LTTP: Mega Man 2 - I hope you came prepared

[Miker]

I just finished Mega Man 2 in the Legacy Collection on PS4 earlier today, and I liked it, but didn't love it as much as I thought I would, certainly not to the extent that I expected to given its reputation as the best classic Mega Man game. Keep in mind I didn't abuse any save states besides making basically manual saves after mid-level checkpoints, and once after the boss gauntlet but before Wily's final form.

Starting out with what I love:
- Metal Blade! I mean, what's not to love? It breaks the game, but it's also so much fun to use.
- Level design for the individual robot master stages. Fun, short, themed stages with minimal bullshit, and mostly reasonable checkpointing
- The wide variety of weapons and Item 1/2/3 allowed you to tackle stages how you saw fit and get hidden powerups and E-tanks
- The relative restraint in use of appearing blocks (bar Heat Man's stage, where it can be bypassed)
- That intro screen!
- That music!
- Seeing the original inspiration for Mega Man's Smash specials!

What I didn't love:
- Quick Man. Way too fast and if you don't drain his health with Time Stopper, you're in for a bad time.
- Wily's Castle. I don't think any of the stages were fun, and checkpoints were often frustrating and just a bit farther back than necessary.
- As mentioned in the thread title, I didn't appreciate how some bosses absolutely require a certain weapon to kill, or would be very, very difficult to kill without said weapon (Quick Man arrrgh). Ammo isn't replenished on a death, so if you don't have Crash Bomber ammo to destroy the Sentinels at the end of Wily Stage 4 or you don't have Item 1/3 ammo to reach a platform before Mecha Dragon, you were stuck farming for a long time or using a continue. This was obnoxious when it came to the boss gauntlet, when you're not given any ammo.
- Sometimes the above two complaints combine to be extra annoying in that you'll have to replay extended periods *and* be out of ammo. The platforming segment before the Mecha Dragon (needed Item 1), as well as Wily's Stage 4 (multiple moving-platform-over-spikes rooms then a hallway with 2 Walker Joes and 2 Sniper Joes, then you needed Crash Bomber at full ammo) were particularly annoying to replay.
- Quick Man. Yo, screw that guy.

I would've liked it a lot more if I didn't struggle with Wily's Castle, and maybe that's on me. Regardless, I can see why people love it so much, and it's a legitimate classic. I'll be moving onto the other games in the collection eventually, and it's my understanding that they're easier than Mega Man 2 (which was way easier and balanced than MM1).

Also Mega Man Zero 3 is the best Mega Man game. Just sayin'.

 

[Dankir]

Very LTTP indeed

 

[spectrumfox]

I like Mega Man 2 the best. It improved upon the first game in just about every way.

 

[mindatlarge]

Awesome to see people still discovering games like MM2.

Even if you didn't fall in love with it, it still makes me happy.

 

[Deleted member 3017]

I love Mega Man 2, but it's not my favorite in the series. That honor goes to Mega Man 9.

 

[MondoWray]

I recently completed this, something I failed to do back when it originally came out. Now I'm getting a bit long in the tooth, it pleased me no end.

 

[Comet]

The Crash Man ammo for the Wiley wall boss is absolutely a nightmare if you don't know what you're doing there. I totally will agree with you there. I love Mega Man 2 bit it definitely has its faults, many listed here. It's still my favorite of the original series, it really ironed out the formula for the rest of the series to come.

 

[Directed by Fulci]

Mega Man 2 being the best classic Mega Man is the weirdest consensus in gaming.

It's a great game, and I can see it being someone's favorite, pending what they value in games, but... everyone? Defies logic. For me, 3 and 4 are an improvement in nearly every aspect save for music, and they still have really fucking great music.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Mega Man 2 is one my favorite games of all time, but I have to agree the Wily Stage 4 boss is pretty shitty. Good thing that now that I know I come prepared, but to be honest if I play the game on VC or on the MM collection I usually create a save state before starting that boss just so I won't have to farm for weapon energy if I screw up.

