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[KelpNugatCrunch]

Absolutely love this series, even though the series as a whole has some very, very serious issues both individually and across all installments. I played it a lot as a kid so there's a lot of nostalgia there.

It's a really cool and clever hybrid between an RPG and a Card Game, and the setting is great as well.

It's actually kind of funny because my feelings on BN exactly mirror my feelings towards classic series. My two favorite classic games are 3 and 5, which are also my favorite BN games. For both classic and BN, I feel like 1 and 2 were cool but 3 took what they did and refined it the most. 4 was a step down on both series for multiple reasons, whereas 5 was a return to form, and 6 was still solid but due to a variety of problems isn't as good as 5 for me.

 

[Novel Mike]

I freaking loved Battle Network. It was so well made! Great idea of using the internet as the 'levels' in the game while having Lan/Netto work together to solve puzzles and what not. The anime was pretty good as well at least at the start.

Star Force is really good as well with what I would consiter a much deeper story with more interesting characters (GeoXSonia 4life) just with a somewhat worse battle system (but still pretty good). It's a shame we never saw a proper follow up to either series. Anime for this one had way to much filler but was still pretty good since they were generally only 10 minute episodes. I really don't care to much about a proper MM game, rather get another BN or SF any day.

 

[CrimsonSquall]

Nostalgia is killing u guys. 3 had the most endgame content no contest but 6 perfected the strategy. I've played everygame competitively as all my friends had these games growing up and 6 had the transform whenever mechanic and the beastcross as well so you are constantly pushed to work on your feet. 3 had the styles and obviously it felt more personal which is cool and all but not enough variety for multiplayer. Also, folder combos were bullshit in that game

 

[Luigi87]

Best Mega Man series.

3 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 5 > 4

Seeing so many praise 6 so highly makes me regret not playing it (though it is now on Wii U VC...). After 4 & 5 I just couldn't deal anymore.

3 is by far the best in the series (and such great post-game), but story wise 2 is my favourite.

1 was a fantastic entry into the series, and 5 is an alright game.

4 can burn in a fire. I cannot express how disillusioned I felt from how bad it was... I especially hated how they changed the town's layout, among so so so many other things.

 

[Akai__]

You all should play MMBN Chrono X. It's a fanmade game that takes place after BN6 and still in development.

Would be finished by now, but they need artists.

 

[Vhalyar]

I'm honestly surprised there's been no mobile game trying to take advantage of the battle system (that I know of). With a few tweaks you'd think it would be gatcha heaven.

e. Wait, that Chrono X thing is also coming to mobile?

 

[Stuart444]

Best Megaman series. Started with Red Sun but loved it. Still not played the games past that though, been meaning to. (though I have played 1 up until Red Sun)

Wish it could get a reboot or something

 

[GringoSuave89]

I'm honestly surprised there's been no mobile game trying to take advantage of the battle system (that I know of). With a few tweaks you'd think it would be gatcha heaven.

I would be broke 5 minutes in, no lie

 

[LewieP]

I have a degree of fondness for this series that when I rationally consider it is more than it probably deserves.

I really like the tone and art style of these games, and I love love love the battle system, but I think a large portion of the RPG aspects are poorly designed and/or poorly implemented.

But my fondness for the aspects that I really like are enough to carry it.

Don't think I have anything else constructive to contribute.

 

[DarkKyo]

This is a series I have never once played but have always been curious about.

 

[GringoSuave89]

This is a series I have never once played but have always been curious about.

It's pretty damn fun. The battle system alone makes it worth hunting down.

 

[Vhalyar]

I would be broke 5 minutes in, no lie

Same here. There's a degree of excitement and wonder about getting a new chip that I don't really feel from the usual card system battles.

 

[SkyOdin]

I was a late-comer to the Battle Network franchise. I only started playing it sometime after the cartoon aired in the US, and by then Battle Network 3 was already out. As a result, I missed out on the original Mega Man Battle Network and started with Battle Network 2. However, I quickly fell in love with this spin-off of one of my favorite franchises. It has everything: a fun saturday morning cartoon story, a fast paced action-based combat system, and some great RPG/CCG style systems. While the main story of a Battle Network game can be fairly easy, the V2/V3 boss refights and post game content can get seriously challenging and fun.

I am a big fan of the Star Force games too, but I do understand why the gameplay changes turned off a lot of fans. On the other hand, I still think that Star Force 1 has by far the best story out of any game in either sub-series, but I will save that for when this Retrospective eventually reaches that game.

However, is it worth it for someone who has played every other game in the franchise to go back and play Battle Network 1? I would have bought the DS remake if they had released that in the US, but sadly it underperformed in Japan.

