The next two games in the Mega Man Retrospective are some of the most important games in the Mega Man series. They continued refining the very strong base Mega Man 1 created and it was a labor of love by the developers.
These two games are both fantastic and they were a treat revisit again.
Mega Man's 2 development was very rocky, with the game more or less being a side project for the Mega Man 1 staff. The original Mega Man wasn't the hit Capcom was expecting, so they pushed for the team to make other, more profitable games instead.
This lead to Mega Man 2 being a passion project by the staff of Mega Man 1 while they were working on various other games. What were some of those games? Why of course, the NES Classics Ducktails, Ducktails 2 and Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers.
Mega Man 2 finally released and it was a massive success. EVERYONE loved the game and got universal praise. So, Capcom gave the team a bigger budget for the sequel, Mega Man 3, but the team got a lot of new hires. This lead to it being one of the hardest games for the team to produce, as they had to rush the game for the holidays, staff having issue understanding how to make a Mega Man game and the game not being optimized enough.
It released and it got great reception, leading to Mega Man becoming a pillar franchise for Capcom. And it lead to three more sequels being commissioned for the NES for the next few years.
While both games share the same Retrospective, they will have three sections:
-Mega Man 2 Level Design and Fights
-Mega Man 3 Level Design and Fights
-Wily Castle Stages and Bosses
They share the core gameplay systems but the differences in level design needs to be pointed out.
Mega Man 2 being an extension of the original Mega Man, level design that teaches you how to play. Types of level gimmicks that are common in Mega Man 2 include vanishing blocks and normally two different paths you can take.
Mega Man 1 had that too, but it happens more so here. What makes this games level design so memorable is how tight it is. Stages like Air Man, Metal Man and Bubble Man are hard & challenging but still quite rewarding. I particularly like the water gimmick Bubble Man offers, with Rock having higher jumps when jumping underwater.
Mega Man 2's lineup of weapons is fantastic, with the Metal Blade being the best weapon in the game. High amount of ammo alongside very powerful damage output. You can even use it on most of the Robot Masters too. The Robot Master fights in MM2 are harder then MM1's and have more strict patterns to take note of. Overall, MM2 core level design, robot master fights, and weapon powers are fantastic.
Mega Man 3's section is going to be quite short in comparison to MM2, as I covered a lot of MM3 with the differences it has over MM2. But what makes MM3 so special is the sliding ability. It really adds a lot to level design and enemy encounters, making it a vital tool for dodging attacks and making effective movement. The level design is also really fun, as while MM2's is great, MM3's has little extra paths for unique Robot Master Weapons. You can use them to find little extras in the stages, but not as much compared to MM2. So, if you have a careful eye, using Rush Coil at the right spot is nine out of ten times more then enough.
Overall, MM3 is a fantastic game that like MM2, continues to improve upon the golden formula that MM1 established.
Thanks to a kind NeoGaf Member Edson, shared some thoughts and parts of MM3 that I sadly originally glossed over. Thanks for helping me out!
I mean you have Protoman which you completely omitted.
You have Rush, which completely changes up the level design.
There are also a lot of cheats if you plug in a second controller on the NES version.
A lot of enemies have environmental effects from making the screen bag, to magnetism, to spinning MM around etc.
FIrst game where Megaman does that jump and get a weapon thing.
Same with the weapons., MM can paralyze enemies, also Gemini laser can bounce off walls.
Also the whole "2 fortress" thing technically by having you go and fight 8 more bosses through 4 levels before getting to the fortress.
Before moving on to the compare/contrast between MM2 and MM3, we have the Wily Castle levels. MM2's are great, but has two annoying moments. The fight against the dragon is great, but if you don't time your jumps, very easy to die when navagating over tiny blocks. Not to mention the fight where you HAVE to use the Crash Bomber to destroy walls at the right moment. And if you run out of ammo? Have to re-do the entire level again.
MM3's Wily Castle Stages are easier with a lot of items to pick up, Rush Abilities making a lot of the harder platforming elements kinda moot and just generally being easier then before. But you have a Yellow Devil Fight and the final fight against Wily has a weakness you would never expect. Spoiler:
Its the Top Spin
So, one must be asking, "Why did you lump MM2 and MM3 together for one Retrospective? MM1 and MMX didn't get that...."
I'm doing that because while the games got new mechanics and more features as time went on, the base was very much the same. Iconic run-and-jump action across 8 stages in both MM2 and MM3, a Wily Fortress to take down and level design that pushes for challenge but also is fair with the level teaching you how to play as you play it with very careful and intelligent level design.
But gameplay wise, both Mega Man 2 and 3 are similar, but with some key differences.
Mega Man 2 in many ways, is prototype Mega Man 3. I say that, as a lot of its core elements carry over into Mega Man 3. Mega Man gets one of three items from Dr. Light after clearing a set of 2 Robot Masters, which unlocks new abilities. Item 2 for example creates a flying platform Rock can ride on while Item 3 allows you to throw a spider-like platform that climbs up walls for you to hop on.
