Mega Man 2 review

Also known as:
Rock Man 2: Dr. Dr. Wily no Nazo
Rock Man 2: Dr. Wily's Secret

Originally released:
1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Also released on:
PlayStation as Rock Man Complete Works
PlayStation as Rock Man 2 – PSone Books
PlayStation as Rock Man 2 – Capcom Classic Books
PlayStation2 as Mega Man Anniversary Edition
GameCube as Mega Man Anniversary Edition
Xbox as Mega Man Anniversary Edition
Wii Virtual Console



The game starts with a cityscape on screen and a short introduction the game’s story. It briefly describes that Dr. Wily is up to no good again. His plan is to still to take over the world. This time he’s made his own robots to destroy Mega Man. In the first Mega Man game Dr. Wily stole robots from his rival Dr. Light.

Select Your Robot Master



Right from the start of the game you can select any of the eight robot masters’ stages. This means you can defeat the bosses in any order you want. This gives the game multiple ways to play through it. When you defeat a boss you’ll get their weapon. Every boss in the game is weak against another boss’ weapon. This gives you the challenge of finding out their weaknesses to easily defeat them.

As with most Mega Man games, you’ll be able to get to the boss in around five to ten minutes. I can only briefly describe each stage because some are quite short. Each stage has themed enemies with a few common in each stage.

Airman



This stage is way up in the clouds and has a lot of airborne enemies. The floor is partially see-through and you really feel like you’re in the sky. There are giant purple platforms with a face which have two drill horns in most areas. These will shoot out smaller enemies from either side of it when you jump on them. Further on there are robots riding clouds who throw lightning bolts from above. One you’ve kill them you’ll need to ride their cloud to advance further. You’ll find fast flying birds which drop eggs which hatch into about ten small birds. These will scramble towards you in a swarm and attack. Once you get to the edge of the stage you’ll drop down through some clouds. In this area there are machines which shoot out upright snake like things. These jump around at random and their jump height and distance varies. When you get near to the end of the level, you’ll see a really fat version of Mega Man. He has a fan in his chest and will keep blowing towards you until you kill him. There will be two more to kill then you’ll be at the boss room.

Airman himself is basically a giant fan with arms, legs and eyes. His main attack is to shoot about six swirling shots of air at you. These will move straight towards you at increasing speed. His other attack is to jump around extremely high.

Bubbleman



The stage starts out on top of a waterfall. Most of the floor and walls looks like pipes. The first enemy you’ll see is a large frog. It’ll spit out smaller frogs from its mouth until you kill it. You’ll have to quickly jump across the next section because there are falling platforms. Once you drop down at the end of the waterfall there’ll be shellfish on wheels. If you shoot them their shell will fly off and they’ll speed up. The next section is completely underwater. When underwater you jump about four times as high.

When you get down to the very bottom there’ll be a giant fish that’ll shoot shrimp from its mouth. You’ll have to shoot an overhanging tentacle on its head to kill it. When you continue on forwards you’ll have to navigate through a low spiked ceiling area. While you move forward robotic jellyfish will descend from the ceiling. When you finally get out the water you’re right near the boss. Crabs will float down from the sky and you’ll have to jump over to the boss room.

Bubbleman is fought underwater and he looks like a diver. The room has spikes on the ceiling so you can’t jump too high. His attacks are to shoot water jets at you either on the floor or jumping. He also likes to jump and slowly float down shooting bubbles at you.

Clashman/Crashman



For some reason the name of this boss was changed. In the Japanese version he’s Clashman and the English version he’s Crashman. He should be called Clashman since his weapon is called Clash Bomb. This may be explained here, but I could be wrong.

This stage involves you a lot of climbing up ladders. The stage is made up of twisted pipes and some are connected to dome like objects. The stage starts with floating cylinder type things with eyes trying to attack you. You’ll have to climb up a few ladders to the next area. Once you’re at the top small construction worker helmets attack you. These will stay still until you get near them, shoot you then run and hide. When you go up the next ladder there’s a moving platform on a set route. Once again you’ll have to climb a ladder and navigate through two more moving platform areas. At the top you’ll see a creature made out of four barrels on top of each other. This thing moves slowly towards you and has to be shot in the face. It’ll fall to pieces then reform and have to be shot again to be killed. You’ll find yourself climbing a few more ladders to get to the top. Once there, you have a choice between climbing up to the left or right. Once you climb up one you’ll see a wall between them and two ladders at each side. It’s your job to navigate up the correct path with falling off. You be attacked by the egg chucking birds and stationery firing robots. When you finally get to the very top there’ll be jumping propeller robots. These keep falling from the ceiling until you get to the boss room.

Clashman has a cone shaped helmet and arms. He shoots sticky timed mines at you while jumping around a lot. He’ll keep jump around extremely high while firing quite frequently. His bombs have quite a large explosions and explode multiple times so dodging them can be tough.

