I think if 2 is your favorite, then 9 is definitely a perfect game. This feels like a direct sequel to 2. But in many ways, this game frustrates me. Both because a handful of the stages are often really challenging in a way that annoys me, and because this game had so much potential to be more than what it is.
I understand that, at the time, the idea behind this game was to play it a little safe and go back to Rockman's roots as a franchise. Enough of the spinoff series and random gameplay changes that seemingly overtook the franchise for a while, just go back to NES Rockman style in gameplay and graphics. I used to dislike that this game used NES graphics instead of evolving with the hardware like 7 and 8 did. Seeing the game in motion now, I think it's fair to wish that maybe they could've done something a little different, but the game looks very nice as is. Retro nostalgia games then weren't as abundant as they are now, so this was very ahead of its time in that regard. With the sprite flicker option enabled, the game is almost indistinguishable from an actual NES title. Jewel Satellite's rotation being extremely smooth is the only thing that reminded me I was playing a WiiWare/XBLA game
My main issue is that this game takes away the Charge Shot and the Slide for literally no reason. I don't care if Rockman 2 is the most popular one in the series, stripping away the gameplay improvements later games introduced makes it feel like the devs only valued 2 as a source of inspiration rather than building upon the previous game(s). It's like if you took away Sonic's Spin Dash or Tails being able to fly in Sonic Mania. But what's weirder is that they still have Rightot & Roll's shop from 7/8/Forte, and they brought back the classic un-nerfed Rush Coil and Rush Jet. So the game seems to almost randomly pick and choose what it deems worth keeping from later titles. Where's Dr. Cossack? Where's King? Where's Forte (he has one cameo on a screen in the ending but nothing else)? I get this seems SO nitpicky, but the Slide and Charge Shot just add so much to making these games more fun to me that it negatively affected my enjoyment. I try to appreciate games for what they are rather than what I wish they would be, but this is such a glaring problem for me that I can't ignore it.
I still give it 3 stars because I'd argue this game has the most useful weapons in the whole series (so far). Out of all the ones I've played, I used all of the alternate weapons the most in this game, rather than just using them for weaknesses. Hornet Chaser, Black Hole Bomb, Jewel Satellite, and Laser Trident were all really fun to abuse.
Last thing I'll mention is that I loved the ending cutscene and the montage images during the credits. I'm glad that all the Robot Masters were redeemed at the end, because this is another set of bosses I love the designs of. 6, 7, 8, and 9 probably all have my favorites in the series.
I understand that, at the time, the idea behind this game was to play it a little safe and go back to Rockman's roots as a franchise. Enough of the spinoff series and random gameplay changes that seemingly overtook the franchise for a while, just go back to NES Rockman style in gameplay and graphics. I used to dislike that this game used NES graphics instead of evolving with the hardware like 7 and 8 did. Seeing the game in motion now, I think it's fair to wish that maybe they could've done something a little different, but the game looks very nice as is. Retro nostalgia games then weren't as abundant as they are now, so this was very ahead of its time in that regard. With the sprite flicker option enabled, the game is almost indistinguishable from an actual NES title. Jewel Satellite's rotation being extremely smooth is the only thing that reminded me I was playing a WiiWare/XBLA game
My main issue is that this game takes away the Charge Shot and the Slide for literally no reason. I don't care if Rockman 2 is the most popular one in the series, stripping away the gameplay improvements later games introduced makes it feel like the devs only valued 2 as a source of inspiration rather than building upon the previous game(s). It's like if you took away Sonic's Spin Dash or Tails being able to fly in Sonic Mania. But what's weirder is that they still have Rightot & Roll's shop from 7/8/Forte, and they brought back the classic un-nerfed Rush Coil and Rush Jet. So the game seems to almost randomly pick and choose what it deems worth keeping from later titles. Where's Dr. Cossack? Where's King? Where's Forte (he has one cameo on a screen in the ending but nothing else)? I get this seems SO nitpicky, but the Slide and Charge Shot just add so much to making these games more fun to me that it negatively affected my enjoyment. I try to appreciate games for what they are rather than what I wish they would be, but this is such a glaring problem for me that I can't ignore it.
I still give it 3 stars because I'd argue this game has the most useful weapons in the whole series (so far). Out of all the ones I've played, I used all of the alternate weapons the most in this game, rather than just using them for weaknesses. Hornet Chaser, Black Hole Bomb, Jewel Satellite, and Laser Trident were all really fun to abuse.
Last thing I'll mention is that I loved the ending cutscene and the montage images during the credits. I'm glad that all the Robot Masters were redeemed at the end, because this is another set of bosses I love the designs of. 6, 7, 8, and 9 probably all have my favorites in the series.