Mega Man II

In honor of Mega Man's 25th Anniversary I decided to play an old classic and my favorite Mega Man game.  Mega Man II is what I consider to be the best game in the original series, and was a critical success for Capcom selling over a million copies. Mega Man II takes the same formula of the first game, allowing the player to choose his way by defeating eight robot bosses and refines the game play style in a way that creates a very straightforward platformer for the NES.



Mega Man II ranks as one of my favorite NES games for a number of reasons. It isn't as hard as the first game, the music is a phenomenal example of what Capcom was capable at the time, and it set the standard for all the other games in the series. Unfortunately I don't think the other eight games in the series could live up to the originality and the overall incredible nature of Mega Man II. The games that followed added various forms of game play mechanics, and did have better graphics, but they could only attempt to emulate the magnitude of what would be the perfect Mega Man. Sometimes sequels are better than the original and the developers at Capcom that helped to design this game, Keiji Inafune and others, deserve a lot of credit for making a game with actual heart. This is it!

Why am I gushing all over this game? I used to own it when I was a kid. I remember asking for it, and I'm not entirely sure why I did, I just knew that Mega Man II was better than plain ol' Mega Man. I may have been one of the many kids my age (around 9 or 10) that were put off by the strange and disastrous box art of Mega Man. An avid reader of Nintendo Power, I think that's where I was first introduced to Capcom's blue robotic hero for the first time. I remembering playing this game over and over, and coming back to it after all these years is very a very nostalgic experience for me. All of the stages and boss robots are strangely familiar, and at the same time I wonder how I was able to beat this given how challenging the game is.

Box Art

Take a look at the box art from each of the regions and you'll see that Japan has stuck with the Anime inspired style that Inafune wanted to emphasize. Many of the enemies and bosses, and even Dr Wily's castle is featured on the box. Looks ok, maybe even a little better than the US version. 

The US box art continues the tradition of somewhat misleading super 1980's video game box art. At least this time Capcom had the sense to not hire a five year old to draw the cover. I like how we have to know that the game is "State-of-the-Art" and "High Resolution". Mega Man is featured wearing a blue motorcycle helmet and matching skin tight pajamas firing a pistol at Quick Man. Why is his leg bent funny? A muscular Crash Man takes orders from a bearded... wait. Dr. Light or Dr. Wily? That doesn't make sense. The art is an improvement, but again not the best representation of the game itself. 

If you're going to make some outrageous box art, you might as well go all the way, and that's what Capcom did for the European version. Note the incredible mirror chrome finish Mega Man. And there's a few other random enemy characters added as well. I think it is the best box art out of the three, but only because Mega Man is so shiny. 

Advertising

I couldn't find a US commercial for Mega Man II. I'm not sure why this is because I think Capcom of America had a big enough presence with the NES, but who knows. I was able to find some other advertisements related to Mega Man II:

Here's the Japanese commercial for Rockman 2. Prepare yourself for a tidal wave of synthesized slap bass.

Here's a French commercial for the European release of Mega Man II. Note the likeness used in the live action sequences that feature the chrome Mega Man styling from the European box art.

They even made a Tiger Electronics LCD version of Mega Man II. I remember this!

Mega Man II was on the cover of the July/August 1989 issue of  Nintendo Power. I love the clay models of both Mega Man and Dr. Wily's space ship from the end of the game. That's attention to detail. I wonder if someone still has those models? 

Music

Music for Mega Man II was handled by a few folks at Capcom: Mostly Takashi Tateishi with Manami Matsumae adding a few compositions and supervised by Yoshihiro Sakaguchi. Matsumae composed the end theme to Mega Man, which also became the opening theme for Mega Man II. She also assisted Tateishi with parts of the "Air Man stage". Tateishi was widely responsible for most of the iconic music throughout the game, including the short tunes for stage selection and passing a stage. His work for the game was credited as "Ogeretsu Kun" back when using nicknames for end credits was a common thing in Japanese video games.

Tateishi went on to work for other game companies, Konami and K2, though his role went from composer to music production and programmer. His credit include work on the popular dating sim Tokimeki Memorial, as well as contributions to Policenauts F/N and Suikoden. He also created his own recording company and has worked with lots of Japanese musicians since his role with Mega Man II.

Music from Mega Man II has been remixed to oblivion and back, and I ran into a guy on the Youtubes that produces incredible orchestra arrangements. This features the opening theme of Mega Man II. Give it a listen. 

My favorite theme from Mega Man II is definitely the "Flash Man Stage" theme. Listen:

Development:

It's long been stated that Capcom didn't think Mega Man did so well, and that even though the developers wanted to make a sequel, they would have to do so on their own time. And they did. Play Magazine interviewed Inafune in 2004 and this is what he said:

So we, of our own accord, got together, spent our own time, we worked really, really hard, you know, just 20-hour days to complete this, because we were making something we wanted to make. Probably in all my years of actually being in a video game company, that was the best time of my working at Capcom, because we were actually working toward a goal, we were laying it all on the line, we were doing what we wanted to do. And it really showed in the game, because it’s a game, once again, that we put all our time and effort and love, so to speak, into it, designing it.

The game was developed in three to four months. Bam! Mega Man II set the tone for the entire series and was the later inspiration for Mega Man 9. 

Results:

Much of the complaints I had with the first Mega Man were taken care of: More items throughout the game, longer level design, less cheap deaths (though there were still plenty of those), and interesting enemy design. I think Mega Man handles a little better, though he still seems like he slides around a little. 

Improvements aside, I played through the game very quickly beating boss after boss and I only encountered a few hiccups along the way. Again, the key to any Mega Man game is to defeat the eight robot b
osses, absorb their powers and use the right weapon against the right boss. What's funny is that Metal Blade works for most anything as illustrated here by Zac Gorman of Magical Game Time:

The only stage I had difficulty with was the dreaded Quick Man stage where you have to fall down, and avoid instant death lasers that come from both sides of the screen. I kept dying because you just have to memorize the best path to avoid the lasers in time. 

The End Castle

The snaking path to the final encounter with Dr. Wily. 

After defeating the eight bosses, you have to navigate through four levels of Dr Wily's castle, fight all of the eight robot bosses again with one life, and then fight Dr. Wily not once but twice. Very tough levels, in the tradition of tough Mega Man end stages.

Dr Wily's awesome space ship.

After destroying his ship, Dr Wily morphs into an alien creature, and you fight him in space. When he dies, you emerge in a giant lab. Was it all a hologram? An Illusion? That's pretty awesome if it was.

Dr Wily pleads for his life. 

And that's it. The credits start to roll and you're given a small cut scene of Mega Man walking through the seasons, changing colors. Notice the amount of nicknames all over the credits. Who were these people? I'm too lazy to look them up. Fish Man? 

Victory!

Final Word: Mega Man II is probably the best game in the entire series. Even without the charge buster or slide moves (which I thought ruined the game a little bit). Definitely an awesome game and a must own NES title.

Statistics:

Deaths: 43. Bosses: 9 Continues: 12. Time: 2 1/2 hours. Levels: 12. E-Tanks used: 4. 1-UP's found: 6