A definite step forward from the first Mega Man on Game Boy, but still not a huge leap. The stages and Robot Masters are designed a bit better, the music is way less grating, and the game is quick and eminently playable. I’m also a big fan of the weapon from Quint (the second of the “Mega Man Killers”), which is a… bladed pogo stick named Sakugarde? Unfortunately, you only get to use the Sakugarde for a single level, and then you get what might be the lamest Wily fight that I’ve seen in ANY Mega Man game.

Mega Man II is fine, but there’s a good reason why it’s a footnote beneath the NES’s stellar Mega Man 2.