Mega Man X2 is decent but it takes a serious hit in all of the original's strongest suits. The level design is more frustrating, the music is weaker, and finding the upgrades is more tedious. Much more frequently now is the requirement of a specific weapon and armor upgrade combination (Speed Burner + Arm Parts in multiple cases, for example) just to get another life tank or something. There's a much more specific order of operations here going on, allowing for less freedom in the process of powering yourself up further. I guess a better way to describe it would be that it feels less like exploring and more like crossing things off a checklist. Maybe it's just that the stages that you have to revisit aren't fun like in the original. Maybe some of both.

I would probably hold this in a higher regard than I do if they didn't get everything wrong here right the first time. The changes are detrimental, and generally too slight anyway. Mega Man X3 would further emphasize these weaker spots, with yet more tedious backtracking, yet weaker level design, and outright shitty music. Can't be helped I suppose, but I think it's a much quicker burnout than the NES series' often-cited slow decline (which I personally disagree with anyway).