 4.

  • Dr. Wily Stage 5.

  • Dr. Wily Stage 6.

Gallery

  • Fan art.

  • Artistic bosses.

  • Metal Blade comic by Zac Gorman.

  • Bored Airman, by Zac Gorman.

  • The introduction sequence.

  • The game's title screen.

  • The 8 robot bosses.

  • Fighting Woodman.

  • A giant angler fish that spits prawns.

  • The Dr. Wily stage map.

  • One of the game's more interesting bosses.

  • The ending sequence.

  • A wallpaper of the intro skyscape.

Game Design

This is my running commentary on the design of the game for each stage.

Stage Commentary
Introduction This game has one of the best NES introductions. The music is not only phenomenal, but it hearkens back to the ending theme of the first Mega Man. The story is ridiculous, as 2000 didn't seem that far into the future even in the 1980s! The cityscape in the distance makes great use of the limited tile set. The stage select with closeups of the bosses is very attractive, and the music continues to be good.
Airman Stage When you first come in, the bright blue sky and the large animated clouds in the background really clue you into your location. The glassy look on the platforms is also a great artistic effect. I don't quite get the little red devils in the floor though. The giant floating spiked devil platforms are not only visually appealing, but make for a great test of patience. The lightning chariot robots are really cool and are pretty difficult without a vertical weapon like Metal Blade (I suggest this weapon for the entire stage). There is a great moment of panic when you fly behind the cloud and lose your position as an enemy shoots at you. The egg-dropping bird fits perfectly here, and the obscuring clouds help make it more complicated. The vertical interlude with the bomb spawners seems unnecessary. Then, there is a nice change up with a devil platform to another devil platform. This one requires a little bit of patience. The big blue blower guys are great enemies and make the pits here particularly dangerous, but there is a bug in the game which causes them to often disappear. Ending the level with the chicks over pits adds to the difficulty of the first encounter. I adore the music; the only thing I don't like about this stage is the amount of pits, they are a cheap way of increasing difficulty. Airman himself is a pretty straight-forward boss. His Air Shooter is very difficult to avoid, but he can be dispatched without too much trouble using the Mega Buster, but the Leaf Shield is the most useful as it stops his weapon and greatly hurts him.
Bubbleman Stage
Crashman Stage
Flashman Stage
Heatman Stage
Metalman Stage
Quickman Stage
Woodman Stage
Dr. Wily Stage 1
Dr. Wily Stage 2
Dr. Wily Stage 3
Dr. Wily Stage 4
Dr. Wily Stage 5
Dr. Wily Stage 6

Links

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