Mega Man 2

To help promote the game, director Akira Kitamura arranged to have fans submit boss designs which the development team would assess for possible inclusion in the game.  Capcom received 8,370 boss design submissions from fans which were evaluated by the development team to see which would work best based on the stages the team already created.  Due to the game’s aggressive deadline, the team did not have the luxury to wait until all the submissions from the contest were received.  Instead, they needed to begin development of the stages and enemies then select the eight Robot Masters from the boss character contest that would best fit the stages overall design.

The stages in the game revolved around themes such as air, water, forest, etc. which influenced which boss submissions could be selected for inclusion in the game as they needed to compliment the stage’s overall design.  Submissions were narrowed down by possible fit for each of the eight stages and once selected the fan designs were cleaned up and redesigned by Keiji Inafune for inclusion in the game.

The plot of the game takes place directly after the first game’s storyline.  After defeating Dr. Light’s six robots that were reprogrammed by the evil Dr. Wily in the first game, Dr. Wily was placed in prison.  After being placed in prison Dr. Wily manages to escape and is madder than ever.  Determined to get revenge Dr. Wily creates eight new Robot Masters of his own to defeat Mega Man.

Dr. Wily’s eight Robot Masters, Metal Man, Air Man, Bubble Man, Quick Man, Crash Man, Flash Man, Heat Man and Wood Man have been sent to various locations to take over the world.   As players defeat each Robot Master, Mega Man obtains their special abilities which then can be used to help defeat the other remaining Robot Masters.  Each Robot Master has a vulnerability and is weak against one of the other Robot Master’s special abilities which players can discover and use to their advantage.

Along with additional stages and new bosses, the development team incorporated additional features in the sequel such as energy tanks (E-Tanks) and a password system.   Many gamers felt that the original game was too difficult and the incorporate of a password system that could be used to record which Robot Masters players have defeated and how many E-Tanks they have was a welcomed feature that helped make the game more appealing to gamers.

While the original title was mildly successful with relatively low sales, Mega Man 2 was a huge success for Capcom.   The changes the development team made to the core gameplay mechanic that was established in the first game was a winning formula and resulted in the game reaching mass appeal.  Mega Man 2 sold over 1.51 million units worldwide and remains the best-selling game in the Mega Man franchise.