Mega Man Battle Network

"Breathes new life into a tired, tired series"

Megaman Battle Network

The relesase of a new gaming platform usually means new and more innovative games, and usually breaths life into a series of games that is getting tired. Of all the games i thought would change, it would be Megaman. I have always heted megaman games. Sure the artwork has been cool, and the graphics have been good, but a game where the charachter cannot crouch, and must spend time making awkward jumps has never really done anything for me.

But just when I thought the series coudn't get worse, it got better! MMBN has so many new innovations in it! The game is such a collossal improvement on all the older Megaman games that if it wasnt for the typically great charachter design I would think it was totally unrelated product.

The Graphics

After playing a really lush game like Mario Kart Super Circut or Golden Sun, the graphics may not blow you away. The game is cartoony, reminding me particulary of Earthbound on the Super NES. It is bright, cheerful and there are many different NPC models strolling smoothly by.
The traditional megaman sprite has been made more ragged, looking more like a brawler than the noble warriors he has been portrayed as in past games, and looks cool in a 'Power Rangers Jumpsuit Skin-Tight Lycra' type way (c: The battle scenes are well done, with a huge variety of attack graphics and enemy models. Overall a very complete graphics package.

The Sound

Like all GBA games, the sound is of fairly consistent quality, although there are only about 6 different tracks looping. But the best part of the audio package is the sound effects. There are hundreds of differnt noises uttered by the enemies and the weapoons you use on them, and they really capture the spirit of a battle.

The Gameplay

This game is light years ahead of the previous titles in the series. It is what i would describe as an action RPG. Ill describe a battle scene.

After running around for about 15 seconds or less, you'll encounter a random battle (thoughts on this later) and youll be presented with some chips to choose from. These are the equivalent to magic attacks of other games in that you have limited use of them. Each chip has a name and a code. You can use up to five chips in one turn by matching either the names or the codes. For example, a 'Sword' chip might have an 'S' code, and a 'cannon' chip might have an 'S' code. that means you can use both of these chips in one turn. You are given 5 chips at random to start from (taken from your selection of 20 or so form your entire collection) and have the option to add more. But it takes a turn of using no chips to add more to the total amount choosable. So that means you are helpless for a turn (untill the bar at the top fill up again) right?? Wrong! This is where elements of the original games come in. Megaman starts with a 3x3 grid of spaces he can move on. Enemys have the same amount. Megaman can move about here Firing his X-Buster as much as possible (the X Buster can be upgraded in areas of Power, Charge and Rapidness). That means you can always do damage.

Tha battles really are innovative and are really easy to pick up and there is a great tutorial at the start demonstrating all that was said above.

The gameworld is also an innovation. You spend a lot of time as megamans human counterpart, Lan, walking around the real world, where there are no battles or dangers (well...) and finding different places to 'Jack In' (BTW, dont bother about cracking jokes about this term, they have ALL been heard (c:) Jacking in is sending megaman into the network of this electrical system to fight viruses that cause it to malfunction. The inside of the machines, im sad to say, are rather bland. Navigating the internet or the insie of an appliance usually involves running aimlessley around a maze trying to fluke your way through the area to get to the boss. The random battles dont help either...

But enough of that you really have to look at the good sides of this game as they far outweigh the bad. Personally I would consider this the 4th best GBA game you can get so far and that aint bad.

Heres the list:

1) Golden Sun
2) Super Mario World
3) Advance Wars
4) Megaman Battle Network
5) Sonic The Hedgehog Advance

And heres the games ratings

Graphics: 8
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 9
So ill give it an 8

If you like these you would like this game:

Super Mario RPG
Chrono Trigger
Any old Megaman game. (depends)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/02, Updated 03/27/02