Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

More from Capcom's much celebrated Blue Bomber, this time another one of his RPG type games rather than a platformer, though there seems to be plenty to satisfy both camps on the Virtual Console these days; personally I'm waiting for a Mega Man Puzzle Battle though I don't rate its chances on a re-release for Nintendo platforms just yet, perhaps one day though but certainly not during #VCWeek. Anyway enough from me and on with the game!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Mega Man Battle Network 3


 
Price: GB £6.29, EU €6.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 2003
System: GBA
 
On the whole the Mega Man Battle Network series should be seen as a genius stroke as it offers a fantastic RPG experience set inside a parrallel Mega Man universe which works surprisingly well for its time of release which is partly why many of the games still hold up well today. Taking on the role of school-kid Lan along with his NetNavi who is a computer program going by the name of MegaMan.exe you decide to take part in a Netbattler competion called the N1 Grand Prix along with your friends, of course the plot eventually expands to cover a bit more virtual ground than that but you get the basis which only serve as an elaborate excuse for an adventure.

As you're probably already aware Lan takes the "real" overworld where there are plenty of high-tech places to visit, then upon finding a computer terminal you switch over to the digital world where MegaMan.exe takes over as this is where after wandering around for a few moments you'll encounter viruses which is when you go to battle. These scenarios are set on nine square grid with your enemy taking up the same amount of room on the other side, making this a unique combination of real-time along with turn-based elements, by using battle chips you can help to turn the tide but they are each coded so you will only be able to use certain ones at specific times; it transpires that learning all about how these items work proves to be equally as vital to your success in the game as your other general skills as a gamer.

There is rather a lot to consider which is why the newly introduced Navi Customiser is so useful as with it Lan can install new programs which may have been picked up during the course of the adventure by either character, this means you can obtain plenty of bonuses from these such as increased health or a souped-up Mega Buster for inflicting massive damage on any giant enemies you could come into contact with; being that you have to fit all these abilities onto a grid you'll have to play a puzzle game to work out the best use of space while taking into account all of the various statistics. You'll explore an interesting range of areas including a Beach, your home City plus even a mysterious laboratory all featuring a rather strange bunch of NPC characters; the only other thing to mention is the two version thing which only really affects the original release plus the differences are practically negligible so don't even give it a second thought and just enjoy this digitial version for the decent game that it is... unless you're overly obsessive about this kind of thing in which case, just get both. *sigh*



Visually the game gets even more detail bestowed upon it than the previous game which already had a decent amount so this basically gets a boost all across the board, the battle feel even better thanks to the improved level of animation too plus there are plenty of small details to spot within the overworld which will surely delight fans of the series, the RPG genre and videogames in equal measure. All of the music features upbeat technology inspired tunes which are fun within the confines of the game but beyond that the soundtrack will never reach the heights of the earlier Mega Man titles, at least you get the sound effects though.

Providing you've played the other titles in the series to death then I would advise getting this without a second thought as there is a lot to love here within a game world which will keep you engaged, intruiged and above all, entertained for the duration. Again don't go into this expecting a platformer, all will be fine then so long as you like alternative RPG titles as this really goes to new lengths to draw you into this fantastic world so it can keep you there for as long as possible; or until you get bored which will take a while with this especially for the most dedicated of players.

Verdict : Mega Man Battle Network 3 takes time to master but is well worth investing in.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!