 

[RK128]

Updated the OP with content about the Program Advance mechanic. Sorry I originally glossed over this element everyone.

 

[exfatal]

Best Mega Man series.

3 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 5 > 4

I havent played 1 or 2 but this is exactly how'd i rank the rest. i loved 3 4 was such a waste with the replay through multiply times for shit. and 6 was just amazing beast out and all that jazz

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I loved my time with this game, but I got stuck towards the end and never beat it. I have MMBN2 waiting to be played on VC.

Ironically the only one I beat was 4, which is considered the worst one... but I liked it.

 

[Mr. Nice_Guy]

Oh yeah, I started playing this last semester and was really digging it, but never beat it. I need to get back to that. Pacing was a little off, but I have been told it's worth it to get to 3, which apparently is incredible.

 

[jnWake]

I'm a bit torn on this game. I think the overall idea of the gameplay is pretty good. Battles are fun and can be very challenging (maybe even cheap at some points). However, the game is very very grindy. You earn most chips through battling and getting high scores so you're kinda forced to grind a lot. Problem is that there's no other benefit to battling (money I guess?), so the grind is annoying when you don't get the chips you want... and don't get me started on the boss chips. Getting Shark Man's chip is so annoying that I didn't even bother after several tries.

The story didn't click for me either. Like you say, it feels very aimed at childs so it didn't get me at all. Not that I need mature storylines to enjoy a game but this one fell flat to me. There are some cool characters in the game though, with Proto Man being my fave.

EDIT: Also, bless the Quake chip. That one is broken as fuck.

 

[Servbot24]

Never played the first two, but loved the rest. EXE 3 was a defining video game for me, and is probably in my personal top 10 ever.

 

[Jebusman]

I not too long ago played through all of them again, and I can honestly say I don't think 1 holds up nearly as well as it should.

In terms of world building 1 & 2 are important as they introduce the two main plotlines/source of recurring villians, but the gameplay hadn't reached the perfection that was 3, and it ends up suffering because of it. I'd still recommend it to people who want to play through the series, but if you had to only pick 1 BN game to play, 3 is probably the best whole package (although 6 is the most "playable").

I remember doing a lot of boss navi timeattacks in some competition on a megaman fan forum. I think I held the record for a few of them (under the name 192837465546 or something like that). Mostly for BN6. Getting down to the fastest kill time (which I think was slightly under 2 seconds due to the boss explosion counting against your time) required some real mastery of the chips and the combinations you could come up with.

I wish I could remember the name of the forum and I feel bad that I sort of drifted away from them. I also ended up pulling all the youtube videos and/or losing the account to them at some point. Don't remember why.

 

[MaximumSpider]

This was such a good series.
When's Starforce? I loved that series too.

 

[RK128]

This was such a good series.
When's Starforce? I loved that series too.

Both the Mega Man ZX and Starforce sub-series will be covered all in one massive Retrospective thread per series and will happen once every MM Zero and MM Battle Network game is covered. Both are the successors to each series, so its only fitting I have both 'original' series under my belt before tackling them. This idea might change down the line though and I will just cover each series like Classic, X, Legends, Zero and Battle Network are right now.

Also plan for BN 3&4 and BN 5&6 to share the same Retrospective thread, but might consider changing that if I feel the drafts for each Retrospective is weak.

 

[Koppai]

I need to get all the games :/

 

[Tunavi]

2 is by far the best

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I would kill to have a Gameboy SP and all six games, but that would set me back a lot of money compared to the Wii U VC releases.

Uprezzed Wii U GBA games look so... pixely, even in perfect pixel mode :/

 

[cordy]

Absolutely loved the series, amazing.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

I was a late-comer to the Battle Network franchise. I only started playing it sometime after the cartoon aired in the US, and by then Battle Network 3 was already out. As a result, I missed out on the original Mega Man Battle Network and started with Battle Network 2. However, I quickly fell in love with this spin-off of one of my favorite franchises. It has everything: a fun saturday morning cartoon story, a fast paced action-based combat system, and some great RPG/CCG style systems. While the main story of a Battle Network game can be fairly easy, the V2/V3 boss refights and post game content can get seriously challenging and fun.

I am a big fan of the Star Force games too, but I do understand why the gameplay changes turned off a lot of fans. On the other hand, I still think that Star Force 1 has by far the best story out of any game in either sub-series, but I will save that for when this Retrospective eventually reaches that game.

However, is it worth it for someone who has played every other game in the franchise to go back and play Battle Network 1? I would have bought the DS remake if they had released that in the US, but sadly it underperformed in Japan.

What makes StarForce 1 good? The graphics is a huge turn-on for me since it combines the best of the sprites, and the low-poly 3D, and I'm actually considering getting into the series as it's the only Mega Man series I haven't played yet.

