With Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection on the horizon, we’re going to dive back into the archives for another developer interview, from around the time the games were originally published.
Today’s interview comes from Rockman EXE6 Ultimate Navigation COMP. This Japanese strategy guide for MMBN6 was published by Shogakukan on May 20th, 2006, six months after the release of the game in Japan. In addition to an interview, the book also features a survey among many members of the series’ staff.
Translated by Midori, edited by Prof. 9. This English translation uses official English localized Mega Man Battle Network terminology where possible. This interview was originally printed in black, red and white; some images have been replaced by higher quality sources.
With Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection on the horizon, we’re going to dive back into the archives for another developer interview, from around the time the games were originally published.
Today’s interview comes from Rockman EXE5 Ultimate Navigation CHAOS. This Japanese strategy guide for MMBN5 was published by Shogakukan on July 20th, 2005–7 months after the release of EXE5 Team of Blues, 5 months after the release of EXE5 Team of Colonel, and just one day before the release of EXE5DS Twin Leaders.
Translated by Midori, edited by Prof. 9. This English translation uses official English localized Mega Man Battle Network terminology where possible. This interview was originally printed in black, red and white; some images have been replaced by higher quality sources.
Rockman EXE Advanced Collection Original Soundtrack cover
With just a few months away from the release of the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, Capcom has announced the newly-arranged tracks will have a physical CD release in Japan under the title, Rockman EXE Advanced Collection Original Soundtrack. The cover art is done by EXE veteran artist, Keisuke Mizuno.
According to e-Capcom, the OST will have 1 CD containing 22 tracks. It is set for 2750 Yen witha April 19, 2023 release date. Amazon Japan will also have an exclusive edition containing a “Mega Jacket”, a mini-poster version of the album cover, at twice the size.
With Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection on the horizon, what better time to dig back through the archives and take a look at some developer interviews from the time? Today, we’ve got an interview originally published in Rockman EXE3 Ultimate Navigation SP. This strategy guide for the third game was published by Shogakukan on July 10th, 2003–three and a half months after the release of Rockman EXE3 Black.
Translated by Midori, edited by Prof. 9. This English translation uses official English localized Mega Man Battle Network terminology where possible. This interview was originally printed in black, red and white; some images have been replaced by higher quality sources.
Capcom has just dropped the 2nd Trailer for Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, announcing the release date for the collection: April 14, 2023!
Additionally, the new trailer, as well as a new Mr. Famous News segment and Capcom News post showcased all of the online functionality, event Chips being obtainable in the collection and more.
As previously announced, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection will feature online connectivity. Note that cross-play is not supported, so both players need to own the game on the same system. In addition to online, the Nintendo Switch version will also support local communication. You’ll be able to access all these features by opening the Network/Comm menu in the game.
Online Battles
You’ll be able to hold a Private Match against a friend using a room code, or be paired up against a random opponent in a Public Match.
For Public Matches, there’s the option to have a casual battle or a ranked match. You’ll be able to rank up and down based on your win record.
Battle rules are also available. Just like in the GBA games, you’ll be able to have a Practice match or a Real Battle, in which the loser forfeits one of their Chips. You can also choose between Single Battle or Triple Battle (the latter is only available for BN3-6).
Mr. Eguchi goes on to explain that some tweaks have been made to make online play a smooth experience. In the Custom Screen, a timer has been added; if you take too long selecting Chips, the Custom Screen will close automatically.
Some Chips may behave differently in single-player and online play as well. According to the Capcom News post, the infamous TreeBomb Prism combo from MMBN2 has been kept to work in single-player, but not in versus battles!
Trading
Chip Trade will be supported in all Battle Network games, and will let you trade BattleChips with other players. In this mode, the BattleChips are all depicted with high-resolution artwork!
Additionally, Style Trade will be available in BN2 only, letting you trade your Styles with another player. For BN3-6, there’s a Program Trade option to trade Navi Customizer Programs with other players.
For BN4 only, the Waiting Room returns. You can exchange Navis with other players to be able to fight them in your game. This even lets you experience those Navis’ story chapters in the other version.
Finally, in BN6 you’ll have the option to Folder Trade. This lets you obtain the other player’s folder as an Extra Folder in your game.
Just like battles, you can trade with friends privately, or do a public trade to be paired up with a random trade partner.
Comparing
For BN3-6, you’ll be able to Compare Libraries with another player. Doing so fills in Chips in your Data Library that the other player has obtained, and lets you order them from the in-game Chip Order system.
In BN4-6, you’ll also have the option to Compare Records. This lets you share level boss deletion times with your friends.
Download Chips
A much-requested feature for the Legacy Collection has now been confirmed! Download Chips will let you obtain the Chips which were previously only available at events. To obtain Download Chips, simply press a button in the Mega Man screen and choose the Chip you want.
The following Download Chips are available:
MMBN1: Bass
MMBN2: Gate SP, Aqua Gospel, Elec Gospel, Wood Gospel, Fire Gospel
MMBN3: Punk, Bass GS
MMBN4: Prix Power, Duo
MMBN5: Leader Raid, Chaos Lord
MMBN6: Double Beast, Gregar, Falzar
Hang on – BN6 includes Double Beast, Gregar and Falzar even in English? Yes, from the Capcom News post, we now have confirmation that the Legacy Collection games will be based on the original Japanese versions of the games, and all languages will have the same content!
Based on the Japanese games!
Here’s something that will interest some players. Capcom has now officially confirmed in their news post that the Legacy Collection games will all be based on the original Japanese versions, and will have all the same contents as the Japanese versions for all languages!
