21 years ago today, on March 21, 2001, a star was born: Mega Man Battle Network released as a launch title for the brand new GameBoy Advance in Japan. A serious departure from the side scrolling 2D platformers in the Mega Man classic series as well as the Mega Man X series, Battle Network instead hopped on the trend of the era started by Pokemon, the collecting RPG realm.
The franchise is an overhaul of gameplay as well as story for the Blue Bomber, set in an alternate reality where internet technology took over instead of robots like the classic series. BN centers around Lan, an elementary school student, and his NetNavi (think Siri or Alexa, but fully sentient) MegaMan.exe.
The gameplay aspect centers around deleting internet viruses, using the strength of your navi and things called “battle chips” you can collect. The in universe reasoning for collecting these is sound, and their effectiveness in battle is the main focal point of combat. Speaking of, it was the first to my knowledge to utilize RPG elements in real time battles taking place on a 6×3 grid of spaces, divided in half for you and your opponent. If you get hit, it’s your fault. No sitting there are taking hits like Pokemon or Final Fantasy. By extension, if you miss, it’s your fault. Enemies (for the most part) won’t sit around and let you wail on them – you gotta earn it.
Now, for those of you who managed to make it this far – I promise this isn’t just a basic rundown of the series. Allow me to gush a little.
It all began January 1st, 2002. My sixth birthday party. At the suggestion of my older brother, my parents got me my very own GameBoy Advance, and a copy of the newly released (in America) Mega Man Battle Network. The rest is history. Remember when you turned the game on for the first time, and that crazy awesome title music started playing? Remember when the oven caught on fire, and you went into it to put it out, and had to take on FireMan for the first time? How about the first time you stumbled on a Program Advance, the screen got dark, and you unleashed some crazy attack? Or wait – what about that final boss battle, when you’re leveled to the max, and are this unstoppable force that just makes the finale look like a joke? The credits roll, with that incredible soundtrack, and you’ve conquered evil.
Okay, okay – I’ll stop. I just love this series. I could be here all day pointing out some of these things – the ones I mentioned are basic things. I didn’t even get into some of the deeper stuff. Sure, the story isn’t crazy. Sure, the battle mechanics aren’t perfect – especially in the first game. All of the sequels improved on certain things, added things, and presented their own spin on a formula that worked at the time, as the games sold like hotcakes for a while back in the heyday.
The legacy of this series lives on, despite its creator, Capcom’s attempts to forget about it. We’re still waiting on that legacy collection – although, all six entries as well as their separate versions (another copied Pokemon tactic) plus the spinoff are available on the Nintendo E-Shop, if you’re one of the few people in the world who own a Wii U. But better hurry – the shop will be closed permanently next March.
21 years later, the community around this series is surprisingly active. Whether it’s the dedicated subreddit, the ever updating N1GP covering the online multiplayer/e-sports aspect, newly inspired titles like EndCycle VS or One Step From Eden, fan made games like ChronoX or OverClocked, or people like the supremely talented KokiRemix who cover all of the series’ best tracks – despite Capcom’s best efforts, this series is far from dead.
I’m only scratching the surface here. I hope, if nothing else, it’s clear this is something I think is worth caring about. We’re still in series limbo, with some vague and ambiguous remarks from the powers that be last year for the milestone 20th anniversary. But I’ll hold on to hope, and never forget all of the incredible memories this forgotten gem of a series has brought me.
Hub World 