Mega Man 2's Brilliant & Historic Ending | Gettin' Super Nerdy [SSFF]
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Mega Man 2 is celebrated for lots of good reasons, but its ending doesn't get enough love. We take a look at why it was revolutionary at the time, and why it still means so much today.
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#stopskeletons #megaman
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The ending could also be how the developers felt about their creation. As you say, they probably didn't expect this to go over so well. They probably thought this would be the end of Mega Man's journey at the time. A somber farewell for the hero who is a hero simply because he had the power to be one.
Regardless, I loved this ending.
The series and character's REAL major creator, Akira Kitamura, had always planned for the series to be long-running. That's why the numbering system for the boss robots: catchy marketing. MM2's ending was deliberately open mainly to illustrate Mega Man's own conflict between being a robot with a purpose and being a person with their own desires. But you may have a point since MM2 needed to be a hit for the series to continue and it might've seemed unlikely given its rushed development.
The Archie Comic kinda paints the melancoly in a deeper level with Megaman actively hating having to destroy fellow robots like him for reason beyond their control. While now no longer running due Archie comics closing doors, I really recommend to anyone who is a Megaman fan to give it a read, its pretty good.
The Archie run of Megaman was great while it lasted!
They even make the ending of 2's introspection after the first game already gave him his first taste of combat make more sense by having the original six not remain dead, whereas the 2 gang are the first group he, as far as he knows, are being put down forever.
goddamn that comic was awesome, it was an huge bummer when they cancelled it. If only IDW bought the license like they did with Sonic and get Ian Flynn to work on it
Archie Comics is still around. They just stopped some of their comics.
I loved every single issue of it albeit some had _unique_ art style to them.
As someone who lives in Europe and mostly bought digital variants on Comixology, I went even as far as to import the two Sonic crossovers in comic form for being so awesome (well, the first one mainly, the second one suffered from too many guest characters).
But even without Archie, Rock (next to X) hating the endless fights is actually something Capcom even represents well in later story entries such as Rockman & Forte.
Rock even questions himself and his purpose by the ending of Power Fighters and he talked to then defeated Wily who tried to convince MegaMan in believing he's doing nothing else than the doc by destroying his creations every single time.
My hopes are that the new team behind MegaMan11 continues the work because I really like the tone this game had to it and what it added in terms of backstory.
Yeah people need to remember that Megaman was originally a utility robot created to wipe floors. Suddenly gaining a cannon for an arm and being sent off to fight robots with more powerful weapons to save the world was supposed to be a very surreal experience for him.
It was by his own will though. His strong sense of justice caused him to willingly go and fight against Wily, he just didn't know it would be an endless battle.
Now hold on just a second, here. He wasn't JUST a floor sweeping robot.
He cleaned the whole lab. Don't sell Rock short, man.
Didn't know that. That's awesome.
it's still better than storing power items in your head and throwing them at Megaman here and there
Rock was built as an experimental robot master master. The other robot masters were built to perform specialized tasks in specific industries as well as oversee and manage simpler robots within those specific industries. Where as Rock was built specifically not to be specialized, except to be extremely adaptable and to be able to learn how to use any tool after seeing someone or something else use it once (we are rapidly developing robots in the real world that can do this right now btw). Because of his adaptive nature and rapid learning abilities Dr. Light utilized him as a lab assistant. Roll was built to be basically a companion for Rock, so that Rock wouldn't fly off the handle like Protoman (Blues) did and she was utilized as a cleaning bot.
Akira Kitamura, in an interview with Hitoshi Ariga; "For example, in the backstory I wrote, Mega Man alone is equipped with the functionality to turn himself off. That very fact imbues him with a sadness. The other robot masters were made for some kind of specific job or work, so there’s no need for them to have an “off switch” they can control. However, a robot helper like Mega Man can make his own judgments, and therefore can decide whether he’s needed or not. That bit of backstory also reflects the serious feeling in the writing that you mentioned you liked. The sadness of being a robot is having this inorganic existence."
Just wanted to share that, :)
omg that's so sad :(((
fuck man you got me crying over a little robot dude cmon man
I didn't need that, but thank you sir.
link, in JAPANESE, or it didnt happen.
@@pilotamurorei It's easy to just DEMAND something, isn't it? Well, all I got is the interview in English. Which I am posting NOT in an attempt to prove you wrong but because I am a fan of the series and want other fans to read this; shmuplations.com/megaman/. Shmupulations translated the interview from the Rockman Maniax collection. Since you obviously speak and understand the language, you can start there. That's all I'm doing to help you.
I always interpreted the sadness of the ending in that Mega Man is forced to kill his "brothers". The closing credits include the robot masters each with their production numbers, #9 through #16, a reminder that Mega Man is also included in that numbering sequence, and that he has had to destroy every other one (except Roll). That's his loneliness. Then in Mega Man 3, they do a roll call of the Mega Man 1 bosses who were Dr. Light's creations that Mega Man had to destroy. Not often an NES game makes you feel sympathy for the enemies you kill.
Conflicted heroism was always a Mega Man thing, not something injected by Mega Man X. One of the Power Battle/Power Fighters endings even suggests that Mega Man would rather help robots than fight them.
And it's weird that they're all Wily Numbers in the end save for Blues, Rock, Roll and the MM1 robots and the Wily numbering starts at 009. Maybe Wily stole the numbers when he reprogrammed the MM1 robots and later Blues, and Bass and Treble were made partly to fill in 001 and 002.
