Well, there were a few game I couldn't befriend myself with. There are ironicaly some popular games under there like SM64 (not a fan of the collectathon games, levels looked weird like flying islands, plattforming was later very helllish), FF7 and 8 (Storywise not my style and I don't get the hype about the characters, FF8s monster levelup system that destroys grinding and even punishes people doing grinding for the wrong reasons), Zelda OoT (not that bad, but late game back- and forthtracking, item trade sidequest, lame final boss fight) and probably more, which I don't remember at the moment... remember, unpopular opinions are common from me.
Probably those are kinda burnded into my mind, because many people I know shoved those games in my face over and over and didn't stop trying to convince me what fantastic "master pieces" they are and I "have to" love them... Trust me, a thing such as a "master piece" will never exsist, as every game has flaws and there will be always at least one person, who doesn't like it. Perfect games don't exsist.
Well... back to topic. A game I played to the end and was left with a sour taste was... again unpopular opinion incomming... Mega Man 2. Yeah, I have to say, that I even pefer most of Rockman and Forte Levels over this (I said "most", the King Levels still were bad, gosh, hated those stages!).
The thing I don't like about MM2 is it's level design. I really don't like it.
Metal Man is the only kinda okayish stage to me, just the constant stop and go was not that cool or thrilling.
Bubble Man is a boring level with hot wire (aka "don't touch the top") sections later on.
Flash Mans level even crancks up the blandness with a disco maze with annoying enemies placed in annoyingly places and a pretty messy boss room.
Air Man tops the bland stage aesthetics department and has pretty annoying enemies and a boss that is sometimes impossible (without an item weapon or wood) to dodge, cause Mega can't slide yet.
Crash Mans stage is a level designed by a troll, like who was that guy who though letting Pipi's sh... eggs on your head while climbing ladder is a fun thing? Also without weapon aid, the Telly enemy sure will make you love it. Compared to the stage, the boss has an IQ of 1 and is super easy exploidable.
Then, we have Wood Man, a stage that loves to throw time wasting minibosses one after another and enemies that are time consuming to kill ("finally move you bat guys") and the boss is just way to powerful and his attacks fill almost everything of the room, even though, he very dumb (which doesn't matter, if his Leaf Shield powers are awesome, compared to yours).
Everyone who played MM2 knows, how badly designed Heat Mans level is. Either, it's too annoying or too easy. Let me give you an example, use the blocks that appear and disappear to climb over the wall and dodge Telly enemies, or just shoot a Crash Bomb to open the path. Or how about this, use appearing/disappearing blocks, with troll patterns in it, to overcome an large instant death trap or just use item 2. Nothing to say about the boss beside the fact that I still don't get his candle fire throw attack, how it works. Otherwise, it's just a bullfight with the same two attacks over and over...
And don't get me started with Quick Man or Wily stages...
While Quick Mans stage has an kinda interessting gimmick going on, it makes the level god awful to play. I had no enjoyment in this entire level. I would even go and say, this might be the worst Mega Man level, I have ever played (well, worst robot master level at least, not including special ones or wily levels). First, despite the name Quick Man, his stage has a lot of time wasting enemies. Also, one side thing... why are the Hothead enemies used here and not in Heat Mans level? Why is the the dark room gimmick used here with the Hothead to light it up? Wouldn't fit more into Heat Man actually? These sections are so out of place, that they are used here to distract you from the real gimmick, to which I come later. Besides the (unfitting) Hothead rooms, we have rooms with Sniper Joes, Tank Joes and Scworms (or how they were called). Simply enemies that are just here to waste time and don't add any interessting challenge whatsoever... even Springer is placed in this level in annoying places.
So... and now, the death beams... oh boy... who ever though this level is a master piece, is trully a troll. I mean, I get it, it's Quick Man, so the level is based around quick things (funny, how most of the stuff here slows you down more but we already mentioned that). You're supposed to run as fast as you can downwards to avoid the laser hazards, which are comming from left or right at certain heights. So, this is the only thing in this level, that actually fits the theme of the robotmaster. Well... there are some major problems with that gimmick however...
They are... sooooo unforgiving.
