When Mario blew the hell up back in the mid-80’s for Nintendo, it sparked a desperate gold rush in the video game development community to establish their own mascot-worthy characters.
Some of these attempts were feebly bad, and we can all point and laugh at them to this day (We’re all looking at you, Alex Kidd.).
Others actually panned out. One of Capcom’s many tries at establishing a “face” for their company, Mega Man, was neither prioritized among their efforts (execs pushed characters like “Captain Commando” instead) nor even deemed worthy of an eventual sequel after his first game met a tepid response from the public. Famously, Mega Man 2 was only allowed into development as a side project for a small group of employees who felt passionate about the potential, and said individuals weren’t paid for their efforts.
What resulted was a labor of love, a game which defied all expectations to become a critical and commercial hit, and a launching of the character of Mega Man into the rarified air of such household names as Mario, Pac-Man, Sonic and the Belmonts.
Mega Man 2
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Released: 1989
Platform: NES
GamesRadar’s Top NES Games: No. 2
This was all a rather unlikely occurrence, so it’s worth taking a moment to marvel at it. There’s also a little romance in the idea that a group of people were so dedicated to an idea that they sought a way to make it work, in spite of all obstacles.
One of said obstacles was that the first game … really wasn’t all that amazing.
Riddled with clunky controls coupled with difficult platforming challenges (such as harrowing jumps over bottomless pits) as well as a terrible marketing campaign in the United States (basically nothing, other than one of the most horrid pieces of box art to ever exist), Mega Man 1 wasn’t especially well received. The game was primarily noteworthy for its bright, anime’ inspired art style, a catchy soundtrack, and its rock-paper-scissors dynamic.
That system played out smartly within the game’s level design. The boss of each level was weak against a particular weapon, which Mega Man would earn by defeating another boss. Additionally, every level (each of which you could play in any order you wanted) become more passable via the use of those boss weapons, so the game became an exercise in “Which level should I play first?” Ergo, rock-paper-scissors.
To be perfectly clear: Mega Man 1 is FINE. It’s a little janky in places, but it’s basically a decent little game, mostly thanks to those outlined strengths.
What Mega Man 2 did, like most good sequels do, is take what worked in that first game and expand upon it, retaining the essence, while paving over the problem areas … resulting in a game that sold more copies than any other edition of Mega Man.
The game play was tightened up, providing better control over the “blue bomber” as the player navigated those sketchy, tight jumps. The number of bosses/stages was expanded from six to eight, resulting in even more rock-paper-scissors strategy than before. The graphics and sound were elevated with huge, bold bosses and a rockin’ soundtrack that is widely influential and still considered one of the best of its kind to this date.
Another major improvement is the upgrade in functionality of the robot masters’ acquired weaponry. In the first game, it was not uncommon for an acquired weapon to be completely useless for long stretches of game play, and/or for its effectiveness to feel forced whenever it did come into play. In Mega Man 2, the weaponry is fun and varied, and most importantly, USEFUL. Is the metal blade overpowered? Maybe. But at least you have motivation to use it … and therefore motivation to acquire it.
A game that keeps you playing is always a good thing.
So what makes it worth playing today?
As a tween/teen around 1990 or so, this game struck a major chord at just the right time and place, elevating it to one of my all-time favorites in the process. So separating nostalgia from the equation isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.
Certainly, Mega Man 2 has aged when you look at its hardware limitations, manifested in things like slowdown and flicker. Looked at the game through the lens of “They did that on an old NES?” it’s a technical marvel in a lot of ways. But the kids may look at it and think, “Eh, that’s kinda ugly.”
But I look at this game a lot like “A New Hope.” Sure, the newer movies have fancy CGI and whatnot, but the original movie remains my favorite entry-point for new viewers, because it remains the most emblematic of “Star Wars.” It’s the most “Star Wars” of the Star Wars movies.
Similarly, Mega Man 2 is the most “Mega Man” of Mega Mans.
People will quibble over this game and Mega Man 3 (and to a lesser extent, Mega Man X) about which game is the greatest Mega Man game of all. And at least one point is conceded here: later games in the series added new abilities, extras, and better graphical touches. Reasonable minds can differ on which game is “best.”
But this game is without question the most popular in the series, it’s my personal favorite, and given where the property stood coming into the effort, it’s absolutely also the most important historically. Without this game, the series would have died an early death, denying us literal decades of stellar rock-paper-scissor action in our 2D platforming.
That would have been as disastrous as trying to beat Quick Man first.*
* Don’t understand that reference? That’s okay. Just play this essential, important game, and you’ll be in good company.
Dave’s Score: 10/10
Check out the whole Retro Gaming Essentials list here!
How to play
- Original hardware (NES)
- NES Classic Edition
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Genesis, Genesis Mini)
- Mega Man Anniversary Collection (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
- Virtual Console (Wii, Nintendo 3DS)
- Mobile phone app (iPhone)
- Playstation store (PS3, PSP)
- Mega Man Legacy Collection (PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC)