(Dropped at Wily 3)

The real first mega man, a definite improvement over the 1987 one and, with the exception of the final stretch of the game, a very solid one. It still suffers from a LOT of outdated design decisions, and iffy enemy placements at points, but boss design for the most part is a blast, and stages tend to be on the fun side more often than not.

Replaying this game I have found a new amount of respect for its design and honestly, I might come back to it sometime in the future.

Still wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but honestly, THIS is a solid start to a series.

...the Wily Fortress stages can go SUCK MY ASS tho.

An improvement over the first one which was to be expected but it was interesting to see how much the developers improved in only a year. The game felt overall more forgiving than the first entry with more forgiving platforming and enemies and bosses that don’t all hit like trucks. On a first run through a level, you will still likely die, which I am not fond of, but the improvement in the level design made redoing sections far less tedious. The iconic soundtrack was great for getting me pumped up for each stage and the sprite work is stellar with the team using every pixel at their disposal to create some awesome-looking designs, my favorite being the Guts-Tank. My major gripe with the game is its reliance on certain weapon types which can lead to situations where I run out of energy for that weapon and I might as well waste all of my lives so I can get that energy back. Case in point the final boss which is only weak to one weapon type which you can not replenish in between attempts. Not a hard boss by any means but that resource management is a bit unnecessary.

There’s not much else to say as this game and the ones to come all follow a similar set up albeit with minor alterations. This title would set the groundwork for what the series will truly become and still holds up all right.

Mega Man 2 is like, the best tasting margherita pizza you'll ever have in your life, but it's a teeny bit undercooked. It's classic, iconic even; down to the intro cutscene, the stage themes, the setpieces and the robot masters - and even if it's missing some of the additions that would later become synonymous with the series like the slide and charge shot, the core run and gun gameplay still serves as something well worth going back to. But man it is not perfect. Especially when looking at stuff like the Wily Stage 4 boss. You really need to go into that fight with a full supply of crash bomber ammo and can't afford to waste any of it or take any route other than the most optimal one. It's this super weird blemish on an otherwise challenging yet very thoughtfully and fairly designed 8-bit platformer. Huge props to the localization team for actually making it more accessible for its overseas release at least: a rarity for the time. I personally prefer playing on difficult but it's no wonder that 2 is often regarded as the most accessible classic series entry.

Also John Backloggd please change the boxart to the Japanese one please and thank you

This is one of those games that I really do like and respect, but it doesn't cross over into my favorites for one reason or another. I don't share the common complaint about Metal Blade being busted (mostly because I've always saved Robot Master weapons for bosses the couple of times I've played), but I do think Boobeam Trap is a terribly-designed boss, simply for how easy it is to throw away an entire run by a single misuse of Crash Bomber. Maybe that long, silent corridor at the start of Wily Stage 5 gets tedious on retries, but you can at least get Bubble Lead back up to full there if needs-be; why couldn't that be in place for Boobeam? I also have been spoiled by the pre-Wily stages of later Megas Man. This is a big part of why I always used to call 3 my favorite to the series. 9's proved that I don't need that, but some sort of interstitial sequence helps make these games feel more complete, even if the only buffer between Robot Masters and Wily is a cutscene.

But 2's a classic for a reason. My aforementioned grievances aside, the game's one of those that's immaculately designed. After all the experimentation of the first game to find what approaches did and didn't work, 2 steps confidently forward and hits home run after home run. Quick Man. Crash Man. Air Man. Wood Man. Metal Man. Bubble Man. Heat Man. Wily 1. Moment after moment of great level design set to great music followed by great boss fights. Such a variety of level archetypes, showing that even though the developers had settled on a general gameplay style, they were still keen on experimenting with themes and challenges within that style.

(I guess Flash Man and Guts Dozer are okay, too.)

I understand this was made in a hellish 8 month dev cycle, compounded by the fact that this was the first Mega Man to incorporate submissions for the Robot Master designs. Things wouldn't entirely improve from there - Mega Man 7 had four months in the oven - but I'm at least glad all the hard work paid off, and they really stuck the landing with this one.

Thought of playing Megaman: :D
Reality of playing Megaman: :(

This game was actually one of the worst popular games I’ve ever played. All of the boss fights have way too much randomness in their attacks, making it almost impossible to dodge most of them. They all also have arbitrary restrictions on which weapons you can use against them.

