Capcom Mega Man 2 for NES is RAD! #videogame #gaming #retrogaming
11We could have easily made this entire list about the Mega Man series.
Mega Man 2 is a true evolution of everything that worked well in the original. It had you choose the order in which you tackle the Robot Masters, figuring out the optimal boss pattern. Much like Mega Man 1, defeating a boss grants you their weapon, and you can figure out the optimal order. For example, Metal Man's weapon is effective against Wood Man, and so on.
Mega Man 2 made extensive use of memory mapper chips to enhance the graphical complexity, pushing the NES hardware beyond what was possible with earlier, less advanced cartridges. For many gamers, Mega Man 2 was their first exposure to the series. It's one of the rare examples where a sequel vastly surpassed the original in popularity.
I'm not sure if there's any truth to the urban legend that this game was initially developed without Capcom executives' permission by some of the original team as a side project. But it's an amusing anecdote, a fun urban legend nonetheless.
This was a great game in the '80s, it was a great game in the '90s, it was a great game in the 2000s, and it's still a great game in the 2020s.