Mega Man Battle Network 2

"Who said that change is bad?"

Mega Man Battle Network. When I first played this game, I thought there might be some buzz on how it was different. But, instead, it was welcomed with open arms. Then, they took it a step further with Mega Man Battle Network 2. More changes, but still, a great game.

Story: 9/10
The same as last time. A net gang is out to take over the world. But, this time, the gang is more like a cult. And this time, they seem more serious. They actually harm the people going after them. They are allot more serious then their predecessors, the WWW. But, it still puzzles me on why these people use ''Pets'' rather than weapons of destruction. And I kind of miss some of the older Navis from the last game.

Graphics: 10/10
Sure, they aren't top-of-the-line 3-d graphics, but, they are very nice sprites. They all look great and clean. And there aren't any graphic glitches (well, at least, that I've seen). And the sprites all look unique. Some of them look really cool, others look down right ugly, but all unique. Also, they finally show the Net Battlers using their Pets in the real world. It looks pretty funny in my opinion.

Music: 8/10
The music sounds better than the last one. And the sound effects still sound nice and clean. But, the music doesn't really stand out. It's good and all, just not something that I'll remember.

Gameplay: 9/10
Almost the same as last time. Except, they throw in Styles, and new/altered chips. The Styles throw in more thinking and a challenge. But, there is one thing I don't like about it. The fact that you can't choose your element, which is kind of annoying. But, it does give more of a challenge. And also, I've noticed that there will be times where you could have sworn you dodged an attack, yet you still get hit. Also, something you might notice, is that the game is allot harder than the first. The bosses won't be the one try push-overs like last time. The bosses here actually take some skill and take some strategy to beat their attack patterns. And they have allot more HP then the last game.

Overall: 9/10
A great game with few flaws. But, even these flaws can be overlooked. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. Even if you haven't played the first one, you should pick it up.

Rent or Buy: Buy
Pretty much what I said above.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/02, Updated 07/29/02