A playthrough of Capcom's 1995 run-and-gun action platformer for the Super Nintendo, Mega Man X2.
This playthrough shows me getting all of the power-ups (including the shoryuken) and the best ending.
If you'd like to see the other Mega Man games, be sure to check out my playlist here: • Mega Man Playthroughs
After the phenomenal success had by the original Mega Man X, there was no question as to whether or not there would be a sequel. This is Capcom, after all. The only question was when would it happen. And surely enough, the sequel found its way onto store shelves a scant twelve months after the launch of Mega Man X.
Despite being a AAA title, you might think that X2 would've been a mere rehash given its short development cycle. Well, if you haven't played X2, let me put your fears to rest. Though it's obviously running on the same engine and a few assets were recycled, Capcom didn't squander all of its creative momentum from the first game. Rather, it's an iterative upgrade that brings a whole new dash of style to the proceedings.
The stages have a much different feel to them this time around. The run-and-gun combat has been somewhat deemphasized, and the result is that platforming mechanics play a much more central role in Mega Man X2's gameplay than they did in the original game. Many stages have split paths, out-of-the-way item caches, and there is even the occasional puzzle dropped in here-and-there. It does a really nice job at rebalancing the game to keep it fresh while maintaining that comfortable sense of familiarity that you expect in a Mega Man title.
There are also a few optional "objectives" this time, requiring that you beat a few optional bosses under particular conditions in order to collect parts if Zero's remains. Pull it off and you'll see a couple of substantial changes are made to the end-game. Definitely a neat twist to the formula, and one that encourages multiple playthroughs to see everything.
The game play mechanics feel exactly like you would expect for a Mega Man title. The controls are razor sharp, and Mega Man's sense of gravity and weight feel perfect. Some of the more extreme platforming challenges can be a bit frustrating (Tip: Map the dash to a shoulder button so that you can use it while jumping and shooting!), but overall the game is awfully easy for a Mega Man title. That's not a knock against it, but anyone that found MMX a bit on the easy side will be able to blow through this one pretty quickly.
The graphics and sound are great. The visuals are stylistically similar to Mega Man X's, but there is a fair amount more color this time around, and the Cx4 coprocessor embedded in the cartridge provides for some neat 3D effects while also mitigating some of the slowdown issues seen in the first game. Many of the special effects are fairly subtle, but they're quite impressive when you really stop to take notice. The enemy design is also really cool - I loved the bizarre bosses, and their size and animation gives them a lot more personality than their predecessors had. The music is also excellent. Though I'd argue that it's not as iconic as the original's, there are a lot of thoroughly excellent rock tracks throughout, and the guitar samples sound much cleaner this time.
Overall, Mega Man X2 is an entirely worthy follow-up to the first game, and really ought to be played by anyone that likes good action games.
And just remember: nothing shows compassion to one's enemy like a flaming shoryuken to the face. Words to live by right there. Unless you're Dr. Light, I guess. Then you'd just be quoting Wayne's World at unexpected times.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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