Mega Man Network Transmission

"A very fun, and very fresh Mega Man game with just a few problems."

A couple years ago, Mega Man Battle Network was created for the Game Boy Advance. It was a strange Action/RPG hybrid, and was widely accepted as yet another fun Mega Man game. Mega Man Battle Network is already becoming another huge Mega Man series, and Mega Man Network Transmission is kind of a spinoff of that series.

Story: 5/10

Yeah, the story is kind of weak, but who plays Mega Man games for the story? The game starts off with a cutscene of Mega Man deleting, (killing), the final boss of Mega Man Battle Network. After this Lan, (the main character), and Mega Man discover that other Net Navis, (Like Mega Man), are being infected with a virus that makes them go insane and start destroying everthing. They find out that it's called the Zero virus, and they set off to try to delete this virus. That's the story. It's pretty original, but it's just not exactly awe inspiring, but like I said, I don't think anybody plays Mega Man games for their stories.

Graphics: 7/10

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Cel Shading, but this game's graphics are done quite nicely. The character models are not as detailed as they should be, but it fits the whole, Cyber-World feel, so it's not too big a deal, in fact, it actually works quite nicely. It's the backgrounds that lower this score. Some of them are quite nice, such as Ice Man's second area, but many of them are just sparse, dull, and just plain lacking in inspiration and quality. Overall though, the uniqueness wins over the undetailed backgrounds, and the graphics get and above average score.

Sound: 6/10

This is probably the weakest part of this game. The music, as in any other Mega Man game is fun, and entertaining to listen to, although some tracks are a bit too generic, but it's still not too bad. It's the sound effects and voices that hurt this score. The sound effects are very weak, nothing really sounds like what it should. I know the game takes place in a cyber world, but your Mega Buster sounds like a bubble being popped. The sounds just could have been so much better than what they are. The voices, though they aren't bad, are in Japanese. I guess Capcom was too lazy to hire American voice actors, or maybe they didn't have the budget. I don't know, but in either case, it's a little strange with everyone talking in Japanese. It doesn't really matter though, and the voices aren't in the game all that much anyway, most of it's text. Overall, the sound is still good, it's just kind of uninspired.

Gameplay: 8/10

This is the heart of the game, and it's overall very well done. Most of the game works like the older Mega Man games. It's a 2D Platform/Shooting game with 3D graphics. It's kind of like Super Mario Bros. with a gun and the ability to slide. However, it's not all like the original Mega Man series. It uses a few systems from the Mega Man Battle Network series. First of all, you have HP and MP, and they can be increased throughout the game by finding/purchasing certain items that increase them. Also, the game uses this Chip system. It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try.

As you go through the levels, if you delete enemies quickly enough, they will drop Chips. These Chips are used for different specialty uses, kind of like spells in an RPG. For example, there is a chip that does massive damage with a punch, and another one that puts up a shield that protects you from one attack, and yet another one that recovers 30 Hit Points. There are over 100 of these chips. You can use up to 5 chips at once, but they're randomly chosen from a folder of 20 Chips, and the rest are kept in a separate pack. This is the problem. Sometimes you'll be at an area where you need the Double Jump Chip to reach a certain item, but no matter how many times you run the Roulette System of Chip selection, you just can't seem to get the double jump chip, and you have to wait like a minute to be able to run the Roulette System again. I've been stuck waiting for up to 15 minutes for the right chip sometimes. It's still bearable, but this is the reason that I's not giving the gameplay a 9/10 score.

Many people say this game is too difficult, but it's really not, you just have to play smart. For example, if you go at the first boss with the wrong chips, he's one of the hardest bosses ever, but if you come at him with the right chips, you can literally kill him in 2 hits in less than 5 seconds. Overall it's one of the easiest Mega Man game's that I've played. However, getting all the chips is good challenge, so the game should appeal to all levels of players.

In the end the game is fun, fresh, and full of nostalgia. I don't want to spoil it for you, but almost every level has something from the original series in it. The roulette system is the only thing that really brings down the gameplay. It's not the most fun Mega Man game ever, but it's still very much worth playing. You should enjoy it.

Replay Value: 7/10

This game has a great deal of replay value. It's much longer than most Mega Man games, and getting all of the chips should take you even longer. The game takes about 9 hours if you don't get all the chips, and around 12 hours if you do. It's a fun game too, so you'll probably want to play through it more than once. Overall, it's worth the purchase.

Overall: 8/10

Although the backgrounds are kind of dull, the sound effects are weak, the voices are sparse, and in Japanese, and the Chip Roulette System is poorly designed, it's a fun, fresh, and unique game, worth buying, worth playing, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/08/03, Updated 07/08/03