Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge (GBA)
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Mega Man Battle Network 4 (GBA)
+0 Story: An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, the Nebula crime syndicate is on the loose, and Lan is out to prove himself once more as the ultimate NetBattler. Ignoring the problematic localization (which I'll address later), the storytelling is pretty decent—there's a sense of urgency from the very beginning, and the pacing is considerably better than it was in the last game. It's interesting to have these three main plotlines weave in and out and eventually tie together, and I appreciate the coherent (albeit simplistically presented and shallowly explored) theme of confronting the darkness inside ourselves. However, the story falls short in the details. Dr. Regal is outrageously inconsistent about whether he wants to corrupt the world, save it, or destroy it. The whole plan to sabotage the laser cannon and recruit the winner of a tournament to stop the asteroid within cyberspace is asinine and colossally flawed. Actually, between threatening villagers with mind-controlled lions and kidnapping Lan as an official part of tournament procedure, there's no shortage of terrible plans this game. Some of the locations in the game are questionable as well; YumLand and NetFrica in particular feel like borderline offensive caricatures of real-life places. Really, there's an awful lot to raise an eyebrow at, like why anyone would build a speaker so large and loud that it could incapacitate a city, let alone put its control panel within easy reach of the general public. The story is frequently dumb, but it's told in a reasonably engaging way.
+1 Graphics: I'm not a fan of the new art style. All those thick lines give the whole game a cartoony look, which—unlike the cel shading of Command Mission or the rubbery style of MM8--seems less about artistic license and more about specifically targeting a younger demographic. The visuals are simpler and easier to interpret at a quick glance, which for me, breaks the immersion factor a little bit. I feel less like I'm in an interactive fantasy world and more like I'm playing a video game with clearly labeled objects and characters. It's not bad, per se, but it is off-putting after three installments with the same visual style, and without the major gameplay or hardware changes that usually accompany a makeover like this.
+1 Music: Some catchy melodies and good overall variety characterize the soundtrack. The music is impressively adept at evoking the right feeling for every occasion—excitement, calm, tension, creepiness, pressure, panic, triumph, and so forth. The themes you'll hear most often (eg, the battle theme, the generic network theme) are easy on the ears, and the instrument selection is broad and interesting. Unfortunately, there are still situations where the short and grating "OH NO SOMETHING BAD IS HAPPENING" theme follows you everywhere, and a couple other themes are too high-pitched or meandering to be enjoyable (ElecTown comes to mind).
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+1 Graphics: I'm not a fan of the new art style. All those thick lines give the whole game a cartoony look, which—unlike the cel shading of Command Mission or the rubbery style of MM8--seems less about artistic license and more about specifically targeting a younger demographic. The visuals are simpler and easier to interpret at a quick glance, which for me, breaks the immersion factor a little bit. I feel less like I'm in an interactive fantasy world and more like I'm playing a video game with clearly labeled objects and characters. It's not bad, per se, but it is off-putting after three installments with the same visual style, and without the major gameplay or hardware changes that usually accompany a makeover like this.
+1 Music: Some catchy melodies and good overall variety characterize the soundtrack. The music is impressively adept at evoking the right feeling for every occasion—excitement, calm, tension, creepiness, pressure, panic, triumph, and so forth. The themes you'll hear most often (eg, the battle theme, the generic network theme) are easy on the ears, and the instrument selection is broad and interesting. Unfortunately, there are still situations where the short and grating "OH NO SOMETHING BAD IS HAPPENING" theme follows you everywhere, and a couple other themes are too high-pitched or meandering to be enjoyable (ElecTown comes to mind).
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Mega Man Battle Network 5 (GBA/DS)
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Mega Man Battle Network 6 (GBA)
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