MegaMan Network Transmission (GCN)
Riv , 2004/11/25 22:55

Publisher:	Capcom
Genre:	Action-Platformer
Players:	1 Player
Rating	Everyone
Pros:	--Debut of MegaMan on a next-generation system, with lots of gameplay features and enemies from MegaMan games of the past. --Plot is faithful to both the Gameboy Advance "Battle Network" series and the "Rockman.EXE" anime series.
Cons:	--Sloooooow moving game. Definitely not as fast-paced as a MegaMan game should be. --The enemies are nothing special, and the bosses are pretty much nothing new.
Also Try:	--MegaMan X7 (PS2) --MegaMan Battle Network (GBA) --MegaMan Anniversary Collection (GCN & PS2)

Original Postdate: 6-21-2003

MegaMan has always brought me joy, being one of my first NES titles as a kid. What better way to celebrate the 15th Birthday of MegaMan than to release the all-new Battle Network series with elements of TRADITIONAL MegaMan games?

MegaMan's always been awesome. Who else has a gun for an arm, and get away with wearing a silly blue helmet and dominating others like him? Ron Simmons tried the blue helmet thing and failed miserably, so kudos to MegaMan for being the only guy to perfect the formula. I don't know, maybe it's the FRUITY JAPANESE THEME MUSIC (click here to listen) that allows MegaMan to get away with it.

Sorry, Ron.

Either way, MegaMan (Rockman to the Otaku), finally makes his debut on Gamecube, and for a first time, it's rather impressive. Mega Man Transmission steals a page from the book of Metroid Prime, by coming in between the first and second MegaMan Battle Network titles.

For those of you unfamiliar with that series, here's a quick summary. Unlike the other MegaMan games where he is a robot, Battle Network is an alternate timeline of sorts, where the world relies heavily on the Internet (come to think of it, that's not too different from our world). Because of this, humans developed sentient programs that reflected their personalities to help them manage every day life. However, viruses are also frequently on the loose. To make matters worse, not everyone uses their NetNavi-alter-egos for good, so the world needs a hero, which... you guessed it... It's MegaMan! Along with his human counterpart and operator, Lan (Net) Hikari, the pair fight netcrime, and the evil World 3 run by Dr. Wily. Along the way he has assitance from his friends and neighbors Mayl (Meiru) with her counterpart, Roll, Dex (Dekao) with his counterpart GutsMan, and Chaud (Enzan), and his counterpart ProtoMan (Blues). On a sidenote, one has to wonder what the hell Capcom was thinking with these translations. How would YOU like to be named Chaud (which I always tend to pronounce as "chode")?

Although Dr. Wily is allegedly dead, someone has found his research and intends on using a new virus known as ZERO to destroy the entire Internet, and it's up to MegaMan to stop him. Hence the plot of this new game. Storywise, you'll see that this one begins to adhere more to the slightly variated anime-version of MegaMan Battle Network, especially in the audio. You may recognize the main Rockman theme playing in several parts of the game, as well as hear the voices of the actors from the Japanese version. Kudos to Capcom for not dubbing this game. The game even uses the commercial break pictures for load screens!

Unlike most MegaMan games you might be used to, you don't have the standard "select a level and fight a boss" deal. Instead MegaMan Transmission relies on a Battle Chip system, which sadly is more like Pokemon than I will ever admit. The faster you defeat an enemy, the more likely they are to drop a battle chip that allows you to use their powers in battle (this also does apply to the bosses). Every time the bar on the top of the screen fills, Lan can send MegaMan more battle chips. These chips don't just allow MegaMan to attack - they can also help him move, become invulnerable, and double-jump. All in all, it's going to take some getting used to for those who want to just rush in and attack everything because in this game, MegaMan's buster sucks total shit at the start.

The game is quite slow-paced compared to other MegaMan titles, and it's amazing that the speed is still as slow as you remembered these games on the NES, however, the new 3D graphics within 2D gameplay seem to serve as a welcome distraction with how slow-moving MegaMan is this go-around. The stages usually reflect the innards of a computer, or waves of information being transmitted back and forth. The enemies move fluidly and are rather detailed as well, and it's VERY hard to not get distracted by the many going-ons on-screen.

MegaMan's gameplay is quite standard. You have the ability to jump, slide, and fire the Mega Buster, which can also charge shots (once you begin to upgrade it). Still, the meat of the game lies in collecting battle chips by defeating the viruses that manifest themselves in stages. This is no hard task as if you don't get chips from the enemy, then just walk a few screens forward, and go back, and the virus will regenerate. Thanks to this, there's really no such thing as a "rare" battle chip as there is in the more-RPG oriented Gameboy Advance titles.

There's also a lot of nostalgia in the game for those who've played MegaMan since the start. Regular enemies from the old titles such as Metools (Hard Hats), Big-Eye, Sniper Joe, and others appear. Obstacles such as the vanishing blocks, and spiked floors of doom are abundant, and this game, as such is a jumper's nightmare. In fact, there probably hasn't been a MegaMan title this annoying with the Spike-traps in a VERY long time. Fortunately certain battle chips can make you temporarily invincible.

Oh did, I mention everyone's favorite obstacle from MegaMan 2 is back? That's right, the QUICKMAN STAGE LASERS!!! Joy (or 45 minutes of cursing and throwing controllers around the fucking room). GravityMan's stage will also have you cursing up a storm, guaranteed.

Needless to say this game is very difficult as a result of Capcom programmers that apparently are hitting some heavy hallucinogens. Timed jumps, proper usage of battle chips, and a little bit of luck are all needed to survive, and some have gone to say this is one of the most frustrating MegaMan games ever. Make sure to channel your chi and balance the forces before you even turn the Gamecube on. Because of the fact you have no idea which Battle-chips Lan will send you, you can easily end up at a boss and get your ass stomped just by not having the right weapons, so prepare to fight the same guy over and over again until fortune smiles upon thee.

Speaking of familiarity, you'll find some of your favorite bosses here, such as GutsMan, Bass (Forte), QuickMan, ProtoMan, ElecMan, ShadowMan and Zero from (the Mega Man X series). It's always a nice touch to see the new redesigns of these memorable baddies, and it's always nicer to beat the living hell out of them with rare battle chips.

Sadly, however, because of all these throwbacks to the old games, there's not a whole lot NEW to see in the game, a problem that MegaMan has faced for about 5 years now. I guess if it's not broke you shouldn't fix it, but it would have been nice to debut some all-new characters, or have a bigger variety of regular enemies (most of the enemies in this game are swaps of each other). Because of this, the game is pretty much a one-timer that you probably won't play much after you finish it off. To make matters worse, the link-exchanging that probably SHOULD have happened between this title and the GBA titles didn't. Way NOT TO USE the Gameboy-to-Gamecube cable, AGAIN.

All in all, this title's average, with a lot of bells and whistles to keep you intrigued, and if you're a Mega Man Battle Network fan (like me) you'll love it. If you're a MegaMan purist you might not enjoy it too much, but let's put it this way - no matter how you look at it, at least it's better than MegaMan Legends.

-- Riv - jasonrivera@jasonrivera.com