Flashman



The stage is slippery like ice and has rectangular floor pieces which light up in sequence. The first part of the stage has you choose for a number of different paths which lead to the upper or lower parts of the stage. At the end is a drop down either to the left or right depending on which path you chose. There is an enemy on one side and nothing on the other. There’s another choice of two paths once you fall down into the next area. It’s up to you to choose each time you fall down. There are a total of four drops then you’ll be the bottom. All you need to do is get past a soldiers in giant metal walking legs to the boss room. This is probably the shortest and easiest of all the boss’ stages.

Flashman has a partially see-through head and a weird gun on one hand. He only has one attack which stops time then shoots you while he’s stood still.

Heatman



This stage has a lava flow underneath the floor and is full of tricky jumps. The first thing you’ll see will be jumping propeller robots. This stage is full of floating cylinder type things with eyes. There are holes in the walls which these enemies keep popping out when you kill them. This stage is a pain because you’ll be trying to time your jumps and these will keep coming at you. You can cut the stage short by destroying certain parts of the walls using the Clash Bomb. Whilst trying to make difficult jumps the platforms will disappear and reappear in sequence.

Heatman looks like a guy inside standard metal flip up lighter. He'll chuck three fireballs in the air which land making tall pilars. He can also zoom towards you in a stream of fire.

Metalman



This stage is in a factory type environment with cogs moving in the background. Most of the floor is always moving either left or right at varying speeds. Your first obstacle is to get past three dropping spikes. This is a little tricky because the floor is moving at different speeds. After that there’s a long corridor with flying drills coming out of the floor and ceiling. There are a few jumps to get past after that then you’ll soon be in the bottom of the stage. When you’re trying to get past the next few jumps there are guys balancing on top of giant machine cogs. You’ll need to destroy the cog to make the guy fall off. A little further on there are metal floor heads then a barrel monster. There’s a large jump then two more metal floor heads at the bottom. This then leads to the boss room.

Metalman looks normal apart from the mask covering his mouth and circular blade on his head. He’ll fire circular blades at you either on the floor or in mid-air. This boss room is slightly different because floor is always moving. It can change direction at random or when Metalman moves between each side.

Quickman



Set in a sort of futuristic type environment this stage can by really hard without Flashman's Time Stopper. There are lasers that shoot out for the walls extremely fast that can be easily dodged with the Time Stopper. The stage is pretty average apart for the lasers. There is one part half way though which the screen goes dark and you have to navigate though it in pitch black. There are large enemies with fire on their heads which light the stage up again, but if you kill them the lights go out.

As the name suggests, Qucikman is really fast. He'll move and jump around shooting boomerangs at you. He's really hard because he moves so fast and is a pain to hit.

Woodman



The stage starts in a woodland area then quickly moves underground. You’ll encounter metal bats which reflect your shots in they’re curled up. There are also big purple rabbits which hob along then shoot carrots at you. When you get the bottom of the underground there’s a giant fire breathing dog. There's another one in each of next two areas. You’ll then have to climb up two ladders to get back the surface. Outside there is a bamboo floor with Gorillas hanging from below. These will jump at you when you get near them. There are also egg dropping birds in this area. Once you’re at the other side you’ll have to go underground again. There are minor obstacles in the next two rooms and each has a purple rabbit in them. Once you climb down the ladder in the second room you’re outside again. This is a long room which is full of large robot chickens which jump at regular intervals. If you can get past them you’ll be at the boss door.

Woodman is a fat man who, funnily enough is made out of wood. He only really has one attack which is to surround himself in a leaf shield then throwing it at you. This battle can be hard because Woodman and his leafs are so big. While you’re fighting there are large leafs falling from the sky which can damage you.

Bonus Items

On certain stages in the game you can find energy tanks. These can be used at any time and give you back full health. You can hold a maximum of four at once.

There are three additional items which can help you reach previously inaccessible areas. Due to lack of originality these are called item 1,2 and 3. Item-1 creates a platform which goes up on a propeller. You can stand on this to reach high areas and use up to four at once. Item-2 is a jet powered surf board which will help you get across large gaps. Item-3 is a sticky platform which will help you climb up walls.



Dr. Wily’s Stages

Once you’ve defeated all eight robot masters you’ll have to enter Dr. Wily’s castle. There are a total of five stages which are harder than any of the robot master’s.

Stage 1
The stage is quite short and you’ll have to climb up the castle. You start out on in a barren area which has a rock floor. When you move forward the egg dropping birds will attack. Further on you have to use item-3 to get up a large building to the other side. You’ll have to deal with a few upright snake shooting things and climb a second building. Once you get to the end you’ll be at the castle itself. You have to use item-3 again to climb the wall and then climb a few ladders. On your way up you’ll see a number of soldiers with a shields. You then have to use item-1 to get across a large gap to the final ladder. Once you make it up there are loads of small jumps then the boss will appear. This is a huge flying dragon which will force the screen forward while you jump forward. It’ll eventually stop and you have to fight it.

