Gamespot score:7.5(Good)
my score:7.6
(+)Pros:-Kinda 2 games in one,- tons of different navi usage adds in variety,- liberation missions make the game much more interesting,-lots of new DS exclusive features,-great old battle network gameplay.
(-)cons:-A little bit "not-up-to-date" visual wise,-very unfitting scenarios,-its just BN 5 on the DS
Gameplay time:30-40 hours(above average)
Megaman battle network, that series brings back so many memories, sometimes it just makes me think why they stopped making those games to bring in starforce. While this game is old, I still remember the story very clearly (due to finishing it 4 times, twice on GBA and twice more on the DS). It kinda makes me wonder why they didnt do one for battle network 6, that would certainly be pretty good. Now then, HUZZAH!
Battle network's 5 story is pretty okay. 1st time I played the game it struck to me that the story was kinda...good. That was for colonel, then I played protoman, story was the same, but its still okay as a second time. Now on the DS another 2 playthroughs make me find the story pretty damn boring. Anyway, it talks about the re-rise of a network syndicate, nebula, which makes the evil evil dark chips. Back in BN 4 nebula's leader regal and hias navi laserman got creamed big time by lan and megaman, so in BN 5 his back with a vengance. He kidnaps lan's father and throws the whole cybernet into chaos. To liberate the new free of regal's reign, a team was formed (depending on which version you play), either team protoman or team colonel, and they go recruiting other navis to help in thier cause of liberating the net.
Battle network 5 was pretty great back then in the GBA days, possibly my favourite battle network alongside battle network 6. Battle network games are all almost the same. You play as both lan and megaman. In the real world you play as lan, and move around. When you jack into a PC or any device with a port, you switch to megaman, who moves around in the cyberworld. In the cyberworld, its almost the same, you move around as megaman, going from areas to areas, picking up mystery datas, interacting with other navis and battling viruses. Theres not only the net mind you, the cyberworld can be anywhere. You can jack into anything ridiculous, an ice cream machine, a drill machine or a gargolye machine, and still end up in some map, each with its own mystery data and viruses.
Battle in battle network is very special and unique, unlike most RPGs. You move around in a 3x3 grid, and so do your opponents. You go into battle with a folder of battle chips, which shuffle themselves before you do battle. You are given 5 chips at the start of a battle, you pick them based on chip similarities and letter assignments. Chips are mostly for doing damage, but in different styles, such as bomb lobbing or wave firing. There are other chips of course, summon chips where you summon a defeated navi to do thier signature attack, or chips that boost damage and heal your HP. Enemies of course also attack in thier own ways, as do bosses. Luckily, bosses and enemies have quite some vareity, but there are repeats, in which they are stronger. There is an exclusive mode in BN 5 however, and its damn awesome. Its the liberation missions, its like a turn by turn grid moving strategy game like final fantasy tactics, but done in BN style! Its also ridiculously hard, but you can use other navis in this mode, which is effing amazing, since they all fight differently from ol'megaman.
Double team, as you can see, sports some seriously good gameplay, but thats probably its best bet. Double team is two games in one, which is a good bargain I agree, and yes it will last you a long time. However, even with great new DS exclusive features like the touch screen folder managing or the auto map tracking, its basically just a DS version of the BN 5 games. To be honest, thats lazy, since theres not much addition gameplay wise. Yeah, that means the visuals are not to par with the DS standards, since they are direct GBA graphic ports. And also, an old rant, the game has unfitting scenarios. I wont go into detail, but seriously? Fighting magnet man in a MINING stage or number man on an ancient japanese PAGODA stage? Get real, Capcom.
Basically, if you haved played BN 5 from the GBA days, this is just exactly what you have played before, with some DS features and little tweaks here and there. Still, if you are willing to finish the whole damn thing.....its 2 games in one, so its worth a buy. Still, if you haved played BN 5 before, this can be skipped. If you havent, this is a really good buy.
Happy gaming.
