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A very decent romhack that generally improves on the base game of Mega Man 2. Some enemy designs work very well, such as Beaks that shoot from the ground or Blockies (from MM2), which, when shot release a bouncing head before charging at you. Stage design is generally well balanced, although, there are some sections that can get quite hectic. Also, there's a lot of times where you have to make near pixel-perfect jumps, especially over pits with wind blowing against you, so, I might have made that a bit easier to clear.

Bosses are generally pretty difficult, so you might have to do some trial and error to find the best starter boss. Weapons, especially the remake of Flash Man's weapon and Item 1 provide interesting scenarios for clearing rooms. The Wily Stages are decent, but Wily 1 and Wily 6 have some infuriating room design revolving around Flashman's Weapon and Item 1.

Overall, I would still recommend this game. Just be ready to have some patience when clearing certain tricky rooms (eg. Airman's Stage, Wily 1 and Wily 6).

After almost a year of retirement, Timaeus makes a surprise return with 'Rockman 2: Back to Basics,' a hack that has collected dust in his hard drive for a while but got to see the light of day. Just a fair warning for potential players that this hack will be much more difficult than the vanilla game. It's like 'Unique Harassment,' but with only the bare, vanilla essentials (E-Tanks and 1-ups). Now for the pros and cons:

PROS: Much of the OST is remixes of obscure retro game music, with a few of them originating from the Gameboy 'Mega Man' games; overpowered weapons with tons of ammo are nerfed, but expensive weapons are buffed; VERY inventive bosses, a trademark of the author. Particularly, Gale Man uses an attack pattern that has never been seen before in a 'Rockman 2' hack, using just leftovers of Air Man's AI; brain-teasing placement of Bubble lifts and Crash lifts; the only Item in the game, Item 1, allows you to fly for a short time and will lend a hand to those struggling with tricky jumps and off-screen Matasaburos; the return of old enemies such as Beak, Chibee and Timaeus' very own Zap Man, with the addition of original enemies; turning the Mecha Dragon into a 'Contra' boss was mind-blowing to me. I'm surprised no-one's thought of this; Big Fish can now be destroyed by the Buster, a rarity in 'Rockman 2' hacks; white orbs, which are an absolute menace in 'Rockman 2' hacks, now have a much smaller hitbox; the pause glitch fix prevents players from cheating, and even Item 1 must be used sparingly because of ammo consumption, obstacles and the inability to shoot; Sniper Joes are physically weaker, and there are more strategic ways to fight them.

CONS: The projectiles of certain enemies, such as the Holographic Mega Men, Beak, Sniper Joes and Sniper Armors have inflated damage outputs. This is a problem because rather than simply testing the player's skills with different behaviors, these enemies have an unfair advantage that will increase the likelihood of failure. There is nothing wrong with creating tougher armies, as I enjoy the idea of simple enemies becoming smarter, but making them too tough can cause frustration; blackout issue in the room that precedes the Boobeam boss corridor; unfair challenges in the Wily Stages regarding Item 1 acrobats. It looks like you're supposed to carefully fly under and over spikes, but the spiked ceilings are always too close to the pit. After dozens of failed attempts, I just used a cheat to bypass those ceilings; the Wily 6 boss shoots too frequently; because the meteors' spawn radius is smaller than the Claws (crabs) from the vanilla game, they will spawn directly on top of you, increasing the chance of being knocked into a pit.

Like all of Timaeus' games, there is a compelling mix of excitement, challenge, innovative ideas and surprise visits from past foes. However, there are a number of setbacks that can get in the way of a fun experience, but that doesn't mean that 'Back to Basics' is bad. Chinese 'Mega Man' hacks are home to amalgamations of excessively brutal enemies, Chiko-inspired bosses and Kaizo-influenced level design, but Timaeus is better than that. It has been several months since a new 'Rockman 2' hack came out, but this was certainly worth the wait. 'Back to Basics' is an absolute treat for veterans who want to expand their skill and bear witness to artfully arranged gimmicks. I wouldn't be surprised if Timaeus was recruited by Capcom to develop the next official 'Mega Man' game.