I want to preface that I was not born during the time of Rockman's initial creation and popularity. I'll never understand what it was like being there at the time that these games were coming out. That said, I'm playing all these games for the first time in my early 20s and, in advance of writing a review of 9, I decided to go back and journal my thoughts on 2. I just thought this game was... okay? So okay that I didn't even bother writing a review when I played it.
As I write this review, this is the game leading the Street Fighter 6 Rockman popularity poll. But I want to know what kind of factors led to this one being the most popular of the original series? Is it just "right place, right time?" Is the game similarly held in high regard in Japan? My honest guess is that people just had so much fun with 2 that, as the transition from NES to SNES took place, nobody really cared to bother with more NES Rockman games when the SNES and Mega Drive were releasing.
Prior to actually playing the games for myself, this is the only one I ever saw talked about ANYWHERE, and it's lauded as one of the greatest games on the NES or something. At its best AND at its worst, this game is good. But it's not really anything more than that imo.
I genuinely believe every other Classic game that released after it outclasses it in some way or another. 3 introduced the Slide and even had the Doc Robots bring back the RM2 Robot Masters after you beat the first 8. 4/5 introduced/refined the Charge Shot. Even 7 and 8 both capitalized on the strength of the new hardware to create gorgeous graphics that still look great today, and introduced neat changes to the formula found in the NES games. 2 being the golden child, so much so that 9 decided to ditch nearly everything I liked in 3-8 and even removed the Slide/Charge Shot, just confuses me.
I'm sorry if this doesn't come off very much like a review of the game and more a review of its status? Or sounding salty that its popularity influenced a direction on the series temporarily for 9 and 10 that I disliked. I would just really like to hear from folks who grew up with this game to understand what I might not be seeing about its greatness compared to everyone else.
As I write this review, this is the game leading the Street Fighter 6 Rockman popularity poll. But I want to know what kind of factors led to this one being the most popular of the original series? Is it just "right place, right time?" Is the game similarly held in high regard in Japan? My honest guess is that people just had so much fun with 2 that, as the transition from NES to SNES took place, nobody really cared to bother with more NES Rockman games when the SNES and Mega Drive were releasing.
Prior to actually playing the games for myself, this is the only one I ever saw talked about ANYWHERE, and it's lauded as one of the greatest games on the NES or something. At its best AND at its worst, this game is good. But it's not really anything more than that imo.
I genuinely believe every other Classic game that released after it outclasses it in some way or another. 3 introduced the Slide and even had the Doc Robots bring back the RM2 Robot Masters after you beat the first 8. 4/5 introduced/refined the Charge Shot. Even 7 and 8 both capitalized on the strength of the new hardware to create gorgeous graphics that still look great today, and introduced neat changes to the formula found in the NES games. 2 being the golden child, so much so that 9 decided to ditch nearly everything I liked in 3-8 and even removed the Slide/Charge Shot, just confuses me.
I'm sorry if this doesn't come off very much like a review of the game and more a review of its status? Or sounding salty that its popularity influenced a direction on the series temporarily for 9 and 10 that I disliked. I would just really like to hear from folks who grew up with this game to understand what I might not be seeing about its greatness compared to everyone else.