Ultimate Guide: Mega Man II
Dr Wily is trying to take over the world with his Robot Masters, and only the blue bomber can stop them! Find out how this superb sequel surpassed the original and launched a beloved series
We look at Capcom’s phenomenal sequel, including its many inventive bosses and its Mega Drive port
If you ever need to convince someone that second chances are worthwhile, Mega Man II might just be the perfect piece of evidence. It seems crazy to imagine now that Capcom’s blue bomber is a beloved fixture of the gaming world, but the original Mega Man (or Rockman, in Japan) was not a particularly successful game, despite earning some critical praise. In fact, sales were low enough that Capcom couldn’t justify the production of a sequel – in fact, it was only after an appeal to management that development was permitted, and even then the team had to work on other projects.
Faced with these limitations and a short development period, the team chose not to reinvent the wheel. Mega Man II adopted the shooting-heavy platform game template of its forebear, which was hardly a bad thing – it had been received well, and only needed minor adjustments to captivate players. To speed development along, the team utilised unused concepts from the original game, such as enemy designs. Capcom also invited fans to send in
A non-linear structure might not seem like a big deal, but it wasn’t common in the Eighties
their concepts for Robot Masters – the mechanical bosses of the Mega Man world – and used tweaked versions of those in the game.
The setup for the game is simple. Following his defeat in the previous game, series antagonist Dr Wily decides to regroup and take out Mega Man. However, instead of taking over other robots, this time Wily has built his own Robot Masters: Air Man, Bubble Man, Crash Man, Flash Man, Heat Man, Metal Man, Quick Man and Wood Man. The benevolent Dr Light sends Mega Man off to defeat them, and put the dastardly Wily back in his place.
Each of the eight Robot Masters has a level which fits their overall character – Metal Man’s stage is an industrial area full of conveyor belts and mechanical hazards, whereas Air Man’s stage requires you to negotiate sky-high moving platforms over bottomless pits. Likewise, Bubble Man’s stage dips underwater and Quick Man’s stage is filled with hazards that strike suddenly. The end of each stage involves a showdown with the boss, and victory allows you to claim a cool new power-up. Since Mega Man II inherits a nonlinear structure from the original, you can choose to tackle these stages in any order.
In today’s environment of open world, open-ended games, a nonlinear structure might not seem like a big deal, but it wasn’t at all common in the late Eighties. What’s more, it was a blessing – Mega Man II is quite difficult, but the challenges are varied. You can choose to prioritise what you’re good at if you’re more skilled at certain tasks, such as precision platforming or combat. Alternatively, you can tailor your style to the power-up rewards you get for beating bosses – with the right weapon, you can tear the Robot Masters to shreds in a matter of seconds, making this a very viable
strategy. This only lasts so long, though – once the Robot Masters are taken care of and Mega Man is fully powered up, your final challenge is a linear run through Wily’s lair on the way to the ultimate fight.
The one major complaint that many players had about the original Mega Man was that it was too difficult. Mega Man II includes a number of features to reduce the frustration factor. Perhaps the most important is the E-tank, an iconic item that can be picked up and used later to fully restore energy – a literal lifesaver when used judiciously, and the only way to gain energy during a boss fight. Then there are Item 1, Item 2 and Item 3 – dull names for sure, but they allow for the creation of platforms that can allow Mega Man to skip past tricky parts of stages, and access otherwise unreachable items. Further still, the international release has a difficulty setting which reduces the resilience of enemies compared to the Japanese games. It’s still not an easy game, and some sections remain infuriating, but it’s certainly far more reasonable than the original.
That reduced frustration allowed players to more easily appreciate not only playing the game, but the sights and sounds along the way – and they were special in their own right. The series’ signature cartoon graphics are best expressed by the larger sprites, but even the relatively small ones like the Robot Masters are packed with personality. As for the music, the tunes are amongst the best conjured from the NES – high energy, memorable ditties with an upbeat feel that matches the on-screen action well. These have inspired a huge number of fan remixes and covers, and are frequently cited when discussing classic videogame music.
Mega Man II was released in Japan in December 1988, and like its predecessor it was popular with the critics. Famitsu’s four reviewers gave scores of 6, 7, 8 and 7 for a total of 28/40. Western reviews were more enthusiastic, though. All four reviewers in Electronic Gaming Monthly offered the game 8/10 when the game arrived in the US in mid-1989. When the game finally arrived in the UK at the beginning of 1991, reviewers were even more effusive in their praise.
The Mega Man series as a whole owes its continued existence to Mega Man II’S success
CVG offered the game 95%, and Mean Machines also gave it 95%, with reviewer Jaz Rignall commenting that it was “one of the finest platform games ever seen.” Zero rated the game 96% and gave a Console Classic award, stating that it has “playability just coming out of its ears.”
This time around though, the sales were there to match. Mega Man II would ultimately sell 1.51 million units, making it one of Capcom’s best-selling games ever at that point in time. Only one Capcom NES game sold more copies (that being Ghosts ‘N’ Goblins, with 1.64 million units), and it remains the best-selling game in the Mega Man series – but that’s not for a lack of releases, as Capcom’s mascot has starred in literally dozens of games since.
The Mega Man series as a whole owes its continued existence to Mega Man II’S success – had sales once again failed to meet expectations, that would have been it for the blue bomber. Yet with only some small tweaks, the team was able to follow a struggling game into a smash hit, which is something all too rarely seen today. The result was that Mega
Man would make four more NES appearances, sticking with the 8-bit platform up to 1993 and creating an unbreakable association in the process – so much so that Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 went back to the NES style despite being developed for the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. As for Mega Man II itself, it has been featured in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man Legacy Collection compilations, making it easy to track down today.
So if you’re already a fan, by this point you’ve probably got a hankering to negotiate the deadly spikes of Bubble Man’s stage again already. But if you’re not a fan, or you’d previously dismissed the game for its admittedly stiff challenge, it’s well worth giving the game another chance. After all, we wouldn’t be talking about this if second chances didn’t lead to good things, would we?