Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun

"A good sequel to a great series"

Graphics-9
The graphics in this game are visually pleasing, despite the fact that they don't attempt to achieve much. What they do attempt, however, is spot-on. From colorful graphics and stunning visual effects in some of the battle chips (see gameplay) to unique bosses and a wide array of enemies, this game has a lot to offer. As in previous installments in the series, you move the character (Lan in the real world, MegaMan on the Net) in a pseudo 3-D environment. While in a battle, you move on a 3-by-3 grid to defeat enemies. The graphics are limited by the Gameboy Advance, but Capcom was able to work around that and make the graphics correspond perfectly with the gameplay.

Gameplay- 9
The gameplay is simple, fun and intuitive, with a good mix of action and strategy. This game essentially plays the same as the others; you explore areas with the main character Lan, and then jack-in to the internet and use his Net-Navi MegaMan to fight viruses and evil Net-Navis. While in a battle, you begin by selecting, battle chips, which are your weapons. They can obtained in a variety of ways: you can obtain them from defeated enemies, trade current chips for random ones, or even from a defeated boss to use their special attack in battle. They range from powerful short ranged swords to slow firing cannons to quick but weak air shots. You have 5 randomly selected chips from your folder (which you can customize with your favorite chips) to choose from. Normally, you can only select one chip, but if one chip shares a name with another, or if they share the same letter at the bottom of their picture, then you can choose them both. All chips will have a certain letter, ranging anywhere from A-Z. Certain chips have an asterisk in place of a letter, which means that they can be used alongside a chip of any name or letter. Once you have selected your chips, you can start the battle. You use the chips, and then dodge enemy attacks while waiting for a bar at the top of the screen to fill up. When it does, you can press L or R to pause the battle and select new chips. This process continues until you either defeat the enemy or run out of chips (you have 30 in your folder). What's new in this game is an interesting fusion feature, where you are able to fuse with other important characters' navis, gaining their special abilities and strengths (also in some cases their weaknesses).

Story- 6
This is the problem I had with this game. The story is like the other games: you play Lan, 5th grade superstar who, together with his often underestimated Navi MegaMan, form an unstoppable, virus-bustin' team. Suddenly, some mysterious bad guy tries to take over your peaceful planet, and it's up to Lan to save the day. But this one is even cheesier and less believable than the others.You meet some old friends, some new friends, some old enemies, and some new enemies. Even some former enemies that become friends. Decidedly odd and unexpected, although it isn't important to the overall story. Although you have a colorful cast of characters that make up Lan's friends, normally they try to help and get in the way, causing you to spend some portion of the game saving their butts. Another big portion of the game are the the three tournaments - the most central part of the story. Before each round of every tournament, you have to complete a gruelingly long sub-plot involving the Navi you're about to face, even if it's one of the generic Navis. You also have to play through the game at least twice to get all of the six fusions. The game is boring the second time through, so the little replay value it gets is from the amped-up dificulty and the new navis you get to face in the tournament. There is the chance that you will face some of the same Navis again, so you will have to play through some of the same grueling sub-plots.

Sound- 10
The game featured a memorable soundtrack and a wide array of sound effects for the different chips and attacks. There are a lot of annoying sounds in the cut scenes, but there really are no complaints here.

Overall- 8
The story is cheesier than ever, and although this game features fusions, the feature seems tacked-on to make it different from the other games. Don't get me wrong, the story doesn't get in the way of making this a great game by any means- the gameplay is still as fun as the original, and this game was the debut of the series mainstay feature of fusion.

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

Game Release: Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun (US, 06/29/04)