Stage 2
This stage is mostly brown and green with a few spinning cogs in the walls. There are jumping propeller robots which try and attack you from the start. You’ll have to use item-2 to get across a large spiked gap. While mid flight you have a choice between two ladders, one leads to powerups and the other to lots of enemies. You eventually make it down to the bottom where you'll have to navigate though small passages avoiding drills and falling spike traps. There are two drops after that which then lead to the boss. This boss is formed by the room combining two pieces to form a small flying robot. This appear from high and low and only take a few hits to destroy.

Stage 3
There are a few drops with powerups than will then lead to dirty brown water filled with spikes. You'll need to be extremely careful because the slightest mistakes and you're dead in one hit. You make your way across dodging a large fish then have to navigate through some tough drops. The walls are still covered in spikes so you'll need to be quick to make it though alive. Once you've made it though this underwater deathtrap you can jump out to safety. There is a short corridor with stationary robots that are shooting at you. Once you've killed the robots you're at the boss. For anyone who's played the orignal Mega Man should recognised this boss. It's a giant robot Gutsman which looks like a tank.

Stage 4
This is easily the most annoying and hardest stage in the entire game. You start off having to climb a few ladders with a few construction worker hat robots trying to stop you. Next is an empty room with a long platform which has parts of the that you can fall through. This is made harder because the gaps invisible. Next is another similar room, but this time it has spikes underneath it. Once you're safely across there's an area with powerups and more construction worker hat robots. There are invisible gaps in the rooms just to make it even harder. Climbing up again will lead to a checkpoint room and this is where it all starts to go wrong.

You go down the ladder to the new area and have to wait for a platform to help you get the end without falling into the spike pits below. The platform moves in a complicated pattern and the room has three holes where the floating cylinder type things with eyes come out. Next is a similar room with no enemies, but you'll have to get across by quickly moving from ledge to ledge before the platform passes you by. If you make it to the next room it's a combination of the previous two rooms with slight differences. Finally is an easiest of all the rooms which requires a simple jump to the moving platform to progress. In the last room is a long corridor with a few soldiers in giant metal walking legs then the boss room.

The boss is five circular things which all shoot lasers at the same time. Each one has a wall protecting it with the boss and wall only being able to be destroyed by the Clash Bomb. Making use of your limited ammo is key to defeating this boss. If you die and continue the parts you destroy won't come back.

Stage 5
All you need to do is defeat all eight robot masters again on this stage. There are eight tubes like teleporters each leading to a boss. This stage is complete joke because all obstacles in the boss rooms have been removed. Also if you know their weaknesses it'll be a piece of cake. After you defeated them all you have to fight Dr. Wily in a space ship.

Stage 6
This stage is also a joke because the only thing you need to do is dodge dripping slime. It takes about 30 seconds to get to the final boss and is a waste for time. Once there you'll see Dr. Wily transform into an alien and fly around in a set path. He'll shoot at you with a single shot about every two seconds. This makes him quite predictable and you won't have much trouble defeating him.

Mega Man 2 Robot Masters Revisited

Near the end of Mega Man 3 you have to fight all the robot masters from Mega Man 2.



Enhanced Mode



Both the PSone Books and Mega Man Anniversary Edition have an updated version of the game. This includes updated in-game menus, in-game tips, remixed music and other minor changes. This may sound great, but it’s not really worth wasting your time with. The new menus are OK, but don’t really add very much to the game. The Japanese translation from PSone Books to Mega Man Anniversary Edition was poorly done. An example is on Woodman’s stage where it says something like “watch out for the cocks”, which is funny, but it should be chickens. The remixed music is from Mega Man: Power Battles and Mega Man 2: Power Fighters. Only half the music is remixed and the rest is the exactly the same. This is really disappointing and shows Capcom’s laziness in updating and porting the game. One of the best things is that it removes the screen and sprite flickering which is common is most NES games. You can also have mega-fire for your weapons which can be really useful for some enemies. There's also a nice art gallery with various artwork from the game.

Final Thoughts

This was the first game I ever completed and it took me forever to do it. I was about 8 years old at the time and found it a really enjoyable experience. This game has a lot to offer and is extremely fun to play. It has two difficulty settings so even beginners can still complete the game without too much trouble. This was the first Mega Man game to a password system so be thankful you don't have to start over. It has a lot of replay value because of the different combinations the bosses can be defeated in. A great 2D platformer and regarded as the best Mega Man game in the original series by almost all the fans. I give it a THUMBS UP.

Score: 9/10

References

http://www.planet-megaman.com

http://blue-bomber.jvmwriter.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.mmhp.net

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_2

http://www.engrish.com/faq.php#Q8