Mega Man Battle Network

"A Impressive Hybrid of a RPG and Adventure game"

Introduction: This is my first game starring the Blue Bomber, and it wasn't disappointing AT ALL. I became easily addicted to this great game and still am. This is easily one of the best titles out right now for the GBA. Now, on with the review!

8-Story: You play as 11 year old Lan Hikari and you like to exterminate viruses and bugs on the net with your digital friend Mega Man. But when a dark organization called WWW threatens to take over the net using digital versions of past Mega Man fiends, it's up to Lan and Mega Man to save the day. I liked the unique story, I enjoyed the futuristic setting which the Internet was a way of life.

9-Gameplay: The controls for Lan are basic, you move around with the d-pad, hold B to go dash and press R1 to ''jack in'' to electronic devices ( PCs, Cars, Toys, Game Consoles, etc.) The battle system is great, the battle stage is set up by a 3x3 grid for Mega Man and a 3x3 grid for the enemies. You press B to fire at enemies and when the custom meter fills up, you can press L1 or R1 to use a chip. There are 175 chips to collect and use they all do different things like healing, attacking, defending, etc. You can move around the 3x3 grid to dodge attacks and attack different enemies. Basically this game is very fun and addictive.

8-Graphics: The characters and monsters sprites are very detailed. The attack animations are very well executed as well. But at times the graphics can get screwy but rarely.
There are also barely any glitches you can encounter in this game. Overall for a GBA game, the graphics are godly.

7-Sound/Audio: The music is fun and cheerful, but will eventually get repetitive and will make you want to play without the volume. The sound FX are impressive though, and I really liked them.

8-Replayability: This game will entertain you for months to come. But after you beat the game 2-3 times, it may get boring so get a GBA link cable and hook up with a friend and you can duel, that keeps the fun going on. But after a long while, you will get the craving to play this fun game once again.

Rent or Buy?: If you are new to RPGs, rent it. If you are a RPG fan or a Mega Man / Rock Man fan, buy it without question.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/01, Updated 12/28/01