A Very nice RPG and addition to the Megaman universe
Story: It is the year 200X. The world has improved its technology based on the internet. Almost the entire can be accessed through the internet, from shopping to military weapons. But the most unique Software in the Internet are Net Navis. Net Navis are cyber characters that serve their owners (or referred to as Partners) in their computers in many ways, from Home works to internet surfing. Net Navis also help their partners by protecting their computers from viruses. Therefore it has become essential for everyone to learn virus busting (The art of terminating all kinds of viruses). Net Navis are also transportable, in their PET. This way a PET can serve the owner as its personal phone, note book and even more.
A terrorist organization known as WWW has been responsible for the multiple computer virus outbreaks. The WWW leader, Dr Wily plans on world domination by using its most powerful resource, the internet, and thanks to their Net Navis, they couldn’t do any better in causing disturbance. Although the world seemed at peace from the outside, the internet world lies in chaos and it will only be a matter of time before WWW will cause serious casualties using the internet.
Lan Hikari, an average student (with a very bad reputation on his school performance) finally gets his own Net Navi, Megaman.EXE. At first Lan was very doubtful about Megaman’s abilities from his appearance, but however after seeing Megaman defeating a WWW Net Navi he learns that Megaman is quite a powerful Net Navi, but unknown to Lan and Megaman, their friendship and battle spirit will determine the fate of the internet and the world.
Game Design: Megaman Battle Network is an RPG game. The World is designed in a 3D dimensional world. There are 2 worlds in this game. The real world and the internet world. In the real world you play as Lan. You will be going to different parts of town and even different areas and will Jack-in Megaman in certain spots. Once you Jack-in, you will be directed to the internet world where you play as Megaman and fight viruses.
Game play: In each worlds you will either play as Lan or Megaman. As Lan you will be talking to different people in order to proceed in the game. You can jack-in in certain areas so that you can transfer Megaman from the PET to the internet. As Megaman you will occasionally run into Viruse. You will then be brought into the Virus busting screen. Megaman will have his own basic weapons but however they will not be enough to defeat a virus. This is where Battle chips come in. Battle chips are programs that can equip Net Navis with different weapons such as a Super Cannon or a cyber sword that come in different shapes, strength and even elements. You can also improve your Net Navi’s performance by giving Megaman power ups or HP ups. You can collect battle chips by defeating viruses or you can buy them in a shop or in the internet. You can also Jack-out and return to Lan.
There are so many things you can do in this game so I’m not going to go through everything. All I have to say is that this game is really great. It is a very long game since you will be spending most of the time collecting Battle chips and you will constantly be searching for people in 2 different worlds, making the game super large and long. I would recommend this game for hardcore RPG fans. As for Megaman fans you may not like going back and forward the entire time and would like to stick to old Megaman side scrolling tradition, because if that is the case then you might be better off ignoring this game.