 

[Cbrun44]

2 is definitely my favorite, but I skipped past and have never played 3... so my opinion is probably out the window. Why I have never played 3 but have at least some of all other main line and X games... no logical explanation from me.

 

[spectrumfox]

Mega Man 2 being the best classic Mega Man is the weirdest consensus in gaming.

It's a great game, and I can see it being someone's favorite, pending what they value in games, but... everyone? Defies logic. For me, 3 and 4 are an improvement in nearly every aspect save for music, and they still have really fucking great music.

Click to shrink...

The level design in MM3 was too bland for me. Snake Man's level looks like they threw it together in an hour.

 

[Comet]

The level design in MM3 was too bland for me. Snake Man's level looks like they threw it together in an hour.

Click to shrink...

It really is odd, but that soundtrack in that stage is fire!

 

[Repose]

Yeah, MM2's reliance on situations where you can't progress without a certain weapon/item is pretty shitty. Still a good game despite that. MM9 is definitely my favorite tho.

 

[woopWOOP]

I always saved Quickman for last because his 1-hit laser stage and boss battle were such a pain. Heck, whenever I replay it nowadays I end up using an E-tank during his boss battle. I think bosses take away more health when you run into them compared to getting hit by their weapons, which is a problem since he keeps dashing around the room.

Glad you enjoyed it despite its faults. Those giant Wily bosses are the most iconic to me (even that lightbulb puzzle boss.... for the wrong reasons).
I thought MM2 was considered the easiest tho? MM3-6 give me more trouble (and MM1's Yellow Devil always kicks my ass)

 

[Miker]

I always saved Quickman for last because his 1-hit laser stage and boss battle were such a pain. Heck, whenever I replay it nowadays I end up using an E-tank during his boss battle. I think bosses take away more health when you run into them compared to getting hit by their weapons, which is a problem since he keeps dashing around the room.

Glad you enjoyed it despite its faults. Those giant Wily bosses are the most iconic to me (even that lightbulb puzzle boss.... for the wrong reasons).
I thought MM2 was considered the easiest tho? MM3-6 give me more trouble (and MM1's Yellow Devil always kicks my ass)

Click to shrink...

Oh shit they get harder? Dunno why I thought otherwise. I guess I could always fall back on savestates.

 

[Repose]

Oh shit they get harder? Dunno why I thought otherwise. I guess I could always fall back on savestates.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. Metal Blade makes MM2 a breeze. In comparison the other classic games are more challenging. Not so much that you'd need savestates.

 

[Powerofthecloud]

Megaman 2 is a great nes game. One of the few series/ games that artwork and gameplay are still strong enough almost 30 years later and it's still very playable game.

 

[Abe Lincoln’s Ghost]

Mega man 2 was my first foray into the series, and it's one of the few NES games I play on a regular basis. It may not be the best of the entire franchise, but it's in my top 5 NES games, easily.

 

[jb1234]

Oh shit they get harder? Dunno why I thought otherwise. I guess I could always fall back on savestates.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure if I'd say harder. Most of them are on par with each other (aside from MM1). MM5 is the only one that I'd say is dramatically easier. And MM9 is *far* harder than MM2. It will kick your ass.

 

[Riskman]

Mega Man 2 is still excellent, and that soundtrack is among the best in gaming. MM2, 3, and 9 are all really great games.

 

[Deleted member 7430]

I showed a friend that the best weapon against Metal Man was Metal Man and his jaw dropped.

 

[MageBoySA]

The last time I played through this game, I decided to just go for it, and went Quick Man first, figuring if I couldn't get through the beams without Flash Man's weapon, how was I going to know if I could beat Quick Man without it? Doing it this way actually made it surprisingly easier later for me, because it put me in the right frame on mind for the whole game. But it was a frustrating start.

 

[JaseMath]

Mega Man 2 is the pinnacle of Mega Man.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

Loved it. I've probably played through it at least 20 times. Seeing that green dragon mentioned is conjuring up bad memories of getting knocked off those tiny platforms. That's the one bit I'll never get used to and always makes me anxious.

