NES Club [2/26/04] - Mega Man 2

[Darth Sensei]

This week?s game was chosen by Oobgarm. Next week?s game will be chosen by Zubiac666. Please PM me by Wednesday with your game so we can post screenshots and the rom. Also, include your challenge if you want to include one.

Mega Man 2

http://www.bagofjews.com/~dre/NES/images/mm2a.gif http://www.bagofjews.com/~dre/NES/images/mm2b.gif

Download the Rom: http://www.bagofjews.com/~dre/NES/rom/megaman2.zip Thanks Bratwurst

Please keep all comments about this game inside this thread and include the following:

Opinion: What did you like and dislike? Was it as good as you remembered? How does the game compare to arcade or other system if applicable?
Platform: Was it played on NES, emulated on PC, GBA, etc?
Progress: How far did you get in the game?
Challenge: If applicable, did you complete the challenge? Remember that those using emulators should not use built in features to make the challenges easier.

The Club Member list is below:
Cuewarrior
Oobgarm
Zubiac666
EnemyZero
Bratwurst
Icarwngs55
Gamemaster_ca_2003
Jive3D
Dr.Morbis
Nesman85
Ze_ro
Gideon
Portnoyd
Postermen
Kaine23
Goodwill Hunter
Damon Plus
Balloon Fight
Scooterb23
Sotenga
TRM
Alex Kidd
Spoon
Atariboy
Classicgamesdepot
adaml
TheRedEye
Goblin
slip81
Hamsnibit
AdamG
Qixmaster
DDCecil
ArnoldRimmer83
Brisco
whoisKeel
MarioAllStar2600
Quintracker
SniperCCJVQ
Needle
Sph1nx
swlovinist
ddockery
chrisballer
downfall
vintagegamecrazy
gamergary
jgenotte
supahzonik
8-bit Master
leonk
Captain Yashiro
jerkov
Sofa King Gud

[Darth Sensei]

Here is the opinion that Oob sent me.

Opinion: This game is one of the top two titles my list of favorite NES titles. Mention the NES to me, this game(and Contra) pops in my head. It's tough for me to remember what attracted me to the game initally, but I do recall the first time I saw it--it was the first time I saw a game that I had never heard of before, and I was a regular reader of Nintendo Power! I was amazed at the colorful graphics and tremendous sound. I immediately went to rent a copy so I could play it myself. Throughout numerous rentals, I consulted my Nintendo Power to play through the game, and made it all the way up to Dr. Wily's castle. The gap in the stairs had me stuck for the longest time-those of you who have played it know what I'm talking about. It was with great jubilation that I finished the game-after spending enough money on rentals that I could have purchased two copies of the game.

There's no denying that Mega Man 2 has some of the, if not the most memorable music on the NES. Most of you are probably thinking of your favorite level tune right now. It makes the game the classic that it is, IMO.

A superb Mega Man 2 resource can be found here: http://www.mmhp.net/GameHints/MM2.html.

Platform: I play it on NES. I've got it emulated on PC and my Ngage.

Progress: Completed umpteen times. I've seriously lost count. What is your favorite method to go through the robot masters?

Challenge: OK, I've got two challenges for you.

1. For those who aren't Mega Man vets: Can you get through Quickman's laser trap without the aid of any devices, especially Flash Man's time stopper? How many tries did it take you?

2. Mega Man vets: How far into the game can you get without dying? I've made it up to the third level in Wily's castle, and the boss room with the sentry guns(where you have to use crash bombs) kills me. I've yet to complete that boss with one life.

Oobgarm

[nesman85]

ahh, this is a great game. i remember buying this from a friend in 7th grade for about 3 bucks. i still have all of my passwords written down somewhere. my cousin and i made it to the final boss a lot of times, but we could never figure out how to beat him, we couldn't even injure him. i'll have to pop this one in again and see if i can figure out how to beat that guy. if not, i'll probably just look at a walkthough. :)

[ArnoldRimmer83]

This game was fantastic back in the day, and it still remains one of the best Mega Man games in the series, if not the best. Everything about this game was great The level design was great, and the game's difficulty was more reasonable than the first game's. This is one of the few Megaman games where I found all the robot powers to be useful and fun to use in different situations, especially Metal Man's power. Add a terrific soundtrack, and great graphics that have aged very well, (The dragon and Gutsdozer bosses in Wily's Castle still look cool today.) and you have one of the best action games on the Nes.

