Mega Man 2

Growing up, Mega Man 2 was the entry I played the most. After playing through the NES series, I'm underwhelmed by it and surprised its held in such high regard in contrast to future entries. I chalk this up to the reason I likely played so much of it as a kid: it's easily the best soundtrack of the series and one of the best of the entire NES library. Much like Streets of Rage 2, this feels like one of those series' entries that is overvalued due to its superior soundtrack.

There are enough substantial ways that Mega Man 2 improves on the first that it's easy to see why it's viewed as the better game. There are more bosses, more interesting stages, some of the best visual enemy design you'll see in a 8-bit title, and much nicer aesthetics. You also get E-tanks and more enjoyable platforming items. The majority of the game is exceptional, but the rough patches are so rough that I knock it down a notch. In fact, it's the only Mega Man I didn't finish due to just how annoying it can get.

Quick Man's stage is an enormous pain in the ass that far exceeds any of the crap the first Mega Man pulled. This is outdone by Wiley's Castle which includes maybe the most infuriating level of the series. It's like they made a list of annoying bullshit and checked it off, culminating in a boss you can only kill with one weapon and will lose if you miss a single shot. The strange thing is that this entry is the easiest of the series outside these difficulty spikes that aren't fun or challenging in an interesting way. They just stink.

Perhaps I'm just bitter, but the highs this entry reaches makes its lows more apparent. Given that it's also the shortest entry -- perhaps the challenge made the first longer for me -- it's hard not to be underwhelmed by what is so often called the best of the series. Not even close, in my book.