Virus “busting” happens in real time, but on grid-based boards that make dodging and attacking a dance of precision and attrition. Battle Network is a series of RPGs that recontextualize Mega Man characters as Virtual Pet-like digital assistants called NetNavis, which act as proxies for the human protagonists to explore the internet and fight viruses. If you’re new here, this series is a huge departure from the usual Blue Bomber excursion.

Many of those had Pokemon-style version splits, and similar fanbase-milking stunts like event collectibles and weird spinoffs. In that respect, Battle Network was enough of a home run to, in typical Capcom fashion, get run into the ground via six core entries.

It was also the first post-Pokemon platform, which meant every major publisher scrambled to find its own stuff-collecting, anime-friendly gimmick. The Game Boy Advance ushered in a new era of portable gaming, with just enough power to support colorful visuals and complex gameplay without compromising battery life. Mega Man Battle Network is a painful, but perfect time capsule to the early 2000s. Battle Network is a bullseye for millennials, many of whom like myself are the perfect age to clearly remember when this series was brand new. It also helps that most of Mega Man’s history is “retro” now, up to and including the Battle Network series, which is today’s subject. A big part of that has been the Legacy Collection brand, which combines the tried and true retro compilation format with lots of high quality bonus features. Capcom spent an absurd amount of time figuring out what to do with Mega Man, but in recent years things have been working out well.

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