I've beaten this game several times, though I think I only managed to beat it without dying once, and it was on the easy difficulty. That wall cannon boss is tough, cause you have to make sure you only blow up certain doors in the room with the crash bomb, and not waste it. And as for the beams in Quickman's stage, yes I can pass them easily without the flash stopper. It's not so bad with practice.

[Bratwurst]

Opinion:

I had never heard of Mega Man before I rented this one on a whim in a video store. It started a life-long love of Capcom and was probably most responsible for drawing me into the NES back then. Ducktales, Mega Man 2 and Little Nemo were a trifecta of 8-bit bliss.

It was the perfect blend of challenges, platform physics and audio/visuals to stand head and shoulders above any other game of its kind. A combination that was never again achieved in the subsequent NES sequels although each one stands on their own with some quality or another.

Interestingly enough with the exception of the Zelda and Mario series, the Mega Mans seem to be the most hacked of the NES games out there. There is a great variety of programs floating around from tile dumpers to level editors.

Platform:

Happen to own this cart, but who doesn't? Consequently it got quite the workout on my NES when I first got ahold of it.

Progress:

I've beaten this one so many times and I'm still not sick of it. A few of my peers that are aware of my depravity periodically ask if I tire of Mega Man yet. The answer is NO, NEVER.

[Dr. Morbis]

Opinion: This is 7th on my list of best NES games of all time. Clearly the best of the series (which is saying a LOT), and as mentioned, the soundtrack is incredible. I too, discovered this game at a rental store without ever having heard of a Mega Man 1. In fact, I didn't get a chance to play the original until my collecting days began. So MM2 was my introduction to the series, and I stack up all other MM's against it. My favourtied music is the Dr. Wily level 1/2 music, followed closely by Bubble Man's stage music.

Platform: I play this on the actual console of course, usually about 4 or 5 times a year.

Progress: I've beaten it umpteen-thousand times, but I don't recall ever doing it in one life, also because of the Wily boss that requires Crashman's weapon. I had played this game for 13 years under the assumption that it was impossible to beat that boss on one life. I would spend one life destroying ALL the walls, and then come back and take out the actual boss. But my last time through (about a month ago) I actually used my brain and selectively shot only certain walls, then used my specail items to reach all the necessary platforms. DUH!

Challenge1: I can do Quickman's stage in my sleep.
Challenge2: I'm going to give this a shot this week.

Anyway, excellent choice, but I imagine it would be tough to find a NES fan who hadn't played this game before.

[Sotenga]

Best. Mega Man. Game. Ever. EVER, IMO. :D

Let me reminisce about all the different stages:

Air Man: Those giant heads with drills are weird. It's easy to fall to your doom, but you are high in the sky after all.

Crash Man: It's a long way to the top. I love how the sky changes from day to night.

Flash Man: One of my fave stages, what with the shiny, slippery floor and the kick-ass music. Those Sniper Joe mechs are evil, though.

Quick Man: BLARGH! Effing instant kill beams! Even my brother hates them!

Metal Man: Heh... robo-clowns riding gears. Not really a common sight. And Metal Man is a pansy if you use his own weapon on him. ;)

Bubble Man: Beautiful waterfall in the background, and I love those giant fish. Oh, and the ability to jump high in water.

Heat Man: Ugh, I HATE those disappearing blocks! And you expect me to do this over a lava pit? F U, man! I'll take the Item 2 express!

Wood Man: Huhuhuh, Wood Man. Huhuhuhuhuh... erm, yeah. The Leaf Shield rules. So do those giant dogs and Bubble Bats.