 

[Deleted member 15457]

The majority of MM2 is a phenomenal 10/10 game, but unfortunately the game takes the largest quality nosedive I've ever seen around the middle of Dr. Wily's Castle. Even in the Music!
Dr. Wily Stage 1 is fantastic, but the game stumbles at the finish line as soon as it switches to this droning bore.

 

[Aquova]

Mega Man 2! Probably both my favorite MM game, and favorite NES game. Metal Man's ability was always so overpowered, but it's what made the game fun for me.

I will agree, some parts of the game are a little rough. You're almost guaranteed to be out of abilities once you hit the boss after the boss rush. My only real complaint is that the turret boss in Wily's Castle is the worst designed boss fight in history. It's impossible to beat that boss without dying, you don't have enough Crash to do it, such garbage.

I recommend that you play The Wily Wars version on Genesis next! They only have the Japanese difficulties tho (so no US normal), but you do get to keep your E-Tanks after getting a game over, so that's nice.

 

[honavery]

Megaman 2 and 3 are timeless IMO. I played them in the 80s as a kid and I still love them today.
I will say I think 3 is the better game, a decision I came to fairly recently. Both great and must plays though.

 

[Deleted member 7430]

Megaman 2 and 3 are timeless IMO. I played them in the 80s as a kid and I still love them today.
I will say I think 3 is the better game, a decision I came to fairly recently. Both great and must plays though.

Click to shrink...

Completely agree.

 

[Ancirawr]

Been working through the series myself since I'd only played the original as a kid. Mega Man 2 is so far my favorite having gotten only to Mega Man 5, mostly because the levels are so well designed and the music is that good. I do understand pretty much every problem you felt the game had, particularly the frustration with Wily's Castle. The checkpoints made me furious for a long time.

 

[Tizoc]

Say OP, did you upload the image at the start of your post from your PC?
Seems the forum doesn't properly upload it as I am just seeing an IMG code :X
Try rehosting it on IMGUR or such.

 

[Jucksalbe]

The problem is probably that it is hosted on Imgur. There's a problem right now with hotlinking images from Imgur (there's an official thread about it).

 

[Sgt. Demblant]

I discovered the series with MM9 a few years ago and finally got to play all the classic games with the Legacy Collection. 2 still holds up and I consider it one of the best 2d action games I've ever played. It has a better soundtrack and better pacing than 3 imo. 3 is just too long. When it comes to Mega Man, the Zero games is where it's at for me but I've already beaten 2 a bunch of times and I love going back to it once in a while.

 

[Bulebule]

I played Mega Man 2 on Legacy Collection few months ago and even though I liked most of the game, some things did not age well. That Mecha Dragon-part was much more annoying than I remember (both platforming and the fight itself, why they had to emulate lag) and whoever designed the turret boss, I hope he faced sanctions.

 

[Hitch]

Easily my favourite Mega Man game (not played anything after the 8-bit era really). I think many people in the UK at the time hadn't even heard of the series until the second one, what with the absence of the internet and the majority of the games you had as a kid being bought by your parents for special occasions, etc. The music in this game is probably in my top 5 of all time, just so memorable.

Going back to play 1-6 again recently, 2 is still without question the greatest for me. The first is pretty challenging, not overly so but it's just bettered by it's sequel in every department and then they get steadily lower in ranking. I really don't get the love for 3 at all after my replay, maybe it is my nostalgia for 2 and for others they have the same feelings for 3 but I just didn't really like much about it. After playing again I actually enjoyed 4 more than I did 3. It's a solid game obviously and more Mega Man but I felt it was lacking something.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

still prefere 3! but 2 is still an amazing game yeah!

My only complaint for 2 is that dr wily stage 1 is freaking overrated, we see it fucking everywhere! sure it's a great song, but i have several final stages in the serie that i find better!

 

[Kapus]

I adore the classic Mega Man series, and while I love Mega Man 2, I think it's probably one of the weakest of the NES titles. It definitely deserves the respect it gets on the internet, undeniably improving on the first game's formula and turning Mega Man into an actual franchise instead of leaving it to rot (as capcom originally intended, iirc), but later games in the series definitely surpass it.

