Mega Man Discussion Thread (formerly Let's All Play MM2!)

Get ready to game over people, it's Mega Man 2 time.

It's actually the only Mega Man game I've beaten, as difficulty wise it's far more forgiving than other MM games.

Some tips: - Start with Metal Man. The weapon you get from his stage basically never runs out of energy and can fire in eight directions. It's brilliant.
               - If you find a room with respawning enemies, abuse the shit out of it. Get yourself up to full energy, fill up your weapon energy, and maybe nab a few lives.
               - This will help you: Use it to find out what boss is weak to what weapon.

Good luck, let's see how we all do.  

EDIT: Started playing on Difficult (Japanese Normal) because I was cocky. Breezed through Metal Man and Bubble Man's stages. Attempts at beating Wood Man and Air Man resulted in a game over. I now understand this song.

I played about an hour of this in the afternoon & managed to beat airman, heat man, quick man & wood man though this run was helped by 3ds's useful restore points but I'm trying not to use them until I get to the boss door.

Maybe it's my time with super meat boy but the platforming doesn't seems as hard as I was expecting, it's still challenging like the disappearing blocks on heat man stage or dodging the lasers on quick mans stage.

So yeah, I'm really enjoying it.

Yeah, so long as you take your time with it, it's not too difficult. Mega Man punishes people who're looking to rush through the levels, you've got to pause by every pit lest some beastie jumps out of it and ruins your day.

What's the 3DS version like Jas?

JayMoyles wrote:

Yeah, so long as you take your time with it, it's not too difficult. Mega Man punishes people who're looking to rush through the levels, you've got to pause by every pit lest some beastie jumps out of it and ruins your day.

What's the 3DS version like Jas?

Just yer standard VC port, d-pad works really well & as I said above restore points take away some of the anger.

Currently on Heat Man's stage. Scuppered by those timed blocks over the lava/pits time and time again

Have defeated Wood Bloke and Wet Fellow. Enjoying it. May even have a bash on Megaman 3 & 4 after.

I had a decent run on the (I think) top-left level. The one with the waterfall background.

It's not immediately obvious that the black spiky things are an instakill, though, which is a bit cheeky.

I'll join in ASAP... excited!

Downloading this tomorrow night, I am. Can't see it being more frustrating that Henry Hatsworth, somehow.

Only have two stages and Dr Wily's to go now. W00t

Sat down with this for the first time since I decided that I hated it a few years back. Played it a bit and suffered a few game overs before I remembered you could use the weapons of the bosses you've defeated. Using JayMoyles' advice, I started with Metal Man, got his blade weapon and then went through the Flash, Water and Wood stages. The insta-kill lasers on Quick Man's stage eventually gubbed me, and I'd had enough for one sitting.

I've got to admit, I had a decent amount of fun in that forty-five minutes I spent on it today. I still think there are some mental bits of design (and I don't mean that in a nice way), and that it's a bit unfair, but I'll definitely rethink my opinion of the game and go back to it.

All in all, so far, not bad. Don't know why the Yanks go crazy over it though.

Phillips wrote:

The insta-kill lasers on Quick Man's stage eventually gubbed me, and I'd had enough for one sitting.

Definitely my most hated part of the game, pre-Wily. All the advice I can offer is not to faff about with trying to collect any items, and to treat that section of the stage as a funnel. If you can see the path Capcom intends the player to take and make a beeline for it, then you should be okay.

It's going to be the weekend before I actually get to play this. *sigh*

Still, better late than never.

I was determined to start this a-fresh, but I found the bit of paper I had with the decided boss order on. I tried not to read it and failed. So...


Might be spoileriffic, but then, if you're reading this topic at all...

DAY ONE
Metal Man: Got past the, er, "ceiling willies" OK. Quite easy really, and got to the boss OK. Following the Tatanga rule of watching myself rather than Metal Man. Hooray! Super-cheat-o-powerup get!

