There’s immense value and a bit of nostalgic repetition to enjoy here.
What They Say:
The Battle Network is back! Get ready to jack in to the net to face off against deadly enemy programs in electrifying grid based battles, and search the net for rare and powerful BattleChips to build the ultimate deck of special moves!
Content:
The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection with both volumes of the classic GBA titles is the definition of value. If you pick up both collections, you get six mainline games (plus the extra versions of each individual title) for, at best, $10 per game.
This is fantastic even if you are someone like me who was familiar with a few of the games back in the day. I’ll admit that I didn’t touch the later games in the series originally, so I was excited to hop back in and help MegaMan.exe and Lan to save both the digital and real worlds.
For the purpose of this review, I should note that I only played the first three games that I was the most familiar with for a few hours each and then dived deeper into the last three games and their various versions (found in Vol. 2) since I, sadly, missed them back in the day.
First off, there is the presentation of everything. Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection ensures that you have plenty of choice when it comes to how you want to play it, which is always welcome. You can opt for the pure original GBA-style experience with the classic pixel art look, no changes to the gameplay, and so on.
Or, you can opt for a more modern experience with the filter that smooths out the edges, which I honestly enjoyed. Add to this the plethora of backgrounds you can put around the borders of the actual gameplay screen and I enjoyed it a lot.
I also appreciated the added quality-of-life features like making Mega Man’s basic attack much stronger so that you can blast through the regular random encounters without much problem. In the end, I didn’t mind using all of these features and it enhanced my time with these games.
To be clear, the first three Mega Man Battle Network games are pretty good (especially 3) but they are mostly simplistic games. The first Mega Man Battle Network is almost forgettable entirely, minus the introduction of characters and the battle system.
2 takes the foundation of the first game and adds a much better story, more intriguing characters, the shopping area where you can buy stuff, and definitely feels more essential but it, too, doesn’t do much gameplay-wise.
3 is where the series picks up for me as one of my favorites in the collection. It’s one that I plan to go back to for its solid changes and the excellent story that it has going on.
4-6 are deeper experiences, even if 4 is another mostly forgettable entry in the series. I especially loved what 5 and 6 do for gameplay, adding so much depth to experience with the various gameplay mechanics like the Liberation missions (which I loved; fight me!) and Cross system.
These are games that I have spent a lot of time with recently and I honestly regret never having played before. As a whole, there is something to adore about this franchise, which managed to make a whopping six entries on the GBA alone that all tell a cohesive, wonderful story with lovable characters.
Sure, it loses itself occasionally but this is by far the most engaging and enjoyable part about the Mega Man franchise for me. As someone who doesn’t like action platformers and side scrolling games, the Battle Network games have always been my go-to place to enjoy Mega Man.
The gameplay is the star here, though, focusing on an action RPG system. Mega Man has nine squares on a grid in the net world that he can move around using the thumb stick or D-Pad. He has a basic attack (tied to the B button) that you can use anytime.
But then there are special cards you can get each round of the battle to use with the A button. These might slash at multiple enemies at once, block squares for the enemies, recover HP, and are generally more powerful than the basic attack.
This is the base of the gameplay system of maneuvering around the field to avoid enemy attacks while setting up your own moves. There are some layers that are added throughout the series on top of this that make it deeper but there is something to love about the simplicity and tense nature of the combat, especially in the classic boss battles against fellow Net Battlers, villains, and terrorists.
While the combat is key and wonderful throughout all six of the games and their variants, I’m not sure I’d say the same about exploration. The dungeons of the net world are rather confusing and haven’t aged all that well these days, especially with the trippy hacker-style visuals that occasionally was hard to look at when they weren’t confusing to traverse.
I might have experienced a better map system or a way to run faster in dungeon exploration, but this only somewhat took away from my enjoyment. Other than that, there is something to love about the overarching storyline that connects all of these games together.
With that said, though, if you don’t want to buy both volumes (which I recommend if you can), I suggest picking up Vol. 2. You’ll miss out on Mega Man Battle Network 3 White & Blue, which is a bummer as one of the best entries, but you get a bit more value and quality out of Vol. 2.
Even if you’ve never played the Mega Man Battle Network games before, this is the time to check them out. The gameplay mostly stands the test of time, offering a style that is far different than what you might be used to when it comes to Mega Man.
In Summary:
Whether you are new to the Mega Man Battle Network games or was there from the very beginning on the GBA, this Legacy Collection is a must-try for Mega Man and JRPG fans alike. To be clear, some of the games (mainly 1 and maybe 2 and 4) are a miss, most of the games are a massive hit.
With every variant of the GBA titles included here, you get an absolutely insane level of value in this Legacy Collection. The action-based combat on the net of moving around the grid and switching up card skills is still as wonderful as it was back in the day.
Though the dungeon exploration is a bit weak or annoying at times and some games feel like filler, most of the titles have excellent additions, quality-of-life features, bonus elements, a fantastic cast that you grow to love throughout the series, and so much more that makes this worth checking out on Switch where it finally comes home.
Grade: C+
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Age Rating: 10+
Release Date: April 14, 2023
MSRP: $59.99 (for the full Legacy Collection), $39.99 per individual volume
Platform: Switch (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
