Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Colonel

"Capcom has redeemed itself... a lot."

Without holding back words, anyone who played MMBN 4 knows that the game simply sucked. The new addition of tournaments and three playthroughs made the game slow, boring, and horribly repetitive. Removing all of this and adding in new additions, has Capcom fixed the MMBN series? Oh yeah they did.

Gameplay: 8/10
Much of the game is the same old MMBN style that's been around since the first game. But let's face it: Liberation missions are fun. Liberation missions are a very refreshing new addition to the MMBN series that had better make it back into MMBN 6. Liberation missions take this MMBN from run-of-the-mill to ingenious.

Translation: 10/10
Again, MMBN 4 sucked. And again, anyone who played it noticed the horrible spelling and grammatical errors, as well as parts that made no sense at all, in the dialogue of the game. That's why I decided to include this in my review. Well rest assured; Capcom of America finally started to care once again, apparently, and has done a wonderful job of translating the game's dialogue and even jokes and quirks.

Sound/Graphics: 8/10
The new chibi style that came about in MMBN 4 was possibly the only good thing 4 did, and I'm glad 5 has taken the same route on its animation. Luckily, Jack-In animation has not been cut out for the NA version like it had, for some reason, been in MMBN 3. All of the graphics on the net look pretty good, and in-battle fighting is the same as it's always been. However, I've got to say that the new soul unisons look absolutely fabulous. For sound, the game has, like its predecessors, taken a remix of the same MMBN theme from the first one. Don't worry though; most of the music in this one is new. In-battle and "theme" musics are the only ones that have simply been remixed, it seems.

Replay Value: 10/10
If I could rate it higher I would. With everything that can be done after beating the initial game, all of the chips to collect (which isn't boring like most collection), and the awesome Net Battling multiplayer features that have made MMBN games so popular, MMBN 5 does not disapoint. You'll get your money's worth out of this game and then some.

Overall: 9/10
The game is, simply put, good. Capcom made some huge blunders with MMBN 4, but has luckily more than made up for them in this newest MMBN. Probably the only thing keeping me from giving a 10/10 is the fact that they could have done more. I would have loved to have seen a multiplayer option with Liberation missions - both co-op and player vs. player. I would have also loved to, along with this, seen a "liberation builder" to build liberation mission levels, or perhaps a randomizer that would create a random liberation mission for you. Yes, Liberation missions are just that fun. Adding them made the game good, but I'd still like to see more of the new additions made.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/05