Bubble Man: LOVE THE MUSIC! Do you reckon those are supposed to be cellos at the beginning? Although that waterfall background is possibly seizure-enducing. Now the obligatory water high jumping ceiling spikes bit. Yep. Died enough times for a continue.
Does anyone else do a "trial run" of a boss, if they've got more than one life? That is, they don't use a special weapon on the first go, so they don't waste its power while they're not at full energy and are learning what the boss does? I do, but managed to sort out Bubbsy-baby with my regular weapon. Try not floating down really slow, stupid-head.

Flash Man: Or "also ice Man". Or, "Cyborg Flavor Flav". Yeah boi etc.... music's a bit "my first go at writing music for a secret agent film". Had a surprising amount of trouble with the cucumber dispensers (you know what I mean right?) The giant robots are a pain in the arse. The metal blades don't even work! What? And then when you shoot the mech, the dude jumps out and has a bulletproof shield! That's not fair at all! Did the difficult "high route" platform jump. And once again managed to defeat Flavor Flav with my regular weapon. ITEM 3!

Crash Man: AWESOME MUSIC AGAIN! This time it's the intro to a BBC Saturday evening program. Crash Man apparently lives in the Windows 3D Pipes screensaver. Mega Man is climbing the Endless Tower Of Pipes That Go Nowhere. Hint: never try to work out what a Mega Man level is supposed to be. On the mega-long moving platform section, I'm reminded of its appearance in Total! Magazine. The cheats section, where a Game Genie code gave you 14 lives. The caption read "What do you call a Mega Man with 14 lives? A Giga Man?". I didn't get it then. It's not funny now. Sure enough I went up the wrong side of the tower and had to start again. I then tried the Time Stopper on Crash Man... WAIT IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING WHY DO I THINK THIS IS THE RIGHT ORDER TO DO THIS ARGH Bubble Beam it is.

Quick Man: Again, awesome music. Although, 5 minutes in, the metallic percussion sound is starting to grate. And then...

Phillips wrote:

The insta-kill lasers on Quick Man's stage eventually gubbed me, and I'd had enough for one sitting.

Did it eventually, due to

JayMoyles wrote:

All the advice I can offer is not to faff about with trying to collect any items, and to treat that section of the stage as a funnel.

I like the nice touch in the dark corridor - the fact that the palette switches to a redder one when the torch-bots appear. And then Quick Man kept running into the bombs! Derp!



Really enjoying playing this again. I know that people get fed up with the difficulty in Mega Man games, but I'd argue that, especially in this game, it's pretty fair - it's your fault if you die (with the exception of the snails in Bubble Man's stage who basically spawn on you if you fall into the screen at a certain place). Can't wait to carry on with the rest of the game.

Oh. Wasn't expecting a double-post. Well, I'm going to do it anyway (deflated )
Air Man - see the video at the top. But did. (Even harder as a cameo in MM3).
Wood Man - Did. Music awesome again.
Fire Man - Wood Man's shield does not work against Fire Man. Continued, and Item 2/3d across the block bits this time.
On Dr. Wily's level (that's what game music is supposed to be, not all this ambient crap)

Ah, I've forgotten to update this! I have been playing it intermittently, but I don't have a lot to say about Mega Man 2.

I think it's a classic - good music, forcing you to actually think and punishes you for barreling ahead blindly, and is my second favourite Mega Man game. It suffers from some difficulty spikes, but the same could be said of most NES games. Having said that, it's way way easier than Mega Man 1. Like, worlds apart.

My progress after my first game over, this time on Normal difficulty.

Metal Man - Did the old grinding for lives trick on the drill penises then pressed on. Easy time here. Deaths - 0.

Bubble Man - Again, no issues, save some over-cautiousness in the spikes section. Completely forgot to use Metal Blade until the boss. Deaths - 0.

Flash Man - Came VERY close to dying here. Those mechs are bad news. Flash Man went down in about two seconds though with Metal Blade. Deaths - 0.