Actually the ones in all the other games(Except in 1 and 9) shows that the robots were made by other people and not Light (robot masters from 2,3,5,7 and 8 were made by Wily,4 and Tundra Man from MM11 were made by Dr Cossack and robot masters from 6,10 and 11 were made by other random people) also there not really killed/dead(it shows that in the ending of Powered Up,9 and 11)
@@CarbonRollerCaco well despite what most people would say Rockman was always a reluctant hero.
@@TankEngine75 Weren't 4's robots actually Wily's creations?
@@CarbonRollerCaco no,they were made by Cossack
I always thought the ending was Mega Man walking home through all four seasons. He decided to walk home instead of teleporting because he wanted to think things over. The Wily battle ends in October and he gets home around June. Makes sense.
He certainly could. No human could just go out and walk around for months and months, but a robot sure can.
Can't he just teleport?
@@mariic2 They just said why he chose not to. He needed to be alone with his thoughts.
Possibly observing the world in order to help him make his decision whether to deactivate himself or not and/or experiencing the world decently in case he does deactivate himself and never gets another chance.
I thought the background shot of the scenery implied that he walked around his neighborhood as he contemplated his life.
Remember at the end of Mega Man 7 when Mega Man got so tired of Wily he tried murdering him, almost break the rules of robots. That was pretty interesting.
As someone who beat MM7 BEFORE this game, I actually thought that might be part of his melancholy in this ending. He keeps having to go out and fight, and even this early in the series we're seeing the pattern of Wily begging for his life when all else fails, and Mega Man has no say in the matter since he's a robot. He's having to fight a neverending battle against a sadistic, evil man with no regard for robotic or human life, and MM gets no assurance that his efforts will make a difference. And IMHO, it has been clear ever since MM6 that he's getting fed up with it... but honestly that doubt has been there since MM2.
MM9 is another example of this, he shows Wily every time he beat him even in Mega Man & Bass. So it is intentional, unfortunately they didn't really expand on it in MM11 but at that point he probably doesn't really care, he doesn't really have a choose. Although I think It's a little funny that it makes the player feel the same way as Mega Man when the twist is it was Wily all along.
@@Dynamoshock Actually, Megaman 7's ending was completely different in Japan just from that line change. Originally Megaman merely responded to Wily's point on the laws of robotics with silence, hence him actually uncharging his megabuster. The whole line about being "more than a robot" was a strictly US edition.
@@WildSableye interesting
@@WildSableye I still think that the original Japanese version is an example, because he was still straight up willing to murder Wily. It was only Wily mentioned the First Law of Robotics that Rock went, "Oh yeah, that's right," and stopped himself. The fact that Rock was so overwhelmed with emotion that he forgot something that was part of his core programming really says something about him either way.
But hey, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who honestly didn't get the end boss of this game. I was, like, 'uh, the alien was captured in a bottle and now I'm in a secret room? in space? Yeah, took me a bit.
A "BIT"?
8 of them actually.
Same here! I was like 8 years old and I thought Wily drank a potion that turned him into an alien, and defeating him somehow changed him back to a human? haha
you dumbassthes
Yep
Would you believe that this is how my own father explained it to me when I was seven years old and playing the game? I did not understand the shifting scenery or the lonely walk, but my father spoke to me about it, saying, "Megaman fought a long battle son, and he's going home. He has to."
r/thathappened
@Emil Vrana Oh yeah, BRING THE MONSTER ENERGY DRINKS!
@@TheGunFreak94 lol this
Why did i tear up?! This is just dust... yeah.. just dust in my eyes... im not.. crying.
Your dad sounds like a really great man. Wow.
What if the Helmet is how the player controls megaman? It gets put on his head the second you press Start and gets taken off once the game is over.
Wow, it really does come on the moment you start the game huh. I've never thought about it that way!
mind blown
never thought of it that way
I can imagine Megaman’s helmet turning into the future generations as time goes by. Going firstly with OG Megaman, to X, then MMZ Zero, then ZX and Advent, and finally Legends.
You’ll come up with ANY reason to bring up Splatterhouse, and I appreciate that.
Needs to have a retro Splatterhouse 4!
As great as MM2's soundtrack is, the ending theme is easily my favorite, and the cover made by the band The Megas is just amazing
The Megas revived my love for the Megaman series and gave all the characters the personality capcom never did
The megaman tribute band "The megas" made an amazing song based on the ending theme of Megaman 2 called "Melody from the past". I think its something you would enjoy as it really brings out the emotion of the tune, with lyrics sung from the perspective of Protoman. Its an amazing culmination of the story built up in musical form through "History repeating blue" and "history repeating red". Honestly whenever I listen to the albums that ending song always gives me chills.
I haven't listened to either in full, but man I should (I love Get Equipped, what a killer first album!)
And related to that, Lamentations of a War Machine touches my heartstrings.
As for chills, I Want to be the One is my track of choice. Speaking of tribute bands
God are The Protomen fucking amazing, different take altogether. But definitely cool
Get Equipped is a great album but honestly both of the history repeating albums blows it out of the water.
quick correction, "Melody From The Past" is Megaman 3's ending, their MM2 ending song is "Lamentations of a War Machine"
I love this band so much by the way, it's neat to see someone mention it in the comments!
@@simongreve Fair enough, after such a start there's no way but up
@@abandonedchannel962 No biggie, you were educated about it. Which is always appreciated
I can only hear “Lamentations Of A War Machine” by The Megas:
Tell me Dr. Light, Why did I fight?
Tell me Doctor (tell me Doctor)
Was I right?
How many must fall
Before there's peace for all?
Such a fresh and wonderfully thought out video on one of my all-time favorite games! Great work SSFF!!
