Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Protoman

"Perfection - So close, yet so far away..."

It's that time of the year again. That time when roughly one year has gone by, and Capcom of Japan and Capcom of America have finished producing and translating yet another Megaman Battle Network game. This time, Megaman Battle Network 5 wins the “Future of Gaming Award,” seeming to make up for its horrible predecessor. But, did this game deserve the award? Is this game worth the price of admission? Has Capcom redeemed itself?

…well…sort of…

Gameplay – 5 / 10 - Of course, the RPG-Card style battle that made Megaman Battle Network famous returns. Shocking. Sarcasm aside, I must say that the gameplay has drastically improved. Regardless of the version of MMBN5 you choose, a team of six navis will aid you in Liberation Missions, adding a true Tactics-based RPG feel to the game. This new system has turned out to de very successful and fun, but quite a hindrance to the story (I'll discuss that later). Difficulty is not really an issue in this installment until after the main game has ended and our hero embarks on yet another quest into the darkest, deepest depths of the internet. By then, the player has the Battlechips necessary for serious combat, but Capcom has done something unusual and extremely detrimental. In each battle, the player can only use one Program Advance per battle. With boss and enemy HP soaring well over the limits of previous games, boss battles are almost impossible, and the final boss will have you pummeling your GBA in no time, which is why Capcom added the Chaos Unison. This time, Megaman may sacrifice a corresponding DarkChip for a SoulUnison, resulting in a tainted and powerful version of normal SoulUnisons. Beware, though. Chaos Unisons do not consume 1 HP permanently, and your charged attack becomes the DarkChip you tried to use followed by DarkBerserker mode, but charge incorrectly, and Megaman's DarkSoul will fight you, using chips that you've used in the past, and some DarkChips. All in all, the experience has improved, but the whole Soul Unison system is just not worth what Capcom seems to think.

Story – 7 / 10 – I don't suppose that story was ever an important aspect of Megaman games, but times have changed, and story is what usually makes a game memorable, making future installments more appealing to consumers. With that said, the DarkChip Syndicate Nebula returns, but this time, they've decided to capture various areas of the internet. Megaman, however, is not strong enough to handle the power of darkness by himself; he needs help. Does this sound familiar? It should. MMBN4 and MMBN5 both heavily use the Light vs. Dark theme and may even be seen as the same thing, other navis helping an emotional and underpowered Megaman. Yet, since MMBN4 revolved around a tournament system, the entire story seemed to be half-baked, at best. Megaman Battle Network 5's story revolves around the Liberation Missions and Soul Unisons, so it's not the caliber it could have been.

Graphics/Sound – 9 / 10 – To be fair, Capcom was in an experimental stage with its new graphics engine from MMBN4. Smaller overworld sprites, sickeningly bright environments, and rehashed structures cheapened what was obviously an extensive and sincere programming process on the part of Capcom's dev crew. Now that the experimentation is over, Capcom sees what works and what doesn't work. The result? Something quite near perfection. Everything looks and sounds as it should, and any surreal areas give off the effects that Capcom wants, ranging from organized and amiable, to confusing and maybe even terrifying. Excellent.

Play Time/Replay Value – 5 / 10 – Normally, I'd let this influence the overall score like any other aspect of the game, but I've recently realized that replay value varies from person to person. I never bothered to find out if this game had a Hard or Super Hard mode, but since there aren't multiple story paths, it doesn't matter. The main game's play time is anywhere from 30-40 hours, the standard length for an MMBN game.

Overall Review – 6.5 / 10

Final Recommendation - Buy It – Megaman Battle Network 5 is a game worthy enough of a straight up purchase, but in order to keep the game fun, you might want to find somebody else that has the game, or dust off your favorite cheating device for those frustrating experiences.

Alternative: If you would still like to experience Megaman Battle Network 5, but you don't like the two version system or the difficulty, you have the alternative of purchasing Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team for the NintendoDS, scheduled for a November release on US shores. This surprise third version will feature all twelve Navis, the ability to use these Navis outside of Liberation Missions, and microphone interaction to cheer on Megaman which may put him into Cross-Fusion mode thereby doubling the attack power of your next Program Advance or Battlechip.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/05