What’s that? You can only use a certain weapon against a boss and you ran out of power for that weapon? Better kill yourself so you can go back and farm for more power by killing enemies. Just ignore the fact that enemies barely drop any power on death and you’re more likely to get hurt a lot and lose health while doing this, making the boss fight that you’re trying to be able to beat no easier.

The level designs are no better. Enemies will spam attacks and will instantly respawn if you walk too far away from their spawn point, making some parts unnecessarily difficult and full of enemies. The platforming sucks. If you get hit by an enemy, you take so much knockback that you fall of the platforms anyway, most of the time into spikes or a pit.

I could complain about this game forever since its so bad and actually unfair.

Series fans know damn well Mega Man 2 is not the best one (or at least, future amenities like sliding and charge shots must make a game without them hard to go back to), but I felt I had to see this one through to the end anyway, for its cemented place in broader gaming culture and all that. And it doesn't disappoint!

It almost never felt unfairly difficult--most obstacles are fairly telegraphed, and while it stung a bit when I missed out on certain goodies, that was typically on me for not daring the more ambitious path and earning them. But let's get something clear here. Fuck those horizontal murder beam things from the parts where you fall in Quick Man's stage. That shit blows. And so does the Boobeam Trap.

So yeah, not a game free of sin, but so much of the rest of it is fun that I'd still say give it a shot.

significant improvement over the previous entry in every way; far less annoying enemies and other obstacles (some notable exceptions), far more consistent behavior where it matters, much better sprite work and overall aesthetics, much better music, etc. just holistically far more pleasant.

the first game had an issue a lot of games of this generation had wherein many enemy and especially boss encounters are either trivial or absurd because you can't realistically dodge their attacks. due to that, the dominant strategy -- at least given the limitations of most human beings -- is just tanking damage and shooting the enemy hoping you win. most of the bosses in Mega Man 1 require this "strategy"; some still do in 2, but it's much less. enemy behavior overall is also less buggier and more predictable, which in a similar vein allows for more neuron-activating tactical decision-making instead of mindless spam. these are all sort of "platformer 101" elements, so it's hardly high praise and compared to contemporary offerings this game still isn't very special, but given the quality of 1 noting these improvements is relevant.

also weirdly... profound? the [famous] intro, some of the levels, combined with the [famous] ending, are all very emotional and evocative for what this otherwise is. i presume that's mostly the music working its magic; actually, the music in general is very good, able to capture a lot of tones (i.e. "vibes", not musical tone) in ways that contemporaneous games don't come close to. with this game one can start to see what people see in this series.

The one that put my man Mega Man on the map, and for good reason.

Snappy controls, fun levels, and catchy music. That's all a Mega Man game needs and lord have mercy does Mega Man 2 have it. For a brief time in my life i would play Mega Man 2 all the way through to completion on New Year's Eve before the party would start, just so i ended the year on a high note, video game-wise.

the only thing about this game that i'm not crazy about is the weaknesses of the main bosses being all over the place, and one of the end game bosses requiring perfect play and soft locking you if you make a mistake. just don't make a mistake and the game's pretty good i guess.

I have beaten Mega Man 2 dozens of times and enjoyed it every time. The latest time i played was a little clunky, but i'm a little rusty. and yet despite that, i still had fun. Anyone who likes video games should probably do themselves a favor and check this bit of video game history out.

Long Live The Metal Blade

Surely the only reason people say this is the best one is because of nostalgia right? I just can't see any reason for it to be better than pretty much any later classic Mega Man game, it has been securely surpassed.

Though I suppose there's the other aspect as to why people treat this like the pinnacle of the series, the legacy. This game saved the series and for that I am of course really thankful. The game better conveyed just what Mega Man could be and kickstarted many traditions the series still follows today such as eight robot masters. That's all well and good but it doesn't really matter to me when I am comparing it to the rest of the series, it set the foundations but that doesn't mean it automatically remains at the top... If that was the case then Mega Man 1 should be at the top.

Game is fun if a little easy, then again I have only played on 'normal' mode that is actually easy mode that wasn't in the japanese original version so I guess that's on me.

Most unfair elements from the first game are no more but the real reason this game is only average to me is the level design... It's boring, it just is. And that is why I think most of the later NES MM games are better, the levels are just more remarkable. Quick Man's stage is pretty cool and Heat Man's stage is unforgettable... for all the wrong reasons but otherwise these stages are short and boring and in a Mega Man game I think level design is the most important aspect even beyond the bosses. I guess I'm glad the levels aren't frustrating but boring isn't much better.