MEGA MAN II is generally considered the breakout game for our titular blue bomber, and for good reason: it fixed all the problems found in the first Mega Man, and was one of the best games for the NES.Truthfully, it's the only Mega Man game I had for the NES in the late 1980s and early 1990s, though I played the first game quite a bit as well.As good as MMII is, is it really the best Mega Man game ever, let alone in the classic series?
If it weren't for MEGA MAN III, I would unequivocally say yes.MEGA MAN III is easily as good as MMII, and opens up the Mega Man gameplay, expanding Mega Man's repertoire.
Major new features introduced in MMIII
*Slide - Mega Man can now slide, creating new possibilities for level design.
*You can now carry up to 9 energy tanks, rather than 4 like MM II
*Due to the introduction of the Doc Robot levels, this is by far the longest of the six NES MM games.
*Rush, Mega Man's iconic robotic dog, makes his debut here.
*Proto Man, masquarding as the mysterious Break Man, debuts as well.
*Another notable feature is this is the first game that has accurate cover art on how Mega Man actually appears in the game.MM is notoriously bad cover art, and MMII's cover art has MM holding a gun rather than his arm cannon.Not bad but not great. This is definitely an improvement over the last two.
MMIII actually has the best story of all six NES titles.Dr. Light and Dr. Wily are working together to build a giant peace keeping robot named Gamma.However, the eight robot masters that the two designed to help keep the peace go beserk, stealing 8 power crystals.The two scientists quickly call Mega Man into action.
Mega Man must defeat the eight bosses to regain the crystals.This set of levels is probably my favorite in any Mega Man game.They're all very well designed, and just flat-out fun to play.The Shadow Man level and Snake Man level are both great.
But wait, there's more.After defeating the eight robot masters, four new levels open up (they are remixed or altnerate versions of four regular levels), and robot masters named Doc Robots are masters of these levels.There are two Doc Robots per level.While all the Doc Robots look the same, they are actually programmed to act like one of the robot masters in MEGA MAN II.When you reach the Doc Robot's lair, the sprite of one of the Mega Man II bosses descends from top of the screen down into Doc Robot, like the spirit of that perspective boss is inhabiting or animating the Doc Robot's body.
Once you defeat the 8 Doc Robot masters, another level opens in the center of the portrait page, entitled BreakMan.It is a simple one screen level, where you must fight ProtoMan.Ultimately, it is revealed Proto Man is Mega Man's brother, and built before Mega Man.Proto Man, who has been kept ambigious throughout the game, has been helping train Mega Man with each fight.
After you finish your training level with Proto Man, you now learn that Dr. Wily has stolen the power crystals Mega Man recovered, and has holed up in a new Skull Castle, intent on activating Gamma and reprogramming him to begin yet another attempt to take over the world via thru the campaign of bloody massacre or pogrom.
Wily's Castle features several cameos or references to the first two games.
*The famous Rock Monster (AKA the Yellow Devil) from the first game makes a return appearance, with a newly designed appearance.
*Gamma looks a lot like Gutsman (who, of all the villains in Mega Man, makes the most cameo appearances in other games, his likeness also appears as a Wiley Castle Boss in MMII).
*The boss guarding the transporter room in the fourth portion of Dr Wily throws rocks like Gutsman.
*Mega Man must fight his clone, just like the original MEGA MAN.Thistime around, there are three platforms, each with a separate clone.One clone is real, the other two holograms, and the real clone's location constantly changes between the three platforms.
The Dr. Wily stages are fun, although the last incarnation of Dr. Wily is the weakest of all six NES Wily bosses.With a single top spin, you destroy him.
The only two negative things I have to say about the game is this: the story is not really explained, and the inclusion of Top Man.
1.The story is the best in the NES Mega Man Games.With the other titles, you are given some cut scenes to tell what little story there is.In MM III, there are no cut scenes initially, so you don't really know the story.In fact, until you defeat BreakMan and the Dr Wily stage opens up (the Dr Wily levels is proceeded by a cut scene with Dr. Light and Mega Man, revealing Dr Wily is evil), you probably won't even now Dr Wily is supposed to be helping you.Granted, the game is longer than the other titles, so maybe they didn't have the memory to work with on extra cut scenes, given the NES's technical limitations.Still, given how it's the best story it's sad Capcom relied almost entirely on the game manual, which most NES players won't have access too, to advance the story.
2. Top Man.He's the most stupid robot master of the first three games, and his weapon is hard to figure out how to use.Once you do figure it out, its pretty useless with the sole exception of the last boss fight.The whole idea of "Top Man" as a robot master is pretty ridiculous, and is the first indication in the Classic Series that Capcom is beginning to run out of ideas for robot masters.This trend of borderline asinine robot masters would continue thru MM IV and V, and reach the absolute bottom of the barrel in MM VI (really, who the HELL thought of "Plant Man"?)A minor quibble, though, and don't let that distract you from all the game has to offer.It's a more important as an indicator of bad things to come for the series than really effecting this game's quality.Beginning cracks in the foundation, if you will.
Overall, I think this is easily one of Mega Man's best games, and is an essential purchase for NES and retro gamers, as well as Mega Man fans.As much as I like Mega Man II, I really think Mega Man III gives it a run for its money.
Though MMII is more important from a franchise historical pov as it was his first major hit game (MM was more of a sleeper hit), MM IIII takes everything about MMII and improves on it.This one definitely ups the ante, and the next three sequels simply can't compare it its genius or playability.
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Mega Man 3Buy cheap Mega Man 3 now
This is not the pick-up-and-play whip-thrashing game I hoped for. The fact that each enemy needs to be hit 2-8 times makes it really hard when enemies are coming from both directions. There are also a lot of dead ends that make things confusing. (There are no in-game maps, either.) It has good graphics for being an earlier NES game. The music is also good. Another positive aspect is that there are many terrains and areas to explore. Overall, the game is just pretty good.