Heat Man - Lost a life on the ol' disappearing blocks, but the rest of the stage was easy. Deaths - 1

Wood Man - No trouble whatsoever here. This stage is built for exploiting the Metal Blade. Deaths - 0

Air Man - Died at the start on this stupid drill platform things. I hate them. Boss himself was a piece of cake with Leaf Shield. Deaths - 1

Crash Man - Was very nearly whittled down by that Hard Hat dicking about by the top of a really tall ladder, but came through in the end. Crash Man himself was no problem when dealt some Air Cutter pain. Deaths - 0.

Quick Man - Holyyyy crap. I died a LOT here. The beam got me about four times, and the one time I made it down, I forgot there were mechs down there, and I lost most of my health meaning Quick Man himself seen to me easily. Finally got through it though. Deaths - 5

Dammit, I love that Wily Castle beginning jingle. And the music... UGHHHH so good!

Wily Stage 1 - No problems at all. I did some life grinding on those wiggly worm generators to compensate for my awful Quick Man stage performance. Dragon slain easily. Deaths - 0

Wily Stage 2- No problems again. Picked up more lives by accident in that tunnel full of drill penises. Wall boss beaten easily. Deaths - 0

Wily Stage 3 - Died once in the tunnel full of spikes. Stupid mistake, really. Bulldozer boss went down in seconds though with Quick Boomerang. Deaths - 1

Wily Stage 4 - No problems with the stage itself, but that boss is a right pain in the arse. Had to use an E-Tank to stay alive, didn't die though! Deaths - 0

Wily Stage 5 - Died to Wood Man of all people in the boss rush. Never knew that Metal Man dies in one hit to the Metal Blade. The Wily bosses are easy - although I died against Alien Wily because touching him does SO much damage compared to getting hit by his shots. Deaths - 1

Total Deaths - 9.

Honestly, this isn't a hard game, saving maybe Quick Man's stage. The E-Tanks make it difficult to lose to a boss, and the amount of energy drops you get sometimes are insane, as well as random life pickups. I really enjoyed my playthrough though. Didn't manage to beat Sonic, so this is my first Let's All Play completion!

when are we starting a 3rd game

I'll put up a new voting thread when I get home from uni.

Ah crap, I need to finish this now!

I vote Mega Man 3 for week 3 *shot* *dies*

Massively late to the party here! I read this thread when it was created; I've had this game on my 'To Play' list ever since. Finally got round to it the other day, managing to beat it twice on Normal difficulty. What a bloody great game! The rock, paper, scissors setup and freedom to tackle the first eight levels is inspired, and ever since I've been formulating new routes to Wily's castle.

Currently favouring Wood Man's stage first, followed by Air Man and Crash Man. Should probably start a run with Metal Man one of these days, as I know the Metal Blade is good against Bubble Man, Flash Man and, er, Metal Man. I can see me replaying this game until I devise a definitive sequence (my sequence seems to fall down after Crash Man, as I think the Crash Bombs are a bit gash during boss battles).

I like how you can use Crash Bombs and Item 2 in choice places to uncover goodies/avoid those irritating disappearing blocks.

The Metal Blade is just ridiculously overpowered. Eight-directional shots, a huge amount of energy, rapid fire - it's too good.

To be honest, I mostly stick to the Mega Buster most of the time. Besides breaking out the Leaf Shield for occasional moving platform bits (I love how it's energy-free until you pick a direction), the Metal Blade for those huge flamethrowing cats on the Wood Man level, and of course the Crash Bombs for uncovering secrets. I love how you're given complete freedom to choose your strategy, though, and I've found myself experimenting with other weapons slightly more as I've become more familiar.

I love, for instance, how the giant blue mechs drop their orange knight rider after a single shot from the Air Shooter. The Leaf Shield is great against those bloody annoying egg-dropping birds flying through the ladders in Crash Man's level. Have you noticed any other enemy weaknesses?

Update!

I finally beat this on Difficult mode today without using save states.  

