Second GOTM finished for December 2023. Very glad I chose this version of MMBN to play, as I can't see how the GBA version would've been enjoyable in any fashion without a map. Card-based battles and grid movement was fun and felt unique, and the music was catchy, but the level design felt like it got worse as the game progressed. There were also a few arbitrary sequence of events needed to progress the story that made me feel like I had missed some steps on more than one occasion. Enjoyed the game overall, but I can see why some people refer to this as the weakest of the series.

cyber-terrorismo envolvendo aparelhos smart sendo corrompidos, carros automatizados (que ainda precisam de motoristas, mas eles "podem descansar" na viagem!!) possivelmente elétricos, com freios sendo acionados pelo sistema do próprio semáforo e não do carro, abrindo alas para um fascismo tecnológico que só parece assustador pela direção do vetor.

preveu até o distanciamento que temos de robôs hoje em dia porque é claro que em 2020 acharíamos robôs meio bregas e o futuro tá mesmo é no software. todo mundo que entrou num curso técnico de robótica no começo do século se frustrou, e provavelmente uma dessas pessoas virará um super vilão também.

pai ausente mas útil, mãe presente mas inútil, uma grande festa de criança brincando com arminha de brinquedo que atira balas de verdade lá em 2001

There's no denying that the original Battle Network 1 on GBA was a bit rough, it was the first game in its series and of its kind after all, so that's understandable. However this enhanced and updated version not only smoothed out many of the game's rough edges, but also added some light crossover content with Starforce! The story remains unchanged of course, being average at best early on but with a reveal at the end that is ESSENTIAL to playing future games in the series, it's a solid entry point and I strongly recommend this version over the GBA original!

Played this one first before some kind of glitch broke the game right before the entrance to the final dungeon, so I just found a save file for the original GBA and beat it there. Sucks too, I had some stupid good battle chips 😔

It "fixes" the original far less than one would like to think. The map is helpful, but there's still awful backtracking, so now you can just see where you have to stupidly backtrack to. I don't care for the voice clips either. It's basically just "jacking in!" every time you jack in and 'fight good, mega man!" every time you fight but in Japanese and kind of poorly recorded, and I also don't really like the voice clips calling him "Netto-kun" and the text calling him "Lan" either. The extra mission is fine, I guess? The best I could say it wasn't too long an interruption of the main campaign. The extra half star comes from how really real fuckin nice it is to Operate Shooting Star instead of Mega Man near the endgame. Hold down the fire button to rapid fire, automatic charge shots, and that lock-on? Hoo baby. You don't even need any area grab chips! Load up on swords and these viruses are fcukin dead in the water.

Also it bears repeating, but DR GODDAMN WILY??!!?!?!?!?!?!!!!

Give it up, man.

In a weird way, even though this is a strict improvement over Battle Network 1, this game kind of makes me like BN1 even less. By implementing a bunch of QOL features, it lays bare the other problems, namely how much padding and backtracking you do for zero reason. Also, I remember the story being largely inconsequential but there are sections of the story that straight up contribute to nothing and only waste your time.

Luckily, the Star Force crossover content here is easily the best part of the game. It kind of shows how the devs found their footing once they got BN1 out the door and figured out what works and what doesn't. The writing in this section is also leagues better, it actually made me laugh a lot.

Even with the roughest edges smoothed out, Battle Network 1 is still the earliest attempt they made for this style of RPG, and it shows.

The internet (world map) design is so labyrinthine and same-y that without the bottom screen maps in the DS version I'd probably have spent several hours more wandering aimlessly than I already did.

Each dungeon having a unique gimmick is fun, but because this is their first attempt, weird things like diagonal movement ice sliding and invisible multi-layered paths make dungeons much more of a pain than they needed to be (but the fixing of several elements in the ElecMan dungeon is a huge help, and makes me feel for all the kids in 2001 playing the most ridiculous version of it.)

While the DS version has spruced up some parts of the combat, even looking back at the GBA version they’ve set up a great base to build from, all the basics that make the combat so fun are here. Each new chip type is fun to try and incorporate, and building MegaMan up with each upgrade is satisfying too. The addition of playable MM Starforce really makes the endgame easy and fun, the lockon+teleport move truly is 200 years in the future tech :p

Story and music are quite barebones in this one, but fine for what they are, and while the Starforce side story is very short and shoehorned in, it does lead to some cute banter between the boys, and I was charmed by it.

Overall glad to check this one off my list! I’d been curious about BN 1 since I was a kid, but I can’t say it’s particularly worth going back to, especially with how much of an improvement even BN 2 is.


Standout track: Fire Field