Capcom is offering the iPhone/iPod Touch port of Mega Man 2 for $2.99. It was released a year ago to a lot of criticism, and has since been updated to address some of its downfalls.

When it first came out, there were two major complaints with the game: It could only be played in portrait mode, and Mega Man’s movements were drastically different from the original release.

Since the iPhone strictly relies on the touch screen, the game has to provide its own buttons within the screen itself. With portrait mode, that means keeping the player’s hands uncomfortably close together. It seems obvious that the game should be held horizontally, better resembling the experience of holding an NES controller, and it’s unclear why Capcom defaulted to portrait mode.

The other big issue had some logic behind it. Capcom recognized that it was inevitably going to be more challenging to play with touch controls rather than physical buttons, and compensated by adding rapid-fire shots and a higher, slower jump for Mega Man. This was not welcomed by those expecting an authentic Mega Man experience.

Capcom listened to these complaints, and when the game was updated, they added a landscape view and a classic mode. It’s great to see their efforts to make MM2 work well on the touch screen, but fact that there is no physical feedback will always be awkward. I got used to the control enough to survive (I have small hands, which probably helped), but I never felt totally in control. I just don’t think a NES platformer can be ported to a touchscreen-based OS.

There are some minor issues which still plague this version. When the background music loops, it includes the introduction, which makes for a jarring and distracting transition. There are some reports of the game freezing, or Metal Man getting stuck on the ceiling and thus becoming unbeatable, but I personally didn’t encounter these issues.

Some people love it, others find the control impossible even on the easiest modes. Fortunately there is a free demo available, so that the controls can be tested out beforehand. It’s worth a try.