Wily 1: YES! I love this music! And the giant dragon! He really shocked lots of players... such a giant sprite with his sudden appearance.

Wily 2: Still going with the cool music... damn, I don't remember this stage too well, but I do recall it having the room with the killer blocks.

Wily 3: Water overrides the conventional laws of gravity. It would be much more fun if not for all those spikes. Oh, and the Gutsdozer rules!

Wily 4: RARGH, I hate this stage. Stupid automatic platforms above those spikes... those five cannons at the end are a pain too. Miss three Crash Bombs, you are screwed.

Wily 5: Teleporter room. The first game to have it. Coolness. That ship Wily is in looks badass. Pretty difficult battle too, BUT... it does not end there.

Wily Final: OMFG Wily is an alien! LOL

Not the hardest last boss, but he does a surprising amount of damage with those bullets. It's even worse if you collide with him. Arm that Bubble Lead and kick his ass!

... oh, it was a hologram. The real, not-alien Wily surrenders. A winner is you.

Ah, that brought back some good memories. Am I the only one who thinks that the music playing in the first two Wily stages kicks ass? :D

[whoisKeel]

yes, this was my first mega man experience also...i had borrowed it from a friend, and i remember beating using strategies from a magazine (order in which to beat the bosses).

i've played maybe 5 megaman titles throughout his career and this is the only one i remember finishing. i always get stuck on the last boss. but anyways i remember how cool it was to get all the different weapons, and i think that is what hooked me in. when i get home i'll have to fire this game up again. (i still need to beat codeman viper tho ;)

[Ze_ro]

To be honest, I never really played the NES Megaman games. I didn't have a NES as a kid, and somehow, whenever I play games on emulators, I have such a short attention span that I give up awfully quick when I get to a hard spot (and it's especially frustrating when you get hit in the air and fall backwards into a pit for an instant death).

However, this game is a bit of a special case for me, since I have Megaman 2 on the Gameboy (and I played it enough to beat it in my sleep). It's not quite the same game, and like the rest of the GB Megaman games, is a bit of a hodge-podge of the NES versions. Some of the Megaman 2 levels are direct translations though, so I have a bit of a head start going into this game.

I think this is one of the easier Megaman games (Which is a good thing in my opinion, since I always felt this series was awfully hard), but maybe that's just because I played the Gameboy version so often. As for the challenges, I can do the Flashman one, but I still die far too often to really claim any headway on the second one.

Frankly, I miss the slide and "charge" ability that were added later on. I felt those moves really added to the game.

--Zero

[Darth Sensei]

Opinion: As most others do, I love this game. I love the music, the crisp graphics, and the obvious thought and planning that went into this game .
One thing I particularly like about this MM is that it has fewer occurrences of jumping puzzles than the other MM's (at least in my memory). I despise jumping puzzles.
I also like the personality of this game. MM is cute and seems more real than most 8-bit heroes. Dr. Wily moves his eyebrows while flying in his saucer. Little touches like this go a long way.
Platform: I played it on NES, and emulated on my GBA.
Progress: Finished too many times to count and finished it twice in the past week for this review.
Challenge: I took the Quickman challenge and managed to accomplish it after about 15 attempts. I've never done it before, as I just made sure I beat Flash Man first.

Great choice Oob.

[downfall]

Opinion: Definitely on my "Top Ten games I'd take if I were stranded on a desert island" list. Such a wonderfully well done game, and the best in the entire Mega Man series, even today. It's hard to find anything wrong with this game. And the music is my favorite on the NES. Everything I could say has been said already, so enough of that. Great game though.

Platform: I play it on NES. I've got it emulated on PC, but NES is much more fun.

Progress: Completed tons of times. I think I pick a different way through the game almost every time.

Challenge: I've completed both of the challenges. I also have a friend who is a huge fan of this game as well, and when he's over, we always play through, trading off after each level. We've beaten it without dying this way too. I've also personally managed to beat Heat Man's stage first, without using the blaster (except on Heat Man himself) or getting hit.

