This is a fact proved by science. Just think up eight new bosses, eight new weapons, and

some justification for the bad guy - though defeated in the last version, to not be defeated

- and BAM. You get to do the whole thing over again. What lets Mega Man get away with it,

though, is excellent level design, wonderfully exacting platforming, and... a sponge? I know

that ideas must be tight in a long-running series... BUT THIS IS THE SECOND ONE. C’mon.

Second verse, same as the first, except Zero’s not on the scene because... he’s dead, Jim.

Not only is he dead, he’s been TRIFURCATED! (There’s a word I didn’t expect to be

able to use today.) And the various chunks of your trusted comrade-in-arms (the chunks

that have arms, at least) are held by... these jokers, seemingly plotting some evil scheme.

You’ll have to beat them up to put Humpty Dumpty back together again (and not have to

face him as a boss later), but put them on the shelf on the moment, because for whatever

reason, all those power-ups Dr. Light gave you in the original X have been stripped away.

Why? SO YOU CAN COLLECT THEM ALL AGAIN, in all new obscure locations. Fortunately, one

of the new upgrades is a targeting reticule that indicates false walls and secret passages,

which you might have to cut through using the ground-travelling wanna-be Metal Blade,

or just land a ridiculously tight jump, possibly involving the new air-dash. There’s also

a double-fisted Mega Buster that fires two charged shots, as well as an armor enhancement

that turns the damage you take into a massive, screen-clearing blast. It’s a standard Mega

Man sequel: You do all the same things, just a little bit better.

The biggest improvement in X2 isn’t in the gameplay, but in the actual hardware of the

cart itself. Sure, folks talk about the Super FX chip, and if they’re hardcore JRPG addicts

(like me), the S-DD1 compression chip that made Star Ocean so freakin’ huge... but

less heralded was the wireframe-manipulating Cx4 chip, used only in this game and Mega

Man X3. It’s this chip that powered revolutionary 3D effects, like... this sword. That’s a

sword, trust me. And they were revolutionary at the time. Trust me. After all, these effects

are set against some of the most iconic sprite art of in the history of gaming. But for all

the haters who said, “It’s just the same game every single time,” it’s not. Things

changed inside here, even if at first glance it doesn’t appear as such. Also, how can

you hate on a game with a Wayne’s World reference... that segues into giving you the

Shoryuken. I know I can’t.