The story of Mega Man Battle Network takes place in the near-future interconnected world of Net Society, which depends upon computer programs known as Network Navigators (or NetNavi for short) to manage everything from their toasters to city power grids. While the networked age brings all manner of convenience, it has also imported a wave of cybercrime eroding all levels of society. In these games, players take on the role of Lan Hikari using their PErsonal Terminal (or PET) and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE, to confront the culprits behind these cybercrimes. Players control MegaMan.EXE as he explores the net, engages in grid-based combat, and uses Battle Chips to gain devastating abilities capable of deleting even the most sinister viruses.

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection features optional high resolution filters that allow players to enjoy smoother, less pixelated visuals. Players can turn the filters off/on at any time if they would prefer to enjoy the original visuals of the Battle Network games. Network Navigators will also be able to access over 1,000 pieces of concept art, character sketches, and official illustrations in the collection’s Gallery. The “Mystery Data” section will contain exclusive illustrations from past events and images of licensed goods from this era of Mega Man titles.

If you’d like to rock out to some tunes while browsing all of the art, the Music Player includes more than 180 tracks from all 10 titles.

More EXE-iting Features for Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection

There’s a lot to download here, so let’s start with Ranked Matches and the Ranks associated with them. If you caught our last big announcement, you probably noticed that there were different names for match types compared to the original games. Lots of people were curious about Ranked Match in particular, so we called in an expert to explain.

“Hello, everyone! Mr. Famous here! When you play in a Ranked Match, you’ll start out at the lowest rank – Rank E. From there, you can climb the ladder up to D, C, B, and A. Beyond that, you’ll reach S, then S++, then the highest rank of all: Ω (Omega)!

“There are no rank rewards or seasonal rank resets, but in ranked matches, you’ll be preferentially matched with NetBattlers in the same range of ranks. It ensures you’ll always have fierce battles against opponents of similar skill! Your ranking can also go down depending on your performance, so maintaining your rank is proof that you’re a skilled NetBattler. Hone your skills and aim for the very top!”

Next, we’d like to share some updates on the “ABD strategy”, or Auto Battle Data strategy. There were a lot of questions about what other adjustments were made besides the TreeBomb Prism combo.

“This was a particularly dreaded strategy that was used in Mega Man Battle Network 4 and 5. When Dark Soul Unison caused Dark MegaMan to act on his own without input from an Operator (that means you, the player!), MegaMan could use a series of powerful Dark Chips. This has been adjusted slightly. If the Battle Chips that MegaMan would use on his own are too unbalanced in his uncontrollable state, then standard Battle Chips are also used to make it difficult for only Dark Chips to be used in succession.

“As a result, the DarkInvis chip from Battle Network 5, which was previously banned in official tournaments in Japan, is now allowed to be used in battle. To be honest, it’s hard to predict what kinds of battles will unfold now…!”

Thanks for the update, Mr. Famous! You need to be careful with those Dark Chips, you know. They may be powerful, but there can be some lasting consequences. Let’s move on to the next topic – the new chip illustrations that were revealed as part of our previous announcement! Please take it away, Mr. Famous!

“In the original games, most chip illustrations were created from design art and then converted into pixel art. However, due to development schedules, the art for some chips was created directly as pixel art. In the Legacy Collection, the chip illustrations are standard illustrations instead of pixel art. For chips that didn’t have design art or only had rough sketches, Art Director Kaji Hayato created new art based on the rough sketches and pixel art.”

Oh, by the way! Mr. Hayato has worked on a large number of Mega Man games over the years, including all of the Mega Man Battle Network games. He also created the design of X from – you already know this, of course – the Mega Man X games!

“These high-quality illustrations can only be seen on the Chip Trading screen, and there are quite a few of them in total! Keep in mind that the in-game art will still be the classic pixel art.”

Now you have even more reasons to trade a variety of chips with other players. You’ll get to see all that amazing art that Mr. Hayato graciously worked on! But there’s even more to cover, so let’s keep going. Battle Chips aren’t the only way to customize your battle experience, after all. Mr. Famous?

“You may already know this, but… Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection features all 499 Patch Cards that were released from Mega Man Battle Network 4 through 6! Similar to Download Chips, there are many people who didn’t have the chance to use Patch Cards when these games were first released. Even for those who were able to, few were able to collect every card. This is something I wanted to have added to Legacy Collection from the very beginning.”

As a sidenote for those not in the know, Patch Cards were unique physical cards that were only released in Japan. They used a special device that would scan the card into the game, modifying it in various ways.

“Using the cards themselves is simple. From the ‘MegaMan’ menu option of each game, a single button press will take you to the Patch Card screen. Select the Patch Card you want from the list to load it into the game!

