The storyline is quite interesting - everyone lives in a world where anyone can connect to the Internet. In fact, a very popular program for navigating the web is Navis - or PETs. Basically it's an online character with it's own AI, personality, quirks, etc. that does all the online business for its owner. Enter Lan, our young protagonist, who receives his first PET when the game begins. Oddly enough, his just so happens to be Mega Man, and the two embark on many adventures. The plot starts off with a terrorist group, the WWW, causing all sorts of chaos online in attempts to gain world domination. Surely enough, Lan's ambition lies in becoming a Net Battler so he can clean up the WWW mess once and for all. Hmmm...one boy and his friend, an international group bent on running the world, and cute, intelligible characters doing the bidding of their owners? Sounds a lot like a story I've heard before...

Even though Battle Network borrows heavily from Pokémon and other such games, seeing Mega Man characters both beloved and obscure in such a setting is quite interesting. Not to mention the old bots, from Mega Man himself to everyone else, have been totally redesigned. Some purists may cry sacrilege, but the new aesthetic is very sleek and stylish, breathing new life into the long-running franchise. Both the look and the story will pull you in to this 'world' that Capcom has created.

If the setting and look pull you in, the graphics and gameplay will glue your hands to the GBA. Visually, the game screams Capcom with 2D goodness, favorable amounts of animation, and certain 'touches' that will have any Mega Man fan squirming with delight. The only thing that might offend the eye are the new character designs of old Mega Man staples. Compared to his original designs, Mega Man is sleeked down and far removed from what we've become accustomed to seeing in previous editions. Even supporting characters, such as Roll, Guts Man, Number Man and the like get similar overhauls. Personally, I applaud the art division for developing new designs on old-time favorites, and Battle Network is no exception.

Depending on your perspective, the gameplay may feel immensely overhauled. There's about three parts to the way things work: real-world navigation, browsing, and net battles. As Lan, the gameplay primarily consists of plot development, character-to-character conversation, and navigating throughout various towns. In short, it's the ho-hum 'RPG' element to the equation. Hit the net and things get interesting, since net surfing usually means trouble is nigh. And naturally, wherever trouble lurks, you're bound to encounter viruses, in which battles will be imminent. Net battles are the most involved - and fun - part to Battle Network. Fights start off with two ends of a playing field; one side has Mega Man and the other has the offending enemies. A menu pops up before the first 'round' starts and you choose different 'cards' to have Mega Man use for the fight. After selecting, the game switches back to the fight and Mega Man is controlled in real-time where you can use weapons respective to each 'card' chosen, plus the tried and true Buster Cannon. Once you run out of cards, you have to wait for a timer to fill so you can end the round, pick more cards, and start over again. If that sounds confusing, there's a tutorial right at the beginning that explains everything in painfully easy detail.

What makes fights so fun is amount of card customization, usage, and card abilities at the disposal. There are cards for attacks, defense, recovery, field changing, and even 'summon' like purposes. The most interesting are the field changers and summon-esque cards; the former can do anything from steal enemy spaces to destroying them, and the latter calls upon other Mega Man characters to provide for specialized attacks. Roll can put the hurt on foes while healing Mega Man, Guts Man can deliver punishing blows, and the list just goes on. The regular attacks aren't nothing to scoff at either, with stuff that can hit in a line, at a range, clobber one enemy, or trash many at a time. Overall, there's a lot of depth and strategy to be found, while at the same time requiring ambidextrous thumbs to keep Mega Man alive during each 'round' of fighting.

The only thing that doesn't excite the sense is the music. It gets catchy at times, but with a few tracks repeating over and over again, things get old fast. But hey, that's why Nintendo invented volume dials, right?

If you thought Mega Man Legends was sacrilege, or if Mega Man X pushed your limits of what a 'real' Mega Man should be, this probably won't win over your heart. For those who love Capcom's branching out of the Blue Bomber's trades, give Battle Network a shot. It's a cross between adventure, RPG, card collecting, and twitch action. If anything's true, it's that variety always has the chance of breathing new life into old franchises. Capcom just better not plan on a Mega Man Battle Network 7 Turbo Gold Alpha with Matching Service - keep fresh and new fresh and new after all.

· · · Hero