Megaman 2, greatest game of all time?

This entry is a little bit of a letter of appreciation, review, and guide all wrapped into one.

Megaman 2, released in July of 1989 by Capcom, is one of the games I've played the most in my life and is probably responsible for solidifying video games as my main hobby.

Megaman 2 is obviously the sequel to Megaman, though I didn't play the original game until many years later. For the uninformed, the story follows a young boy robot named Rock, created by Dr. Thomas Light, who volunteers to be modified into the fighting robot, Megaman, who must do battle with the evil Dr. Wily's robot creations. Things go a little deeper than that, but that's it in a nutshell.

The fact that Megaman 2 and all the franchise in general exists is a bit of a small miracle. Sales for Megaman (called Rockman in japan) were pretty lack luster. So much so that Capcom wasn't interested in doing a sequel. Megaman creator, Keiji Inafune, and other developers at the Capcom office decided to make Megaman 2 on the side while working on other projects. Kind of like a simple project of passion. Perhaps this is why the game is so good. It was developed without any influence of the company or investors and fueled purely by the drive to make a great game. The rest is history. After the heads of the company played the game they decided to release it, and this time saw great success.

The game itself is a 2D side scrolling platform, one of the bests there is in my opinion. The controls are precise, the level designs are clever, and the music is amazing by 8 bit standards. Check the links below for examples, when I first heard this stuff as a kid I was amazed that they were able to create such tracks on the Nintendo.

The game is made up 8 stages (the first part anyway), each having a boss, or robot master, at the end that the player has to face. For beating the boss you are awarded their power. For me this was the coolest thing ever. I'm not aware of any other games that did this so well. The next greatest thing is that these powers aren't just different variations of projectiles for attacking, but tools to assist you in progressing the stages. Unlike later Megaman games where you can play through the stages easily using the default weapon, Megaman 2's boss weapons actually fit with the stage designs to help you traverse easier.

For example, in Woodman's stage where you have to descend a stair case like terrain with one of the hopping rabbits approaching, you can dispel the enemy in a cinch using Metalman's weapon. Or in Metalman's stage where you have to move across the conveyor belts while drills shoot from the floor and down from the ceiling, Woodman's weapon is perfect for clearing a path. I shouldn't have to mention how much easier getting through the lasers in Quickman's stage is by using Flashman's weapon.

After the 8 robot masters have been defeated, you don't get to celebrate long because Dr. Wily appears, beckoning you to his castle for a final battle. But first you have to get to him. The game becomes linear at this point, showing you that you'll have to get through 4 more stages to get to Wily himself.

The Wily's castle stages are a bit more difficult than the beginning first stages. With good reason though, as you are going in with all 8 special weapons available to you. I'd like to take this opportunity to mention that Wily's 1st stage music is one of the greatest "get pumped to save the world" tunes in video game history, link to it below.

Even after you get through the 4 castle stages and their bosses, you're still not ready for Wily as the 8 Robot masters are back again for one more round. Yep, you have to prove yourself one more time against the 8 bosses before you can move on to Wily.

I have to mention the final encounter with Wily as one of the biggest wtf moments in gaming. At least until you defeat him and uncover the mystery behind that battle. No spoilers here though. If you've not finished this game you should go get to work on it.

The little twists kept the game fresh but could also be a bit testing on your skills as the castle stages came with a bit of inventory management. Unlike with the first 8 stages, your weapon energy does not refill after each stage. Collecting weapon energy drops becomes crucial at this point. You can't be lax on dodging attacks either, because you can only stock 4 energy tanks for the entire castle, save for 1 or 2 sitting in enticing yet hard to reach locations.

The reason I feel Megaman 2 is one of the greatest games of all time might come from a bit of nostalgia fever, but even if you're not a hardcore Megaman fan the game still holds it's ground. The characters are unforgettable, the stages are platforming heaven in their simple yet challenging designs, and the music is still ipod worthy to this day. I even think the graphics are charming enough to keep you hooked (they blew me away as a kid).

So if you're a long time fan of the game, I hope reading this was enough to get you to fire it up one more time for old times sake. And if you haven't played it, shame on you, haha.

