When it comes to Capcom's expansive Mega Man franchise, my favorite version of the character has to be the original blue bomber, followed by Mega Man X. Then somewhere way down near the bottom of the list is the incarnation of our hero that appears in the Mega Man Battle Network series. I've never been able to feel the love that fans of that series so readily enjoy. Something about the formula doesn't click for me. I'm not alone in that belief though. Jeremy Parish over at 1UP's Retro Gaming Blog takes a few minutes to detail why Battle Network just doesn't work.
The biggest problem, I think, is that these games have what actually may be the least compelling videogame stories ever. I'm the sort of person who plays RPGs for the mechanics, and I don't really expect much from a story; I can shrug off the lamest of plots and weakest of characters. But Battle Network 3 broke me, constantly preventing me from going on with the business of blowing things up on the Internet so I could instead deal with some dumb kid's meaningless life.
The concept of a Mega Man RPG is totally great! Imagine if Battle Network actually starred Mega Man? But no -- determined to mimic Pokémon as closely as possible, Capcom decided to make the series about a really annoying kid for whom Mega Man plays a support role. And when I say "annoying" I mean I want to throw the little bastard through a window. Oh hey, I'm stuck in a battle tournament. Oh good, time to use the power of Internet to save a kid from runaway zoo animals. Oh great, that stupid kid has to go camping with his idiot friends. Oh god, someone please give me a break.
I played the original Battle Network for the Game Boy Advance through to the end and tried to get into the following two sequels, but I never can find the magic that's supposedly in the Battle Network experience. I've come to the conclusion that it's just not a franchise meant for me and my gaming tendencies. Of course, this means that I'll be reviewing the latest sequel to feature Battle Network-type gameplay, Mega Man Star Force 3, for Kombo next week. I'm open-minded about the assignment though. Who knows? Maybe the ninth time's the charm.