I think I've finally polished my game here, and it took me about eighteen hours using the 3DS training wheels to grow my confidence within the game for that final run. I can easily beat the boss rush now without even resorting to an E-Tank.

Strategy:

Air Man: The easiest of the bosses to destroy without a backup weapon, in my opinion.
Metal Man: Aggression is the key with this guy on Difficult mode. Keep him jumping and get those shots in
Crash Man: He's a dead guy with Air Man's Air Blaster.
Flash Man: Toasted with Metal Blade. Good level for legitimate bonus lives and E-Tanks, employing Item 2.
Quick Man: Another good level for lives and E-Tanks. Quick Man does put up a bit of a fight with his half-remining life bar after Time Stopper
Bubble Man: Sweeping up the last route oh the grid, Bubble Man is a sitting duck for a good Metal Blading.
Heat Man: Use Bubble Lead to force him to dash, fire Bubble, rinse, repeat. Easy free life if you bust out Item 2.
Wood Man: Two blasts of Atomic Fire and two careful Leaf Shield dodges, and you're on your way to Wily.

Wily 1: Lure the dragon to the upper platform, drop back down and hammer away at his health with your simple Mega Buster. Repeat for not very long at all.
Wily 2: E-Tanks and lives all over the shop! Those aggressive wall panels are no match for fleet feet and Bubble LEad.
Wily 3: An easy level all-in-all, and Guts Tank doesn't stand a chance against Quick Boomerangs (one of only two useful applications for the weapon!)
Wily 4: Those fucking Boobeams! Never have found a way to eliminate all the panels/Boobeams with the a single, full set Crash Bombs. Always have to result to a suicide and then return to sweep them up for the finale.

Boss Rush: Piece of piss if you balance trickier battles out with easier ones to keep your health topped up. Favourite sequence at the moment:

Wood Man,
Air Man,
Metal Man,
Flash Man,
Quick Man,
Bubble Man,
Heat Man,
Crash Man.

Wily phase one: Simply jump the shots and aim for that visor.
Wily phase two: Diagonal Metal Blades to Wily's face. Doesn't stand a chance.

Final phase: Complete joke. Dodge, jump and fire double rounds of Bubble Lead in his sorry face. Game beaten!

Fantastic game, and one I've had masses of pleasure playing. What's your top Mega Man game, Jay? And do you have a more effective strategy for the Boobeam Trap?

That's impressive stuff Stu! Difficult is indeed a challenge, congrats!

My favourite Mega Man is Mega Man 3. Improves on Mega Man 2 in nearly every way - better music, the slide mechanic speeds up gameplay and the bosses are as good as ever. As for that boss, ugh, I hate it. I don't think it's possible without full Crash Bombs, so yeah, I usually have to resort to a suicide as well.

Thanks, Jay! I'll be happily revisiting this game to keep my skills sharp for the future; I thank you (and Somecallmejohnny's YouTube videos) for getting me into this no-doubt great franchise.  

I fall short on the Boobeam Trap even with a full Crash Bomb bar, so I have to resort to a suicide every time. I'm sure I'm simply missing a trick here, but for now I'm making do with the lazier option of dying and facing it again. Seems a wee bit sloppy from a design standpoint.

I'm glad you enjoy Mega Man 3 so much! I was really torn whether to start the series on any given game from the first three, but eventually pitched for 2 because it's allegedly much friendlier and more polished than the original. On your recommendation, Mega Man 3 is my next stop. Is it any harder that 2? I understand 2 is the only game in the series with a choice of difficulty.

After Mega Man 3, I'd recommend Mega Man X. Different kettle of fish to the NES Mega Man games, but a tasty fish nonetheless.

Yeah, I never liked that boss. Bit of a blemish in an otherwise great game IMO.

Mega Man 3 is initially harder I'd say, until you get to grips with the slide and how to incorporate it into your playstyle. Once you get the hang of it though, the boss battles become faster paced and traversing the stages is easier too. I wouldn't play the original Mega Man until you've dabbled in a few of the later games - it's not fantastic, and is very unforgiving too.