Is Mega Man 2 easier than the other Mega Man games?

[FiveHundredSurvivors]

So Mega Man 2 was the only Mega Man game that I grew up playing, and I've never really found it hard, with the exception of heat man. I can get to Dr. Wily's castle just fine, but I've never gotten around to try and finish the game.

Anyway, I've recently tried out the original Mega Man and Mega Man 3, and I can't beat a single stage in either of them.

Is Mega Man 2 just easier, or maybe I've just played it so long I've gotten good at it. But then I don't understand why I suck at all the other games, because aren't the mechanics basically the same?

[Sik]

Probably you played so much Mega Man 2 that it's second nature by now. (the first Mega Man has some hair pulling stuff for being early though, to the point you can make a level unbeatable if you forget to grab an item in another level)

Mega Man 4 gave you 1ups all over the place if I recall correctly.

[Movax12]

I've only played through mega man 1, 2 and 3, and mega man 2 is by far the easiest out of those. Not sure, but I think 3 is harder than 1.

[tokumaru]

I suck really bad at all Mega Man games. I don't think I ever managed to beat more than 1 or 2 bosses.

[mikaelmoizt]

Is Mega Man 2 just easier, or maybe I've just played it so long I've gotten good at it. But then I don't understand why I suck at all the other games, because aren't the mechanics basically the same?

Taking a guess here..
I would say yes. Mainly because of metal mans multi directional blade you can use for a lot of the enemies in the levels and some of the bosses. It is so much of an advantage to have that weapon.

[rainwarrior]

Off the top of my head I'd probably rank their difficulty as something like: 3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 5

I think of 2 as somewhere in the middle, though of course it's also the only one with a hard mode, if you want a more difficult version.

[Drew Sebastino]

One thing I've never understood is why people act like the first Mega Man is so difficult (well, I cheated my way through the yellow devil though). I agree with rain warrior when he said that the 3rd Mega Man game was harder and, call me crazy, but I think the second one is harder too. (On the original "hard" mode.) I haven't played 4,5, or 6 so I can't say anything about those.

(By the way, the metal blade is overrated.)

[Macbee]

Megaman 5 is much easier than 2.

[rainwarrior]

I live for the yellow devil.

[ccovell]

One thing I've never understood is why people act like the first Mega Man is so difficult...

Poor hit detection with moving platforms, insta-kill with spikes (even when stunned), no E-tanks, and the fact that you must play it all in one sitting... I'm sure these all contribute to people's opinions.

[Pokun]

Even with that I think it doesn't really get hard until near the end when you have to fight several undodgeble bosses in a row. Mega Man 3 is one of the hardest mostly because of the Doc robots. It has among the easiest Dr Willy fortresses though, so its difficulty is a bit oddly balanced.

But then I don't understand why I suck at all the other games, because aren't the mechanics basically the same?

The mechanics is almost identical (Megaman skids more in Megaman 1 than in later games though), it's mostly level design, weapons and bosses that makes things differently. You probably rely on your good memory of patterns and levels from Megaman 2, so when you play a new Megaman game it doesn't work anymore (it's the same for everyone).
Also in Megaman 2 the bosses has several weaknesses but in most games each boss only have one weakness. So you just figure out which boss is easiest to beat with the Rock Buster and then figure out who is weak against his weapon. Then continue this way and figure out who is weak against your most recent weapon (like rock paper scissors). The rest is mostly about memorizing the bosses' patterns, especially the fortress bosses since they are often tough even though you know their weakness.

I think Megaman 2 is the easiest of the earliers games (even on difficult mode, I play the Famicom version which has no easy mode). But it has one of the hardest bosses, the Boobeam Trap which requires very exact use of certain weapons and items or you are forced to use a continue or two.

[Sik]

Poor hit detection with moving platforms, insta-kill with spikes (even when stunned), no E-tanks, and the fact that you must play it all in one sitting... I'm sure these all contribute to people's opinions.

Don't forget failing to get the platform item (whatever it was called) which effectively renders Wily's Tower unbeatable forcing you to go to game over just so you can go grab it. If you played Cut Man's stage without first getting Guts Man's weapon, you're pretty much guaranteed to have done this at least once since you probably wouldn't go back to get the item.

[ccovell]

Well, that magnet beam platform thing is on Elec Man's stage. Ironically, the Elec Beam can also break the blocks on this stage so that you can pick up the platform. It's a little cruel, but I actually like this 80s-style forced problem solving.

[Sik]

I was pretty sure it was Cut Man, but oh well. I'll recheck later.

Also WTF at magnet beam destroying blocks o.O

[rainwarrior]

Super Arm or Thunder Beam (not Magnet Beam) can destroy the blocks on Elec Man's stage (not Cut Man) to get the Magnet Beam. video tutorial

This is no worse a problem than Mega Man 2's Crash Bomb puzzle, where if you don't do it right on the first try you don't have a lot of options.