I was pleasantly surprised by that one too. I like how they managed to make a sequel without trying too hard to recreate the past; The first movie is referenced in a nostalgic way, and Maverick serves as a continuation rather than just recycling the original movie.

And as someone with a far-above-average enthusiasm for the F14 (not because of Top Gun, just for the record), it was pretty cool seeing the protagonist trying to remember a start procedure he'd gone through a million times, but not for at least 30 years.