Mega Man II (NES)

Back in the good old days, before the advent of such terrible games like Gears of War, and other related titles, there were good games. And the late '80s/90's brought some of the best titles out there.

Back in '87, Mega Man was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It followed a robot known as Mega Man as he ventured out to stop the evil Doctor Wily. (of course, it has to be a German villain, but I digress) Doctor Wily stole eight of Doctor Light's creations, reprogramming them to follow his orders. Wily and Light apparently worked together long ago, as friends, but things went downhill for the group, specifically Wily. But that's another story. Upon defeat of a "Robot Master" as they're called, Mega Man obtained their power chip, gaining their special ability.

Mega Man eventually went to Wily's Castle, one of many in the series, funny how he always manages to build a castle in between games. In the main series, he's had ten castles. Each different in design, to some extent. Wily was defeated, and the world saved.

About two years later, Mega Man II was released, also for the NES. While I was disappointed with the gameplay of the original, Mega Man II was far more better.

It opens up in a city, nighttime setting, telling a brief story of the first game, and a brief bit of the plot of this one, such as Wily creating eight more Robot Masters to defeat Mega Man, rather than steal them from his old companion. It seems to me that Wily has so much time on his hands, creating a new castle each game and creating eight Robot Masters each new game. It's no wonder the man's crazed; he doesn't do anything but try to stop Mega Man and take over the world, rather than living life with a woman, living by the beach.

But I digress.

Mega Man II, as with most if not all other titles follow the similar plot of "Wily's at it again with eight more robots. You gotta stop him!", with this title pitting you up against Wood Man, Air Man, Metal Man, Heat Man, Crash Man, Quick Man, Flash Man, and Bubble Man. Wood Man summons deadly leaves, Air Man summons whirlwinds, Metal Man sharp round metal blades, Heat Man lobs out molten lava, Crash Man shoots bombs, Quick Man throws boomerangs while darting about, Flash Man stops time and shoots you to death, and Bubble Man shoots...bubbles..-.-

And the boss fights follow the same pattern of each one being weak to another. Metal Man kills himself with his own weapon (only exploitable later in the game), Wood Man jams Air Man's fans, Air Man whisks Crash Man to Oz, Crash Man doesn't hit any primary weaknesses (but still somewhat hits some opponents for decent damage), Flash Man slows Quick Man to dust, Quick Man is in a similar vein to Crash Man, Heat Man incinerates Wood Man, and Bubble Man takes out Heat Man

Wily's Castle is a "long" five stage journey, defeating Wily's creations, as well as all eight Robot Masters again, until finally you face Wily himself. Three phases, one being a large mecha, the second that very same mecha, until finally you reach his inner sanctum, and he turns into...ET?!

...

Well not exactly, he appears to turn into an alien floating in a predictable figure eight, and is only defeated by Bubble Man's weapon. It may take awhile, but finally once its health is reduced to nothing, you discover that the alien was in fact a robot, and Wily is there, on his hands and knees begging for mercy.

(..Not until he scrubs all the floors in Hyrule, THEN we'll talk about mercy.)

So that's it, really. Mega Man II was probably the reason why we have so many of them now. It was a great game with great music, and that's why I give Mega Man II 4.5 Wood Men out of 5.