By David Logan
OK, I\'ll admit it. I never really got into Mega Man. While everyone else was having the time of their collective lives with the little blue man, I was reading or something. This was my first exposure to this legendary series, and, despite the corny name and departure from the typical action genre (this game\'s an RPG, baby), it was a good one.
The plot is kind of... OK, so you\'re this boy, LAN (geddit?), who goes to school hangs out with friends, just like any other kid, except when I grew up we didn\'t have Mega Men patrolling the net to keep it safe. Kids these days...You, as LAN, control Mega Man on the web, fighting and destroying every virus he comes across. Eventually you become Net Battlers, the official city team of virus fighters.
Did I mention how badly translated everything is? You know how in some RPGs you play just to see the next cool FMV? In this game you continue to see the next butchered line. I love when a guy is about to get blown up by a bomb after pissing off the Net Don. He hears ticking, wonders what it is, and says (and I quote), \"Oh, that.\" If I were this man I\'d be screaming my lungs off and in need of new pants, but no, he sees his own demise smiling on him, and he\'s as cool as a lake. I just love that stuff. So you, as LAN, have your normal everyday life and the action packed life of Mega Man going on at the same time. Your friends have Mega Man-Sequa creatures as well, helping you out from time to time.
This makes for some interesting gameplay. In an early part of the game, you have to save your friend from a haywire cyber-bathtub (apparently, in the future, everything has microchips in it ? tubs, statues, models of bears, everything). LAN can\'t get to her because there is too much steam in the way. What does our fussy hero do? He jacks-into the heating system and has Mega Man fix it. It\'s kind like a buddy movie, only it\'s not.
Speaking of gameplay, the battling is done superbly. The ground is divided into 18 squares on which you and the enemy can dance around (9 squares for you, 9 for them). It makes for some fancy footwork when you have multiple baddies lining you up in their crosshairs. Memorizing the patterns is a must, as is choosing the right weapon. At intervals during the fight (every 20 seconds or so), you can get new battle chips. The chips are one time use weapons (not that you can run out of them though) that do everything from fire a cannon to chop out a part of the arena. Often the battle devolves into frantically avoiding shots until you can get some more weapons. Not incredibly involved, but very intense. When you go up against the bosses, you will be screaming at your little GBA for cheating. I think the difficulty is a good thing, but those who like games to be a bit on the easy side should probably back think twice before buying.
The best aspect of this game is just how addictive it is. Even when I got frustrated, I was always back within an hour. Not many titles do that to me anymore, so it\'s a refreshing change, especially on a portable system. It\'s just a very fun game, but one that I don\'t think will sell too well, which is a shame.
There\'s not much else to say about the game. Graphics are average; sound is average; control is average. It\'s the gameplay that gives this game 4 stars. Mega Man Battle Network 2 is single-handedly responsible for reinvigorating my love for RPGs. When was the last time you heard someone say that about an RPG?