[jerkov]

I haven't gotten to play this one since it was declared game of the week, but I've played it a ton of times throughout the years, so here we go:

Opinion: This was the first Mega Man game I ever owned. Got it brand new when it first came out and I still have the same cart in my collection. I'll echo the sentiments of most of the people here and say that yes, this is my favorite Mega Man game of all time. Everything about this game is awesome. I love the colorful graphics, the spot-on play control, the variety of weapons, and (of course) the awesome music. This was such a gigantic leap up from the original Mega Man, which is another great game that just happened to be way too frustrating and difficult. MM2's difficulty is much more manageable and just a lot more fun to play IMO. Strangely enough, I do not like MM3 all that much, which seems to be another favorite of Mega Man fans. If I had to rank the NES MM games, it'd look like this, from my favorite to least favorite: MM2, MM5, MM6, MM1, MM3, with MM4 being my least favorite one by far. It's still not a bad game, but it's lacking compared to the rest of the series.

Platform: Definitely on my NES.....I'll definitely have to play this one some more this weekend.

Progress: Now here's where I'm going to get a little embarassed.....I've never beaten this game. I've owned this game for more than 10 years, yet I've never beaten it. How sad is that? I can get to the third or fourth level in Dr. Wily's castle, but I've never gotten to the end. I don't know what's been holding me up, I just remember that there are a few difficult areas in that castle that always throw me for a loop. Actually, to further ridicule myself, I've never beaten any of the MM games. I've gotten to Wily's castle in most of them, but never actually beat any of them. Let's see if I can't finally beat MM2 sometime this week......

Challenge: I don't think I could pull off that part in Quickman's stage without using Flashman's time stopper. I'll give it a shot, but I think I've tried it before without success. I'll give both those challenges a shot once I break out the game again.

As an aside, for all those who love the music in the Mega Man games, I have a song that you might want to check out. If you're interested, download the song "Follow the Reaper" by Children of Bodom. It's heavy metal with harsh vocals (just warning you now), but many of the guitar and keyboard melodies that they use remind me so much of Mega Man games for some reason. Listen to the keyboard solo in "Follow the Reaper" and tell me if that doesn't remind you of Mega Man.......And if you hear the song and dig it, chances are you'll like all their songs. Some people I know even call them "Mega Man metal", which is a high compliment in my book.

[jerkov]

Oh, as an addition to my last post......I easily got by the Quickman stage without using the Flashman weapon. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I remembered, actually pretty easy once you know the patterns.

[Balloon Fight]

Opinion: Easily my favorite Mega Man game of all time. This game set the standard for the MM games, and is a classic in every way. I still remember tunes from crash man's stage. I can play this over and over again and not get sick of it.

Platform: I have this on the NES.

Progress: Beaten it many times, and still do.

Challenge: I can do the first challenge easily. The second challenge I could almost get to Wily's part.

[Sotenga]

Oh, as an addition to my last post......I easily got by the Quickman stage without using the Flashman weapon. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I remembered, actually pretty easy once you know the patterns.

Indeed. They used to irritate the hell out of me when I was little, but now I can just easliy blaze through that level without using Flash Man's weapon. Now, I just save it to use on Quick Man to drain half his life. Still, they irk me, and my brother really hates them. We might also know that they were resurrected in Turbo Man's stage of MM7. :evil:

Does anyone know how the Genesis version for Rockman Megaworld compares to this?

[jerkov]

Okay, now I've discovered where I've been getting stuck all these years. In the fourth level of Wily's castle, how do you defeat the boss? It's a room filled with gun turrets, most of them being protected by those walls that only Crashman's weapon can destroy. The only weapon that does any damage on the actual turrets, as far as I can tell, is the Crashman weapon, but I ALWAYS run out of ammo before all of the turrets are destroyed. I must be really stupid or something, but I cannot defeat this boss. What's the trick?

[Bratwurst]

jerkov, I don't remember the exact way to go about it but you have to use Item 1 to circumvent some of the doors, and only blow up a select few to save the rest for the turrets. It can be done in one go, just takes practice.