There are plenty of ways to get it now. If you have a wii, Megaman 2 on the virtual console is practically the most perfect port of the nes version you can get, outside of straight up emulating the game. I'd skip any handheld versions or phone ports. The version on the Megaman collection disk for Playstation 2 is passable, but there are a lot of changes from the original. It plays as kind of a mesh of easy and difficult modes, it's pretty much the same game though. One plus for that version is the ability to play with the remixed Power Battles version of the music tracks.

By now you know I'm all about the game. So let's take a look back at those unforgettable bosses that took great pleasure in exploding us as kids.

I've listed everyone in the order that I usually take through the game. The "proper order" of Megaman 2 is very debatable, mainly because it's probably the easiest title to beat with the default weapon only, even on the difficult setting.

Air Man

Weapon: Air Shooter
Weakness: Leaf Shield
Stage Theme
Arrange theme

This is definitely the easiest Robot Master to defeat. I usually begin with him. If you're just starting out on Megaman his stage might be a tad difficult, but it's manageable if you have some platformer experience. When you get to him just blast the hell out of him and try your best to jump his little tornadoes as they approach. I just try to stay as point blank as I can and lay waste to him. I actually think it's harder to hit him with Leaf Shield than the default weapon, so I usually just forget it.

Metal Man

Weapon: Metal Blade
Weakness: Metal Blade, Quick Boomerang
Stage Theme

This is like the only Megaman boss in history who has a weakness to his own weapon. Maybe it's because his weapon is arguably the best Megaman weapon of all time? Who knows, but when you encounter him again in Wily's castle lay waste to him in literally no more than 2 hits from his own weapon. The first time around, Quick Boomerang works on him, but I find it way easier to just take him down with the default weapon. Just stay at the far end of the level and neutral jump the blades as they come your way, while at the same time releasing shots his way.

Bubble Man

Weapon: Bubble Lead
Weakness: Metal Blade
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

Ah, Bubble man. His was the first stage that I played as a kid, my first Megaman stage ever. His theme made me fall in love with 8 bit music. Anyway, Metal Blade works on him, but his pattern is pretty simple so he's another guy you can dispatch pretty easily with the default weapon. Just be patient and watch how his projectiles move, step slowly under the bubbles to pass under them.

Heat Man

Weapon: Atomic Fire
Weakness: Bubble Lead
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

Kinda looks like a zippo lighter huh? Probably on purpose. I think he's actually pretty hard with the default weapon. Hit him with a Bubble Lead and then he'll try his flaming psycho crusher on you. Hop over his head slightly and get him with another Bubble lead, repeat. It'll look like you're jumping back and forth over him. A few turns and he's dead.

Wood Man

Weapon: Leaf Shield
Weakness: Metal Blade
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme (actually his Megaman 8 theme)

My wife's favorite Robot Master. "He's a stump, he's cute" she says. He's pretty easy to take care of. Jump over the Leaf Shield he shoots at you obviously, then unload on him. I find for some reason it's easier not to get hit by the descending leaves if you jump straight up between them.

Flash Man

Weapon: Flash Stopper
Weakness: Metal Blade
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

This guy doesn't stand a chance really. As soon as the fight starts just let him have everything you have. He walks extremely slow and doesn't jump very far. The most damaging thing he can do is run into you, and honestly he'll probably be dead before he gets that far if you have Metal Blade.

Crash Man

Weapon: Crash Bomb
Weakness: Air Shooter
Stage Theme
Arrange Theme

His weakness does almost as silly damage as Metal Man's. As soon as the fight begins, shoot an air shooter. If he didn't die from jumping through that shot, fire another when he lands on the other side of you and that's it for him.

Quick Man

Weapon: Quick Boomerang
Weakness: Flash Stopper
Stage Theme"

For some reason as a kid I pictured this guy as the Robot Master ring leader, or like Wily's right hand man. I dunno, he just seemed like he was meaner than the other robots. Which isn't far from the truth. He's definitely the fastest, which can make dodging him in his patten pretty difficult. As soon as the fight begins, use Flash Stopper which will drain his life down half way. After that I switch back to default to take him out. Try to stay in the center of the stage. He definitely wants you in the corners. It's much harder to dodge him and his boomerangs if you play from the corner.