One hit and you are dead... no matter from where, how or whatever. One mistake and you go back to the start (or checkpoint) and do it again. I wouldn't be so bad, if they were a bit slower or if you would have more time to react. Most of the time, you just drop into the room, get surprised by the beams and die. Then, you go back there, try to make your way through the room, getting hit by another laser... go back! Do it again! There are even level layouts that are teasing you for not having the slide function from MM3. Heck, this entire level looks like it has been build for MM3 or 4, even before MM3 exsisted. Once you finally pass the laser room, there are more to come. Enter the next screen in a wrong way can make the next room impossible to surrive, since the lasers are designed in a way that even on the fastest route through the room, those things are almost getting you. To troll you even more, they placed a lot of items near these things, to lure you into the death trap and make you waste more time, which you don't have here.
And before I get my head slammed by someone, yes, I'm aware that Flash Mans weapon stops these things and the level is designed to make the best use of that weapon. But then again, every robot master level should be played without needing a masters weapon. While it's possible to beat the level without it, it's only possible with a lot of patience and trial and error which is the main issue with this level. Yes, I know... MM always had trial and error elements in the series, but it doesn't justify Quick Mans level to be the way it is, as it crancks the trial and error stuff to the extreme. This stage is simply no fun to me. No clever challenges, a lot of annoying enemies and the only clever thing destroys the whole potential of this level due to trial and error.
One more thing about mister Quick Man, is that Quick Man himself is one of the most annoying robot master bosses of all time (at least for me). Doing a no damage run on this guy without Flash seems to be a miracle to do. His pattern is erratic and fast, so dodging in his arena is almost impossible and even if you can dodge him jumping around like a bouncy ball, good luck dodging his boomerangs of weirdness, as I still can't figure out, how these things fly the way they do. It doesn't help, that he is weak to Flashs weapon, which you probably want to use for the level instead. So you waste all of Flash, because you don't want to go insane on the trial and error stuff the level throws at you. Just to make sure you reach the boss not with full healt, just throw some Tank Joes and Sniper Joes at the end of the level. I know you can farm for stuff here, but who wants to farm items at the least favorite enemies possible to farm from?
Don't remember most the Wily levels well, I only know that level one is supershort and is annoying if you don't know that you need the items to get further (wasted item 3 and 1) and it's boss is also kinda a RNG kind of thing (hate that area). Level two was a "wait on platforms" kind of level (or was that level 3?) and that it had blindjumps with death as consequence of failure and the boss was easy as hell. Level three was kinda interessting with the use of Bubble Leads ground tracking, but it's boss is super awful designed (requires Crash Bomb, if you don't have a lot of it left, you have to game over yourself and do the level again). Level 4 was a boring, spikeladen sewerlevel with very little enemies, a trial and error spikefall and again with a super easy boss. Level 5 was just refights and then fighting the worst boss of the entire game, who has attacks that are really impossible to dodge and two healthbars.
The level I remember the most was the final level, while the start is time wasting, bland and breakable (hold right while falling down the tunnel, then run right and jump to have a good time), the boss idea was a neat surprise and easly one of my favorite moments of this game. Making Wily seem to be an alien with his saucer was indeed something creative and funny to witness. I remembered myself seeing this the first time. Man, was I blown away...
Sadly... this is a poorly designed fight for such an epic thing...
The alien just flies in a 8-figure path, while ocasionally shooting a single small pellet at you, while trying to make heavy contact damage to you. That sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it? Yeah... and just to confuse you even more, they maked him weak to only Bubble Lead. Every other weapon heals him up to full health with a single shot. That's not making him hard... thats just cheap and trying to hide this flawed boss fight. It's boring... sadly. I always wanted to make my own version of the fight because of this...
I know that Wily is (sadly) no alien and the thing was just a decoy to mess with Mega Man, but I wished they did something bigger than this... testboss(?) fight...
Then, Wily is defeated (no idea what happens to him, since the game doesn't tell you unlike MM1), showing Mega Man walking through the seasons (for... what reason? Are days, months flying by as he walks... home?) put his helmet down (again, why? Doesn't he want to fight anymore X7 Mega Man?) and... thats it...
