A return to form so goddamn amazing, it helped spark the retro revival gold rush. Almost two decades later and it still rules over most others. 'Mega Man 2' is the classic classic Mega Man masterpiece. 'Mega Man 9' is the cultured classic Mega Man masterpiece.

It looks good, it sounds better, and it's got some of the best 'so bad, it's good' English dubbing this side of 'Symphony of the Night.' I just wish the game wasn't so damn gimmicky with the Rush abilities.

A competent follow-up to the 8-bit games that tries some new things and winds up landing most of them. Outside of 'Mega Man Soccer' though, I think this might be the weakest SNES game in the series. I mean, after 'Mega Man X' came out, this just seems lamer by comparison.

The weakest bosses, the weakest arsenal, and the weakest stage design yet leaves me feeling bored senseless when playing this. With so many other games in the franchise, why would you ever consciously decide to play this one?

This one leans a bit harder into the silly side of things but it's a largely fun and worthwhile sequel that really tests my grit in the fortress stages.

An extra set of fortress stages to tackle and a new charge buster to tackle them with help lift up an otherwise standard sequel.

The stage design gets overly gimmicky at times and the mere existence of Top Spin costs this game at least half a star but man oh man, that soundtrack is the stuff of legends.

The rough edges have been sanded off of the first game and what we have now is one of the best 8-bit platformers ever made, despite the balancing issue caused by the existence of the Metal Blade weapon.

A proof of concept that's rough around the edges, especially where damage output/input is concerned. Better than other no-name action platformers on the NES but easily one of the weaker classic entries in the franchise.

A sequel/remake of the Genesis original that puts less emphasis on platforming and puzzle-solving, focusing on raw aggression instead. Easier to play than the original but still harder than I remembered it. The collectibles serve absolutely no purpose.

A good-looking adaptation whose level design becomes incredible counter-intuitive towards the middle of the game when you reach the pump station. The game's not too hard outside of those couple of stages right in the middle there.

The game wants to be a movie but it sucks at being a movie too. I don't think I've ever played something so arrogantly confident in gameplay this rotten. This is an all-around pretentious piece of trash that's rightfully taken its seat next to the other infamous failures of the industry.

Zero stars, one for every brain cell the game has.

Out of all the attempts at capturing the 'Pac-Man' lightning in a bottle by simply remaking 'Pac-Man,' the game that ultimately receives the high honor of being the official sequel is... the 16-bit point 'n' click game?

I... I don't get it...

I grew up playing Sega Genesis games with plotlines and music so the classic arcade experience never really clicked with me. I respect Pac-Man but I don't really care for it.

I watched someone speedrun this game in ten minutes by simply putting the controller down and letting the game beat itself. I then thought back to my own half hour playthrough and realized, "I'm never getting that time back..."