Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue

"Another great (program) Advance in the right direction!"

Another Year, another Megaman Battle Network game. Oh wait, I mean two. Capcom has gone and released 2 versions of this game, blue and white. Both are essentially the same game, but with different styles and chips. This version, the Blue Version, features different Navis and has one more Navi than the white version.

Synopsis
While just kickin' it with his buddies, Lan and co. are invited to participate in the N-1 Grand Prix, a big Navi tournament. Of course, that wouldn't be that fun, so an evil organization tries to take over the net by using this competition.
Rating of the story: 5/10. Very Average.

Gameplay
The gameplay is the exact same as the two previous MMBN (MegaMan Battle Network, for those who don't know) game, which is not a bad thing, but it could have been expanded. For first-timers, here's how you play:
This game is like an RPG. You run around and have random battles with computer viruses. What makes this game so great is how battles are fought. Instead of turn-based bore fests, the battles are real time, which means you have to dodge shots, shoot your enemy at the right time and activate your chips at the same time. oh, but what are chips, you ask? At the start of each battle, you have 5 chips randomly selected from your folder to use for the first ''turn''. After about 9 seconds, you can select from the chips you didn't use, and some more. Example: The first turn you use 2 chips. The second turn, you have the 3 you didn't pick, and 2 new chips to pick from. Some new additions are the Navi Customizer and different class chips which restricts how many you can have in your chip folder at the same time. Also, the new ''counter'' system allows more rewards for good virus busting. If you delete a virus just before it shoots/stabs/attacks you, you get a ''bugfrag,'' which is a new form of currency.
Gameplay Rating: 9.8/10 Lots of fun, each battle isn't just selecting the same attack. In my opinion, best RPG battle system ever.

Sound
The sound is okay. The songs are catchy, but they are just above MIDI quality. Not to hardware-taxing. Not the great near-MP3 sound of Aggressive Inline, either.
Sound Rating: 6/10 Very Average. Not amazing, but good music.

Replay Rating
Just a rating for this one: 10/10 The reason to buy the game. You could play 70+ hours and not even get bored. Well, you might, but your interest would come back pretty quickly. At least a 20 hour main story, and collecting all chips will take at least 50 hours. good stuff.

Overall Rating: 9/10
A good game, with advances to make it fresh. A must buy if you own a GBA. Really. Buy this game. Or the White Version. Same thing.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/25/03, Updated 06/25/03