Well... thats all what I can say about Mega Man 2, It might helped the next games to become what they are by setting a few basics up, which have been used since, but in my eyes, this game is deeply flawed, mainly due to it's level design, weird design choices, all over the place difficulty and Quick Man.
...
Alright, one more good thing... it got E-Tanks
.
Probably those are kinda burnded into my mind, because many people I know shoved those games in my face over and over and didn't stop trying to convince me what fantastic "master pieces" they are and I "have to" love them... Trust me, a thing such as a "master piece" will never exsist, as every game has flaws and there will be always at least one person, who doesn't like it. Perfect games don't exsist.
Well... back to topic. A game I played to the end and was left with a sour taste was... again unpopular opinion incomming... Mega Man 2. Yeah, I have to say, that I even pefer most of Rockman and Forte Levels over this (I said "most", the King Levels still were bad, gosh, hated those stages!).
The thing I don't like about MM2 is it's level design. I really don't like it.
Metal Man is the only kinda okayish stage to me, just the constant stop and go was not that cool or thrilling.
Bubble Man is a boring level with hot wire (aka "don't touch the top") sections later on.
Flash Mans level even crancks up the blandness with a disco maze with annoying enemies placed in annoyingly places and a pretty messy boss room.
Air Man tops the bland stage aesthetics department and has pretty annoying enemies and a boss that is sometimes impossible (without an item weapon or wood) to dodge, cause Mega can't slide yet.
Crash Mans stage is a level designed by a troll, like who was that guy who though letting Pipi's sh... eggs on your head while climbing ladder is a fun thing? Also without weapon aid, the Telly enemy sure will make you love it. Compared to the stage, the boss has an IQ of 1 and is super easy exploidable.
Then, we have Wood Man, a stage that loves to throw time wasting minibosses one after another and enemies that are time consuming to kill ("finally move you bat guys") and the boss is just way to powerful and his attacks fill almost everything of the room, even though, he very dumb (which doesn't matter, if his Leaf Shield powers are awesome, compared to yours).
Everyone who played MM2 knows, how badly designed Heat Mans level is. Either, it's too annoying or too easy. Let me give you an example, use the blocks that appear and disappear to climb over the wall and dodge Telly enemies, or just shoot a Crash Bomb to open the path. Or how about this, use appearing/disappearing blocks, with troll patterns in it, to overcome an large instant death trap or just use item 2. Nothing to say about the boss beside the fact that I still don't get his candle fire throw attack, how it works. Otherwise, it's just a bullfight with the same two attacks over and over...
And don't get me started with Quick Man or Wily stages...
While Quick Mans stage has an kinda interessting gimmick going on, it makes the level god awful to play. I had no enjoyment in this entire level. I would even go and say, this might be the worst Mega Man level, I have ever played (well, worst robot master level at least, not including special ones or wily levels). First, despite the name Quick Man, his stage has a lot of time wasting enemies. Also, one side thing... why are the Hothead enemies used here and not in Heat Mans level? Why is the the dark room gimmick used here with the Hothead to light it up? Wouldn't fit more into Heat Man actually? These sections are so out of place, that they are used here to distract you from the real gimmick, to which I come later. Besides the (unfitting) Hothead rooms, we have rooms with Sniper Joes, Tank Joes and Scworms (or how they were called). Simply enemies that are just here to waste time and don't add any interessting challenge whatsoever... even Springer is placed in this level in annoying places.
So... and now, the death beams... oh boy... who ever though this level is a master piece, is trully a troll. I mean, I get it, it's Quick Man, so the level is based around quick things (funny, how most of the stuff here slows you down more but we already mentioned that). You're supposed to run as fast as you can downwards to avoid the laser hazards, which are comming from left or right at certain heights. So, this is the only thing in this level, that actually fits the theme of the robotmaster. Well... there are some major problems with that gimmick however...
They are... sooooo unforgiving.
