Megaman Battle Network 6 Review

In 2001, Capcom launched yet anohter new era in the Megaman legacy, this time turning the Blue Bomber into an RPG star. Players found out it was more than that, though; it was more like the crazy child of Final Fantasy and Yu-gi-oh. Players could select 30 different Battle Chips out of 200 total, each wildly different and could be used strategically. Unlike most RPGs, though, you had a 3 by 3 grid you could move around in, and so did your enemy. It all seems confusing at first, but with a bit of practice, the battles became second-nature. In a 6-year period, Capcom releaced, you guessed it, 6 different versions of the game. From 3 onwards, each game was split in 2 different versions (a la Pokemon). This Battle Network was the last one in the series, and Capcom went all-out making it the most enjoyable installment in the series.

The story is much more enguaging than the previous iterations. Lan Hikari and his netnavi Megaman Exe move to the wonderful city of Central Town, so every location is brand-new and look great, plus a bunch of new folks join the party. Things seem normal then onwards, but suddenly a Cyberbeast takes control of Megaman (Different for which game you have). After a bit, you gain control of the monster within you, and you get to "Beast Out" for 3 turns each battle, and your stats rise considerably. The Beasting Out feels underutilized story-wise, but in battle, can be used in a variety of awesome strategies.

The biggest feature BN6 adds is the Cross System, a massively improved version of the Soul Unison from 4 and 5. At any time you can fuse with one of 5 Navis (once again, different for each version of the game), and gain different strategies that seem small at first, but can mean the difference from victory to defeat.

This game also takes out some of the flaws that made other instalments in the franchise annoying. Besides the aftormentioned improved Cross System, the insanely hard Liberation missions from 5 are taken out, and replaced with small story moments that highly resemble them, but are MUCH more fun. The Navi Customizer also feels more fluid, the Graphics spiced up, the Audio restored to its glory days from the 2nd and 3rd game, all the Chips are excellent, the pacing is drastically improved, and the VS mode is at its finest.

Some of the Fatal Flaws have remained from the other games, though. Random Virus Battles, though not as frequent, still happen far too often, and some of the Requests on the Request Board are monotinously annoying. A minimalist run is considerably easier than the other games, but it makes up for this due to the insanely hard Post-Game.

VERDICT
Gameplay: Capcom polished it to near perfection. Some flaws keep it from reaching that goal, though. 9.25
Graphics: The Sprites have been polished up enough, but it stil isn't the greatest-looking GBA game, despite a variety of cool effects. 8.25
Audio: Stellar. It sounds as good as the 8-bit installment's legendary scores.
Overall: If you're new to the series or are an Battle Network expert, this is the one to get. With an insane ammount of content and fun, me and my friend haven't put this one down for weeks.
9.25 out of 10