“Of course, the popular ‘Bass Cross MegaMan’ card that was the talk of the town in Battle Network 5 and 6 is also included! Now, while we’d like to refrain from banning cards as much as possible, we’ve decided the ‘All Guard 1/2’ and ‘All Guard 2/2’ patch cards from Battle Network 4, which cause MegaMan’s guard to always be active when used together, won’t be available to use in online battles. You can still use them in single-player mode, though! Other than that, there are no restrictions, so please use the complete set of Patch Cards as much as you’d like to modify MegaMan to your heart’s desire!”

Now, for those of you whose pulse is in beat with the Battle Network community, we’ve got a few extra-special items to share with you. First up – the Z Saber!

“This was a hot topic recently as fans discovered the famous and elusive Z Saber was available to obtain via a lotto number. This information wasn’t announced way back when, but we figured there must be a lot of people who wanted to try out the Z Saber, so we made it available via both a lotto number and as a Special Card in Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection! As for the appearance of Bass Cross MegaMan in Battle Network 6, it will remain just as it was back in the original game. I wish I could have matched it with Battle Network 5, but we also left it as it was back then too!”

We’re also shining a light on something that will undoubtedly excite long-time Battle Network fans. Would you like to illuminate us, Mr. Famous?

“With permission from Konami, the Boktai collaboration contents have been included in this collection! Unfortunately, crossover battles with the Boktai series won’t be possible. The games in Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection are based on the original Japanese games on Game Boy Advance that required a physical connection to the Boktai series games to access collaboration contents. That said, the Boktai collaboration Battle Chips, newly translated stories, and Patch Cards will be available! These collaborations are available in Mega Man Battle Network 4, 5, and 6.”

Long-time fans are already aware, but to get others up to speed, this content was not available in Western releases of Mega Man Battle Network games. This marks the first time that some of this content will be made available in territories outside Japan!

“As for the specific chip traders in Battle Network 5 and 6, in the original games, some of the traders weren’t available without doing crossover battles first. In Legacy Collection, you’ll be able to find them somewhere on the Internet as you progress through the story. We’ve also made it so that the “crossover points” needed to get chips from these traders are won via Ranked Matches, so be sure to give ranked NetBattling a try!

“In the future, there may be some people who wonder what ‘Crossover Points’ are, so hopefully you can tell your fellow NetBattlers this is the background behind it!”

Finally, we have one more feature to discuss: Buster MAX Mode!

“To put it simply, this function multiplies the attack power of a single normal MegaBuster shot by 100! You can toggle this on and off at any time before selecting a game or during gameplay. It’s completely optional, so you can turn it on to quickly progress through the story, turn it off when you want to enjoy a particular battle, and so on.

“To be clear, it will multiply the damage done by one hundred. That means if a single normal MegaBuster shot does 1 damage, the damage will be 100; if a normal shot does 5 damage, Buster MAX Mode will make it 500. It lets you progress very quickly!

“There are a few things to note, though. The 100x multiplier will not be applied to charge shots or MegaBuster shots that have been modified via a modification card. Buster MAX Mode is automatically turned off during online battles. In addition, the delete time records of bosses from Battle Network 3 onward are not updated when Buster MAX Mode is on.

“I hope you’ll use it when you want to make quick progress in the story and turn it off when you want to focus on intense battles. It’s entirely up to you! I want series newcomers to take their time playing the Battle Network games for the first time. For returning players, it might have been a while since their last play-through. I think it can be difficult for fans to find the time to play nowadays (especially compared to when they were younger), so please don’t hesitate to use this feature! That’s how I feel, and that’s why we’ve enabled all the Download Chips and Patch Cards from the beginning!

“In single-player, it’s okay to use this feature to help you win battles. You can compromise by turning Buster MAX Mode on and off depending on the fight! A different type of challenge awaits you in online battles, where Buster MAX Mode is automatically disabled. You can clear the games on your own and use Buster MAX Mode to collect Battle Chips to use in online NetBattles!”

I’ll leave the last words to Mr. Famous for this one, but for everyone who’s ready to relive some memories or explore the world of Net Society for the very first time, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection launches in just a few weeks, bringing all ten mainline games to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Steam on April 14th, 2023. Once more, Mr. Famous, the floor is yours!

“I hope you’ll enjoy the game in your own way using Download Chips, Patch Cards, and Buster MAX Mode at any time you like!

“It’s our sincere hope that you’ll feel the same way you did when you played these games for the first time, thinking about what it would have been like if you had a specific Battle Chip or Patch Card… I hope you’ll play the game with your memories and imagination in your heart! Please wait just a little longer for release!

“I’ve been Mr. Famous!!”

Available as a single collection or as part of two separate digital volumes, the full list of titles in the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection includes:

• Mega Man Battle Network
• Mega Man Battle Network 2
• Mega Man Battle Network 3 White
• Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue
• Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun
• Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon
• Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Protoman
• Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Colonel
• Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar
• Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC (Steam) on April 14, 2023.