Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue

"It's aging a bit but the series is still running strong with solid gameplay"

A third installment?

Megaman had eight installments and beyond. Megaman X had six and is now followed by a seventh. Now the Battle Network series gets a third in line. Does it live up to its predecessors? You’re about to find out.

What is the series all about?

Most of you should start with the first MMBN to get an idea of what the story is about but for those who are new to the series, the story takes place is a world totally different from the one in the original series. As part of the pet monster fad that was started years ago by Tamagotchi, this game features the Blue Bomber as a pet Navi, a digital program designed as an assistant for whoever they’re assigned to. In this case, Megaman.exe belongs to Lan Hikari, your typical kid around the block.

What makes this game different from the others?

Traditionally, the Megaman series is a side-scrolling shooter where you acquire new weapons by beating bosses. The MMBN series, however, is an action RPG where random encounter battles take place on a 6x3 battlefield. The Buster is still available but Megaman’s key strength comes from having an assortment of weapons in the form of a deck of battle chips that are loaded into battle and cycled as a Custom timer fills up.

What’s new in this game?

The Style Change feature from the second game, which gave Megaman a special armor with a built-in weapon, remains in this game. This game introduces a new system of customization called the Navi Customizer. You collect program pieces scattered throughout the game and fit them onto a square grid like a Tetris game. The programs boost Megaman’s abilities but also cripples them with glitches if you don‘t place them properly. This new system makes raising his stats much more difficult as there are no longer any more permanent stat power-ups. On the other hand, the Customizer is an open opportunity to give our hero a whole array of abilities from being able to walk on broken panels to countering enemy attacks with throwing stars.

Graphics 7/10

Just as you’d expect from the GBA, the colorful 2D graphics are very clean with smooth sprite animations and whatnot. For anyone who has already played the first and second MMBN games, however, the graphics are beginning to show its age as it‘s getting to the point where its resemblance to the other two games is uncanny. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes, you do get a little sick of seeing the same sprites and the same hometown for the third time.

Sound 7/10

Aside from a few remixes of previous theme songs, the synthesized soundtrack is entirely new from beginning to end. The music has always conveyed whatever emotion they’re designed to produce and many of the sound effects remain unchanged from the first two games, not that they needed any change to begin with. On a Game Boy Player, however, the music makes the game sound like an old 8-bit Nintendo game.

Controls 8/10

The controls are simple and responsive, which means that moving from panel to panel in battle and using weapons is a breeze for our hero. L and R handle triggered events or accessing the battle chip menu in battle, while A and B work the dialog outside of battle and fires the weapons when in battle.

Gameplay 8/10

As you may have expected, some aspects of gameplay has gotten harder but not so tough as to slaughter new players. Navi boss battles are slightly trickier than in previous and battles against old faces that have carried over to the third game are at their toughest yet. The battle chips have been revamped and balanced with a wide array of new and old chips. Program Advances, which are powerful moves formed by the proper combination of certain chips, have also received the same treatment. The problem that plagues all three games and perhaps future installments as well is the fact that the chips you receive in battle are all random. Sometimes you may get the right chips and the battle falls in your favor but there are times where you wish you had certain chips, especially if you didn‘t construct a proper deck. Also, the gameplay has begun to age a bit. It’s still a fun game but for veterans, you can’t help but get that been-there-done-that feeling.

Replay 8/10

There is plenty to be done after beating the game once, which leaves you with a new level that wasn‘t originally accessible, new bosses, new enemies, new chips to collect, and much more. There’s not much more to it than that but it keeps you going, especially when completing everything allows you to see an alternate ending.

Overall 8/10

While the game itself has begun to show some signs of aging, Capcom manages to keep the fun going with its colorful cast of characters, battles, and solid gameplay. Action RPG and Megaman fans should enjoy this but for those who don’t have a large interest in either one and owns either of the two other games, you might want to look elsewhere.

Game Statistics
Difficulty: Normal
Best Feature: Navi battles
Worst Feature: Aging gameplay
Most Impressive Move: DeltaRay
Also Try: Megaman Battle Network 1 & 2

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/03