Mega Man Battle Network

"A decent start to an intriguing spin-off"

One of the most popular and celebrated franchise of powerhouse developer Capcom, the Megaman series has way too many games and spin-offs than you can shake a Mega Buster at. One said spin-off is an Action/RPG called Megaman Battle Network (Rockman.exe in Japan) There, everyone's favorite Blue Bomber was casted as an artificial intelligence being called Navi, who would blast his way through a cyberworld adventure with innovative battle system. It eventually spawned half a dozen games for the Game Boy Advance; so, looking back at when it started, we're gonna look at how the first game fared in paving way for the intriguing series.

Gameplay

The setting in this game is similar with today's society, but with noticeably more advanced technology. Network is a big thing in the community, as the Internet became a three-dimensional cyber-space and many things has a cyber maintenance run by programs. Everyone has a device called PET (Personal Terminal) which functions like your regular cell phone, but with a very neat feature: the Net Navi. Navi is a very sophisticated artificial intelligence (some sort of cyber android, basically) and functions just like a personal assistant; it can interact with the PET operator, run the PET features, and is sufficiently armed to combat the cyber threats known as virus. Having trouble with one of your household maintenance? Just jack your Navi inside the maintenance, and fix it by busting the virus which is most likely to cause the trouble.

In this game, you will have to control the fifth-grader called Hikari Lan in the real world, and his Navi, Megaman, in the cyber world. This makes for some kind of dual gameplay, and Capcom incorporated this into the gameplay with flying colors. As Lan, you will interact with people, looking for clues, and generally advance the story events; while as Megaman, you will traverse the cyber world and battling both viruses and other Navis (think of the Megaman part like in crawling through the RPG dungeons part)

Battle system (referred to as ‘Netbattling') is the core of this game, and it has a fresh and innovative set-up. Battles will happen in the cyber world, in a random fashion. The battlefield is a 6x6 grids split in half, and you will directly control Megaman against one or more enemy on the other side. You can move him around his area, fire his trademark Mega Buster, or use battlechips. Megaman's HP will be fully refilled after winning the battles and you will be ranked based on the performance; higher ranking will nets you more Zenny (the game's currency) or better possibility to acquire battlechips. There are also power-ups (such as various Mega Buster enhancements or elemental armors) to increase Megaman's ability; however, the most vital thing in battles is how you utilize the battlechips.

Although your Mega Buster has unlimited uses, it's very weak compared to battlechips; so using them would be your primary resort in dealing with enemies. Battlechips come in a staggering amount of variety, be it a sword that can only hit a single grid in front of you or a shotgun with spread damage, and stored in your folder-think of it like a deck of cards. At the start of each battle, you will get five chips at random, which you can use until the custom gauge (the auto-refilling bar at the top of battle screen) present another chance of chip selection. There are several things that you need to consider regarding battlechips, such as the chip codes (you can pick several chips at once if thy have the same code), chip combo, many specific attributes that can alter the battlefield, and the elemental alignments. Therefore, there's a lot of strategy involved in gathering battlechips and to customize a folder which can kicks major ass in battles.

However, Megaman Battle Network also have its share of set-backs. The biggest annoyance is the fact that you can't escape battles (!), unless you use a specific battlechip. So, most of the time you will be forced to finish every battle, or wait until you just happen to stumble upon the oh-so-delightful Escape chip. Yeah, battles are mostly fun, but it's a major pain when you're in a bit of hurry to clear the area and do not want to be bothered by anymore enemies. Although Megaman recovered his full HP after every battle, some enemies compensate by having massive attack power which can snuff out our hero in just a few strikes. I happened to think that this is a cheap mechanic; because if you get sloppy or plain unlucky in just a single battle, you can be wiped out and see the Game Over screen.

Another flaw is the monotonous nature of the gameplay. The game plays in a scenario-like set up in which the recurring pattern is like: a major conflict arise, Lan does some things in the real world (mostly just tedious walking around to talk with the right people), and Megaman works his way through a dungeon to meet the enemy Navi at the end. Admittedly, there are some decent puzzles thrown in for a good measure, but it certainly could use some divergence from that pattern. Still, all the fun you have with battlechips is quite worth the flaws.

Storyline

The plot in a nutshell: Lan, with his trusty Navi (Megaman) and a host of fifth-grader comrades (the childhood friend Mayl, the class bully Dex, the snotty rich kid Yai, and the aloof rival Chaud) must overcome the threats of evil organization WWW, which has become the deadly threat to the society. It is mostly light-hearted, despite some life-threatening moments here and there, and the characters has their charms. It's not a stellar plot by all means though, as can be witnessed from the shallow set-up and sometimes silly dialogues. Overall, it gives some sort of a morning cartoon vibe that is easy to absorb and most of the time defies logic.

While the plot is mediocre, the presentation of the world in Megaman Battle Network is definitely interesting. The advanced technology, PET, and network make for some great story devices, and Capcom was successful in re-imagining the society as present in the game. Even more delightful, particularly for the long-term Megaman fans, there are a lot of cameo characters from the classic series, remodeled and adjusted to fit into the Battle Network universe. Beside obviously Megaman himself, there's that old crack Dr Wily and several enemy robots from the classic Megaman games for the NES, whose now make an appearance as Navi: such as Fireman, Gutsman, Bombman, Iceman, and many others.

Graphic & Sound

Being released in the earliest lifespan of GBA, this game showed just how much of a graphical leap it was from the Game Boy Color, especially in displaying vibrant colors and sharp textures. Character design, from the people to the Navi and virus, is very imaginative; and the battle animation is plentiful, smooth, and a joy to watch. The game also has a decent sound production, with multitude of sound effects used in battles. The music is mainly composed of funky techno beats which served their purpose, although not that striking or memorable.

Replay Value

It almost seems that Capcom was still testing the water with this game (which being Capcom, it's very likely to be true; they probably had bajillion sequels planned in advance at the moment the franchise was invented), as the main quest can be finished in just under 10 hours. With the gotta-catch-'em-all mentality though, you can easily extend the playtime; hunting for the battlechips to complete your library will needed some more hours to be invested. In addition, the game also provided a secret area and three extra bosses, accessible after you've beat it the first time. The requirement to meet the very last Navi boss (who is a cameo of an old-time favorite...) is quite hefty, as you need to collect 174 out of 175 available battlechips-the last one will be gotten once you conquered this particular enemy. Frankly, I don't have that kind of dedication, mostly because long cyberworld-trekking was made annoying by naturally inescapable random battles.

You can also utilize the linking feature to trade chips and Netbattle with your fellow MMBN players. It's a fun way to put those heavily customized folders into good use, although the battle mechanic in this game will feels very rigid and dated compared to the sequels; thus, there's absolutely no reason to Netbattle with this version (even by the second game, the whole mechanic was already significantly improved)

Recap

The Good Points:

(+) The intriguing cyber world and real world concept
(+) Dynamic and fun battle system
(+) A lot of battlechips to collect and use
(+) Great graphic

The Bad Points:

(-) Leaves a lot of room for improvements
(-) Repetitive gameplay pattern
(-) Annoying encounter rate lead to many battles that can't be escaped unless you use a chip

Conclusion

So, the first Battle Network game has introduced a great franchise and laid a foundation for its sequels to build upon. I can't help but feel that Capcom was still experimenting though, and it wasn't until the second game that the series is catapulted into becoming one of the GBA's finest.

Megaman Battle Network is stil a starting entry worth to play, if only just to see how the series started or if you're planning to do some kind of a Battle Network marathon (playing all the games in the series consecutively)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/09

Game Release: Mega Man Battle Network (US, 10/30/01)