 

[Red Arremer]

I used to do challenge runs for this series. People would send in suggestions for what boss to fight with which restrictions and I would record myself doing it.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Out of all of the Mega Man series, I'd say Battle Network is the one I have the fondest memories of. The Battle System was really addictive and I just loved the stories, music and pixel art.

I'd say MMBN2 is my personal favourite. ElecGuts style was the GOAT.

 

[Groof]

BN2 was my jam back in the day. loved the characters and setting. gospel was cool as fuck

 

[Astral Dog]

Battle Network was awesome but 4 basically destroyed the goodwill i had for the formula until StarForce 3, (but it was suppossed to be a trilogy, so you can see the rest as filler).

I was shocked to see people mentionig BN4 as their favorite MegaMan game in that thread.

 

[Stone Ocean]

I'll never understand what happened with the game's graphics starting with 4 lol

Seeing so many praise 6 so highly makes me regret not playing it (though it is now on Wii U VC...). After 4 & 5 I just couldn't deal anymore.

3 is by far the best in the series (and such great post-game), but story wise 2 is my favourite.

1 was a fantastic entry into the series, and 5 is an alright game.

4 can burn in a fire. I cannot express how disillusioned I felt from how bad it was... I especially hated how they changed the town's layout, among so so so many other things.

6 is pretty damn good since not only it has a satisfying conclusion to the story but gameplay gets interesting with the whole team of characters you can use.

 

[Cpt Conifer]

Tangential to the subject at hand, Network Transmission for the GCN was quite the curiosity. I always imagined having that Hori SNES-style pad would have been essential to the experience, but I'm sure 99% of people who played it got by using the analog stick on the system's standard controller. Off the top of my head, I can't even think of another bona fide platformer that came out for the system, unless maybe it got a Klonoa port.

 

[RK128]

Tangential to the subject at hand, Network Transmission for the GCN was quite the curiosity. I always imagined having that Hori SNES-style pad would have been essential to the experience, but I'm sure 99% of people who played it got by using the analog stick on the system's standard controller. Off the top of my head, I can't even think of another bona fide platformer that came out for the system, unless maybe it got a Klonoa port.

You could count the GBA games like MM & Bass and the Mega Man Zero games via Game Boy Player but can't think of a major 2D platforming game on the Game Cube. Maybe Crash counts, as Crash Wrath of Cortex has a few 2D sections.

Klonoa never got ported to the GameCube, but it did later get a Wii remake of the original game.

 

[SkyOdin]

What makes StarForce 1 good? The graphics is a huge turn-on for me since it combines the best of the sprites, and the low-poly 3D, and I'm actually considering getting into the series as it's the only Mega Man series I haven't played yet.

What makes Star Force 1 good is its characters and writing. It is still a story with a saturday morning cartoon feel, but it actually has some real heart and nuance to it. At its heart, it is a story about loneliness and friendship, but while a lot of stories being and end with a simple "friendship is good" message, Star Force 1 aims higher than that and tells a lot of stories about people stuck in troubled or broken relationships with other people that need to be fixed. As a result, the characters are more well-rounded and nuanced, and the stories are more meaningful. So, it is a family-friendly story that has some real depth to it. The only other games in the franchise that get close are Battle Network 3 and 6.

The main reason that people don't like Star Force 1 is that it is a huge step down in mechanical complexity from the Battle Network series. It switches from moving around a 3x3 grid to moving back and forth on a line of three squares, it drops the lettered chip codes, it drops the Navi Customizer, and so forth. In an attempt to simplify the gameplay to make it more accessible, it seems that the devs at Capcom overdid it and took out a lot of what people found appealing about the series. I think that the gameplay is still fun, and I enjoy a lot of Star Force 1's unique mechanics such as the On Air mechanic and Best Combos.

 

[RK128]

What makes Star Force 1 good is its characters and writing. It is still a story with a saturday morning cartoon feel, but it actually has some real heart and nuance to it. At its heart, it is a story about loneliness and friendship, but while a lot of stories being and end with a simple "friendship is good" message, Star Force 1 aims higher than that and tells a lot of stories about people stuck in troubled or broken relationships with other people that need to be fixed. As a result, the characters are more well-rounded and nuanced, and the stories are more meaningful. So, it is a family-friendly story that has some real depth to it. The only other games in the franchise that get close are Battle Network 3 and 6.

The main reason that people don't like Star Force 1 is that it is a huge step down in mechanical complexity from the Battle Network series. It switches from moving around a 3x3 grid to moving back and forth on a line of three squares, it drops the lettered chip codes, it drops the Navi Customizer, and so forth. In an attempt to simplify the gameplay to make it more accessible, it seems that the devs at Capcom overdid it and took out a lot of what people found appealing about the series. I think that the gameplay is still fun, and I enjoy a lot of Star Force 1's unique mechanics such as the On Air mechanic and Best Combos.

