Megaman in an RPG? What could be cooler?
The story starts with Lan Hikari, a fifth-grader with the program, megaman, as his net-navi. He lives in a futuristic world where everything is controlled by the net! Life is easier and more convenient, but open to danger. A group called the WWW (World 3) is constantly trying to take over the internet system and rule the world! They didn't count on Lan though. He's a great netbattler, defeating viruses and enemies no problem. It's up to him and megaman to defeat the WWW and bring peace back!
The gameplay is really fun, because it mixes exploring and battling into a great package that keeps you busy and entertained. You spend time roaming the real world as Lan, then jacking into the net to play and fight with megaman. You can interact with lots of things to get discriptions, and sometimes even power-ups from them. These come in the form of HPmemory(health) and Power-ups(used to give megaman various boosts). Some you buy and others you find, so look everywhere!
When you play as megaman, there are many paths in the net that lead to different places. It's up to you to figure out where these go, as they branch out. While you're exploring, you will find various data packets(green and blue) that give you money and battlechips. Battling is the fun part. You and your enemies start on a 3 X 3 battlefield. You can move freely on the nine squares on your side, as can the enemy. Before you start to fight, you have the option of choosing battlechips to use. These battlechips have many uses, such as cannon attacks, bombs, swords, and more. They all have a code, which is a letter used to group chips. Depending on what chips you have in your folder(which can be customized at any time), you can pick multiple chips at once! If you use your battlechips up, you can pick more after the custom gauge(used with the L or R button) is full. You use battlechips with the A button and use the buster with B. The buster can be upgraded to fire faster, have more power, and charge up for a more powerful shot. Use all these tools to defeat your enemies!
The graphics are pretty good for gameboy advance, and everything is pretty intricate, from the real world to the net. This can be slightly problematic, because sometimes you can get lost in the net, but usually it's pretty straightforward on what you have to do. The music is good and can be pretty catchy at times. Boss fights are fairly easy, and some program advances(combinations of three special battlechips) are good, but not all.
Overall, this is a great start to a wonderful series. Though hard to find, it's worth the purchase. I recommend this to everyone. Enjoy!