One hit and you are dead... no matter from where, how or whatever. One mistake and you go back to the start (or checkpoint) and do it again. I wouldn't be so bad, if they were a bit slower or if you would have more time to react. Most of the time, you just drop into the room, get surprised by the beams and die. Then, you go back there, try to make your way through the room, getting hit by another laser... go back! Do it again! There are even level layouts that are teasing you for not having the slide function from MM3. Heck, this entire level looks like it has been build for MM3 or 4, even before MM3 exsisted. Once you finally pass the laser room, there are more to come. Enter the next screen in a wrong way can make the next room impossible to surrive, since the lasers are designed in a way that even on the fastest route through the room, those things are almost getting you. To troll you even more, they placed a lot of items near these things, to lure you into the death trap and make you waste more time, which you don't have here.
And before I get my head slammed by someone, yes, I'm aware that Flash Mans weapon stops these things and the level is designed to make the best use of that weapon. But then again, every robot master level should be played without needing a masters weapon. While it's possible to beat the level without it, it's only possible with a lot of patience and trial and error which is the main issue with this level. Yes, I know... MM always had trial and error elements in the series, but it doesn't justify Quick Mans level to be the way it is, as it crancks the trial and error stuff to the extreme. This stage is simply no fun to me. No clever challenges, a lot of annoying enemies and the only clever thing destroys the whole potential of this level due to trial and error.
One more thing about mister Quick Man, is that Quick Man himself is one of the most annoying robot master bosses of all time (at least for me). Doing a no damage run on this guy without Flash seems to be a miracle to do. His pattern is erratic and fast, so dodging in his arena is almost impossible and even if you can dodge him jumping around like a bouncy ball, good luck dodging his boomerangs of weirdness, as I still can't figure out, how these things fly the way they do. It doesn't help, that he is weak to Flashs weapon, which you probably want to use for the level instead. So you waste all of Flash, because you don't want to go insane on the trial and error stuff the level throws at you. Just to make sure you reach the boss not with full healt, just throw some Tank Joes and Sniper Joes at the end of the level. I know you can farm for stuff here, but who wants to farm items at the least favorite enemies possible to farm from?
Don't remember most the Wily levels well, I only know that level one is supershort and is annoying if you don't know that you need the items to get further (wasted item 3 and 1) and it's boss is also kinda a RNG kind of thing (hate that area). Level two was a "wait on platforms" kind of level (or was that level 3?) and that it had blindjumps with death as consequence of failure and the boss was easy as hell. Level three was kinda interessting with the use of Bubble Leads ground tracking, but it's boss is super awful designed (requires Crash Bomb, if you don't have a lot of it left, you have to game over yourself and do the level again). Level 4 was a boring, spikeladen sewerlevel with very little enemies, a trial and error spikefall and again with a super easy boss. Level 5 was just refights and then fighting the worst boss of the entire game, who has attacks that are really impossible to dodge and two healthbars.
The level I remember the most was the final level, while the start is time wasting, bland and breakable (hold right while falling down the tunnel, then run right and jump to have a good time), the boss idea was a neat surprise and easly one of my favorite moments of this game. Making Wily seem to be an alien with his saucer was indeed something creative and funny to witness. I remembered myself seeing this the first time. Man, was I blown away...
Sadly... this is a poorly designed fight for such an epic thing...
The alien just flies in a 8-figure path, while ocasionally shooting a single small pellet at you, while trying to make heavy contact damage to you. That sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it? Yeah... and just to confuse you even more, they maked him weak to only Bubble Lead. Every other weapon heals him up to full health with a single shot. That's not making him hard... thats just cheap and trying to hide this flawed boss fight. It's boring... sadly. I always wanted to make my own version of the fight because of this...
I know that Wily is (sadly) no alien and the thing was just a decoy to mess with Mega Man, but I wished they did something bigger than this... testboss(?) fight...
Then, Wily is defeated (no idea what happens to him, since the game doesn't tell you unlike MM1), showing Mega Man walking through the seasons (for... what reason? Are days, months flying by as he walks... home?) put his helmet down (again, why? Doesn't he want to fight anymore X7 Mega Man?) and... thats it...
Well... thats all what I can say about Mega Man 2, It might helped the next games to become what they are by setting a few basics up, which have been used since, but in my eyes, this game is deeply flawed, mainly due to it's level design, weird design choices, all over the place difficulty and Quick Man.
...
Alright, one more good thing... it got E-Tanks
.