Hey Dan are going to review more mega man merch
"Hot take! One of the best, most celebrated game's in the franchise is great!" - Derek "Ain't no Jabroni" Alexander
Hot take! You clearly haven't delved too deep into the franchise.
Here's a SLIGHTLY hotter take: 1 was better; 2 feels like a rehash.
Everyone. Support Megaman 11 if you want to see more games in the future. Great video.
Carlos Cuevas Cantautor agreed! Mega man 11 is a very good addition to the series and one of my new favorite entries.
Definitely. MM11 is an amazing game that will do wonders in showing Capcom we want more of this
I always wait on getting games to gauge the reaction on them after a few months. It's good to see people like 11, looking forward to playing it.
Done and done. I own 2 copys. One for pc and one for console.
@@FireBomberBassist Wow! Awesome! I own two copies too, the jp amiibo collector's edition and the american version for Nintendo Switch :) I love the blue bomber.
I always thought of the helmet on the hill being just another one of those sitcom-like tropes when you walk in and hang your coat and your hat on the rack by the door, and say 'Honey! I'm home!' (cue laughtrack).
Amazing analysis, somebody understands. :]
Just casually scrolling through comments when I see Gamechamp3000. :)
IT THEY. YES. IT HER. YES. THE GAME CHAMP #3000.
Oddly enough, the books of power novelization interpreted this ending as mega man becoming a REAL BOY
Mega Man's story owes a lot to Pinocchio, so it was an appropriate interpretation. I had that book as a kid.
@@pungisotu
He owes even more to astroboy
yes, i've heard that.@@Invidente7
@@Invidente7 And Astroboy owes a lot to Pinocchio, so by extension.....
Dude, when I finally beat MM2, the ending made me want to cry. I was probably not even in junior high yet. It was an amazing experience.
Did you really just make me cry because of a mega man video? Hats off to you
Har.
gotta admit that it was a bit more emotional than I thought it'd be :P
mood stabilizers
@@AnalyticalReckoner lol harsh. I wish I could cry over smaller things, it's actually the body's way of "stabilizing" mood on its own.
you're not the only one. :(
"some people even think I'm a fake dog gamer" oh my goodness you are doing holy work of the most laudable degree :0
I first saw this as a child, after a tiring knock-up with Dr. Wily and maybe 15 minutes before the school bus came. I was with my friends.
It was the greatest thing we had ever seen.
Damn Derek, I remember watching this one when it came out and loving it, but I really think this is one of your must underrated videos. Megaman 2 is a favorite between one of my best friends who I haven't seen in a long time and myself, and seeing the ending the way you describe it makes the game even better. Thanks for being freaking awesome dude.
I never thought about how much of a change this ending was compared to games around the time and before, really makes the ending stand out more for me. I also get the same vibe with Mega Man 3 and the Whistle Concert theme, but of course MM2 did it first and it deserves the recognition.
I suppose we take for granted in hindsight that Mega Man 2 was a huge success and that the series may well continue indefinitely in some form or another. At the time, though, the development team must have though it just as likely (if not more so) that it would also under-perform, so they crafted an ending that would be open, yet still work as a bittersweet farewell to their robot friend if the worse case scenario did come to pass. I think the sequence is much more about the team's affection and hope for their creation rather than anything going on inside the head of the character himself. It's sort of "meta" in that sense and, yes, brilliant.
Everything you've mentioned, past the "huge success" part, might in fact apply for Mega Man Legends 2 as well.
The dev team for that game was uncertain of its release, let alone it's sales performance (as evidenced in this excerpt: tcrf.net/Proto:Mega_Man_Legends_2/Rockman_DASH_2_-_Episode_1:_Roll-chan_Kiki_Ippatsu#Unused_Dialogue); said dev team were quite affectionate of the Legends sub-series, enough that the main programmer for the first two, who later went on to develop the MT Framework game engine that has powered and constructed most of Capcom's HD output since Dead Rising (don't get me started on this game. The mechanics, and other things which I can't articulate well enough about, are uncannily Legends-like that in fact many of the core people from the Legends dev teams also worked on DR1), readied the engine for Legends 3; the cliffhanger ending provided a bittersweet and solemn, and of course, open-ended, resolution to everything that the sub-series built up to that point, with the last few seconds suggesting that the team figured that a third entry might not materialize right away, if at all.
That Sans hiding in the corner 8:01
Good job
Wow, I didn't even notice that at first lol.
Sans loves science fiction. Especially when it's real.
I thought I was the only one that saw that.
Thank heavens for Squarespace! Now we have a website to celebrate good boys!
Thank you for making such a great analysis on my favorite ending in any game ever. Megaman means a lot to me, and the ending of 2 always got to me and I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt like that somber walk meant something more. Thank you for this.
MM2's ending was so sublime. Even seeing it as a kid after my older brother beat it for the first time, I thought it was melancholic. It was awesome though.
Now MM3's ending: it(especially Blue's Theme) still chokes me up to this day. That last info reveal...😹
Protoman 😣
DLN-000
Proto Man
Mega Man´s brother
I think Mega Man manually does that with his helmet rather than it just appearing. Various depictions of him have him warp parts of his armour or his buster onto him. It doesn’t really make anything you said wrong, but instead of the helmet appearing when it’s time for him to fight the good fight again, he’ll pick it up. I think that’s even more emotional- he does have a choice, but he would never choose the option that lets evil win. So he dons the armour again, regardless of his own doubts, for everlasting peace.
