Megaman Battle Network 6
Very few video games make it to six versions, let alone on the exact same machine. But then, this is Capcom we are talking about, and if they find a formula that works they will release a new version every single year, even if there are only some minor tweaks. What makes Megaman Battle Network 6 so fascinating is it is supposed to be the last game in this series. I guess after six iterations Capcom is starting to feel guilty about milking us out of our hard earned dollars. Of course time will tell if the series is really dead. For those that missed the first five games in the Megaman Battle Network series, let me quickly recap. Lan is the boy who operates Megaman. Megaman is a Navi (think of a computer controlled program with a personality). The entire series is set in the future, and completely high tech. Battles are performed on a three by six grid (vertical by horizontal), separated into two sides. The player gets to pick certain battle chips which do things from swinging a sword at the enemies (which are called viruses), to shooting them with a cannon. Players also have the mega buster which is a small gun that shoots the enemies, for less damage, but also pretty quick. Lan is a boy in school, who is just trying to make the world a better place.
Graphically almost all areas of the game are very bright and colorful. The undernet (think of the underworld on the internet) is a pretty dark, and gloomy place. Thankfully not a lot of time is required there. It is pretty obvious to this review that Capcom has squeezed every ounce out of the Gameboy Advance with this game.
The sounds are all very crisp and clear. The sounds also work well, especially when the players life is getting low. The music is pretty cheerful, and certainly has a high tech tempo to it. These sounds are all classic sounds to those familiar with the Megaman universe.
Most role playing games have a problem in the replay department, however that is offset with their longer gameplay time. There are plenty of secrets with Megaman Battle Network to unearth, like hundreds of battle chips, and Navi customizer programs. But this game is so similar to the past versions, that if you have played a MMBN game before, collecting everything will have little to interest to you. The story line is enough to justify this purchase if found for around twenty dollars in this reviewers opinion.
The gameplay works exceptionally well, and has been tweaked by Capcom to finish this series in a good light. The merging of programs to create a different Navi is no longer supernatural, but installing another program. The story line which connects this series to the general Megaman universe is actually quite interesting. The theme of redemption is also quite welcome. There is a small bit of preaching in this game by the environmentalists with their alarmism about us destroying the planet.
This game has some good teachings in it about it never being too late to turn from evil, and to avoid fighting. Sadly the main character is a hypocrite, because he always fights while asking others not to. The whole tree hugging part was way too preachy for this reviewer. It would be nice for them to completely return to how the series was back in MMBN 1 thru MMBN 3. A decent RPG with no occultic material.
- RPG Master
{Cartoon Violence}
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