Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue

"I challenge yoooouuuuu to a netbattle!"

Introduction
I have played MMBN1 and 2, and beat them both, but not as much as I beat this game. I loved this game so much that I beat it 100%, and have played it for over 100 hours (the game play timer limits at 99:59), which is the most I've ever played any game for. The thing is that if you don't have a friend with the opposite version of the game, and don't have a few people to trade chips with and netbattle, your play time will be more like 30-40 hours, and it will be impossible to fully complete the game. I chose a good time to play this game: At camp where many other people had the game and we had long bus rides. Anyway, this game is very fun and rewarding.

Graphics- 8/10
People who haven't played 1 and 2 will love the graphics because they are very bright and colorful. People who have played 1 and 2 will notice that the graphics are the same, with some subtle imporvements. The environment is very detailed, and battles look very nice, but there could be more animations. Overall, this game looks very nice.

Sound/Music- 9/10
Battle music can get repetitive, and the same with overworld music, but each area in the net or in the real world has different music. The music is very well done, too. The sound effects are very nice, and each kind of battle chip has its own unique sound. The megabuster sounds like any old Megaman megabuster. The sound and music are both very nice.

Story- 7/10
A typical Megaman Battle Network story. The WWW wants to take over the world. You are a student in the 5th grade named Lan. You ''jack in'' to many electronic objects through-out the real world and go to a virtual world called the Net, while playing as Megaman (Megaman is a Navi, which are what people that live in the Net are called). There are a good amount of characters, which interact with each other in some cutscenes. The plot can be corny at times, and some things just seem to be there to take up time, but it's good.

Gameplay- 10/10
This is where the game is best. All megaman battle network games have had the same gameplay and battle system, and a scenario-type plot. The battle system is excellent, which combines RPG elements and a lot of action. What happens is as you are walking in the net, the screen randomly goes to a battle arena, like in most RPGs. You then are on a 6x3 grid. Half of it is Megaman's and half of it belongs to the enemies. You fight 1-3 enemies at a time, and most random encounters put you up against 2-3 enemies. You use the control stick to move freely around your grid, and certain objects on the grid affect your movement. You have a folder in this game, and you select which 30 chips go in it. 5+ of these chips are selected randomly at the start of a battle and every 10 seconds after that. You select which to use, and use the chips with the A button, and shoot your Megabuster with the B button. There are 280 chips in this game, and each one has a different use. Some chips can do heavy damage, but are hard to make hit the enemy. Some hit multiple times, some recover you, some summon another Navi to attack the enemy, and some even make other chips do more damage. Customizing your folder is a very strategic part of this game, and to many people, is one of the most important parts of this game. That is the end of my summary of the battle system. It is obviously more complicated than this, but it is very easy to figure out, and the interface is excellent. Megaman can be a ceratin style in this game, and each serves a different purpose. Each style has a randomly generated element (heat, aqua, elec, wood), and a style that is determined by your actions in battle. One last thing: the Navi Customizer. This is a new addition to MMBN3, and throughout the game, you acquire new parts to use in it. This is the only way to power up your megabuster, and get a variety of other enhancements. There is one NC configuration that, in my opinion, is the best for battling, but it is your job to figure it all out.

Replayability- 10/10
Amazing replayability, even if you don't have any friends. The main quest takes around 20 hours to beat, maybe less, and if you have friends with the game and the White version, you are able to fully beat the game (get 7 stars on the title screen), which takes maybe about 30 MORE hours. I huge part of my time was spend getting the perfect style, customizing my folder, cusotmizing my Navi Custoimizer, and Netbattling. Netbattling is using a Nintendo GBA Link Cable to battle your Megamans against each other. It can be very fun and competitive if you know many people with this game. You can also trade chips with other people, which can help you build up your Library of chips to help you ''collect 'em all''. Don't worry, that is not this game's slogan. There are some chips that are only in the opposite version of MMBN3, and some chips that are easier to find in the opposite version.

In my opinion, Blue is the better version, unless a friend already has Blue. Blue version has better exclusive chips, and a new enemy that White doesn't have a counterpart for.

Overall Score-10/10- NOT AN AVERAGE (which is kind of obvious)

Rent or Buy- If you liked the previous MMBNs, or just like Megaman, you should definitely buy this. Even non-Megaman fans would like this, because it is not a traditional Megaman Platforming game. You need to have great patience if you want to complete this game fully *cough*fourth star*cough*. You'll see what I mean.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/03