Flashman theme is burned into my brain still to this day. When i was young i always started with Woodman & Metalman followed by Flash. Good times
Me and my friend always believed Mega Man died at the end of MM2 when we played it as kids. That he was so exhausted from battle, that it slowed down his trip getting home. Once getting home, he simply broke down, or died, and the helmet was a memorial for his efforts. Your thoughts are a bit deeper, and less morbid, so I think I like yours more.
I had the same conclusion. Until mega man 3 came out
@@rinzlerthehunter539 yeah, Mega Man 3 pretty much kills that idea. Unless the Mega Man in 3 is a different Mega Man - he is a robot after all. He can be rebuilt, with new abilities like slide. Of course, if you wanted to believe that, Mega Man 4's intro kills all my nutty conspiracy theories.
The ending boss fight is quite remarkable. It delivers such a wtf moment followed by a explanatory reveal all without words. I can't really think of any other piece of media that does that just as well.
And it did it on the nes back in 1988.
As a kid the bit with wily begging always got me in awe. The background looked like wily was siphoning the elements of the world like fire, rain, air etc. And plant life with wood. Sure quick and crash etc are a stretch but when the blue bombers walking home it’s like he was ‘returning’ what wily siphoned away all the while wondering if it would happen again.
Obviously now the somber music means more as an adult as it can be contextualised into so many things. The ends of part 1&2&4 are quite intriguing as there’s something different. 3 is quite mellow with Protomans head in the sky and the wily ship there and 5 and 6 just doing very little. But now I’m babbling. Great video. 👊
"So this hit game's big secret reveal is aliens that can only be killed with water...I have an idea!" - Mysterious Shyamalan
I love Megaman 2, but my heart and soul belong to my nostalgic favorite, Megaman 3
Sliding/Rush/Protoman
If they had included the mega buster, this game would be perfect.
I replayed Megaman 3. I feel it comes close but the Wily stages are a let down.
Very few people know about this but there was actually a short paperback book released in 1990 that gave some color to the backstory of Mega Man 2. There was a series called "Worlds of Power" by author F.X. Nine which gave backstory to lots of 8-bit classics such as Ninja Gaiden, Bionic Commando, and Metal Gear to name a few. In the Mega Man 2 book, the author not only describes the ending of the game in a very interesting way but also provides color to Mega Man's backstory and motivations. I wont spoil the book here but look it up on Amazon, or if you like, The AVGN actually did a fireside reading of the book which is on the Cinemassacre channel.
LOL, I actually had one of those books in my youth. I had the novel of Blaster Master.
Mega Man 2 was my favorite game for 30 years. The reason was that ending. A year or so before it came out, I beat 1942. It took 24 hours and I had to leave my Nintendo on all night and pray that my mom didn't find it on, because she would have turned it off. I didn't even sleep that night because I was so nervous about losing the distance. Sometime in the afternoon of the second day, I crossed that glorious finish line only to find out it wasn't glorious at all. I was greeted with a black screen that simply typed out "Congratulations!" and then was promptly returned to the title screen. I remember sitting there just staring ahead like, "Really?" I felt so cheated. Fast forward a bit and there I was playing the final levels of Wily's Castle. Beat all the bosses AGAIN? With multiple chances? So fun. Then that final level after you thought the game was over but then found out it wasn't? Cool as hell. And finally - The ending. Man oh man. I remember thinking that was the best ending ever. I felt like that ending had suddenly made up for the void that was 1942. I just wasn't expecting it at all, but to have something that felt so weighty and cinematic, and back then there weren't emulators so you couldn't just watch it again, even though that's all I wanted to do. So what did I do? I hit start again and played right back through. And I did it again the next day. (Then I had to return it to the video store, because I didn't actually own it.) Everything about that experience was unforgettable. Way to give that ending the love it deserves.
I don't know... I came to MOST of these conclusions at the end of the game back when I was little... but I was also writing stories at an early age. I'm glad that someone else appreciates Megaman 2's ending too! It was SUCH a shift in momentum. It was like the end of Incredible Hulk stories.
You get SO caught up in the action, that you forget every thing that the main character has to go through emotionally until the end.
Also... That picture of Billy "Big Bang" Blitz behind you is BALLER!!!!
He walked away from the castle left in ruins
A path of destruction in his wake.
The clouds parted, and the warmth of the sun brought the question -
Is this what you were made to do?
He removed his helmet, dropped it into the soft grass.
Would this quest ever end?
Have a look at Ryu's ending in Streetfighter 2 and this. Both are capcom titles, both sequels to games that were not that promising. Megaman and Ryu are both lone wolfs and they know their fight will go on no matter of their choices.
Ryu's ending is another one of the simplest but most powerful endings in classic gaming history. A true champion doesn't fight for the accolades, he fights to become the best that he can be.
bUT MegAmaN hAs An arM cAnNOn
And still, besides having an arm cannon...whose special move did he learn in MegaManX? The Ha-Do-Ken!
@@phreakazoith2237 BuT tHat wAS MegaMaN X nOt ToO
And Strider on the NES.
I'm starting to suspect that you guys aren't even trying to stop skeletons from fighting.
This would probably give credence to X worrying so much about having to fight all the time. At the end of the day, his full name is *Mega Man* X, and much like his...well little big brother, the constant fighting wears him down. Only unlike ole Classic here, he more freely expresses these emotions...for better or worse (coughX7). Classic doesn't get much of a chance to speak out in his own series, at least not before he finishes the job. Even with the more dialogue heavy aspects of 11, Light is the one getting that character development instead of Mega.
I will never forgive Capcom for deciding to ignore the ending to Mega Man 7.
The best damn ending to the whole classic series - like it never happened >_
Ignoring what? Mega Man threatening to kill Wily as an *American* thing. He immediately backed down in the Japanese version.
