Hey, since all the M&M people seem to be gathered here...
I keep hearing some people espouse that M&M2 has the best "tactical combat" of the series.
Is it still worth playing over any others in the series for that reason alone?
Here's a description of combat in MM 1-2 to see whether you would like it.
You have a party of 6 chars, which you can import from MM1 to MM2. The classes are Knight, Paladin, Archer, Robber, Cleric and Sorcerer. The Paladin can learn some Cleric spells and the Archer can learn some Sorcerer spells.
In battle, chars 1 and 2 are in the front row and can always use melee weapons (note: by char 1 and 2, I mean the slots, not the classes listed above, even though it's a personally reasonable party configuration). The other chars generally use ranged weapons or spells. Chars 3 and 4 are the second row and can use melee weapons when flanked, ex. in a 2x2 room, but I don't think it happens in corridors (I may be wrong about thus). Chars 5 and 6 are the safest, but the can still be hit/affected by ranged attacks or spells. Note that chars 5 and 6 can also be flanked or even have the entire party surrounded.
Combat is turn-based, with the combat order determined by the speed attribute. You can select the target of each character's attack. Melee or ranged attacks have a chance of missing and spells can be resisted (this applies to all combatants). Characters engaged in melee cannot use ranged attacks, except for the Archer. You can attempt to retreat during combat, but there is a relatively high chance of it failing, so you end up receiving another hit. Try enough times, and the entire party will retreat to another spot in the dungeon.
If a character on the front line dies or is asleep/paralyzed/unconscious, then enemies can use their turn to advance and engage another character in melee.
Here is a diagram of the party layout, where characters 1, 2 and 4 are in melee combat (marked by +).
1+ 2+
3 4+
5 6