Otherwise, you can use all of your crash bombs on the walls, die, replenish the crash weapon on your way back to the boss room and they will be gone the second time around.

[jerkov]

All right Bratwurst, thanks for the help......not too hard of a boss once you know how to get around those walls, actually.

Besides that one part that kept me stuck, this game is actually not that hard at all. The last two levels of Wily's castle were a breeze, as were the various forms that Wily took during the final battles. I can't believe I couldn't beat this game before.....it's actually an easy game. I feel, I don't know, stupid that I couldn't do it before.

As far as the second challenge, I can easily to get to Wily's castle without losing a life, but I did make a stupid mistake in the first level of Wily's castle during the game I just played, so I did lose a life there........shouldn't have, but I did. I also lost a couple of lives in the fourth level of the castle, too. With a little practice, I don't think it would be too hard to beat the entire game without losing a life. Just one or two more practice runs, and I think it would be feasible....

[chrisballer]

OPINION: It is just like i remembered, Ofcourse it was not to long ago since i have played it though. I very much like this game though i did not play it as a child i first played it a couple of years ago and it drew me in for awhile. I will have to agree with the rest on the music of the game. What i like most about the game is that it lets you pick what lvl you want to play to me that is very cool. once you have the patterns down it is a easy game i think but i like easy. This is one of those games where there is little not to like.

PLATFORM: I played it in the NES

PROGRESS: I have beat this once, but i am sure it wont be the last time :)

[Darth Sensei]

Hey folks, who is the first boss you go after in MM2? I always go after Metal Man first because his weapon is so handy.

D

[jerkov]

I usually go after Flash Man first, as an easy little warm-up, and then I go after Metal Man second.

[Bratwurst]

I just wanted to mention that I felt 2 has the best ending of any Mega Man game so far, and the way things are going, ever will be. :D

[Flack]

Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know that I renamed the topic to match the new "club" naming convention (a lot of people have asked to have the dates in the topics so they can tell week from week). I also made both of the club threads "Announcements" instead of "Stickies" to get them listed at the very top of the Emulation Forum for the maximum amount of exposure.

[Dr. Morbis]

I always take out Air man first because I like that level the least. I hate waiting around for platforms. I like to run-and-gun and of the 8 initial stages, this is the only one where standing still is mandatory. So I always get it out of the way first.

After that, I have no specific order. In fact, my goal is to never do it in the same order twice. And since the bosses are so unbelievably easy with certain weapons, I usually adhere to a "pea-shooter only" handicap to increase the challenge a little.

[scooterb23]

Wow, haven't played this game in about 10 years when the local video store rented NES games for 29 cents a day...

Lots of people credit this as the best Mega Man, although I like #3 better.

I had absolutely no trouble with Quickman's level...never died once, like riding a bike :D

I'm pretty sure "back in the day" I got through the game once on one life. The sentry gun room never gave me trouble either, I think I died on it once, and then figured out the pattern, and it never got me again.

I will try harder on this game later.

[Darth Sensei]

Thanks for your help Flack.

Zubiac666, can you please PM me with the next game?

D

[Ze_ro]

I'm surprised no one has posted this yet, but here's a list of all the bosses and their weaknesses:

Air Man: Leaf Shield, Quick Boomerang, Atomic Fire
Bubble Man: Metal Blades, Quick Boomerang
Crash Man: Air Shooter
Flash Man: Metal Blades, Atomic Fire
Heat Man: Bubble Lead, Quick Boomerang, Air Shooter
Metal Man: Metal Blades (!), Quick Boomerang
Quick Man: Time Stopper (halves life), Atomic Fire, Crash Bombs
Wood Man: Atomic Fire (full charge), Air Shooter, Crash Bombs, Metal Blades
Mechanical Dragon: Quick Boomerang
Living Room: Metal Blades, Bubble Lead
Gutsdozer: Quick Boomerang
Sentient Room: Crash Bombs
Wily's Attack Ship: Crash Bombs (1st form), Metal Blades (2nd form)
Alien Wily: Bubble Lead

Of course, the Arm Cannon is effective against all the bosses, but to a much lesser degree.

