Franchise Review Megaman Part 4 of 6: Megaman Battle Network

The next series was just for the Game Boy Advance in the Megaman Battle Network Series. This was quite a different style than what was seen before with Megaman. Usually you would play as a robot but this time he's a program. There has no connection to this to any of the other times so it is assumed that Battle Network is living in another timeline where people use PETs and there are Net Navis. Think of it like a what if scenario and instead of robots, people used the Internet and there were anti-virus programs to deal with.

The 1^st of this series is Megaman Battle Network. The main character is Lan, who is Megaman.exe's operator. There is Mayl, a friend of Lan's and really likes him, who operates Roll.exe. Dex, who is a brute and believes that strength is the way along with Net Battling Lan to prove that he's the best, operates Gutsman.exe. Another one of the main characters is Yai, who operates Glyde.exe. The main plot in this game is involving the WWW lead by Mr. Wily or Dr. Wily as some would think. It is the same guy but yet in a different twist like stated above, the what if scenario. Wily creates a new program that's very deadly and dangerous, it's called the Life Virus. His goal was to take over the Internet much like in the classic series with Dr. Wily wanting world domination. It was up to Lan and Megaman to take care of the situation. There's an introduction to notable Net Navis like FireMan.exe, Woodman.exe, Sharkman.exe, Colorman.exe, and many other navis. There is also an introduction to Bass.exe. This game did show that Capcom was willing to try something new and bring another element into the Megaman Franchise.

There is a Gamecube game called Megaman Battle Network Transmission. The game is supposed to be the one that goes between the 1^st and 2^nd Battle Network games. Unlike the previous game mentioned, this one however takes it to an old-school Megaman approach. By that I mean, it's more or less playing as Megaman and it's like an adventure more so. The plot involves a new virus involved called the Zero Virus created by the Professor. The whole point was to revive the Life Virus. There is a strong Virus that can become a Net-Navi in Zero.exe. His personality bares resemblance to the original Zero from the Megaman X Series. If somehow you can get the important parts of Zero.exe, he could transform into a Net Navi and get his chip as well. Like the 1^st game, it had Battle Chips but this one had no Version 1,2, or 3. It was just 1 version and that was it and no letters or symbols at all.

The next game to come for the Game Boy Advance was the direct sequel to the 1^st Battle Network Game in Megaman Battle Network 2. This one started a trend where now Megaman could no longer heal up. Whenever he had damage, whatever amount of health he has left, is continued on until jacking out of the Internet. There were 3 folders that could be fully customized and this was the only to do such a thing. No WWW in this one as the main focus was the Net Mafia. There were notable new Nat Navis that were friends like Toadman.exe, Thunderman.exe, Heatman.exe, and Snakeman.exe. It can't be complete without other villainous Net Navis like Quickman.exe, Freezeman.exe, Knightman.exe, and Magnetman.exe to name a few. The whole plot was to stop the Net Mafia and had to be challenged by Gospel. Interesting to say the least as the goal was to create the Ultimate Navi and intended to be like Bass but that failed to say the least. It looked like a wolf and ironically his name was left alone and not changed to Treble.

The next game however was a bit different as this game branched off into 2 different games with the same plot but different bonus Navis to face off with. This is not the 1^st time a duo brand game was made as some like Pokemon or even Zelda had one as well. The game had not much in the way of differences or for that matter the plot. The big difference was some of the Navis, for instance in the Blue version, Bowlman.exe was exclusive for this while in the White Version, Mistman.exe was exclusive there. This game could be played against another person assuming they have either one of the two Battle Network games. This would be the last game to use Styles from Battle Network 4 on to Battle Network 5; it would be Soul Unison or Double Soul. After destroying Alpha, it makes it seem like Megaman is dead and leaves a question of coming back or not. It does have relevance and a character quite similar to Dr. Light, as he is Lan's grandfather.

Megaman Battle Network 4 Blue Sun and Red Soon mainly involved tournaments but had a plot as well. It was involving a group that resembles NASA trying to stop an asteroid from crashing into the Earth. In a way, it is similar to that of Megaman X5 where a colony was to crash if it did not get stopped. A new enemy arises called Nebula and is looking to take over the world like every other villain that comes. The final boss of the game was Duo and wanted to find out in his way of battle as judgment on Earth. At the end of the game, Regal is shown and for some reason wants to commit suicide and jump off the building. It was unknown whether or not he would survive or not. There is a Z-Saver chip that can link between that game and Megaman Zero and also an introduction to the Dark Chips, which can do more harm than good.

The next game goes back to basics and now Battle Network 5 Team Colonel and Team Protoman were released on the GBA. It was also released on the DS as Double Team with some differences. I've only seen Team Colonel so I'll attempt to speak about this to the best of my knowledge. The plot involves Nebula as they are out for revenge. There are 2 teams to join and depending on the game you were to join either Team Colonel or Team Protoman. A new twist added to it was the introduction of liberating items. Soul Unison returned as well and had become a more regular staple to the series. The other Net Navis played more of a role in this considering it was a team. It is also learned that Dr. Regal is Dr. Wily's son. He wanted to bring the net to darkness and had uploaded a Super monster called Nebula Gray. Wily however was not evil in this game and decided to erase some of his son's memories and therefore he had turned him good.

The final game of the series was Megaman Battle Network 6: Team Gregar and Team Falzar. It involved 2 legendary cyber beasts and had introduced the idea of a Beast Out where Megaman can use that power and can go up to 3 turns. There is now a cross fusing technique with Net Navis but different ones in each game. The WWW has returned for the last time and for one last final attempt to rule the world again. Depending on the version, the goal was to resurrect one of the Cyber beasts. It was thought that Colonel and Baryl, whom you were introduced to in Battle Network 5, were the culprits behind this. Only to reveal later he had been working for Dr. Wily himself. Wily had once again returned to his evil roots with anger and desire to rule the world.

Colonel and Iris played a role in this as Iris was being introduced and Lan was trying to show her that not all humans are killers. Wily eventually turns good again and this time it lasts and that's about it. The story has ended with now Lan 20 years into the future married to Mayl.

Well, that concludes the Battle Network Series. The series ended without a cliffhanger wondering what will happen next. All the loose ends were tied up and the next series takes over in its direct sequel, Megaman Star Force. There was a side game made like Megaman Battle Chip Challenge, which has no direct ties to the entire storyline. I think this series warrants having its own collection series given that the previous 2 series, Megaman Classic and Megaman X, had their own collection series. It should have it's own and the one thing with the Battle Network series that I think would have been better is at least 2 game slots to save games. That should be done for the entire collection. Let's call it Megaman Battle Network Collection. It could have all the Battle Network Games, Network Transmission, can add Battle Chip Challenge, and other any Megaman game never before released in the United States if it can fit. It should be for the Wii, PS3, or X-Box 360. That is all for now and stay tuned for Part 5 as the next series is discussed, Megaman Zero.