The two main issues I have with the game are probably the level design and the weapon selection. Some of the level obstacles are rather...janky, for lack of a better word, with rather harsh punishments for not figuring them out in time. E.g. Quickman's laser rooms, Heatman's disappearing block puzzle over a pit of lava, etc. They're kinda trial by fire and you kinda have to die to them in order to figure out what to do.

As for the weapons...well...Metal Blade infamously outclasses everything, and about half the other weapons are either useless or cripplingly situational. Crash Bomber uses up too much ammo to make use of aside from boss fights, Atomic Fire takes an eternity to charge and takes up too much ammo, Bubble Lead bounces off of nearly every enemy in the game, Time Stopper disables your ability to change weapons or even stop yourself from using it once it's activated, etc. Air Shooter and Leaf Shield are good and Quick Boomerang is alright, but they're made completely redundant by Metal Blade.

Actually, speaking of weapons, it's kinda frustrating how some points of the game absolutely require some weapon/item usage, such as the Buebeam trap and the Item-1 staircase in the first Wily stage. If you don't have enough ammo, you're kinda forced to go back and grind some just so you can continue (or in the case of the final boss, force yourself to game over). Just kind of a pet peeve.

I still love this game despite all that! I just like the other Mega Mans more and find it easier to go back to them for a casual playthrough. I'm curious if anyone else has similar or opposite opinions about the game's content.

As mentioned in the thread title, I didn't appreciate how some bosses absolutely require a certain weapon to kill, or would be very, very difficult to kill without said weapon (Quick Man arrrgh).

Click to shrink...

While I definitely agree with this sentiment in regards to the buebeam trap and such, Quick Man is pretty easy to take down without the Time weapon. He takes extra damage from the Mega Buster, so if you're careful you can overpower him.

Also in response to the series difficulty, MM2 is not the easiest. 4, 5 and 6 are all easier, but honestly I'd say it's because they're better designed as a whole. MM3's difficulty is kinda spastic and MM1 is just as hard as 2, if not harder.

Have fun with the rest of the collection!

Mega Man 2 being the best classic Mega Man is the weirdest consensus in gaming.

It's a great game, and I can see it being someone's favorite, pending what they value in games, but... everyone? Defies logic. For me, 3 and 4 are an improvement in nearly every aspect save for music, and they still have really fucking great music.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's that surprising, really. It's the game that basically popularized Mega Man to the public and was the first game in the series most people played. It's kinda like the "Final Fantasy 7" of the Mega Man series.



Gosh, I'm a mouthful...I guess Mega Man really gets me talking!

 

[bakedpony]

I don't know if this is a common play style, but I like to fight megaman bosses with only the buster for their respective stages. It makes you appreciate their patterns more that way. I use their weaknesses during the boss rush at the end.

 

[transience]

I think 9 is the best but 2 is the most fun. It's the music and the 'fun factor' of it, I guess. MM2 has so many clear and obvious flaws but it's still the one I go back to the most.

 

[Miker]

I showed a friend that the best weapon against Metal Man was Metal Man and his jaw dropped.

Click to shrink...

Metal Man is such a pushover too, even on difficult he only takes 2 blades and he's toast.

 

[Man God]

MM2 and MM9 are far above the rest of the series.

 

[JustinH]

MM2 is the only Mega Man game I like, because it's the "easy one" (to me at least. I didn't play them when I was a kid and only tried them like a decade ago because my new roommate at the time wouldn't shut up about it). I've moved past getting Metal Man's weapon first to getting Quick Man's weapon first (I like being pink, okay?). Quick Man was a real pain for me at first too, but I guess I've just learned how to move around him better.

I friggen' hate the wall boss though. It's the only part that I might need to use an E tank, and if I screw up or die I'll just rage quit.

