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IGN Review of Mega Man Battle Network 4 - Red Sun
Features
- 20+ Hour Quest
- Cartridge save (one slot)
- Link cable support for two player trades and battles
The Battle Network series has been good about keeping the game open for newcomers to the series, so even if players haven't familiarized themselves with Battle Network 1, 2 or 3, they're not lost since the storyline offers up a quick tutorial for players to learn the mechanics of jacking in and battling viruses. But in Battle Network 4 it looks like the designers were ready to give the heave-ho to the refresher course, since it's far more abridged and quicker paced this time, which means that the game isn't quite as accessible to newbies as the previous sequels were.
Like any big publisher, Capcom's always been a company to recycle new games out of existing game engines. The company made a mint out of offering slight updates to its Street Fighter franchises, repackaging as new titles. Heck, the original Mega Man series on the NES started this trend for Capcom, creating six adventures using pretty much the same technology. I guess the best analogy in this case is a television sitcom or drama: to create new episodes, production companies obviously reuse any sets and props already created for the series to make the future episodes as cost and time effective as possible.
But you know what? I don't have to spend thirty bucks to see the next episode of "CSI" or "Frasier." If you dig the characters, the universe, the situations of the Battle Network series, then sure, it's like picking up the fourth novel in the series. But nothing has really evolved about the storyline; the characters haven't really grown up or changed, and the storyline and situations haven't evolved over the three years the series has been available. The graphics and audio are near identical to the previous games in the series, only receiving a handful of tweaks and changes to keep the development quick and cheap.
Even though most of what's here has been done in the past games in the series, there admittedly have been a few tweaks inserted into the latest in the Mega Man Battle Network series. Battles, for example, have been updated with a few new elements, including a counterattack that can stun enemies if timed while they're attacking. There's also a reward system for specific situations, like when Mega Man wipes out multiple characters out of battle at the same time.
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