When FateForWindows released his no-slide hack for the first Megaman game, it made a surprisingly big difference in the overall feel of the game, and it became one of those hacks where the base game just doesn’t feel complete without it. So therefore, by extension, one would assume that this significance should also carry over to its sequel, but surprisingly, it doesn’t make as big of an impact as in the first game.

Just as with the first game, Megaman goes through a deceleration period when you stop running, and this causes him to slide forward ever so slightly but just enough to make narrow jumps that much trickier. This hack removes that deceleration period entirely, so he stops in place as soon as you stop moving. The end result is that you have much tighter control over the Blue Bomber’s movements, but to my surprise, I seldom found myself in situations where I really felt the difference. In fact, it didn’t really become apparent until you reach the dragon boss in Wily Stage 1, where you must hop across several tiny platforms with little to no room for mistakes.

I suspect that the hack’s effectiveness is made less by the overall fine-tuning in the level designs. Each of the eight robot master levels have platform clearances that are much more forgiving than in the previous game, and there are strategies for clearing the more demanding sections, like using Item-2 in Heat Man’s stage to skip an entire stretch of disappearing blocks across lava.

While the game is perfectly fine without the hack, it’s still nice to have tighter control over Megaman’s movements. Not a game-changer by any means but it’s worth a try.