As I mentioned last week, every few days until New Year's (and possibly beyond) I'll be releasing a new review of a game I finished this year. Keep in mind, these aren't necessarily games that came out in 2017, just games I finished for the first time. If you're confused and want a more detailed explanation, you can get that right myah. Otherwise, let's jump right in!
Title: Mega Man 2
Original Release: December 24, 1988 (Famicom/NES)
Finished Release: Mega Man Legacy Collection (3DS, 2015)
And so we begin with an absolute classic. Lots of people with an opinion on such matters will tell you that the Mega Man series were the run'n'gun platformers to play on the NES. In my opinion, those people would be correct.
I've always been a fan of Mega Man in general. The series itself is just so simple and delightful, with still enough room for depth to make the stories engaging, if somewhat formulaic. Unfortunately, half of the NES games came out before I was even born, and I was too young to appreciate the latter half. That didn't stop me from falling in love with the successor series, Mega Man X, on the SNES. Or the sequel series to that series, Mega Man Zero, on GBA. Or the alternate universe series Mega Man Battle Network (also on GBA). Seriously, there was a period of my life where I was ate up with Mega Man. But I had never really experienced the originals.
I had tried them all, sure, but as a kid they were way too hard (and I had not yet developed an appreciation for 8-bit), so it would be a while before I tried in earnest. But this time would be different.
I had recently picked up the Legacy Collection on 3DS, and I was determined that, this time around, I was definitely gonna beat the original Mega Man. I didn't do that. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really enjoy myself with it. So I did some research, and popular opinion these days seems to be that you should start with Mega Man 2 and play the original game last. So I played Mega Man 2. And I beat it. Which is why we're here talking about it.
And let me tell you, "popular opinion" was right on the money this time around, since Mega Man 2 has aged much better than its older brother. For the record, I'm not attempting to belittle the original. It's still a classic, and it would be impossible to overestimate its importance to gaming history. But it's definitely showing its age, and that's all I'll say about it.
So, one of my biggest character flaws is that I get frustrated easily. It's not an "always" thing, but I definitely have a history of giving up on things before I probably should. After finishing Bloodborne (more on that later this month) I found myself more willing to play more challenging games, but before that it was rare that I put a lot of time into games that could be described as "hard." Mega Man 2 is one of those games.
I can't really say why, except maybe to say that, while difficult, it isn't (usually) unfairly so. It also demonstrates a mastery over its genre. There's a reason these games are so well-remembered, and that's perfectly on display in Mega Man 2. And all things considered, it's actually pretty forgiving for its day. I mean, yeah, you're going to die a lot, but there are unlimited continues. When you get a game over, you keep all of your progress but get kicked back to the stage select screen. So, you can throw yourself back into the wall you've been trying to climb for the last two hours, or you can pick something else to work on.
The original release didn't feature any save capability, but rather a password system. I can imagine this was a massive pain in the tenders back in the day, but the 3DS version makes it a non-issue. Need to step away for a while? Just close the system! Done. And even if you have to quit the game for some reason, Legacy Collection features a save state system. This way you can just save where you are and go play something that isn't going to punch you in the face for having the nerve to think you're good enough for it.
Speaking of which, I know the save state system is a point of contention within circles of "so-called" purists, seeing as how it allows you to bypass the need for a perfect run. You can get past a particularly tough section once, save your game, and boom, you never have to get past it again. I don't really want to make any sort of strong statement about it. I used the save state system, rarely, if for no other reason than convenience. In the interest of full disclosure, I also used a boss guide I found online. This did make some of the bosses laughably easy, but I still had to get to them.
As I said, I don't really want to make any sort of hard statement about whether games should be difficult or not. But I will say this: everyone is going to have a different opinion on how much challenge they want in their games, and no one has the right to tell you that you're wrong for what you find fun. Maybe you still play Mega Man 2 on NES to avoid even the possibility of saving your game. Great, that's fine if that's what you want. But maybe you play Mega Man 2 on 3DS and save the game after every single jump or enemy. Good. If that's what you want, and it makes the game fun for you, go for it.
Me, I'm somewhere in the middle. I like to keep the experience as pure as possible, but I also know what I'll put up with, so I take it easy on myself from time to time. Anyway, just do what makes it fun for you. Hell, it's a single player game, who even cares?
Well, now that that tangent is past, I've realized I haven't even described what the game is like. Maybe I assumed that everyone knows what these games are like, but I'll give a quick summary.
Basically, you play Mega Man. He's a cute little robot decked out in blue armor. His arms can turn into cannons that fire out energy pellets. He can jump over things. He's out to beat Dr. Wily and his evil Robot Masters, all of whom have special weapons of their own, which Mega Man acquires when he beats them. Each Robot Master is at the end of a level with perilous jumps, enemies, and traps, which Mega Man has to overcome in order to get to them, and he can do these stages in any order. Once all that is done, he attacks Dr. Wily's castle directly. Also he's called Rockman in Japan.
See? Couldn't be simpler, but it really is a great time. Like I said before, the game has aged incredibly well, and it's just a fun little blast from the past. If you have any interest in putting time into the series, this is definitely where you should start.
Until next time!
Current interests:
Listening: Scary Monsters (David Bowie, 1980)
Playing - Wolfenstein: The New Order (2015)
Reading - Kamen Rider W: Futo Detective (2017)
Watching - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return (2017)
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