Christmas Eve, 1988. The video game world was changed forever when Megaman 2 was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Now, that was a full five years before I was born, so I didn't get to play it on release, but thanks to my recent acquisition of a NES Classic, I get the full experience! Let's take a look at how it went.

Now, obviously the internet didn't exist to tell everyone the correct order to play the levels back then. But I would have had a friend "whose uncle worked at Nintendo" on the playground, and I don't have that now, so I'm still counting it.

My first thought is about the controls. So simple, and yet perfect. Run in either direction, hit A to jump, B to shoot. That's literally every button. There's something elegant about it. The jump is a bit floaty, but it works perfectly.

Pictured: Running AND Jumping!

Next is design. Everyone looks great. Our little blue bomber is adorable, the bosses look original and intimidating, Wiley is a great grumpy grandpa. 10/10. The levels all represent the theme perfectly for each boss, and everything is so unique. Modern retro games have captured this look perfectly, but in a way, this brings it more into the present. It looks like it could have been released only yesterday instead of 28 years ago.

Then is the soundtrack. This music is absolutely killer. The main theme, the Crashman stage, and most impressive, the Wiley Castle Stage 1-2 Theme. All absolutely incredible, and now have a spot on my phone.

Finally, the difficulty. Now, it's no Dark Souls, but this game is tough as nails. Even with only 13 stages it took me a solid 5 hours to get through this game. Thanks to RNGsus, the god of the Random Number Generator, sometimes you won't get health for a long time, so like the aforementioned Dark Souls, prepare to die.

In conclusion, get a copy of this game. If you can't get a Nintendo Classic because of insane lack of stock, I'm sure you can play online or get an old copy of the original. It's a solid 9/10 and I can't recommend it enough!