Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Review

thesixthaxis.com:

When I think about the Mega Man games of my childhood, it’s Battle Network that pops into my mind instantly. Sure I played some of the original NES games, some Mega Man X and even a little bit of Mega Man Zero – but Mega Man Battle Network 3 is what made me a fan of the franchise to begin with. I have vivid memories of hooking up GBA link cables to trade chips and battle friends, and reading theories online about all the secret Bass battles. Diving back in with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection has made it clear that even without my nostalgia goggles on, Battle Network is fun, gorgeous, and unlike anything else.

The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection gives you access to every main GBA entry in the series, split across two volumes – volume one has Battle Network 1 through 3, while volume two has Battle Network 4 through 6. From Battle Network 3 onward the series would make two slightly different versions of the same game similar to Pokémon releases, so you get both versions of every numbered entry for a total of ten titles. There are a few missing side-entries, though, including the stripped down, tournament focused spinoff Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge, and the GameCube exclusive action-platformer spinoff Mega Man Network Transmission. The latter is a huge game and it’s a bit of a bummer to not see it represented.

But what even is Mega Man Battle Network? While Mega Man spin-offs like X or Zero take the base lore of “evil robots and Dr. Wily’s uprising” and put some mature spins on them or introduce wider scifi worldbuilding. Battle Network goes in a very different direction casting you as grade-schooler Lan Hikari who happens to have Mega Man in his pocket. In the world of Battle Network, society is