Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team

"Double Trouble!"

Initial Impressions:Well, due to my insane amount of laziness, I didn't bother to pick up Mega Man Battle Network 5. So when I had the chance to pick up both games for the ds, you can bet for once my laziness paid off! Originally this game started out at about $40 for a new copy, still a really good price considering you were basically getting the games at 20 bucks a pop, but since I waited to get a ds, the game had already dropped to $20.
Anyway, the game is basically just a value pack of both of the originals with some bonus content that takes advantage of the ds's unique capabilities. Some include voice recognition from the built in mic to cheer your navi on, and a handy map that for some stupid reason capcom didn't put in the previous games.
All these things come together to make a great rehash of a decently fun game.

Story:6/10
Before I get yelled at for giving this game this score, let me explain myself. The mega man battle network series has never been really known for its story, if anything at all, people have really come to think of it as tacked on burden that basically shuffles you from one location to the next.
Anyway, Lan's father calls Lan and his friends to his Lab to show you something, but before he can you all are attacked by Dr. Regal from the previous game. Wanting to rescue his father, Lan meets up with his team leader(Depending on your game it will either be Chuad or Baryl.) The story mainly revolves around liberating the net from the darkloids, menacing navis that have surrendered themselves to darkness. This all adds up to a pretty good story that can sometimes be plagued with poor translation.

Gameplay:9/10
Lets face it, this is what draws back eager battle network fans with each new installment. The battle system is top knotch in terms of quality. You either fight enemy viruses(the games enemies)or the occasional navi. Battles are fought on a 6x6 grid that is split in half, meaning that you and your opponents will fight on your own 3x3 grid. You do have the ability to steal you opponents panels with certain chips, but I'll go into that later. What I like so much about these battles though are that they are fought in real time, you pick the chips that have come up in your custom screen and then g onto battle using those chips, or if your desperate, your buster.
Chips add a whole new dimension to this game. Outside of battle, you have the option of tinkering with your folder to make it better with some of your chips that you've previously found or obtained from viruses or navis. Chips are classified through type and code. Every chip falls into one category, whether it be standard, mega, giga, or secret. After that chips are further classified depending on which codes they are found in. Codes consist of letters that allow you to use them. Codes add another element into the game because in battle if you have more than one chip of the same code, you can choose more than one to take into battle with you. There are also things called pas, or program advances. These consist of three chips that are of the matching combo. When combined they will form a mega-powerful attack that will do lots of damage.
Outside of battle consists of going around doing certain quests to advance the abysmal story that this game presents. Finding objects or people are things that Lan will normally do, while megaman can go into the cyberworld to fight viruses.
This game adds in a new style of battle though in the form of liberation missions. While this is a really nice addition, they can sometimes be allitle annoying to play through. Lib. missions are turned based battles that play out on a grid. You normally are liberating dark panels in an attempt to get to that maps darkloid before the certain allotted time slot is finished.

Graphics:6/10
Ever since Mega Man Battle Network 4, the mega man battle network games have followed a more chibby style. I personally enjoyed the graphics of the originals, but you do get used to these after awhile, what's done is done anyway, I can't change what capcom does. The game has a pretty consistent frame rate and battle animation, and I liked that, but the ds allows this game to do so much more than the originals. Out of battle you can see mega on the top or bottom screen while you walk around in the real world, or while mega man is in the cyberworld you can see the menus from the bottom screen.
Menu navigation is a breeze, and I like the graphics of the menus a lot more than previous titles.
Overall, these graphics could be better, but there still good enough to earn a passing score.

Music:7/10
This game normally presents a cheery musical background that ties in with the game pretty well. I do have a problem though with the occasional danger music that can sometimes be playing. It really gets annoying to listen to. Other than that I really liked the up-beat style of music that this game uses to portray emotions and scenes.

Difficulty:3/10
I'll be honest, this games a cake walk until you beat it and go into the lib. missions in the secret area. Bosses are normally a breeze with allitle patience and the right folder. Other than that some of the the game can get allitle annoying, but most of the time it's more of a time consuming process that you'll just have to sit through.

Replay Value:10/10
With two games to play, the ds version of mega man 5 definitely has a lot of replay value. I liked it as it has a lot of extra features after you beat the game. Collecting the seven symbol's takes a lot of time and patience to complete. Most of them are just completing the standard, mega, and giga class library, but some of the harder ones include beating bass and activating all of the pas.

Family Friendly Value:7/10
Definitely a good game for the family, multi player has always been a great way to get the family together and this game doesn't fail in that aspect. So give it a try.

Buy/Rent:Buy
Renting this is almost impossible since this game was discontinued awhile back, so if you are lucky enough to find a copy of it, then snap it up immediently, because you don't know if you'll get another chance.

Final Impressions:I have alsways been a fan of the mega man battle network games, so it was only natural for me to pick it up. Trust me, this games strategy level is amazing and it won't disappoint you in the least bit .

Hope you enjoyed my review .

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/01/06