Mega Man Network Transmission

"Executable of pure fun"

Right off the bat I must say it... WOW. Has Capcom done the unthinkable and made a super solid Megaman(Rockman) game? I personally have been playing the series since the early NES era and even though I'm still following the series strong to this day, there is just something missing in the later megaman games. For the most part it was the level design I think. Some where too short like megamanX6 or just too easy. One thing Capcom always seem to do right is the boss battle's. Most can be so darn hard.

Luckly Capcom has a little gem called Arika bringing Megaman's roots back and making some interesting changes.

Gameplay:
Even though this game is part of the Rockman.EXE series by name its actually more of the great action found in the NES games. You are a boy name Lan Hikari and with your PET machine you summon Megaman into the network full of classic style levels and hard bosses. This is where the game shines. Your basically reliving old levels from different megaman games. The first being Fire Mans stage. The levels are quite challenging and boy was Fire Man ever so hard. 2 Hits and your dead. Luckily this game has the most about of weapon pickup in any side scrolling Megaman game. Not only can you get the bosses weapon but for every enemy in the levels as well. Just kill them and sometimes a chip is dropped. Pick it up to use that enemies weapon once. Pick up another and the max amount of use per level for that weapon is now 2. And it keeps going. There are over 135 weapons to collect.

Graphics:
I seriously can think of one bad thing about the graphics. It may use Cell type graphics but its got a nice style to it and its very smooth. You have to see Megaman fluid movements, and the graphics for the levels are done with the same care as well. Nice job capcom.

Music:
Music is also done really well. All the levels are classic tones from there NES counterparts but its not like a port with better instruments but a whole new track with a few parts that are from the classic music. Sound effects are also good everything fits to where they should be.

Replay:
Just to find all the weapons alone will keep you going for a long time. Then try to max out all your weapons while at the same time going through that the nicely done levels. It will get old eventually but this one might last a lot longer then most other Megaman games. A definite buy for fans of the series.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/03, Updated 03/16/03