Capcom has not given a lot of details on this, but this means we can likely expect to see things like the removed Jack In animations in BN2 and BN3 restored, as well as the removed Cyberworld areas in BN5 and BN6.
Pre-order bonus
Pre-orders for the full Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection will be available starting today, and Capcom has announced a nifty pre-order bonus: the Custom PET Pack.
The Custom PET Pack includes two special skins for the game’s launcher. In the Vol. 1 launcher, you’ll be able to use a Hub Style skin, whereas the Vol. 2 launcher will have a Dark MegaMan skin.
Furthermore, the Custom PET Pack adds 4 rearranged music tracks to the collection’s Music Player:
Vol. 1
Hometown (Pop Rock Version)
Shooting Enemy (Dance Version)
Vol. 2
Central Town (Kawaii Future Bass Version)
Liberation Mission (Piano Version)
For more details on where to pre-order, check out the pre-order page on the collection’s website. We’ve also got some samplers of the arranged tracks, give them a listen below!
Capcom has just updated the Steam pages for Mega Man Battle Network Legacy CollectionVol. 1 and Vol. 2. The change adds a small, but significant note: the Legacy Collection will incorporate Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM when it launches on Steam in 2023.
Previous Mega Man Legacy Collections only had standard Steam DRM, so this makes it the first Mega Man collection on the platform to incorporate Denuvo, and the second Mega Man game after Mega Man 11. Perhaps Capcom has high expectations for this one?
Incorporates 3rd-party DRM: Denuvo Anti-tamper 5 different PC within a day machine activation limit
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Steam pages
As part of Denuvo, the Battle Network Legacy Collection limits you to installing the game on a maximum of 5 different PCs per 24 hour period. However, this count resets daily, so it shouldn’t affect most players.
In the past, inclusion of Denuvo (or any DRM, for that matter) has often been controversial due to claims it negatively affects performance. Though, seeing as these are just ports of GBA games, it doesn’t seem very likely that Denuvo will have a big impact in this case. But this is something we won’t know for sure until the game launches.
Typically, third-party DRM like Denuvo is used to protect a game against piracy during the ever-crucial initial sales period, as this is usually when piracy has the biggest impact on sales. It’s common for publishers to remove Denuvo DRM from a game after initial sales die down. Capcom itself has also done so in the past, issuing updates that remove Denuvo for various Monster Hunter and Resident Evil games. Usually this is about 6-12 months after release.
Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that MMBNLC was the first Mega Man game on Steam with Denuvo. However, Mega Man 11 also had Denuvo DRM at launch (which was later removed).
Another MegaMan.EXE enters Mega Man X DiVE, and this time it’s a completely brand new form: DiVE Cross MegaMan.EXE! The theme of this form follows the DiVE Armors that were previously given to Mega Man X characters in the game.
This spiffy new look gives him some brand new moves. Starting with his Charge Shot (Dive Buster in Japanese), a straight forward energy blast that can switch modes to shoots 3 Feather-type Energy Rounds that will lock on to enemies and ignore terrain. The feathers seem to be inspired by Cybeast Falzar and even has its iconic battle cry.
DiVE Cross also has Double Life Sword (Cross Dual Sword in Japanese), which can blast 2 rounds of Energy Blades that ignore terrain and damages all enemies.
DiVE Cross MegaMan is another S rank character that will be available for a limited time. You’ll be able to draw for him in the Taiwanese and Japanese mobile version as well as the Steam release. Players on the international Android/iOS version operated by NebulaJoy will probably have to wait a while longer, though.
In anticipation of the Legacy Collection coming next year, and following up from the first Rockman EXE event in 2021... The Medarot S mobile game has a new Rockman EXE collaboration on October 13th!
This time, in addition to the previous EXE-based Medarots from the last event (Rockman, Roll, Forte), new limited Medarots will be added based on Blues, Colonel, Serenade, and GutsMan. They are named Swordblues, Leadercolonel, Uranade, and Gutspower, respectively.
By exchanging items from the event, Rockman EXE costumes, music, and a special background can be obtained.
Alongside the Medarots, costumes for the human Medarotters can be obtained. The characters seen from the Medarot anime will wear outfits based on various NetNavi operators from the series. Ikki (Netto Hikari costume), Arika (Meiru Sakurai costume), Koji (Enzan Ijuin costume), Karin (Yaito Ayanokoji costume), Kikuhime (Tamako Shiraizumi costume), Iwanoi (Yamitaro Higure costume) and Kagamiyama (Dekao Aoyama costume).
There will also be limited custom skins available for the Medarots. For Rocktrans: Saito Style, Colonel Soul, Blues Soul, Forte Cross Rockman Silver version, and Forte Cross Rockman Gold version. And for Fortate: ForteXX version.
The previously teased Kit-Makes-Pose (Kimepose) line has at last been revealed! At New York Comic Con 2022, Bandai has shown off the kits for this new line and it’s of the Mega Man Battle Network series. The characters on display are: MegaMan, Mettaur, GutsMan, Roll, FireMan, and Canodumb. A number of accessories are also shown off, including the Roll Arrow and Guts Hammer. Not much else is known as it is a newly emerging toy-line.
Today at the All Japan Model and Hobby Show, Kotobukiya announced a number of new upcoming model kits, including one addition from the MMBN series! Following MegaMan and Dark MegaMan, now Roll will be getting her own posable model kit.
In their announcement, the company showed off an initial prototype of the kit. Check out the Kotobukiya website for more pictures.