@@UltimaKeyMaster Not immediately. He realized Wily was right. He could not harm him, even if he wants to. It's a more impactful ending.
Well, that's true. Kinda funny how he temporarily demonstrates an X mindset by accident for the sake of the translation seeming more edgy.
@@UltimaKeyMaster I don't like the U.S. version of MM7. That's why I have an English-patched JPN version. Roll and Auto even teach you some stuff about the weapons.
Mega man 2 is probably my favorite game from the NES era, and the ending was one of the biggest factors in that. Even at only 5 years old, I saw this ending as beautiful, but wouldn't fully be able to interpret it (IMO, of course) until much later. With that, what was already beautiful to me became poetic, somber, and a declaration from a silent character to prefer peace to war. I started to view the changing seasons as a reflection of his inner turmoil rather than just a reminder of where he had been, and when it was all over he chooses to live, renewed, like the seasons of nature. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but for me this was a defining moment for my childhood and I still look at it with awe and love.
Also fun fact: the first scene of Mega Man II’s ending actually gets spoofed in the ending to the Scott Pilgrim game-when you beat Gideon, the boss room changes to a replica of the hologram chamber from Mega Man II, and he breaks down crying on the floor like Wily.
When i was about 13 in 1991, there was a kid's TV game show about video games, with rather tough questions. I can't recall the name of the show, though. However, one question about Mega Man 2 blew my mind, because i had just recently played this game with a friend, but neither of us had beaten it yet. It was our favorite game to play together in turns, based on either beating one stage or one death cycles. The question was, "What happens to Mega Man at the end of Mega Man 2?" The answer given by one of the contestants froze me in horror, "Mega Man dies." The answer was quickly considered correct by the host and judges without having to think about it. I remember crying after hearing this. I guess the helmet laying on the ground in the field near the town could have symbolized a gravestone to that contestant when he played it. When i told my friend about it at school, he didnt believe me, and i said, "I wish it wasn't true, but thats what the correct answer was on the game show." A few weeks later, we beat it, and saw the helmet on the ground, and realized it was a gravestone. I don't know if any other answer similar to what you are proposing here might have been considered correct or not by the game show's judges, but i am much more inclined to agree with you, because Mega Man did indeed return, thank goodness! Mega Man is, of course my all time favorite video game series in the order of 2, 3, 5, 8, 6, 4, 1, 9, 10, and 7. I havent played 11 yet and im not a huge fan of the X series, but i do enjoy playing a few of those, and just beat X4 for the first time on my PS1 FPse emulator on android, using a few cheat codes. Im also a big fan of watching Mega Man Maker vids, though i dont have a PC at the moment. I also enjoy the knockoff game Rockbot 1, an app for android. Its very well done. I give great thanks for this video also, because now i know the alien was actually only a hologram or something to that effect. One last thing... I've only done this a handful of times and want to see if anyone else out there has accomplished this rare feat, so please reply if you have. After shooting the last bubble at alien Wily, as the screen changes to the computer control room Mega Man is floating in the air with his gun-arm out, like any regular jump and shoot, but he is trapped in the air the entire time as Wily shuts down the computer. I've done it 3 times on NES and 2 times on the PS2 Anniversary game. No codes were used. Has anyone else managed to do that? I attempt it every time i play, but its a very rare occurance.
I randomly stumbled upon this video via suggestions (I no longer really play video games or watch content surrounding) and instantly recognized you from being the "Happy Video Game Nerd" - which I watched all the time about a decade ago! So glad to see you are doing well!
Megaman 3 starts with the lone helmet and a poetic tune, then it turns into a heroic marching tune, with no opening cinematic.
It's like the opening is saying Megaman is gone and the world is in peril now, but he will return, as soon as you press the start button.
This is, by far one of the most well thought out and cleanly presented analyses of a video game (segment) I've ever seen. I just happpened to stumble upon this vid due to my love for the Blue Bomber, but I wasn't expecting something so... existential. Thanks for a great watch. You've definitely earned this new sub.
Fun fact: It's possible to beat the sub-boss in Wily's Castle that forces you to use Crash Bombs with one bomb remaining if you aim a shot just right. Then, after that, you can use the remaining one to beat the second phase of Wily's ship in one shot. I learned that from an episode of Gamechamp3000's VG Myths.
What a beautiful explanation for Megaman 2's quietly poignant ending. I remember playing this years ago and wondering why Megaman looked so downtrodden on his long journey home. As you stated, Megaman is not a happy warrior. He's the night watchman, doing what he's obligated to do.
I cried when i beat the game. That walk with that music did feel sad. God bless Megaman. 20+yrs later listening to this video driving im teary eyed again.
In the original Mega Man, he was not a warrior robot, but was upgraded and stepped into that role after Wily hijacked the robot masters. I see him going back to that peaceful life after MM1, stepping back into the role of hero at the beginning of Mega Man 2, and then once again leaving it behind. He could have been wandering and contemplating just what it is he had become. Maybe he knew that while he didn’t want to be a hero, he was needed to be one...
I always took his long walk with the seasons changing to be that it took a whole year to get home. It really surprised me because at the end of a heroic story, there is usually a smash cut to the hero at home. But with this ending, it made me feel the gravity and scale of his journey. I felt that not only did he go far and wide to destroy the robot masters but he also destroyed any infrastructure that would allow him to get home with any kind of ease. Hence the long walk home.
For a 40 year old in 2019, Mega Man 2 was the seminal version. Your interpretation of it and its ending is excellent.
I'm happy you made this video.
Very good.
