Game: "Mega Man 2"
System: Nintendo Entertainment System
Genre: Action
Published by: Capcom

Reviewer: Protoclown
Posted: 1/8/2008

Review: There is no question that this is my favorite NES game, and quite possibly my favorite video game overall. The first Mega Man was a great game, but parts of it were so frustratingly difficult (I'm looking at you, Cyclopean Rock Monster) that I wouldn't exactly consider it a joy to play. Fortunately the sequel found just the right balance between challenge and impossibility, and it has a certain charm in its robot masters, music and level design that the series never quite managed to capture again. Video games are rarely as fun as this.

This is an extremely replayable game, and I find myself going back to this one more than any other I've ever played, probably just to hear the music again if nothing else. The Mega Man series has always been praised for its fantastic music, and this is definitely the high point of the franchise (it has never topped Dr. Wiley's first stage music before or since). Sure, the other games have great music too, but none of them maintain this level of awesomeness across every stage. The eight robot masters are also classics, not suffering from the lameness that some of the later bosses succumbed to (you know they were just one game away from Milk Man, Garbage Man, Mail Man, etc, by the end).

This game also introduced some elements to the franchise that stuck around from here on out: energy tanks, eight robot masters instead of six, password continues, and Dr. Light's useful tools were a predecessor to the Rush vehicles (and way better than that crappy magnet gun).

If you've never played a single Mega Man game, you're missing out on one of the most enjoyable game franchises of all time, and Mega Man 2, the apex of the series, is the best place to start.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)