Mega Man Network Transmission

Taking place one month after the events of the first Mega Man Battle Network game, the plot follows the human protagonist Lan Hikari and his online avatar MegaMan.EXE in their fight against the "WWW (World Three)" organization and its attempt to unleash and spread the infectious "Zero Virus" into cyberspace. The player controls MegaMan through a set of levels that require actions such as jumping, sliding, and shooting, as well as the use of special "Battle Chips" that grant the player various combat and movement abilities. Network Transmission combines action and platforming gameplay elements from older Mega Man games with the strategy and role-playing elements as defined by the Battle Network series. The development team's intent was to meld these attributes into a home console title that would appeal to the young gamer audience that they found with the GBA series. Critical reception for Network Transmission has been mostly average reviews. Although it received some positive remarks for its Battle Chip gameplay, many critics have complained that the game features a high or unbalanced difficulty level. The game's sound and its combination of 2D and 3D cel-shaded graphics have been met with varied opinions.

• Developer — Arika • Publisher — Capcom • Director — Akira Kurabayashi • Producer — Keiji Inafune Ichiro Mihara • Designer — Hiroshi Okuda • Artist — Motokazu Sakai • Composer — Shinji Hosoe Ayako Saso Yousuke Yasui • Series — Mega Man Battle Network • Genre — Action role-playing, platform • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — GameCube

• Illustration — The player selects and uses a LongSwrd Battle Chip from the HUD at the bottom of the screen. The Custom Bar extends across the top. Mega Man Network Transmission incorporates aspects of action and platforming games similar to other Mega Man series, while retaining the strategy and role-playing elements of the Battle Network series. The player takes control of the protagonist Lan within the game's real world and his NetNavi MegaMan.EXE within its internet. Unlike previous games in this series, Lan is restricted from moving location to location. Instead, the player uses a map screen with points of interest to travel to different levels. Levels are opened up as the player progresses through the game, with a slight emphasis on linear progression, although MegaMan can move off-path at times. Levels typically end in a boss battle with another NetNavi. Combat takes place in real-time, with MegaMan given the ability to jump, slide, fire his default arm cannon, and dodge enemy attacks on a two-dimensional plane. Special abilities called "Battle Chips" are provided through a "Custom Bar" that slowly fills at the top of the screen. When the bar is full, the player can select up to five Battle Chips, which are provided from a folder of player-selected chips. Ten random chips are available when the bar is full; a total of twenty can be used for each level excursion. Battle Chips are used for dealing large amounts of damage to enemies, protecting and restoring the player's health, summoning other Navi's to MegaMan's aid, and for some platforming abilities. Certain chips can even be combined to be more effective. Although Battle Chips are limited in quantity, they can be picked up from deleted enemies or can be purchased at shops when not exploring the internet. As in previous Battle Network games, items that upgrade MegaMan's maximum health, firing power, and other attributes can also be accessed.

The storyline of Mega Man Network Transmission takes place during the first decade of the 21st century ("200X"), one month after the original Mega Man Battle Network. Following the defeat of the "Life Virus", the ultimate weapon of Dr. Wily and the "WWW (World Three)" criminal organization, Lan Hikari and his network navigator (NetNavi) MegaMan.EXE return to a life of ease. However, no sooner does Lan begin to relax when he hears of a mysterious and destructive computer virus called the "Zero Virus" that infects Navis and causes mayhem via his personal information terminal (PET) e-mail. Lan has other qualms to deal with however, receiving an e-mail detailing fellow NetNavi Roll.EXE being trapped in the internet. MegaMan goes to save her, finding an infected FireMan.EXE as the cause of trouble. Defeating him, the duo talk to FireMan's operator and former member of the WWW, Mr. Match, and learn of the vaccine being distributed to amend the Zero Virus is actually doing just the opposite, having caused FireMan to go berserk. Confirming this with Lan's father, Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, the two set out to search for the cure of the problem, finding many situations of pragmatic Navis infected and causing mayhem. Stopping all of them and returning them to their respective operators, the two eventually discover more clues leading to the remnants of the WWW. It is revealed that a powerful Navi called StarMan.EXE has been distributing the virus. After defeating StarMan, Lan and MegaMan engage in a climactic battle against the powerful super virus Zero himself. However, at the conclusion of the battle, just as the finishing blow is about to be delivered to Zero, the heroes discover he is not evil. Yuichiro then transforms him into a full-fledged Navi. However, their happiness is short-lived as a former member of the WWW simply called "Professor" reveals this was all part of his scheme to revive the dreaded Life Virus. Analyzing clues, Lan and MegaMan engage and defeat the newly upgraded Life Virus R and use Zero's observation powers to eventually bring the Professor to justice. There is dialogue at the end of the game between ShadowMan.EXE and his operator Mr. Dark, leading the plot into the next chronological installment, Mega Man Battle Network 2.

Mega Man Network Transmission was developed by Arika, who had previously worked on the Street Fighter EX series, a 3D polygon rendition of publisher Capcom's traditionally 2D fighting series. Producer Keiji Inafune revealed in an interview with Dengeki that after a string of PlayStation releases, the team chose to focus their development efforts of the Mega Man franchise for Nintendo consoles with the Battle Network series. They felt that children who played the GBA handheld were beginning to show interest in the GameCube, and that the character was more suitable to a console related to the Nintendo Family Computer, where the franchise originated. Inafune stated that the developer wanted to "preserve the core of Rockman" by transcending the traditional action elements (i.e. running and jumping) for the current gaming hardware from the perspective of the role-playing series. Network Transmission uses a cel-shaded animation style to match the MegaMan NT Warrior anime series that was airing in Japan during the game's development. Inafune explained that the team opted for an anime style with "eye-catching effects" in place of a more realistic look because he felt it the former would be more enjoyable. Yuji Ishihara, the primary character artist for the Battle Network series, used many of his previous character designs for Network Transmission. One new contribution was updating his illustration for the revived Life Virus by giving it two fists per arm, among other details. "I thought it would be both an effective look," Ishihara elaborated, "as well as make for a reasonably mobile character for a polygon-based action game." The musical score for Network Transmission was co-composed by Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, and Yousuke Yasui. Hosoe's company Super Sweep Records has recently been given the rights to produce the soundtrack, and it was released as a part of Megaman's 25th Anniversary on November 2, 2012. Network Transmission was announced and on display for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2002. The game was showcased at the Mega Man series 15th anniversary celebration event at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture that December. A playable version made appearances in January 2003 at the World Hobby Fair in Osaka and at the Capcom Gamer's Day event in Las Vegas. Finally, the game was on display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles during the summer between its Japanese and North American releases. Mega Man Network Transmission is the only Arika game released for the GameCube as the company did not develop further games for that console.