Although I hold Mega Man 3 to be the absolute perfection of the series, I have been spending much time recently studying Mega Man 2. The second in the series is perhaps the most complex of all the Mega Mans. I used to play this game often in my childhood but never noticed the following complexities/inconsistencies:
1. Boss Sequence and Weaknesses: Unlike the previous and all the proceeding Mega Man games, there is no defined and convenient robot boss sequence to follow. For example, Metal Blade kills Wood Man (obviously), but also Flash Man, Bubble Man, and even Metal Man himself! In fact, Metal Blade is the most effective against metal man, implying the complete inferiority of Metal Man or the complete superiority of Metal Blade (this month's Game Informer ranked Metal Blade as the 3rd best video game weapon of all time. I disagree. Quick Boomerang is superior in that it is most effective in Dr. Wiley's castle and has an essentially unlimited supply). If one were to take care of Metal Man first, they could floss on most of the other evil robots, but if one beat another boss first, let's say Air Man, the sequence would be much more linear and more difficult. I'm still unsure how I feel about this inconsistency and what exactly the game designers meant by it.
2. The Dr. Light-Dr. Wiley Dynamic: I think it's blatantly obvious that Dr. Light is a God character: His name is Dr. Light, He created (Mega) Man, who is definately a messiah character, and he means to restore order and combat Dr. Wiley. Are we to believe that Wiley is a Satan character? If so what role to the evil robot bosses play? Fallen angels? Satan's demons? But at the end Dr. Wiley bows to Mega Man, implying that he is begging for forgiveness from his sins.
3. The In-Game Portrayal of Mega Man vs. the Box Cover Portrayal of Mega Man: In Mega Man 2 it is clear that Mega Man's gun is a sort of cannon built into or maybe even entirely composing his left arm. Mega Man is also clearly part robot, part human. However the Mega Man 2 box cover portrays Mega Man, Quick Man, and Flash Man battling in Bomb Man's level (Bomb Man is from Mega Man 1!). Mega Man and Quick Man appear as if they are entirely human (just wearing tight spandex and silly headgear). Most perplexing and disturbing is the fact that Mega Man is HOLDING A GUN instead of having a blaster attachment on his left arm.
Discuss.
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6 comments:
Can Dr. Light REALLY be a GOD character AND a DOCTOR at once? Is GOD a man of SCIENCE? Discuss.
You bring up an interesting and disturbing point. As a religious man, I know that all science is evil. Modern science only contradicts what is written in the scriptures and is therefore false. But our society, especially Mega Man's society, accepts it (seeing as they are all robots and robot makers). That is one of the hardest parts of accepting Dr. Light as a God character. It's certainly disheartening but no one else in the games represents God as well.
Whoa...your question about Dr. Light has some very interesting parallels to Lost which I will refrain from discussing here. Let's just say that *it* moved a little when I thought about the parallels.
The Topspin weapon from Top Man in Mega Man 3 was the most frustrating weapon ever. You only use it to kill the final boss.
Actually Top Spin could be used to floss on Shadow Man's punk ass, but the problem with the weapon was that you had to be in direct contact with whoever you were using it on, which meant sacrificing some precious life bar.
It's also interesting how, in Mega Man 5, Gyro Man can be easily defeated by either Tahini Sauce Man's weapon OR Tsatziki Sauce Man's weapon.
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