Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection review
Title: Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (reviewed on)
Release Date: April 14, 2023
I love the Mega Man Battle Network series. I even obsess over the artwork from the official Mega Man Battle Network art book. I think the designs of the NetNavis are so damn cool. And when the official game for the page made a special announcement that every episode of the hard-to-find Battle Network was going to be free to watch on YouTube for a limited time, I promise, I did my best to not type “pi” after “youtube” in the address bar. If you know, you know.
Although the Battle Network Collection has two volumes, purchasing a physical copy gets you both volumes at once. But let me ask you this, if I collect Gold Points on my Switch for Volume 1, but Volume 2 says “You’ve already collected points for this title” is it REALLY two different titles?
Anyways, if you buy the game digitally, you’ll get two different volumes. Volume 1 contains the following:
- Mega Man Battle Network
- Mega Man Battle Network 2
- Mega Man Battle Network 3 White
- Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue
If you’re wondering, some Battle Network games tried to pull a Pokemon, making two different games that had version-exclusive collectibles. This meant you needed a friend with a different copy or two games to “catch ’em all”. Which brings me to Volume 2, which features:
- Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun
- Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon
- Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Protoman
- Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Colonel
- Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar
- Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar
So depending on how you look at it, you’re either getting 6 games or 10. Either way, it’s a lot of Battle Network.
When I first started playing, I was thrilled to find out that the title screen was based on your PET device in the game where your NetNavi communicates with you — even going so far as supplying me with a 3D Mega Man.exe that hangs out on my screen and comments about what I do. EVERYTHING I do. I was surprised when I took this image for the article and he was like, “Oh! Taking a screenshot huh? Hold on, let me stand like this.” and he posed.
Fun fact, I don’t care how little I trust Siri or Alexa, the day we can have virtual anime-like avatars helping us with our day-to-day I’m losing the war and giving in. I’m sorry.
When you get in the games, they honestly look really good. They’ve been smoothed a bit so if you’re playing on a large screen, you’ll definitely welcome it. There’s also an excellent art gallery that has a lot of cool promotional art and concept art which is extra dope here because the designs in this game are amazing. And even when they’re not some mind-blowing concept, they’re just cute as all hell.
The only downside is that the game remains mostly unchanged. There’s actually a warning that appears when you first start the game about offensive depictions and, oh boy, wait till you meet characters like Yahoot.
Also, for some odd reason in Mega Man Battle Network 2, while they were writing that game they went unhinged and created a lot of uncomfortable stuff. Like, you’ll be playing the game, and then all of a sudden a tiny child drop something like this:
No thanks.
All in all though, if you missed the Battle Network series, this is a fantastic way to hop back into it, especially with the new Buster Max mode that lets you just tear through the games and experience the stories. If you haven’t played it in a while though, maybe watch some gameplay first. I’ve been watching a lot of people who’ve never played one of these games not enjoy them because they don’t enjoy deck creation or grid battles.
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (Nintendo Switch) Score: 8.5/10
As far as collections go, Capcom absolutely nails it with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. The slight graphical upgrade is nice as well as the large collection of backgrounds you can choose from. A talking MegaMan NetNavi at the title screen is also a super nice touch.