Mecha Dragon

Weapon: Flames
Weakness: Quick Boomerang
Wily's castle stage 1
Wily's castle stage 1 arrange version

His huge and cartoony sprite was the coolest thing I had ever seen when I first got to him. He'll chase you over a cliff, giving you a nice jumping challenge. At the end, you'll be given 3 blocks to work with. One screw up and you're gone. Immediately jump onto the highest block and unload Quick Boomerangs into his face as fast as you can. If you're playing on an nes, or the virtual console version his flames will probably cause slow down and possibly make the sprites flash. To get past this, I usually stay at the front of the block, as much as I can without falling and take the first wave of flame spam. I find that if you try to jump it or correct yourself after taking the hit you're more likely to fall into the hole. Just take the first hit and keep pumping him full of Quick Boomerang, he wont last long.

Wily's computer/Cameras

Weapon: Itself?
Weakness: Metal Blade
Wily's castle stage 2
Wily's castle stage 2 arrange version

When we were kids we called this boss "Wily's computer." I'm honestly not sure where that came from. They sort of look like cameras too. I don't really know what to call this boss. Regardless, it's pretty easy. Stay in the center of the room and dispatch them as soon as they appear using Metal Blade. If you touch them, it hurts, a lot. Just be patient and be careful and it wont last long.

Guts Man Tank

Weapon: Can create hard hats, fist pound, random bullets.
Weaknes: Quick Boomerang
Wily's castle stage 3

Another awesomely huge boss for the time. To defeat him jump up onto the tank treads and hop just in front of his face, shooting as many Quick Boomerangs as you can. Watch his hands because he'll try to drop them onto you. There's no reason to really run around, just stay right on top of him and he wont last long.

Wily Turrets

Weapon: A really fast projectile, always shoots towards Megaman where ever he is in the boss lair.
Weakness: Crash Bomb
Wily's castle stage 4

It is imperative that you have a full bar of Crash Bombs waiting to go into this fight. This fight is sort of like a puzzle, as it takes the exact amount of crash bombs you can hold to defeat this boss without dying. There are gun turrets stationed around the room that will fire off a shot at Megaman every few seconds. There is a turret for every Crash Bomb you can hold. If you miss a Crash Bomb, you'll have to die and then back track to refill Crash Bomber, but don't worry, the turrets you defeated before dying will stay dead when you return to the boss lair, as long as you don't get a game over. The key to doing this wihout dying is to not blow up any of the destructible walls, that's just a waste of a crash bomb. Utilize items 1 and 3 carefully to navigate the mini maze and get direct shots on the turrets.

Robot Masters round 2


Use your same strategies as before. Some of these fights will be easier now that you have all of the weapons at your disposal. It's a good chance to experiment with different weapons against the Robot Masters, as some of them actually have a few weaknesses.

Wily's Machine/UFO

Weapon: Energy balls
Weakness: Metal Blade

The weak point on this boss is the black windshield where Wily would be sitting. I find that using Metal Blade is easiest because you can keep a constant barrage of fire on him during the entire fight. He has another life bar that fills after the front of the ship shatters. After that the energy balls move faster and do more damage. It sure would be helpful to have the slide from later games here, but oh well. Be careful advancing and just keep your flow of Metal Blade constant.

Alien Wily

Weapon: Random Bullets, himself
Weakness: Bubble Lead

Dr. Wily's an alien?? WTF? You'll have to defeat him to find out. Stay in the center of the stage and jump the random bullets that head your way. As Wily get's close, spam as much Bubble Lead as you can on him as he passes.


That's it for Megaman 2. If you've been there, done that, I hope you enjoyed the music and the walk down memory lane. If you're going to take on this game for the first time, sorry for such a brief guide. I didn't mean to write as much as I did, it's just a pleasure taking on these guys and I wanted to put down a little bit of my thought process for doing so.

Thanks for reading!