Mega Man deserves a Mega Ban
User Rating: 5.2 | RockMan EXE Transmission (Best Price!) GC
Boy, Mega Man Network Transmission is a fine example of how you should NOT revive a classic. The blue bomber has been starring in many games since 1987 and while his popularity is declining since the addition of the new Battle Network series, it didn't stop Capcom to think what can help the blue bomber reign proudly over other platformers. Its combination of combining Battle Network RPG elements and the classic Mega Man gameplay should be a no brainer right? Well it just show that the developers HAVE NO BRAIN! The game's "story" is set between the first couple of Battle Network games when an evil virus wants to take over every PET (an electronic device where the program resides, in our case, the main PET is Mega Man) and machine in the world in order to make the world a better place for his liking. So Mega Man and his controller, Lan Hikari, set off to an adventure to save the world! It less exciting than what I said. Mega can do his regular actions. He can jump and that's probably the only thing he does well. He can also shoot the infamous shots and he can even charge them. Too bad that these shots are EXTREMELY weak even when they're charged. So it's hard to hit the enemies with the regular shots so what can you do? Don't worry my fellow nerds, you can use the "infamous" chips from the Battle Network series! The Battle Network veterans will probably know that they are plenty of chips to collect and it's the same here. Each chip has three versions that differs in terms of power and quantity. There're chips like a cannon, a bouncy bomb, a strong short-ranged sword and a healer chip. As you progress in the game you'll gain stronger versions of the chips so you can handle the ongoing chaos of the cybernetic world. In spite of the innovative idea of this odd combination there are still noticeable flaws in the system. First of all the chips are not infinite, means you can not use them and expect you won't lose them eventually. Each chip has a handful amount of times you can use it. While the developers did the right choice, each chip has a very limited amount of usage and in Network Transmission you will have to use them a lot in order to continue. Furthermore, next to the HP meter there's a green meter that shows chip usage. If the green line goes all the way down you can't use chips at all and you're back to the lame blaster. And finally, the icing of the bitter cake is the custom meter. When you'll waste all of your chips you have to wait for the meter to fill up until its maximum and only then you can ask for 5 new chips with low capacity, waste them and repeat. In other words this meter will cause people to stand still just for the meter to fill up and continue to play. The levels, while their appearance is insipid, are not that bad. The platforming elements, even with the many chasms and spikes, are functioning decently. However, even if it functioning, it's not revolutionary nor groundbreaking. The gameplay is generic but it's not what really makes it bad, it even has some moments... That until you reach to the boss. The boss fights hold some of the quirkiest moments in platforming. The first boss, Fire Man, while he is only the first boss, he is EXTREMELY HARD. The reason for that is not only his attacks are powerful, but Mega Man is too weak to harm it. Not to mention that Mega's bubble gun chip is the only weapon that can actually make Fire Man flinch. And while Fire Man has a weakness, there're bosses like Guts Man that doesn't have and they're even harder because the only thing that can save you is luck. That and breaking the game disk from frustration. But after the first bosses, those who actually managed after the 30th attempt and defeated the bosses and keep on playing, you will notice that the bosses are MUCH EASIER than what you used to, big and strong bosses. The reason why they are easier is because Mega will gain more powerful chips along the way so they're not a serious threat. Not to mention that the AI of the bosses is actually going lower as you progress. This imbalance between the bosses ruin the experience and there's no difficulty tuning what-so-ever. So to sum it up, even if you give up after the very first boss, don't worry, you didn't miss nothing. The graphics in Mega Man, while they are not bad, are just plain and simple, in the bad meaning of the word. There's nothing special about the same drab backgrounds and even if it looks like something from Tron, it isn't. The characters, also, look uninspired and they have no character, Mega looks like a blue blob. The saving grace of the game is that the framerate is stable all the time, but that's it. And don't let me start talking about the sound. The game's music is composed of loud and monotonous synthesizer tunes with annoying effects and explosions. And there's a small amount of voice acting, which is Japanese, but most of the time you'll read an ample amount of text screens. Overall, only if you are one of the many fans of the Battle Network universe (all the 7 -_-) you can consider buying this game, the rest of you, which I hope you are Normal and reasonable people, do not buy this game because it is not what Mega Man is all about. This is a true example of what happens when a really good idea goes wrong, and that's an understatement. 
