Pretty much just more of the same but less memorable of an experience overall. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one.
Mega Man X2 is a rock-solid sequel that takes the best parts of the original and amps them up. The graphics are brighter, the bosses are way tougher, and the new air-dash adds a ton of speed and mobility. Hunting down all the hidden upgrades is super satisfying, and the soundtrack absolutely slaps. It's a little on the easy side compared to some Mega Man games, but remains a must-play for fans of the blue bomber.
Pretty goooooood...?
I was initially not going to do a review for this, but I decided why not. And I'm going to try and make a review short for once lmao (try being the operative word).
I think X2 is definitely a solid follow up to X1 in my opinion. In fact, I think it does a very great job creating its own identity for itself and making it distinct from X1. There's a lot to love here, whether it be the new gimmicks such as utilizing the hovercyle and air dashing, or many of the varied levels that I really loved going through. I really liked how wonderfully unique in themes the levels were this time around, such as a desert stage, a crystal mine stage, and even a volcano stage too. All of them were really well thought out and creative level designs that I really enjoyed, with really sick setpieces too (such as the climb in Flame Stag's stage as the volcano was rising). And the bosses were just as engaging to fight as they were in the last game too (even if just like in the last game, they made me pull my hair out with how difficult they could be lmao).
I also thought the music in this one was like---I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but just as good as X1's to me? Like, the soundtrack for this game REALLY slaps. I think I like pretty much every level stage theme in this game (with the exception of the junk yard stage, just wasn't my cup of tea). My absolute FAVORITE stage theme though would definitely be that of Wire Sponge's stage theme, which might just be among my favorite tracks in this entire series for me. I swear, it sounds like a fusion between music from the Classic Sonic trilogy and the Sonic Advance trilogy---if that makes sense lmao. Loved the boss themes too, such as the X Hunter's, Sigma's first theme, and of course... I mean... ZERO'S THEME IS LIKE, PEAK MEGA MAN MUSIC. I-I've known about that theme even before getting into the series (and especially the amazing MvC3 remix of it). It's just so legendary... like seriously...
But uhhh, speaking of Zero though, erm... brings me to the only thing I didn't like about X2: the X Hunter subplot of having to get Zero's parts. I know whether or not you get all the parts doesn't really matter that much, but just idk... the principle of not saving Zero the right way just didn't sit well with me lmao. I ended up restarting the game over completely just so that I could get the "good ending", even if it didn't matter that much (of course, this was before I found out about the password generator, making me facepalm). Anyway, idk, I just felt like it kind of messed up the pace and structure for me. I don't think I'd have a problem with it if it was handled differently, but it just rubbed me the wrong way though. I also do kind of wish the Zero fight was canon though, but instead of fighting real Zero, maybe we just fight the fake one. Because even though I wanted to save my boy, it still would've been pretty hype having to fight an enemy Zero even with all of the parts obtained (and then maybe real Zero shows up to deal the final blow or something). Though, it was pretty cool how in the actual story Zero just shows up and EASILY takes care of the fake one like it was nothing, what a badass lmao.
But I digress, aside from that, not really many other issues with the game. I think it definitely made some improvements over the first game, even if I think in some ways I still prefer the first game more. Story-wise, I'm happy that Zero was brought back from the dead. Of course, I knew he was never dead, being on the Internet and all, but I'm happy to see one of the coolest motherfuckers ever created to be alive and kicking again lmao. Sigma continues to be an antagonist I find to be really cool with how every time we kill him, he just keeps coming back stronger and smarter. But I like that despite that, X and Zero are going to be ready to kick his ass again each and every time---just simple good guy vs bad guy stuff is all I need sometimes, haha. And I love the growing bromance of X and Zero, it's becoming one of my favorite gaming duos for sure. Anyway, X2 was quite fun, I really enjoyed my time with it, despite a couple of frustrations here or there.
(...and this review ended up being long AGAIN, son of a---lmao.)
I think X2 is definitely a solid follow up to X1 in my opinion. In fact, I think it does a very great job creating its own identity for itself and making it distinct from X1. There's a lot to love here, whether it be the new gimmicks such as utilizing the hovercyle and air dashing, or many of the varied levels that I really loved going through. I really liked how wonderfully unique in themes the levels were this time around, such as a desert stage, a crystal mine stage, and even a volcano stage too. All of them were really well thought out and creative level designs that I really enjoyed, with really sick setpieces too (such as the climb in Flame Stag's stage as the volcano was rising). And the bosses were just as engaging to fight as they were in the last game too (even if just like in the last game, they made me pull my hair out with how difficult they could be lmao).
I also thought the music in this one was like---I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but just as good as X1's to me? Like, the soundtrack for this game REALLY slaps. I think I like pretty much every level stage theme in this game (with the exception of the junk yard stage, just wasn't my cup of tea). My absolute FAVORITE stage theme though would definitely be that of Wire Sponge's stage theme, which might just be among my favorite tracks in this entire series for me. I swear, it sounds like a fusion between music from the Classic Sonic trilogy and the Sonic Advance trilogy---if that makes sense lmao. Loved the boss themes too, such as the X Hunter's, Sigma's first theme, and of course... I mean... ZERO'S THEME IS LIKE, PEAK MEGA MAN MUSIC. I-I've known about that theme even before getting into the series (and especially the amazing MvC3 remix of it). It's just so legendary... like seriously...
But uhhh, speaking of Zero though, erm... brings me to the only thing I didn't like about X2: the X Hunter subplot of having to get Zero's parts. I know whether or not you get all the parts doesn't really matter that much, but just idk... the principle of not saving Zero the right way just didn't sit well with me lmao. I ended up restarting the game over completely just so that I could get the "good ending", even if it didn't matter that much (of course, this was before I found out about the password generator, making me facepalm). Anyway, idk, I just felt like it kind of messed up the pace and structure for me. I don't think I'd have a problem with it if it was handled differently, but it just rubbed me the wrong way though. I also do kind of wish the Zero fight was canon though, but instead of fighting real Zero, maybe we just fight the fake one. Because even though I wanted to save my boy, it still would've been pretty hype having to fight an enemy Zero even with all of the parts obtained (and then maybe real Zero shows up to deal the final blow or something). Though, it was pretty cool how in the actual story Zero just shows up and EASILY takes care of the fake one like it was nothing, what a badass lmao.
But I digress, aside from that, not really many other issues with the game. I think it definitely made some improvements over the first game, even if I think in some ways I still prefer the first game more. Story-wise, I'm happy that Zero was brought back from the dead. Of course, I knew he was never dead, being on the Internet and all, but I'm happy to see one of the coolest motherfuckers ever created to be alive and kicking again lmao. Sigma continues to be an antagonist I find to be really cool with how every time we kill him, he just keeps coming back stronger and smarter. But I like that despite that, X and Zero are going to be ready to kick his ass again each and every time---just simple good guy vs bad guy stuff is all I need sometimes, haha. And I love the growing bromance of X and Zero, it's becoming one of my favorite gaming duos for sure. Anyway, X2 was quite fun, I really enjoyed my time with it, despite a couple of frustrations here or there.
(...and this review ended up being long AGAIN, son of a---lmao.)