What Your MegaMan 2 Starter Says About You
Many people start with one option, but you can begin with any of them and find success. Whichever one you begin with says something about you though.
One of the most enduring and endearing game franchises in the history of the Nintendo Entertainment System was a Capcom-helmed title known as MegaMan. The six games for the NES all followed a similar conceit. Eight Robot Masters (six in the first one though) started wreaking havoc on the world, and it was up to MegaMan to blast them away and then take down the person controlling them, the nefarious Dr. Wily. Although the games were, in their own weird way, open-world in that you had six-to-eight stages you could defeat in any order you wanted before you got up to the fortress(es) at the end, there was always some suggested order in which you would go around the block.
In fact, starting with MegaMan 4, there was always that one boss you could easily defeat with your arm cannon that would act as the thread by which you would unravel the entire order. The weapons you would get from these Robot Masters would generally only work well on another, singular Robot Master, so the easy order was laid in front of you. One could argue the same logic was applied to the original game in the series.
However, MegaMan 2 was, comparatively speaking, the Wild fuckin’ West. There were a few enemies you could best with your Mega Buster alone. Hell, I’d say every Robot Master except for Quick Man or Crash Man were easy outs with just your arm cannon. While you could pick one with which to start and go around in a general order, there was no real set order because the weapon weaknesses were so crosslinked that there were an insane number of combinations one could go before getting to Dr. Wily’s fortress. While I posed the answer on Twitter last week and got an overwhelming majority, the depth in how many different answers showed me that there were enough people who didn’t go with the big option to say that MegaMan 2 was perhaps the last true “wing it and find out” video game in history.
But what does your choice of starting point say about you? I’m going to attempt to give answers for all eight Robot Masters below, starting with the most popular one…
Metal Man – If you go for Metal Man first, you’re not looking to fuck around or find out. You’re one who wants to be prepared right away for the mission at hand, and you want the best weapon. The Metal Blade is so broken a weapon that I’m sure Capcom’s team let how OP they made it guide their decisions never to give that much of a cheat code ever again for free. The stage itself also has an Energy Tank there for the taking, and Metal Man himself isn’t too difficult to defeat with your Mega Buster even though he’s not one of the foes that it’s double-effective on. So, why wouldn’t you go for Metal Man first? Well, there are two Energy Tanks in the level and a stray one-up, but you can’t get either of those two unless you have Item-2. You’re not interested in defense as much as you are in offense if you go Metal Man first, but that’s okay. NES games don’t tax you that mentally. You WANT to go all out.
Bubble Man – You like the water and being able to get around. Jumping underwater in the MegaMan series means no ledge is too far up for you. Of course, jumping in Bubble Man’s stage is more a curse than a blessing because the water screens are all lined with insta-kill spikes. Bubble Man, like Metal Man, only takes minimal damage from your Mega Buster, but he also is pretty easy to maneuver around. Also, Bubble Lead is the most important weapon in the game because it’s the only thing that can harm the final boss. That doesn’t mean anything unless you make it to the end, but maybe you just want to have THE weapon as soon as you can.
Wood Man – Like a football-loving dad, you believe that defense wins championships, and Wood Man gives you the only defensive weapon in the game with Leaf Shield. Sure, it only works on one Robot Master as a weapon, but you’re not using it to actively defeat enemies as much as you are trying to absorb hits from enemies without taking damage.
Flash Man – You have a long memory and remember all the guides telling you that Flash Man was the easiest mark, except for one particular guide that said Bubble Man should go first and then Flash Man, when Bubble Lead works the same on him as the Mega Buster does. Weird. Anyway, even though Flash Man’s stage is a lot harder if you don’t have Crash Bomber and either Item-1 or Item-2, you only really care about the endgame. You’re results-oriented, and one cannot blame you for being like that in the modern world.
Quick Man – You’re insane.
Heat Man – You want the challenges in life. Quick Man’s stage is hard, yes, but it’s also based more on how well the buttons on your controller are working at any given moment. Heat Man’s stage, especially the stretch in the stretch where you have to jump on the disappearing blocks across a lava river and then chasm takes timing and patience, two things that will take you a long way in video games in general. Also, Heat Man is one of the four enemies who takes elevated damage from the Mega Buster, and his patterns are on the easy side to avoid/survive. But if you have the skill to get across the big chasm without Item-2, you’re already on your way to beating Heat Man without Bubble Lead with ease.
Air Man – You like to be prepared for completion. Air Man’s stage is the linchpin for the full experience for a few reasons. One, it has no real power-ups that you’ll kick yourself for missing. There are no Energy Tanks or one-ups. It’s just you, the sky, and various aeronautically themed enemies to best before you face off against the big guy. Two, Air Man is one of the four bosses who takes elevated damage with the Mega Buster, so even though his attacks are probably among the hardest to dodge, the trade-off between how many shots you can get off vs. how many times he’s going to hit you is worth taking. Three, and most importantly, you will get two abilities that will make the early game and collecting power ups that much easier.
The first is Item-2, which is a hoverboard-style item that the Rush Jet would replace in later games. Having this in your arsenal will make getting around levels that much easier. Second is the Air Shooter, which itself isn’t necessarily a power item, but it does defeat Crash Man in two shots. The Crash Bomber is probably the most useful item in the game because it will be able to blow up walls to get to certain items or shortcuts more easily. It’s better to have that item early if you’re a completist like I am than it is to be in a level like, say, Flash Man’s and see items you might be able to use be inaccessible.
Crash Man – You want the Crash Bomber early, but you’re insane. Not as insane as you would be to take on Quick Man first, but my god, just go beat Air Man first, okay?