A collection that offers everything you can blow up from its own Mega Man subgenre.
As they did with their Mega Man, X, Zero, and ZX compilations, Capcom has once again collected titles from their past catalogs and wrapped them up in neat little packages. The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection includes 10 titles, with MMBN 3, 4, 5, and 6 offering alternate versions of the same games (mainline Pokémon, etc.). Following in the footsteps of the classic Mega Man, which had six separate entries on the NES, all six Battle Network games originally appeared on the Game Boy Advance and are no longer available on the now-defunct Wii U Virtual Console service. (Two versions of MMBN 5 were also released as DS games). The unique combination of genres these games belong to (with RPG, card battle, turn-based, and action-combat features) can give the game an acquired taste. Is this next Capcom collection worth adding to your library? Chug that E-Tank and find out!
The Battle Network Legacy Collection is split into two parts that can be purchased separately (there seems to be no discount for buying them together). Part 1 includes MMBN 1, 2, 3 Blue, and 3 White. Part 2 contains two different versions 4, 5 and 6. Importantly, the early entries in the series have been reviewed more favorably given that the major gameplay has remained largely unchanged in the later games. Various versions of MMBN 3 to 6 have subtle and more noticeable changes, but it’s hard to argue that there are only 6 games total for the entire package.
For the purpose of reviewing the MMBN Legacy collection, we will mainly focus on the first game and the extras added to the collection. Story-wise, all titles follow the protagonist Ran and his NetNavi MegaMan.EXE. This is a virtual representation of Blue Bomber that allows you to explore networked spaces and dungeons to solve problems that affect the real world. The player controls his LAN in the real world and Mega Man explores labyrinth-like mazes, participates in random battles, and plays with familiar bosses from his classic side-scrolling series. You have to go back and forth to jack in his port on the network that can knock down the network.
In addition to progressing through the main story, Ran completes side quests to earn money that can be spent on upgrades and chips that grant Mega Man new abilities. You can freely move the leftmost nine tiles. The enemy is placed on his other nine tiles. Mega Man is armed with his trusty Buster Cannon, but it does little damage compared to his choice of Battle Chips at his disposal.
At the start of a battle, 5 chips are randomly selected from 30 chips in your storage folder. You can select one or more of the same type from these five and bring them into battle. With Battle Chips, you can unleash devastating area attacks that include swiping your sword, exploding cannons, restoring health, stealing enemy territory, and summoning previously defeated bosses such as his FireMan and GutsMan. increase. A meter at the top of the screen gradually fills up, allowing you to choose from his five new sets of chips, allowing you to pause the action and strategize before returning to real-time combat. You can also combine your chips in certain ways to perform even more powerful moves.
The MegaMan.EXE segment can be frustrating in that it tries to navigate a very maze-like map while also dealing with random encounters. Random encounters provide a steady stream of income and new battle chips, but can sometimes feel overrated. Don’t forget to save often because you’ll be back. In some situations, telegraphing boss battles can be difficult, so I made sure to save every time I reached a new floor in the dungeon.
The Legacy Collection main menu now features two art sections, dozens of trophies, a music player, special battle chips that come with events, and even a gallery option that houses MMBN 4-6 e-reader data. . A Buster Max mode that can (thankfully) be toggled on and off and activated to make Mega Man’s basic shots super powerful. Online battles and trading are also available for each game in the package.
There are very few video game series where the original and all its sequels were developed for a single console. One result is that you’re likely to enjoy Battle Network gameplay after playing just one or two games from this legacy collection. Unlike the classics and X series, MMBN games last around 10-15 hours each, so unless you’re a superfan who wants to play in a modern way, this latest Capcom bundle won’t sell well. Even if the has not changed much, those games could be over in less than an hour. The length of Battle Network’s titles exacerbates the repetitiveness and relative lack of change as the series progresses.
Anyway, as far as compilation re-releases go, you basically get the whole Mega Man Battle Network experience in one package, and the achievements, online play, and bonus art make it the definitive way to play these 10 GBA games. If you’re completely new to the series, know that the individual experiences offered here don’t vary much from MMBN 1 to 6. Do your homework before buying and playing multiples of these games. As an interesting departure from the action-platformer of other Mega Man titles, the Battle Network line certainly has my respect, but I’m not in a hurry to go through all the iterations that go into the MMBN Legacy Collection.