Also, here's a password to go to the start of Wily's Castle with 4 energy tanks:

A5, B2, B4, C1, C3, C5, D4, D5, E2

And here's one to start the game with 4 energy tanks (but none of the robots defeated):

A5, B1, B3, C4, D2, D3, E1, E4, E5

And lastly, I'm guessing everyone here has seen the speed run of this game? If not, you should download it, it's very entertaining.

--Zero

[scooterb23]

This thread is actually the first time I ever heard about being able to stop the Quickman things with the Flashman weapon...

[Darth Sensei]

This thread is actually the first time I ever heard about being able to stop the Quickman things with the Flashman weapon...

Are you kidding? I thought that was the whole point of flashman's weapon.

D

[Bratwurst]

Are you kidding? I thought that was the whole point of flashman's weapon.

LOL Yeah it was pretty useless anywhere else in the game. On 'hard' mode (which is the regular difficulty mode in the famicom version) I think it would only cut a third of Quickman's life bar as opposed to half in normal mode.

[Balloon Fight]

And lastly, I'm guessing everyone here has seen the speed run of this game? If not, you should download it, it's very entertaining.

--Zero

Link please. :) I would like to try a speed run over the summer, and would like to see other people's runs.

[Dr. Morbis]

A bunch of super-speed-runs for nes can be found here:
http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jutut/nesvideos.html

Just keep in mind they are all *FAKE* (these guys use famtasia). Most of these, while technically possible on an actual console, are impossible in the practical sense.

[Ze_ro]

Are you kidding? I thought that was the whole point of flashman's weapon.

LOL Yeah it was pretty useless anywhere else in the game.

Well, it was also useful in some other places... like the areas with those crushing spike platforms, and you can use it to prevent those big, fire-breathing dog robots in Wood Man's level from showing up. Since you almost never use this "weapon", you never really need to worry about wasting it, so feel free to use it in frivolous ways. I find it annoying that you can't shut it off once you fire though. Would have been a lot more useful if you weren't forced to drain it all in one bang.


I would like to try a speed run over the summer, and would like to see other people's runs.

Well, this one might be useful to see the tricks he uses, but I don't think you're going to be able to top this speed run anytime soon... the guy who did it used an emulator slowed down to 1/30th speed, and a lot of save-states... so it's a lot easier to have "perfect" timing and perfect jumping (the way he handles Air Man's level is crazy). He uses a lot of interesting bugs to get past some places quicker (the Bubble Man one has to be the most useful), and from what I can tell, there are only two places where he gets hit that aren't on purpose (once fighting Wood Man, and once fighting that Bulldozer thing in Wily's Castle... there are other places where he takes hits purposely so that he can walk through stuff). The entire run is about 30 minutes long.

--Zero

[Balloon Fight]

I would like to try a speed run over the summer, and would like to see other people's runs.

Well, this one might be useful to see the tricks he uses, but I don't think you're going to be able to top this speed run anytime soon... the guy who did it used an emulator slowed down to 1/30th speed, and a lot of save-states... so it's a lot easier to have "perfect" timing and perfect jumping (the way he handles Air Man's level is crazy). He uses a lot of interesting bugs to get past some places quicker (the Bubble Man one has to be the most useful), and from what I can tell, there are only two places where he gets hit that aren't on purpose (once fighting Wood Man, and once fighting that Bulldozer thing in Wily's Castle... there are other places where he takes hits purposely so that he can walk through stuff). The entire run is about 30 minutes long.

--Zero

Thats fine with me. I just like to see how fast I can beat a game. I'm not trying to top this guy's tape, which must have taken too much time to do. It's just for fun. :) Thanks for the link.

[kainemaxwell]

First Mega Man game I ever played and was hooked since. I can never get past Wily's 4th stage tohugh. :( I usually always went after Metal Man first, he had the best all-purpose weapon of MM2.