Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge

"Megaman.EXE? Yes. Battle Network? Not quite..."

For years the Megaman Battle Network series charmed us all with it's frantic gameplay, loveable characters, and collect-em-all craziness. But now the good people at Capcom have tried adding a twist to the whole thing; and it's creating quite a stir.
The whole view of the Megaman Battle Network series is thrown entirely out of whack! Internet exploring: Gone! Running around a map to achieve objectives: Gone! Total control over the battles: Gone! Surely, with such holes, this game should be more of an abomination... right?
Not true. This game took out all the annoyances of exploration and forgetting where to go and puts in whole new ones. This game is pretty much entirely battle-based and pits you right into the thick of things.

Story: 6/10

Lan Hikari couldn't be more bored after he had just saved the world from Alpha, the digital beast that threatened to devour the internet and bathe the world in nuclear explosives. He yearned for the days when he and Chaud would cross paths and Net-battle, often the most challenging net battles of their lives! (Hence, Lan's recent Net-battle dreams)
Lan wakes up to realize he wasn't Net-battling Chaud but only having a dream! Lan expresses his boredom to his Navi when mail comes for him. It's from the BatteChipGP staff! They are holding a tournament for Net-battling and only the best of the best can enter! Lan see an opportunity to do something when, surprise, Chaud and Protoman are registered! Lan senses a new adventure!
This is just one of 6 stories told in this game. Pretty much after the introduction, the game is just a bunch of battles and five-second scenarios.
This game also introduces two new characters. Kai, the one-man Lan fan club with his Navi, Turboman; and Mary, the lovechild of a Japanese man and a French woman (or so I've heard) with a breathing disorder. Her Navi is the irrepressible Ring.
I gave the story of this game a 6. 1 for each story.

Graphics/Sound: 10/10

The same awesome graphics and fitting sound follow into this title. The less observant may not notice, but there are new jack-in animations that look absolutely stunning. Well done! A full 10 from me!

Gameplay: 8/10

This is the category where the less observant of us spew hatred for judging a book by its cover. Sure, you cannot maneuver your Navi in battle, nonetheless the operator, but people do not realize that a lot of the gameplay occurs outside the battles and within creating your Deck!
The deck is, essentially, a grouping of your 0 - 12 most trusted chips (one of them being the Navi chip) shaped in a pyramid form. There are 10 of them in the pyramid and two off to the side for slot-ing in. In battle, your navi travels a ''path'' and uses all chips in that ''path'' in their turn. Strategy can play a key part, like placing your more resilient chips last or your healing chips first.
Slot-ing is means you use one of your two slot-in chips in the immediate coming action. The bar at the bottom increases with every chip used and dictates how likely you are to correctly use your slot-in chip once you slot-in. The percentage will tell you such. (You can try slot-ing in at 15%, but that would be a waste.) You can only slot-in once per battle, despite success or failure.
The vital timing of slot-ing in and utilizing your chips in the deck in the proper combinations give this game a lot of depth and therefore an 8.

Replay value: 8/10

I'm pretty sure that for some, when you have finished this game you will probably put it down and never look at it again. Others will opt for trying other characters out and playing this game for all it's worth. It seems this game was made for the latter group of people, which seemed to be a poor move on Capcom's part. 8 out of 10 should do it.

Verdict: 8/10

Strategy runs very deep into this game, and unfortunately so does luck, as the chips taken and parrying are all by random chance. On the plus side, I hear the linked battles are a blast! With the inherent flaws, this game still earns an 8 out of 10 from me.
To sum up the entire review: If you liked the exploring and fast-paced action, spare us the flames and don't bother. If you played for the strategy and use of chips, feel free to bask in this game's strategy heaven!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/04