 

[TylersProphecy]

- As mentioned in the thread title, I didn't appreciate how some bosses absolutely require a certain weapon to kill, or would be very, very difficult to kill without said weapon (Quick Man arrrgh). Ammo isn't replenished on a death, so if you don't have Crash Bomber ammo to destroy the Sentinels at the end of Wily Stage 4 or you don't have Item 1/3 ammo to reach a platform before Mecha Dragon, you were stuck farming for a long time or using a continue. This was obnoxious when it came to the boss gauntlet, when you're not given any ammo.

Click to shrink...

I used to have a friend who would beat Mega Man 2 EVERY time he came over to my house. He called the P-shot only runs "Beast Mode."

It's possible without but yeah, Quick Man is a bitch without time stopper. It's a pretty amazing feeling to do it without though.

Congrats on beating (and, for the most part, enjoying) a timeless classic!!

MM2 is the only Mega Man game I like, because it's the "easy one" (to me at least. I didn't play them when I was a kid and only tried them like a decade ago because my new roommate at the time wouldn't shut up about it).

Click to shrink...

I think 5 might actually be the easiest of the originals, 3 being the hardest. Could be wrong but i think that's the common consensus.

5 is actually my favorite though, so if you like "easy" mega man, give it a shot.

 

[TylersProphecy]

Double post

 

[srhltmr]

I remember renting MM2 from a Pathmark grocery store in CT.

I really feel old now.

 

[vider]

2 is probably my favorite classic Mega Man game, but I agree on Wily's castle not being fun at all. Everything up to that point is pretty much Mega Man at it's finest.

 

[ilfait]

Mega Man 2 being the best classic Mega Man is the weirdest consensus in gaming.

It's a great game, and I can see it being someone's favorite, pending what they value in games, but... everyone? Defies logic. For me, 3 and 4 are an improvement in nearly every aspect save for music, and they still have really fucking great music.

Click to shrink...

The slide is so good, but it's the only thing about 3 and 4 I can think of that they do better than 2. 4 is amazing, and 3 is really good, but 2 is the best Mega Man game, even without the "classic series" qualifier.

 

[PKrockin]

The later parts of MM2 really sour my perception of it. The slowdown and flickering were already pretty bad once in a while in the main 8 stages depending on how much you went out of your way to kill enemies, but once you get to the last several bosses it's pretty much what I'd call unforgivable, crippling problems. When you can't even see the bullets anymore, and the game has slowed down to like half the normal speed, it's really bad. Some of the bosses at this point are just shit as well. I'd still call it a good game, especially when I remember that stellar soundtrack, but it's hard for me to replay.

 

['3y Kingdom]

There are a couple of cheap sections in MM2: the long gap in Heat Man's stage (difficult if not impossible to clear one's first time) and the wall cannons in Wily's fortress. Otherwise, for a Mega Man game, it's rather easy, but no less enjoyable for that.

I'm surprised you focused so much on Quick Man's health in your overview. He goes down fast even with the arm cannon alone, especially in the localized version of the game. Sure, you'll probably take some hits, but you can outgun him anyway.

 

[ilfait]

MM2 is the only Mega Man game I like, because it's the "easy one" (to me at least. I didn't play them when I was a kid and only tried them like a decade ago because my new roommate at the time wouldn't shut up about it). I've moved past getting Metal Man's weapon first to getting Quick Man's weapon first (I like being pink, okay?). Quick Man was a real pain for me at first too, but I guess I've just learned how to move around him better.

I friggen' hate the wall boss though. It's the only part that I might need to use an E tank, and if I screw up or die I'll just rage quit.

Click to shrink...

Same. And I avoid using Metal Man's weapon almost entirely.

 

[Miker]

There are a couple of cheap sections in MM2: the long gap in Heat Man's stage (difficult if not impossible to clear one's first time) and the wall cannons in Wily's fortress. Otherwise, for a Mega Man game, it's rather easy, but no less enjoyable for that.

I'm surprised you focused so much on Quick Man's health in your overview. He goes down fast even with the arm cannon alone, especially in the localized version of the game. Sure, you'll probably take some hits, but you can outgun him anyway.

Click to shrink...

I just couldn't wrap my head around his pattern or lack thereof. He's just so fast and random.