Mega Man Battle Network

"A great new innovative game from Capcom!"

WARNING!!!!!
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE GAME! I REPEAT! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! IF YO DO NOT WISH TO HAVE THE STORY RUINED OR YOU SIECE AND DESIST THE READING OF THIS REVIEW!

Megaman Battle Network is an RPG released by Capcom. In it, instead of the usual side-scrolling action game, you play as a boy in the future. In the future everything is on the Internet. Everything is also electronic. Pretty much everyone has little things called PETs (no, not the cute bunny you saw in the window sill at the pet shop when you were 5). PET (as best as I can remember) stands for ''Personal Exploration Terminal''. Within these PETs, you have things called Net Navigational Programs, or ''Net Navi.exe''. Net Navi are your personal buddies. They talk to you, get inside electronics for you, have alarm systems, work as a browser for the Internet, and can even be used as Internet virus protection systems.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are good for the time. They look better than an average SNES game, which is a pro. Your characters are pretty big and detailed, the backgrounds are very nice, and the special effects are cool. I dig the artwork as well. Everything kinda has a cyber feel to it. Megaman's been totally remodeled, but you can still see the original design in him. The other Navi's look pretty cool, too.

Story: 6/10
The game's only real weakness is its story. As stated above, you play as a boy in the future with your Net Navi's. In this particular story, your Net Navi is Megaman.exe. You go around trying to stop the WWW (World III), a group of international net hooligans run by Dr. Willy. With Megaman, you ''jack-in'' to programs (I wish they could've called that something else), and you go around and delete virus running around on the Internet. You often meet other net battlers with their own navi's. Often you'll receive Navi's from your friends to help you out.
Throughout the entire game you hear about this ultimate weapon called the ''life virus'' which is so powerful that it can destroy the planet. Also, your dad keeps trying to tell you about Megaman, but you never have time with stopping the WWW and all. Finally, at the end you find out that Megaman was your twin brother who was dying of heart problems, so your father changed his DNA by 0.001% and uploaded his memory and soul into the computer and turned him into a net navi. This explains why your friendship with him is stronger than any of the other net navis. Finally, your father tells you this because Megaman is shot in the back and is close to deletion. Lan, the main character, uses a hub program to change back that 0.001% and thereby link Megaman and Lan's life together. Then, they both go to stop Dr. Willy and the Life Virus.

Gameplay: 9/10
The high point of the game. The gameplay is very fun, addictive, and innovative. Basically, it works like this: When you get into a random battle, you are transported to a 3x9 grid. 9 tiles of it are your side and 9 are the enemy's. You are equipped with a blaster, and chips. Chips are programs, which inflict damage to the enemy. They can range anything from a sword to a blaster to a chip to heal Megaman. You can also find Net Navis from your friends or rivals and use them as chips. Chips can only be used when your time bar fills up at the top (sort of like turns). When that happens, you can choose usually one. However, you can choose more depending on how you work it. You can also select chips if they are the same chip twice or have the same letter. You use your blaster with the B button and fire a small beam at the enemy while waiting for your chips. Some chips have different effects. For instance, you may have a sword, which does 80 damage to the enemy if you hit them. However, if the enemy if too far back you might need a wide sword to reach him. Also, some chips may even transform your blaster such as the BusterSword, which turns your blaster into a sword for one turn. Finally, you can use the Net Navi's to help. When you use those they are like summons in an FF game in that everything freezes for a sec, they come, do their attack, then leave. They are alot of different Navi's you can get, and most of them are enemies reincarnated from past Megaman games (such as Gutsman, Skullman, Fireman, Electricman, Iceman, Woodsman and others)!
Because of this system it cleverly mixes Turned-based RPG with real time strategy, since you can move Megaman around your grid and dodge enemy moves or fire at the enemy. There aren't really levels in MMBN, which is neither a pro nor a con. It really depends. Megaman still levels up (sorta), but he only gains life. Instead, the only thing you really make stronger is your blaster. You find Memory Upgrades, which allow you to upgrade some form of your blaster: it's power, it's speed, or it's charge. So, if you upgrade its speed, it will fire faster, if you upgrade its power it will inflict more damage and if you upgrade its charge when you hold the button down he will charge a shot and it will be more powerful. Most of the game you are actually not building up Megaman but finding strategies for beating monsters, and, more importantly, finding new chips.
My only complaint on the gameplay is its difficulty. Even though I built up and got alot of really good chips this game is HARD! I've beaten it twice now but there are still battlers I can't beat! Also, I hate the dungeons. Some of them were ok, some were even fun (for about 15 seconds), but some (i.e. the water networks) made me want to hang myself. And not only that, but then at the end of the game you had to go through a replica of them! Other than that the gameplay is awesome.

Sound/Music: 7/10
The music's ok, but nothing to right home about. Most of it is decent, rather fitting, but not really very interesting. The only memorable track in the title screen theme, which I do enjoy greatly. Soundwise, it's good. The attacks sound real, nothing feels out of place, and it's just ok. On to the next category!

Replay Value: 10/10
While this gets the highest score, the gameplay is actually better. The only reason this gets higher is because it's almost like Pokemon. There are 100+ chips in the game! Not only that, but some you can't find in your cart of the game, so you gotta trade with friends and stuff. That, and the only way to upgrade Megaman is to find hidden upgrades around the world, so you gotta to that. Finding chips is really fun though.

Overall: 8/10
This is a really great game. Had the story been better and it's dungeons not such hell, this would probably get a 9 from me. But, if you overlook those it's awesome. It's a great new innovator from Capcom which you don't want to miss!

Pros:
Innovative Gameplay
Tons of Replay Value

Cons:
Excrutiatingly Irritating Dungeons
Weak Story
''jacking-in'' (this is really not a good word for it)

Little Extras that make it cool:
Dex your friend has a Gamecube which you can jack into!
Protoman is really cool (he also bares a striking resemblence to Zero)
You can have old enemies from other Megaman games as your Summons!

To Buy or Not To Buy:
Since I havn't played MMBN2 which may be better, I can't say its a definite buy but its at least worth a rent!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/02, Updated 06/06/02