There is a song by The Megas called "Lamentations of a War Machine" that I had kept in mind while watching this. "'Is this what you were made to do?' He removed his helmet, dropping it onto the soft grass. 'Will this quest ever end,'"
Heck, even the first song of the album for Mega Man 3 (History Repeating part 1) went over Mega Mans thoughts towards not wanting to fight again, yet "the player says 'it's time to pick a stage'"
That theme is my youth. I was 8 years old when I finished Rockman 2, and it was a sunny afternoon and I was sweating and disoriented after defeating Wily. But defeating him felt great, but after hearing this theme, I realized I connected with Megaman in a way no game character has ever done. I felt his incredible frustration of navigating through the stages, but unlike him I felt excitement and joy.
Rock did not. He walked and contemplated the fact he has murdered his own kind because they were reprogrammed to harm others by the intent of one deranged lunatic. Meanwhile one man, to be side of morality reconfigures Rock from a house boy to a Megaman, his seemly friendly function to mimic household appliances was repurposed to imitate weaponry to kill the machines he once considered friends. Caught between a war of two old men, Light tasking only Rock who was aware of the situation to destroy the hundreds of mindless creations of Wily.
As a kid it struck me that Rock had to kill his own kind. The crazy thing it was the game that made me feel this way.
Each stage taught me how to analyze each situation, this allowed me to analyze Rocks story.
The difficulty made me appreciate the value of persistence and determination, but it was probably the only thing Rock had in order to rationalize his actions.
The music empathized the robots and the lore as well as Rocks emotions, from Bubblemans aquatic orchestra to Wilys famous and heroic stage theme.
The bosses mirrored an amalgamation of Megaman, and the changes he had to undergo in order to stop Wily... both physically and mentally.
With all that, I did not tear up over the ending, but I did respect Rock as he and I went through the same thing if not concluded at the same outcome. To be honest, that’s the best kind of hero, where you have sacrifice everything about yourself for the greater good.
Megaman is my hero.
I feel like this idea of "Choice" also really helps him separate from his younger brother, X, who had choice and will, who chose whether or not to fight.
As one of the few people who also had the original Mega Man growing up, (and managed to beat it), the ending theme of Mega Man 1 is the same as the opening theme for Mega Man 2, which to me meant that Mega Man thought it was all over (hence the missing helmet), but gets pulled back in again. That goes along with the ending of MM2 with finally settling down for some peace.
When I was a kid I had the novelization of Mega Man 2, and it adds a surprising new element to the game that of course is non-canonical, but it adds to the ending which the novel actually omits.
At the start of the novel, Dr. Light calls Mega to the lab and gives him the lowdown, and the narration emphasizes Mega Man is cold, unfeeling, detached, because he's a robot. He has no reaction to Dr. Light telling him all this but to obediently obey instructions and answer questions. Dr. Light says he's worried that these new Wily robots may be too dangerous, and he wants to try an experimental machine to clone Mega Man. Mega Man agrees and steps into the machine, and steps out... a human.
Suddenly Mega Man is feeling emotions for the first time, he begins to feel fear, confusion, anxiety, he's worried now, and Dr. Light is dubious as to his chances because of course a robot would be a better compatant than a human, so conventional scientific wisdom tells him. But due to his human emotions, Mega Man insists on not being turned back and not being cloned, because he has individuality now and wants to please his "father" by completing his mission.
Throughout the story, Mega Man is trying to cope with his budding humanity as he fights. When he climbs long ladders he gets winded, he has to take breaks to get his bearings, he's afraid of unknown hazards and enemies, but he keeps chugging along. When he fights the alien he shoots at it to no avail, and starts chucking his special weapons at it out of desperation, trying to find something that seems to hurt it. When he gets to the Bubble Lead he notices that finally gets a reaction, so he keeps shooting it and the hologram shuts down and Wily is revealed. The chapter ends and the next, final chapter, opens on Light talking about how they'll lock up Wily now and he can look at returning Mega Man to robot form and removing the special weapons from his systems, but Mega says right now he'd just like to go home and relax.
The video game's ending isn't in the novel, but I'd say that's the segue into it otherwise.
I find it weird he ends up walking through a sparsely populated countryside, like he wanted to get away from the city and robots
I never thought this through as much as you have:
"It's not celebratory: Mega Man is not happy even though he has every reason to be happy. Good has triumphed over evil, the day has been saved...yet, we have multiple indications that everything is not okay."
Dang, man...that hit hard.
Also, the MM: Legends hint...too soon, dude, lol
This is the best content I’ve seen in a long time.
*I’ll elaborate when I have time
I'm glad somebody actually made a video about this ending, it's like most players just haven't even understood it at the time.
To me, it was always the most beautiful ending of all times, and it still is 30 years later.
Despite feeling how beautiful it was, the 6 years old me couldn't quite explain it, not until he turned into a 22-years old who had to struggle not to lose his home (with the view from his bedroom being very similar to that of the ending), and only after he had been a dreamy, if not foolish, high-schooler longing to go out and explore the world, who thought that seeing the same scenery every day was boring.
My personal interpretation that I gave it back then: After all the carnage and destruction, Mega Man ends his long journey and heads back to his homeland, only to be greeted by a familiar scene to whom hed had grown accustomed to before being forced into a war he never wanted.
That familiar scenery is still there, and it's not boring, for it's actually looking different in every season, in every day (weather). And the moment he turns to look at it it's when he understands it, and realizes that the scenery is still there because he fought to protect it and kept it from being turned into a wasteland, thus realizing that a peaceful life is an everyday treasure greater than any super power.
