Make no mistake, there are genuine improvements in this game to be seen. Megaman handles better, the soundtrack kicks ass and there's a greater emphasis on presentation here with more detailed spritework and setpieces.

However, it's all traded for a game that still doesn't learn the right lessons from its predecessor, at least not consistently. While a handful of levels are decent stuff, this game still needs a lot of improvement within its stages. Often levels have terrible enemy placement, gimmicks or setpieces that are a pain in the ass to deal with such as the disappearing blocks in Heat Man's stage, the absurd ladder fetish in Crash Man's stage, or the fucking insta-kill lasers in Quick Man's stage (which they had the audacity to recreate in Megaman X5). Often manages to plunge into the same level of bullshit as MM1, sometimes worse with moments like the Wily Stage 4 boss, which demands absurdly god-like precision and reaction on your part unless you want to be blasted to kingdom come.

I'm a little more forgiving with MM1 game since it was the first, but this game really just has no excuse. I really have to wonder what makes this game the masterpiece I've seen people claim it is.