Mega Man Battle Network 3 White

"My first look at the Megaman series is a great one!"

When I first got this game at a New York Gamestop a few weeks ago, I didn't know what do expect. I had only watched the Megaman games, never played them, but I thought the Battle Network series sounded good. It was.

Story: 10/10

The story of Battle Network 3 is immersive, to say the least. You play as Lan Hikari, a 5th-grade boy who has a Net Navigator (or ''Navi'') named Megaman.EXE. Though Megaman is a computer program, he was programmed with the personality of Lan's deceased brother, Hub. The two are very close friends like brothers should be. Lan also has some human friends. Dex (and his Navi, the brute Gutsman), Mayl (and her female Navi Roll), and Yai (with her butler-Navi, Glyde). The story begins on the year 200X, where everyone own a PET (where your Navi is stored) and almost every household device is connected to the internet. Meanwhile, Lan and friends are playing in the city park. A mysterious stranger in a cowboy hat walks up to them. He asks them if they want to join a new Netbattling (making your Navi fight other Navis) tournament, the N1 Grand Prix. Little does Lan know a secret plot is being hatched to destroy all Net society...

Gameplay: 10/10

The BN series has been hard to pin a genre on. They have elements of RPG, adventure, and action games. This may sound complicated (even more so by the fact the game is centered around computers) but Capcom managed to blend these styles of games together to make a great one. The gameplay alternates between Lan in the real world and Megaman on the internet. As Lan, you mainly go around, talk to people, and find things. Only when you ''jack in'' does the action start. As Megaman, you have to travel around the net, delete harmful viruses, and gain new Battle chips, your main weapons. The conabt style in this game is quite unique. Battles take place on a 6 X 3 grid. Each side gets 9 tiles to battle on. These tiles can be changed to different kinds, like lava (which burns you), ice (which is slippery), or sand (which slows you down and can be blown). You can also steal enemy panels or break them. Megaman's main weapons in battle are his chips. These are 1-use-per-battle items that let Megaman delete denemies faster. A cool part about the game is that by beating enemies fast enough, Megaman can get a chips replicating their attack. Virtually every enemy (even bosses) drops a chips that lets Megaman imitate them. Two other things of mention: first, style changes. As Megaman progresses through the game, he'll go through style changes, depending how he fought. These changes add more dpeth through the game, as they even give you programs to install and power Megaman up. Whast are programs, you ask? They are new features that come with the Navi customizer. This new program lets you add program blocks to make Megaman more powerful and give him new abilities. The customizer works like a puzzle, with the stronger programs being bigger and harder to fit. All in all, the gameplay in Megaman Battle Network 3 is solid and will keep you playing for a long time, trying to get every battle chip and beat every boss. The game isn't too hard to an experienced gamer (though I'm not sure a first-timer like me could be called experienced), but it will keep hyou playing for a while.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in the game are pretty good, but not exceptional (by that I mean on par with Golden Sun). They are easy to see and understand. The backgrounds on levels can also be quite interesting (like sheet music being written, evil skulls, transforming animals, or even duckies!).

Music: 8/10

Most of the music on Batttle Network 3 is pretty normal, with the notable exception of the main/Navi customizer theme.

Replay: 10/10

As I said above, Megaman Battle Network 3 has a lot of replay value. Earn the 7 stars and getting every chips will likely take weeks or even months, keeping you busy for a long time. Even then, you can still experiment with folders.

Rent/Buy: Buy

Buying this game is definitely a good idea, especially for Megaman fans. You may not like it if you prefer turn-based RPGs, but otherwise it's a good buy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/03, Updated 07/24/03