Then that would mean... We as player are actually the helmet. Mega man is summoned to do his duty, but as a machine, just to do a work, a dirty work in which he assassinates other robots. It reminds me of the Mega Man X ending in which X is not happy about all the chaos he had to create in order to end Sigma's insanity. War is hell, and Mega Man knows it.
You know, in terms of Mega Man having to wear different hats, that's actually true. He supposedly has a life outside of fighting Wily and the robot masters, but that's his own thing, that us players never get to meddle with. But as soon as it's time to fight, as soon as he dons the hero hat and the helmet comes on, that's when we take over. Every time.
That ending always baffled me. I was wondering that did Mega man died originally and that´s why there is the helmet on the grass ? And there was not supposed to be any sequels.
I always felt that he left the helmet to symbolize that he was done and wanted to live a normal life, hence why we see a peaceful town at the end, but I can see why other people have different interpretations about it. Its a well done and surprisingly deep ending for a NES game, which just makes an already great game even better.
I remember the first time I finished the game. To me, the helmet off at the end signified the end of Mega Man's journey as a warrior. He had fought his way through an entire war as a kind of lone soldier, and the seasons reflected his emotions when he was through, ending with the idyllic village in the summer where he could finally take off the helmet, which symbolized his fighting, and finally find peace. I had never heard the story about how the team was creating this game "pro bono" and didn't have any reason to expect that the story would continue. Hearing that reinforces my feeling that this ending was meant to be the end of his journey.
The Megas' cover of this song is titled "Lamentations of a War Machine", which I feel is so potent as an interpretation, even the title alone. Thanks for making this video, I really enjoyed it :^)
Wow. Very interesting perspective to look at this ending at. For years, I was basically surrounded by people saying "What is this random nonsense lulz" but proper context and analysis really does make a big difference. Can't believe I hadn't taken the time to really think about this before. (I blame the countdown community. It was unfortunately full of contrarianism and shallowness, and I guess it rubbed off on me.)
Great video, Derek!
The Megaman games were just as fire as the Metal albums back then.
I never thought of it in exactly this way. My meaning I took from this before seeing this video was that Mega Man was needed to be a hero, and once Wily was taken down (for the time being)...what was his purpose after that? The long trek through the seasons was trying to figure that out, and removing the helmet meant he was acknowledging that (again, for the time being) there was no longer a fight, and he was a fighter without a fight trying to figure out his place in the world. It drew a very specific parallel to part of my life a few years ago, and this video turned that upside down seeing an entirely different aspect to his character.
Ya know, you're right! You're really, really right! I really wasn't expecting anything at all from this video in all honesty, as soon as you started saying that Megaman 2 is one of the greatest in the series. It indeed it a great, really great game, and picking favorites is only about personal opinion, and I don't have any business in that, but it saddens me that it's rare to find anyone has ever played one aside from it, and end up missing out on the greatness they also have to offer simply because of the description of them being "redundant sequels". I used to be like that. Basically, you got me expecting this was going to be a fanboy thing, y'know, just praising the game because you felt like it deserved more praise, but YOU'VE PROOVED ME *SO WRONG!* You've made some truly solid points which I would have never have noticed by myself, and would really just go as far as calling it "really cool"; I always thought the ending for this game was really cool, but until now, I had never truly noticed _why._ Not knowing the final minutes for this game while my first time completing and beating it, I felt chills down my spine during that final Wily level! The unexpection factor in it is truly amazing, indeed! And more than that, the actual ending in itself, which I never really understood or gave meaning until now. I always thought it was random, and was just trying to be emotional for really no reason just to try and make the game better. I NEVER knew about the story about the development, and even if I did, I still would have never given thought to what it actually meant for Megaman himself, and what the helmet could mean, if it wasn't for you. Thank you, so much, for changing my vision on this game and making me have even more love for this amazing franchise! This was awesome to watch, and it kept surprising me that it just kept and kept going, with more and more information that truly meant! You put much more work into this than what it needed to have, and for that you more than deserve credit for. It's overfilled with effort and care! Awesome, just.. AMAZING job, dude!!
Wily's disco-room was unique in the entire series. Every single one after, is always some huge room with a vehicle inside. This one, was a cool bttle.
I always understood that he was reluctant because he is, in fact, fighting his own kind.
In the first game, I believe those 6 robot masters were actually Dr Light’s creations, not Wily’s, like Megaman 2.
So yeah... my nostalgic Megaman game was 3, and it both started with a somber and dark melody and ended with uncertainty about his brother’s fate... that ending spoke to me like this one to you.
I'm reminded of a trope that pops up a lot in Discworld books: the price of being the best. Best witch Granny Weatherwax, best blacksmith Jason Ogg and best policeman Sam Vimes have all had to deal with it. The price is that, when it comes time to do the job, people will come to you, because you're the best. And you'll have to do it, because you're the best. You cannot refuse a commission. Mega Man wants to return to his idyllic existence as a housekeeper, but it's only a matter of time before some new threat appears, and he will have to deal with it. All he can do is enjoy the peace while it lasts.
The ending deserved this video. MM2 is the first in the series I played AND owned. And yeah. Its worth all the praise and then some.
Beautiful interpretation! My own interpretation of this ending was a bit more grim. The devs thought this would be the last one, and we don't actually see what happened to Wily in the end. My take is that Mega Man actually killed Wily, and then went for a long walk to contemplate the purpose of his existence. He killed his reprogrammed brothers in the first game, then he killed robot masters specifically designed to be killer robots, and finally, he killed Wily. There are no more killer robots to take out, the world is at peace... So now what? This peaceful world is foreign to him. He walks for a long time, aimless and lost, reflecting on all that has happened. Finally, he stops and looks to the sky, it's a beautiful sunny day. He understands his purpose: To rid the world of killer robots. He then quietly takes out the only killer robot left, the deadliest of them all: Himself.
