What parents need to know
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is a compilation of 6 games from the Mega Man Battle Network game series.
This compilation is separated into 2 collections:
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection 1
Mega Man Battle Network 1
Mega Man Battle Network 2
Mega Man Battle Network 3 White
Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection 2
Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon
Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun
Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Protoman
Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Colonel
Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar
Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar
Yes 4 games are present in 2 versions. At the time of the release, it was the fashion of Pokémon. The 2 versions of the 4 games are very similar to each other, and only have different transformations, Mega Man powers and enemies. It’s worth playing only one version each time.
All games work the same way:
You play as Lan Hikari, a Japanese schoolboy who owns a PET (Personal Terminal). It is a device that allows him to check his emails, and to talk to a virtual MegaMan .EXE avatar. This avatar allows him, when he connects his PET to the Internet, to browse it and fight viruses.
When you connect the PET to the Internet, you play as MegaMan.EXE on the Internet, and you explore many areas, often labyrinthine and composed of dungeons.
Whether controlling Lan or MegaMan.EXE, everything takes place in 2D in isometric view.
MegaMan.EXE can encounter viruses on the Internet most of the time randomly.
That’s when the game switches to combat mode, the one that made the reputation of this series.
The fights take place in 2 stages:
– You first choose the special powers you want to select for combat by choosing from the BattleChips in your Deck. You have as much time as you want to choose them.
– Then we launch the real-time combat, in which we move MegaMan.EXE on a grid of 3 x 3 squares to defeat the viruses present on the grid of 3 x 3 located opposite. You can then use the selected BattleChips. Each of them naturally has different properties: damage, range, speed. It is also possible to combine their effects to maximize damage to opponents. Or choose certain special combinations to get a devastating attack.
Everything is very easy to understand, and each of the games has a long tutorial at the beginning (quite redundant when you know the previous installments).
Details
Level of experience required
| Age | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginners |  |
|
 |
|
|
| Intermediate | |
|
|
|
|
| Experienced | |
|
|
|
|
Requires good reading. And to know how to read English.
The games are not translated into French language in this version.
(While he was in Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team DS)
The powers of friendship and mutual aid are constantly highlighted in games.
Perseverance and courage are also encouraged.
The difficulty is very progressive and restarts with each title.
You can start with any title, you will find this easy at first, and towards the end many challenges await you.
It takes a lot of reflex.
Juste besoin d'acheter une fois le jeu.
There are unnecessary pre-order bonuses, which will be available later for purchase for other users.
Local game modes
An elaborate story mode for each of the 6 games.
A gallery mode that allows you to consult the drawings and promotional material created for each of the games at the time.
Online Game Modes
It is possible to fight against opponents embodying their own version of MegaMan in each of the 6 games whether in part ranked or not.
It is also possible to exchange BattleChips between players.
Unfortunately there is no crossplay, so if you play on Nintendo Switch, you will not be able to play with PC or Playstation players, and vice versa.
It’s a shame to divide the user pool into 3 platforms and 6 games, and ranked and unranked matches.
Our opinion
These games made up my entire teenage years. I’m a huge fan of the entire series and all the merchandising. The games are suitable for children and teenagers without any problems. Even adults can have fun with it. However, they are also very repetitive, especially when played consecutively. The problem comes from the random fights that occur when controlling Mega Man in the mazes that represent the internet in the game. And the story’s multiple quests and missions are excuses to make the player go back and forth through its mazes.
If you have time and patience, games are a lot of fun and rewarding, and reward perseverance. The ramp-up of your virtual avatar, MegaMan, and its customization, as well as the combat system are very well thought out and enjoyable. This is one of the many reasons why each of these titles has sold millions of units and had so many sequels and successes. It’s very easy to identify with Lan Hikari and Mega Man, and it’s meant to be. Whether it’s the games, the anime series, or the manga, they all belong to the Shonen genre, which is the kind of manga where you have a young hero who starts with nothing, and who will become stronger and stronger by dint of hard work, perseverance and will make friends during the adventure.
Whether it’s One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, or Pokémon, all the main productions of these franchises are Shonen.
It should just be noted that the games in the compilation are only available in English and Japanese. This can motivate non-English speaking young people to look for word translations to progress in the games, however. It worked on me at the time anyway.
In terms of available bonuses, there is a gallery mode to see promotional images and videos of the time and a Buster MAX mode.
Buster is the primary weapon, the base cannon that appears on the Mega Man arm, and this option multiplies the damage done by 100, while the player starts with 1 damage. It’s not an option present in the original games, but in this compilation it allows you to set up random fights faster. Note that some combat completion bonuses will not be obtainable with this option enabled.
For the rest, it’s all good. If you want to discover a series that has marked many players and inspired many other games, this compilation is more than recommended.
Here is my preference in terms of quality, from my favorite to the worst.
2 (my favorite), 6,5, 3, 1, 4 (redoing the same scenario 3 times to complete the story is not interesting in this episode)
Of course, each of the fans has their preferences.
Our Expert View
OBJECTION! There are many, many games missing from this compilation and it’s a real shame to lose this part of the series’ history. There have been a lot of special games, remakes, a lot of work.
This compilation contains just the GBA (Game Boy Advance) versions of the main games in the series. That’s fine, that’s the main thing, and I understand the amount of work and cost involved in porting each of these games to current systems. It’s a shame though.
The compilation contains the Japanese versions of the games that have been retranslated back into English based on the translation made 20 years ago. There have been corrections, but the majority of typos and typos are back. Retranslation allows you to have a font that is adapted to today’s screens and resolutions.
Between 2001 and 2005, many zones, enemies, functions, and power-ups were cut when the Japanese GBA versions were translated into English for the international versions, for several reasons:
- The software sizes of GBA cartridges were very small at the time and very expensive to produce. Since it’s easier to express more text with fewer characters in Japanese, it was more difficult to integrate the full English translation without cutting something else.
- There have been some crossovers with certain series in Japan, most notably Konami’s Boktai that didn’t last as long in the West. Capcom did not have the right to publish this content for international versions at the time.
- Among the huge merchandising that the series produced, there were many toys and toy players that could be connected to episodes 4, 5, and 6. The content was cut because not all the toys were released in the West, or did not have time to come out. The games were especially successful in Japan.
- Same with the special video games that linked to the main episodes. Some didn’t come out of Japan, so the content was cut.
In this compilation, the vast majority of the content of the Japanese GBA versions has been restored! This even includes partnering with Konami’s Boktai for Episodes 4, 5, and 6!
Many codes, and physical bonuses were also available in Japan, in order to sell more toys and bring advantages (unfair it must be said) to the wealthiest children. They are now all included in the compilation in a menu, in software form, and can be activated at will.
So you can go through the games with a multitude of help and super-powered powers. It kills the premise of the game a bit, but it’s deactivable, and it allows you to better support the repetitive side of the fights when they’re over in seconds instead of minutes.
For all the details on the series, please see this huge article wrote more than 20 years ago.
Affiliate links
When you use these links below to buy a game or an item, SharedScreen.ca may earn a percentage on the sale.
The price is the same for you, but your purchase supports SharedScreen.ca. Thank you !
