Mega Man Battle Network 3: White and Blue
Is Mega Man Battle Network 3 just another clone of the others, or is there more to it this time around?
In the ?real world,? you are an elementary school boy named Len. But when Len jacks into cyberspace, you become Mega Man, Len?s Navi (basically a Net Avatar). As Len, you eat dinner, go to bed, and hurry to school to turn in your homework. As Mega Man, you fight viruses and other Navis in card-based battles that test your reflexes as well as your tactics. But Len and Mega Man both end up engaged in hours of pointless errand-running that make your mind as numb as your thumbs. During Len?s trip to the zoo, for example, you must look at every single poorly rendered animal before you can progress, noting such mundane details as ?The koala bear?s cage is empty? and ?The elephant has poop on its tail.? There is no compelling reason why you must go through this ordeal. Most of the gameplay consists of similarly aimless filler material that tries in vain to hide the fact that Mega Man?s card battles are really the only thing MMBN3 has to offer. But even the card battles?played out on a tiny 3x6 grid?quickly become tiresome, despite the new cards and fighting styles introduced in the game?s third edition.
Those who?ve played previous installments of this title will immediately notice that the plain isometric graphics and dull audio are unchanged, though the menus got a facelift. Eventually, you can make customizations to your Mega Man.exe, giving him attack bonuses, extra Hit Points, and new Abilities. These customizations require you to arrange power-up programs on a grid according to a set of compatibility rules. If you ?program? Mega Man incorrectly, an error message will prevent him from executing. When combined with the slow-moving plot, it?s an awful lot of effort for a few new cards and features. If you?re not a Mega Maniac, there?s no point in bothering with this game.