That’s very Terminator 2, but I like it!
Makes a lot of sense when you see that the Mega Man 4 title screen has just the logo and his helmet on a blank black screen. It’s the start of s new adventure, time to put the helmet back on.
9:00 I'm crying for real now.
You forgot to mention that compared to the other mega man games were wily steals robots that Dr. Light initially created for good, but in Mega Man 2 Wily Creates the 8 robot masters himself specifically to combat MegaMan.
"The fallen body of his brother at his feet, Megaman removed his helmet and began to walk away from the fortress. The remaining robots looked at their broken leader, then at Megaman. Without orders, they would neither advance nor retreat. With eyes full of rage, Megaman looked over the whole of Mankind, turned his eyes back to the robot army and lowered his head. Slowly, he loosened his grip on his battle-scarred helmet, letting it drop from his hand to the ground."
- The Sons of Fate - Protomen, Act 1
Damn bro...this was beautiful...
I have a very similar feeling with Super Mario Bros 2 and the ending 💞
Which one?
I think you are right about that helmet. It is definitely a "warrior laying down his sword" scene
For me, Mega Man had always a deep meaning. Like him, I had to fought many "battles" since I was a kid. I did not want it, but I was forced to deal with a lot of situations in my whole childhood(disease, my father death ...etc). I play mega man when was a kid, it was the first game that I ever played. I always felt like him, a kid fighting battles alone, moving on, fighting Willy again and again.
I always assumed that the walk was his victory walk and that he was done with his mission for good...until Megaman 3, where he's been unceremoniously called back into action. Good episode!
one thing that you didnt mention was the credit crawl at the end. that blew me away as a 10 year old. it felt like the ending to a movie and had an amazing triumphant variation on an earlier theme! credit crawls were brand new to games at this time. it was a great touch
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who sees Mega Man 2's ending on a much deeper level. Personally, I believe that the ending is supposed to depict Rock's thoughts on his own life, realizing that his fate now lies in Mega Man.
Rock may have volunteered for this life of stopping Dr. Wily and the forces of evil, but he never thought that far ahead nor did he thought he would be trapped in it for good. He's no longer Rock Light the lab assistant, but rather the hero Mega Man and knows that he'll eventually fight again another day. As a result, he tries to savor the little time he has in between his journeys to be with his family yet he never truly learned what it meant to be human (as Dr. Light initially created him not only to be his assistant, but to fulfill his dream of creating robots with human-like emotions and having a sort of son).
Not saying that Mega Man's emotionless as he's shown plenty of them in cutscenes and what not, but he's stuck in between being human and being a machine. As seen in later titles, Mega Man's probably going mad as evidenced by the time where he considered killing Dr. Wily in cold blood and is constantly haunted by the fact he destroys his own kind to bring peace. That's my personal take on it anyway and is a major reason why I prefer the original Mega Man over Mega Man X IMO.
I first beat this game when I was 12-13 yo on my runback round (I had played it when I was younger 7-8, but couldn't pass the gems boss right before the capsules, then I went on a hiatus because I didn't have an NES until I was starting middle school), and it gave me exactly the vibes you describe, so I think is pretty safe to say it's more or less that.
I think there is some nobility in the fact that Mega Man was a household worker who volunteered, in a time of need, to sacrifice his body and ultimately his soul to fight evil.
But you gotta admit, Mega Man X is probably a close second.
I had never given much thought to the helmet's significance; I love this take on the ending.
As you mentioned, most people playing Mega Man 2 hadn't played the first game, which was true for me. It wasn't until much later that I realized that the intro music for MM2 is the same as the ending music for the first game. I wonder if that was a deliberate tie-in to this notion that Mega Man cannot stop fighting: the end of one conflict with Wily will ultimately lead to the beginning of another.
I love these retro games. No matter how advanced games become they just dont have the charm as these old ass games ( sometimes. ) ive seen some great indie games that arm very charming aswell as a few big name franchises.
As a kid I always interpreted this as the end of megaman's (and fighting robots I'm general) journey. You see a scene not pictured in the locations of the game: a forest devoid of advanced architecture. Did the conflict between wily and megaman somehow plummet the world back into a more primitive state as they had discovered the dangers of dr lights dangerous research? It feels like a lot more time has passed, and that if you can grant me my assumption, megaman could have conceivably outlived everything and everyone in the first 2 games. Without the knowledge of a third game, this seemed to be the end indeed. Megaman looks back on the world he saved from certain destruction, a relic hero forgotten by all. The lone helmet symbolizes his either his eventual, isolated end as his metal body breaks downs aeons later, or as he abandons his former identity to live a life masquerading as one of the humans he risked his life to safeguard.
As someone who only has Rockman 3 and 5, I've no idea what you're talking about.
I actually cried too during the ending. It was also a pretty long and an introspective one at that. Thank you for your spotlight on this amazing moment to this game!
Good video! The ending of MM2 stood out to me as different when I was about 10 years old. I even wrote to Nintendo Power specifically about it and they responded with a vague non-answer. You actually give a plausible explanation.
I remember renting this game and honestly, thoroughly, feeling a lump in my throat at the end. I totally wasn't expecting such a deep-feeling ending. I couldn't even say "WHY" it made me feel that way. It just "did". Or, maybe I was pleased to not see another 1-second "CONGRATURATIONS" message in a game.