Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue

"The Megaman RPG just keeps getting better."

With Megaman's 15th birthday this year, it just goes to show that some things get better with age. Unlike many other games that are part of a series, MMBN3 does not expect you to buy it just because it part of the best Action/RPG series this side of Squaresoft. It takes all the best features of the first two games and improves upon them, making for an enjoyable experience for someone looking for a game that will give them the depth of an RPG, but with the action one expects from Megaman.

Now... on to the indepth review.

Story: Now, although the Megaman games were never known for any kind of deep storyline, the plot of MMBN3 revolves around Lan and Mega joining the N1 Grand Prix, a competition between the greatest Netbattlers. This follows a lot with the MMBN anime, which can be seen in the U.S. as Megaman: NT warrior. Overall, the story is good enough to keep you interested, just don't expect anything overly deep or complicated.
Score: 7/10

Gameplay: Ahh... the most important part of any game. This game plays smoothly and cleanly. Hit detection is clear, and there are no insanely complicated button combinations to press. It plays much like any RPG, you run around solving quests and talking to people... until you get into battle. Battle, however, is much more fun than a normal RPG. Instead of the rather overdone turn-based system, this uses a unique hybrid of active-time and turn-based fighting to add to the fun. The battles play out in active time, but about every 10 seconds or so, you can pause the battle to give Megaman special attacks, called ''Battle Chips''. These range from swords to cannons to healing. There are over 300 of these attacks, but you can only use 30 at a time, which adds some strategy to the game. New in the game is the 'Navi Customizer', which allows to add special programs to Megaman to make him even more powerful. Of course, you can't add all of them, so choose which to use and not to use is important. The gameplay of this game is simple enough to pick up in 5 minutes and challenging enough to keep you on your toes till the end.
Rating: 10/10

Audio and Video: Graphically, this game is very well done. The graphics are clean and crisp and just plain fun to look at. However... the audio end of the game doesn't hold up as well. I'm not saying the music is bad, but it doesn't draw you into game as much as it could. The music is kinda catchy for the first few minutes, but nothing amazing.
Video Rating: 9/10
Audio Rating: 6/10

Replayability: This game is like most RPGs, you will probably only beat it 2 or 3 times, but it will take you a long time to beat the game. Considering that completing the main story will take at least 20 hours, there is also the matter of collecting all the battle chips and completing all the sidequests the game gives you, which can add another 20 to 40 hours. You'll want to replay it a few times, just so you know what to expect and it'll make the game seem a bit easier and you can get everything you missed on the first run-though.
Rating: 8/10

Buy or Rent: No debate here, this is a must buy. You won't get anywhere renting it, and if you have a friend with it, they probably won't let you borrow it and erase their game. The game is most certainly worth buying.

Final Thoughts: An improvement in the series, with all the additions and minor adjustments, this game should be played by anyone who is a Megaman fan or likes RPGs.

Final Score: Megaman Battle Network 3: Blue Version gets a final score of 9 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/03, Updated 06/26/03