Easily the best game in the series.
The story once again stars Lan Hikari and Megaman in a new adventure. Lan does his usual share of chores and exploring, but the main attraction is the N-1 Grand Prix! The N-1 Grand Prix is a tournament held for netbattlers all over the world! Everyone has to qualify however, which means only a choice few will be able to compete. Lan and megaman are up to the challenge, and decide to enter. More is happening than they realize, because Wily has returned, and his goal this time is to awaken Alpha, an ultimate program that could destroy the entire net!
The gameplay is the best it's ever been for the series. You still roam around the real world with Lan to explore and find power-ups and progress the story. Megaman jacks in to explore the huge phenomena that is the internet(in the future). Megaman's goal is to roam the cyberworld to find program data(money, battlechips, etc.), battle viruses, and win the N-1 Grand Prix!
The virus busting is still lots of fun, and the wide battlechip selection makes for easier and more effective battling. You and your enemies start on a 3 x 3 square that you can move around on freely to attack and dodge. You have two means of attacking: your buster, capable of rapid fire and charge attacks, and battlechips. Battlechips are different kinds of weapons, such as cannons, swords, bombs, etc., that you use to delete your enemies. When you combine 3 special chips, you can achieve a program advance, which is an ultra-powerful attack that can be used during battle. The P.A.s in this game are very useful and can really give you an edge. One other thing to mention is the style change. After you battle for a certain amount of time, you will obtain a style change that gives you an element attribute and a special charge shot with it. You can decide whether to keep the one you get, or give it up and get a different one later. You can equip it manually from the main menu, so it's up to you when you decide to use it.
The graphics are very good and the environments are impressive and detailed. The music is catchy and fits all the different areas very nicely. The boss fights are challenging, but not impossible, except for the bass and alpha back to back fight, which is the hardest in the game, but again, not impossible.
Overall, if you're starting the megaman battle network series, this is a great game to start with. It has lots of things going for it and is a wonderful addition to the series. I recommend this game to everyone. Enjoy!