Game Review XVI: "Megaman Network Transmission"

I know that it has been an eternity since I've done another game review. This is only because I've found more anime to speak of then the games for a while. Nevertheless, let's get to it with Megaman Network Transmission. Not many people liked this title, and I can see why, but... all I can say is that of all the games out of it's respective series, this is one of the two titles that were unique.

Vs. Gutsman.EXE

It starts off after the net heroes Lan Hikari and Megaman.EXE finished vanquishing World 3's Life Virus, created by Mr. Wily. In a sense, this is pretty much after the first game, Megaman Battle Network. However, instead of rest, all awaiting for the duo is another conflict. It is soon reported that the Zero Virus (yeah, I know, something you've heard in Mega Man X5) is affecting the Personal Terminals, or PETs, thus infecting other netnavis other than Megaman. After confirming this with Dr. Hikari (his father) Lan hears later that Mayl and Roll.EXE are being attacked by a corrupted Fireman.EXE, and is trapped in the internet because of it. By smashing it and talking to his net operator Mr. Match, he learns that the supposed vaccines are actually doing the damage. Confirming this with his father Dr. Hikari, Lan and Megaman set out to crush the virus, stop the distribution of the false vaccine, and save the world once again.

Fireman.EXE intro

Now for the game itself. Essentially, you can call this Megaman Battle Network 1.5 in terms of plot, but it's gameplay sets it apart from the others. This is the first game that you don't have the overworld control seen in the GBA titles, resulting in a click-and-go-like gameplay. As for the in-net gameplay, it retains the RPG elements of the Battle Network series, yet plays akin to the classic Mega Man games, in which he runs in the traditional side-scrolling form, and takes a few moves from the Classic and MMX series: From the Classic Mega Man series, you can use ladders, use the buster during the stage, and the slide feature returns; from the Mega Man X series, you can use a grappling item for rails to bypass certain  perils. Like the Battle Network series, health and strength are upgradable, and special attacks are made though the use of Battle Chips. He cannot change colors nor forms, but through the chips, he can utilize the boss' weaknesses, or even moves from the boss itself. Like the GBA, chips are gained via the Custom Screen, and by default, there's 5 to choose from, with each chip limited in quantity. You are also able to edit your chip folder so that much stronger chips can be used. As it is derived from Battle Network, all the enemies/allies are reminiscent of their Classic counterpart, save for Zero who's from Mega Man X.

Now the contents behind it. The game was released on Nintendo Gamecube, makring Battle Network's only appearance on the home console. Even though it's readable in English, the voices were Japanese (English voices didn't happen until the DS release of Megaman Battle Network 5.) The game was made by Arika and published by Capcom, a partnership seen in Arika's previous series, the Street Fighter EX games. The game is single player only, and has no link-up feature. Graphics were done in a mix of 2D and 3D cel shading graphics, aiming to give off a more anime-like feel. As this was a new concept at the time, it was criticized somewhat. Difficulty was from high to unbalanced, according to critics. Overall the game's recpetion was rather mixed in general.

In all, I say that the game wasn't necessarily a miss, but for its concept, it was early, I suppose. I call it a 6.7 of 10.