Mega Man II or Roll-chan World 2 for the Nintendo Game Boy answers the age-old question of what it'd be like if Mega Man actually got to use Metalman's weapon again. Its eight-directions of robot-splitting ammo-sipping saw-throwing mayhem have returned to decimate everything. Not content with giving players a weapon of mass destruction, Capcom decided to make this one of the Blue Bomber's softest adventures. E-tanks are plentiful, as are extra lives. Enemy projectiles do chip damage and death-dealing traps are kept to a minimum. Seriously, for everyone out there who got stomped by Dr. Wily's Revenge and wanted a little revenge of their own, this is it.
Credit where its due, this entry has elements that are slightly more polished than before. Robot Masters in particular seem to have improved the most, as their patterns actually follow the logic established in the NES predecessors. The catch of course is that almost all of them aren't as fast or as capable as before. Also, if you have the weapon they're weak to, then the fight is already over. Clashman is one of the only exceptions. He's not immediately erased by tornadoes, giving him plenty of time to drop bombs and do some damage. There's a little more uniformity, with the game having nine reasonable-length stages instead of six that trend towards the extreme. I know I praised the uniqueness of having a long stage with a lot of difficult situations to handle, but secretly I long for familiarity.
However, some mechanics have changed to be less Mega Man-like. The action no longer stops when Roll grabs a health or ammo pick-up. Took some damage and landed on spikes? That's a death. Players are also welcome to enter the pause menu during a boss introduction to choose their weapon, which is neat, if unexpected. Oh, and those classic disappearing / reappearing blocks can be jumped through. Hey wait! I like that change! That change kicks ass! I don't have any complaints about controls, but something about jumping does look and feel different. Not bad different, just different. Altogether, it's like going from emulation to mimicry.
 |
| The tiniest contact with spikes isn't fatal, so feel free to do goofy stuff like this. |
Actually, I just thought of something that I'd consider to be bad different. Roll's hurtbox is slightly larger than before. She was already a large target, but now it's gotten to the point where anything that pierces her aura can do some damage. Not that it matters though. The level of difficulty here is comforters and pillows compared to what I'd expect from the series. Look below and you'll see Roll ignoring an E-tank. The audacity! Seriously though, four E-tanks is apparently the maximum allowed. Every time I tried to collect a fifth, the game wouldn't bother making the usual pick-up sound effect, denying me that slight whiff of serotonin.
Now, I won't deny the existence of the few occasions where the game actually tries to kill me. These usually come from out of nowhere, like falling down a screen and getting jump-scared by a random spike bed. These incidents feel like they were slid in at the last minute, as if having more spikes to fall on would help dissuade players from wondering why there's so little Mega Man in Mega Man II. Those incidents aside, the level-design is mostly content with adapting stages from the second & third NES at an almost 1:1 ratio. Some sections have slightly altered layouts or require a little more slide usage, but nothing exceptional comes to mind.
All in all, Mega Man II is exactly what I imagined a handheld Mega Man game to be. Problem is, I have a poor imagination. This is essentially a "greatest hits" rendition that sticks far too close to its source material. It doesn't make the effort to play with ideas or create new challenges. The bungled soundtrack is also outright shocking. There's a fix for that at least.
That's it. I can't think of anything else to say about the game.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment