Mega Man 2 was released for the NES near the end of 1988. It is one of the first games in this long running series of games Capcom released for the NES, Gameboy, and SNES systems. Mega Man 2 is a lot like the first one with Mega Man shooting enemies with his arm cannon. This game has two difficulty modes, and you have more items. I didn't feel like you had to follow a certain order with the stages either. There are some improvements that make this game better than the first one, but there still are a lot of problems that have kept me from enjoying the second Mega Man game very much either.

Graphics 7/10: I can't tell all that much of a difference from the graphics of the first game and the second game. Things look pretty dated in this one too. There may be a little more animation with the sprites in Mega Man 2, but it still looks kind of dull. The backgrounds look about the same as the first Mega Man on NES. Things haven't really improved much here. I'd just sum it up and say, that Mega Man 2 is an okay looking game, but I don't feel like it is all that wonderful and is still an early NES game.

Music 9/10: Most of the songs in Mega Man 2 sound amazing with the exception of the Heatman and Woodman stages. I wouldn't say that this game is perfect, but it is pretty close to it. The first one had a nice soundtrack, and this one does too. To me, they're both about the same with the second one being somewhat better. The previous Mega Man had several levels that weren't that great, and this one has a couple that aren't so good either. For the most part, Mega Man and Mega Man 2 sound amazing with the exception of two levels.

Gameplay 5/10: Mega Man 2 is just like the first game. It is an action/shooter/platforming type of game with Mega Man shooting at enemies with his arm cannon. Players get the stage select option at first and can play these stages in any order. It is probably better to play the levels in a certain order just like before. After Mega Man beats the stage's boss, he copies that boss' ability. Nothing has really changed with the second game here.

Mega Man still has an ammunition meter for every ability he has. He can collect ammo and health along the way as he shoots enemies. Running out of health with the arm cannon which has unlimited ammunition will result in Mega Man losing a life and having to restart from a checkpoint in the stage. After losing 2 or 3 lives, you get a Game Over and have to replay the entire stage again, but your health and ammo are replenished.

There is no time limit in this game either, and you still have to make your way through these stages without getting hit by enemies which is somewhat easier to do in Mega Man 2 than in the first game. Not to mention, you can choose to play on Normal or Hard difficulty. Of course, I'm going to play on Normal! Why would anyone want to play on Hard!? I've got to say, Normal difficulty isn't much easier than the previous Mega Man game.

The enemy placement can be pretty bad in this game too, but there doesn't seem to be as many glitches. I have been able to improve somewhat in the Quickman Stage, but I still hate trying to outrun those beams that always kill me and give me a Game Over! And, you still have to play this game in this order: Airman, Quickman, Metal Man, Bubbleman, Heatman, Crashman, Flashman, and Woodman. Some of these stages, you can probably switch up, but I don't know which ones. So, I end up playing the game in this order.

With some of the bosses, like Woodman and Quickman, I didn't need any particular abilities that made those fights any easier. I also noticed, the game automatically gave me three different platform generators in my ammo-pack. Two of these platforms moved up and down, and one made a platform for Mega Man to ride on until it ran out of health. So, that was an improvement over the Magnet Beam in the first game. I didn't find myself running out of energy for these platform generators like I did before.

Keep in mind, this was just in Normal Mode, I didn't care about doing any of this in Hard Mode! The controls are still pretty slippery, but there aren't as many spikes, enemies, or bottomless pits in Mega Man 2. The game does seem like it gives you more health and more chances to grab extra lives. Not to mention, you can find energy tanks in these stages you can add to your supply and save for later when you get low on health.

Mega Man 2 is still a hard game even in Normal Mode, but I didn't find it to be an impossible game. Dr. Wily's stage does get pretty hard, and that's as far as I've ever gotten. It gets frustrating on that part, and I find myself replaying these stages more than I want to. I get Game Overs a lot on the other areas too, but it doesn't get to be much of a problem until Dr. Wily's Lair. The Quickman Stage is hard, but I'd take it over the Gutsman Stage in Mega Man 1. The difficulty seems more fair in Mega Man 2, but it still feels like it is a bit much.

Story 5/10: The plot of Mega Man 2 continues the story from the first game. Dr. Wily builds more robots to fight against Mega Man and Dr. Light. He also builds another fortress, and Mega Man sets off on another mission to stop Dr. Wily. I didn't think this game had much of a plot! That's pretty much the same thing he did in the first game. That one was pretty original, but this one just keeps telling the same story. Capcom could have came up with something better than this, but Mega Man 2 didn't come out long after Mega Man 1. Maybe, they didn't have time to come up with anything better.

Content 7/10: Mega Man 2 consists of 8 main areas: Airman, Quickman, Metal Man, Bubbleman, Heatman, Crashman, Flashman, and Woodman. Then, you have 4 or 5 different lairs of Dr. Wily's Castle. It takes almost 45 minutes to successfully complete this game if you can avoid getting a Game Over which is almost impossible. This is another way in which the second game is better than the first. It offers a little more content, and I imagine most players who are familiar with the franchise would get more out of this Mega Man game.

Difficulty 10/10: Mega Man 2 is another hard game, but it is not impossible like its predecessor. I feel like this game is more fair because it gives you more refills and extra lives. I still thought that even after playing it as much as I have, I can never progress with it the way I can with a lot of other games. I've played a lot of games like these. They're not impossible, but they still don't get any easier. It's hard to get a whole lot of fun out of this game either. The enemy placement is better, and I don't remember glitching through any platforms or running out of ammo for the platform generators. I still think Mega Man 2 is harder than it should be, and that's just in Normal Mode!

Overall 6.6/10: I guess Mega Man 2 is somewhat better than the first one, but not much has changed with the graphics or soundtrack. The gameplay and difficulty is quite an improvement over the first! That one just trolled you or made you have to restart the game because you were always so reliant on that Magnet Beam! Capcom improved those things and made players less reliant on the Magnet Beam and got rid of a lot of the spikes and bottomless pits from before. It also has a little more content, but it is still a hard game. The plot also felt too rushed because the two games were made back to back. It is a better game, but I don't find myself getting that hooked on it.