Saw some footage of the original Starforce game and I can see what you are talking about with the story. The main character being a loner and the 'Mega Man' being an alien creature is......interesting to say the least! Looking forward to playing that when I get closer to ending the Retrospective.

 

[rockmanjoe]

This game was such a surprise to me in how creative and clever it was in adapting the franchise into a pokemon-ish style rpg. Making the collectible aspect about the chips, rather than about creatures/monsters, was genius and the battle system is so original. There is enough depth in the mechanics and enough customization options which keeps the combat fresh, varied and addictive throughout.

Setting wise, I loved how all of the robotics stuff got adapted into computer stuff and I also enjoyed the story quite a bit. Not to mention it looked great. It's very colorful and the sprites are excellently detailed.

The first game is the only one I played to completion, haven't gotten around to playing the sequels but I definitely will.

 

[Hikami]

I need to play these again someday. Only played one of them and can't remember which but I loved it.

 

[dot]

Battle Network was amazing.

Never got a chance to try Starforce though.

 

[xzeldax3]

I loved every game in this series and didn't mind how request the releases were. I should go and replay them all...

 

[Astral Dog]

I'll never understand what happened with the game's graphics starting with 4 lol
.

if im right they decided to change the sprites in order to use less space for a cheaper cartridge, and thus they look more "cartoony" im not sure if there is another reason but that was part of it,

 

[vala]

Here is an interesting interview about the creation and development of the series:
http://www.therockmanexezone.com/ge...e-15th-anniversary-special-staff-talk-part-1/
http://www.therockmanexezone.com/ge...e-15th-anniversary-special-staff-talk-part-2/

Eguchi: It started with, “what should we make for the GBA?” It had us making a game that links to your heartbeat with a wearable device. The theme was “having fun while your heart pounds”-horror game.

Matsuda: I went to Expoland’s haunted house for research.

Kaji: You remember it quite well, huh? (laughs)

Eguchi: Thinking that now… how did that become EXE? (laughs) I wonder…?

Kaji: Certainly, the mechanics became quite difficult to handle.

Matsuda: After that, card games gained popularity around that time. We wanted to reap the trend while upholding Capcom’s pride.

And when you truly think about it— That’s how EXE came to be, correct?

Eguchi: Of course. I can say with confidence that it followed the proper process, but it had that sort of feeling at the time. (laughs)

Looking at the computers and internet affairs from that time— Windows 95 had come out, Y2K didn’t happen, the worldview had really become one of [computer networks].

Eguchi: We spoke about this earlier— At the time, card games were popular so it started [with a card game only Capcom could make] as the theme. In addition, this project’s goal was decided from the start, it was decided that Rockman’s IP would be used. The system was a mix between Rockman’s action and a card game. This became Data Action.

In short, the cards were replaced by data as Battle Chips and using those to fight was the Rockman character. Adding to that was that the worldview, quite appropriately a network society. And just like that, those became the setting and system from the very start.

 

[RK128]

Here is an interesting interview about the creation and development of the series:
http://www.therockmanexezone.com/ge...e-15th-anniversary-special-staff-talk-part-1/
http://www.therockmanexezone.com/ge...e-15th-anniversary-special-staff-talk-part-2/

Thank you for sharing this! Great interview and nice to have further insight on this creation of Battle Network.

 

[PataHikari]

Best Mega Man series.

3 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 5 > 4

I'd argue 5 is better then 1 simply because the first game is so rough and unrefined.

 

[SilentTristero]

How well do these games stand on their own apart from their sequels? For example, will I be okay jumping straight into 3 if I've never played any of the MMBN games before?

 

[mrpallyguy]

I played 3 first when I was a kid and I was fine

 

[yami4ct]

Probably the most underrated Megaman Series (though ZX deserves a bit more attention than it gets). Just a fantastic concept, a great world, cool and fairly unique content, great characters and some simple, but still compelling story. Some of my favorite games around.

 

[PataHikari]

How well do these games stand on their own apart from their sequels? For example, will I be okay jumping straight into 3 if I've never played any of the MMBN games before?

There's one plot twist in the first game that'll be spoiled if you play any sequels first, but other then that it's good.

 

[thedan001]

I absolutely loved this back in the day, I only played 1 and 2

What would be the best way to replay these again? I have the Wii/Wii U so VC is an option

 

[Trey]

I replayed 2 earlier this year. I have a lot of nostalgic love for this series, but I no longer have the patience for the excessive amounts of padding. everything is a fetch quest across the other side of the NET.