They later evolve into this trusty robotic dog; Rush!
He is a major character for the classic series and the items Mega Man gets are passed down to Rush in Mega Man 3, and work even better hear. Rush Jet for example is ALOT better than Item 2.
Mega Man also learns the ability to slide on the ground by pressing down + jump (or O in the Rockman PS1 version of MM3, which is what I played on my Vita for this Retrospective). This is allows Mega Man to dodge attacks, slide under foes and even slide under platforms. Very helpful move that carries over into latter games.
Mega Man continues to jump and shoot, with tighter controls and even better Robot Master items. The Leaf Shield defending against some attacks, the Metal Blade being amazingly over-powered with a ton of ammo, the Time Stopper that freezes everything in place, the Stealth Snake that allows you to attack foes by little snakes crawling on the ground, the Magnet Missile homing in on foes; amazing line up of weapons in both games that are a blast to use.
Level designs in both games show a lot of growth from Mega Man 1 too, but with such a strong base, you can only get better and better as you build off that. More challenge is presented with the level design in terms of vanishing blocks, smart placement of foes and some really hard but rewarding platforming sections. Mega Man 2's Flash Man's stage and Mega Man 3's Snake Man stage come to mind.
Boss fights are great in each game too, but Mega Man 3 goes a step further; the robot masters are brought back with beings called Doc Robots. These guys you fight in slightly harder stages you already visited (four of them) and you fight them twice but get a checkpoint after you beat the first one and also get a checkpoint just before the second Doc Robot fight, so you don't have to replay the 2nd half of the stage if you die on the second Doc Robot. What makes them 'interesting' is that they are more or less re-purposed MM2 Robot Masters; same attacks and patterns but with a larger hit box (which can be annoying to fight with). Thank you whiterabbit for the correction for this portion of the Retrospective!
These fights are okay enough, but they feel like padding in the worst possible way. Mega Man 3 also introduces a new character for Mega Man; Protoman or as he is called in Japan, Blues.
He is Rock's brother that Dr. Light built before Mega Man and he has a powerful Mega Buster and a large shield. He is playable in latter games but he is more or less a foe you fight here in-between stages. His fights aren't too hard but they can be annoying if you run into him with low health.
So, both Mega Man 2 and 3 improve on the core gameplay in Mega Man 1 in a lot of great ways. Nice to see sequels further improving upon gold you struck day one.
Presentation in both games is very impressive, with bolder color and more level detail compared to Mega Man 1. But Mega Man 3 suffers from its rushed state; sprite flickering is common and slowdown can be frequent. The version I played (PS1 JP version) ran well though and I only saw the sprite flickering; no slowdown.
Musically, both games are outstanding. They are some of the best soundtracks of the entire Classic series (with Mega Man 6, 7, and 9 coming close).
Mega Man 2 Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpnTmirnEIk&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD&index=2
Mega Man 2 Metal Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nsmQ4Qc5I&index=6&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD
Mega Man 2 Air Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygqCSVboG10&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD&index=7
Mega Man 2 Bubble Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JY3xFNcg_g&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD&index=8
Mega Man 2 Heat Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JcYIfF0bnU&index=12&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD
Wily Castle 1 (MM2) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as_ct9tgkZA&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD&index=17
MM 2 Boss Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdoJ5Bcnbh8&index=20&list=PL8B78DBAB74CE66CD
Mega Man 3 Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2kTeh7FNl0&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A
Mega Man 3 Stage Select - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xix6u4HyGPo&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A&index=2
Protoman/Blues Whistle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt4UpLez4Fc&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A&index=3
Mega Man 3 Gemini Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2LF3YR2dNM&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A&index=4
Mega Man 3 Snake Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqGLXispP08&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A&index=9
Mega Man 3 Top Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dgtHw-uAxY&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A&index=11
Wily Fortress 1 (MM3) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfOE4rJnYYc&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A&index=18
Wily Fortess 2 (MM3) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC0EWRZE3Dw&index=19&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A
Protoman/Blues Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIDkiPAqhhk&index=23&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A
MM 3 Ending Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSmanKQ8d0s&index=24&list=PL5B01BDBBF4783C7A
Overall, both of these games are outstanding action/platformers of the 8-Bit era. They are hard, challenging, but fun & rewarding. I had a blast going through both games for this Retrospective and I hope that if you never played these games, this Retrospective gives you a 'push' to give them a shot!
You can play them on anything really; Original NES or Famicom Hardware, 3DS E-Shop, PS2/GC/Xbox, PS4/X1/3DS via Legacy Collection, Vita & PSP via PS1 JP Classics (on both NA & EU PSN Store Fronts), PC via STEAM and Nintendo Wii/Wii U via VC.
Lets get rocking!