The MegaMan Battle Network series is one of Capcom's Mega Man series and debuted in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance. It is the fourth spinoff series in the franchise. In Japan, as of the release of Rockman EXE Transmission in 2003, the series has been known as Rockman EXE; prior to this it was called Battle Network Rockman EXE. There are five main Battle Network games as well as several side-story or gaiden games.

Series History

The series is set in the year 200X, in an alternate version of the original Mega Man universe in which computers, rather than robots, were the subject of the most research. The split occurred because Dr. Hikari researched networking and AI programs while Dr. Wily researched robotics; in the original series, Dr. Wily's ideas were funded, but in this series Dr. Hikari's were. The result of Dr. Hikari's research was the PET (PErsonal Terminal), a small computer which is used similarly to a cellular phone or PDA and which contains a customizable artificial intelligence known as a Net Navi (short for Internet Navigator).

The Battle Network series focuses on the adventures of relatively ordinary fifth-grade student, Lan Hikari, and his very extraordinary Navi, MegaMan.EXE. Lan and MegaMan fight primarily against the schemes of madman and failed scientist Wily and his organization, the World Three (WWW). (Incidentally, most (but not all) of the Navis in the series are named after characters from the original series).

Gameplay

The MegaMan Battle Network games are hybrid RPGs. Out of battle, gameplay is typical RPG fare. In battle, however, it is a unique hybrid of traditional action-RPG gameplay and a collectible card game. This battle system is the most unique part of the MMBN games, featuring a 6x3 grid, with each character controlling half. Attacks during battle are battlechips, often won after defeating enemies with a high rank. They are customizable out of battle by editting the battlechip folder. As well, in the 3rd and 4th titles a Navi Customizer feature is available, which can be used to fully customise MegaMan, which has various effects in-game.

Notes

MegaMan Network Transmission for the GameCube and MegaMan Battle Chip Challenge for the Game Boy Advance are the only Battle Network sidestory games to be released in English. Other sidestory games include Rockman EXE Phantom of Network, Rockman EXE N1 Grand Prix, and Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation.

An additional title for the Battle Network series is being planned for the Nintendo DS.

The team that worked on the Battle Network series was the same team that did the Legends games (Capcom Production Studio 2).

See also

• Mega Man series
• Mega Man Classic
• Mega Man X
• Mega Man Legends
• Mega Man Zero
• List of Mega Man characters (Battle Network series)

External Links

• Rockman EXE series - official Capcom site for the Rockman EXE series (Japanese).
• MegaMan NT Warrior - official US site for MegaMan NT Warrior