As someone who got into the Mega Man games only through the Capcom legacy collections, I’ve been excited to try out more of the series with every new release. I ended up liking Mega Man 11 a lot, but Mega Man Zero / ZX Legacy Collection was my favorite release in the series on modern platforms. With Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection now available, I have a new favorite. I’ve enjoyed most aspects of this release in my time with it across console and PC over the last two weeks. With this collection being the first time I’ve played any Mega Man Battle Network game, I was very impressed with how well most titles held up, and how amazing it felt on Switch. This Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Switch review will focus on the Switch version. I also have a dedicated PC and Steam Deck review for the collection.
This series of Mega Man games includes grid-based RPGs that were originally released on the Game Boy Advance. The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection includes all six main games and variants. These are Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Battle Network 2, Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue, Mega Man Battle Network 3 White, 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, and Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar. The games include online play, a gallery, music player, all patch cards, a new Buster Max mode that aims to be easy mode, and any Japanese-exclusive content in the original releases.
As a spin-off series, Mega Man Battle Network is set in 20XX and it focuses on how important the internet has become in life with it being a part of everyday objects. With the internet in everything, people have internet navigators(NetNavi) to help, and they are installed on PETs which are basically smartphones. Mega Man Battle Network focuses on student Lan Hikari and his NetNAvi MegaMan.EXE with a blend of tactical battles, cards, and more. I definitely regret not buying these games when I got a Game Boy Advance a few years ago because the gameplay is sublime.
While most people were excited for One Step From Eden from Humble Games because of how it aimed to bring in the best of Slay the Spire and Mega Man Battle Network, it actually got me more hyped to finally play the Mega Man Battle Network games. Having now put in a good amount of time into each entry, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is one of my favorite collections in recent years with its quality games, visual options, and loads of extras included that complement the great gameplay.
In terms of gameplay features, the collection includes the ability to use borders, adjust the display size, toggle an ugly filter to make everything look bad (I kept this off as you’d expect), adjust music or sound volume, toggle control presets, and adjust the language in-game. For quality of life or accessibility options, you can enable or disable Buster Max Mode which multiples the attack of your normal shot by 100. There are no save states, but you can save fairly often from the menu in each of the games included.
In terms of extras, the collection includes an art gallery for official artwork, a mystery data gallery for art from events and merchandise, a music player featuring the soundtracks and any pre-order content, trophies (nice to have on Switch), and more. I’m pleased with the extra content included in both collections, but wish there was an option to use a single launcher for the games rather than having them split up into two packages.
As of this writing, there is sadly no font option included in Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. The high resolution font, while not terrible, is quite jarring compared to the pixel art of the rest of the game. I hope a pixel-style font can be added in a post launch update. This isn’t as bad as the default Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster font on PC and mobile though.
One other annoyance is in the main menu that has Mega Man act like your actual NetNavi with the interface trying to be like a PET. This is fine initially, but the narration gets old quick. There is a silent option to turn off narration, but it resets on launching the game again for some reason. I hope this can be fixed alongside an option to not display any border or have black borders in-game.
While I couldn’t test much of the online mode pre-release, I managed to get about an hour of playtime with a friend in another country on Switch. Even when wired, it didn’t work too well. I hope it holds up better when the full game releases and more people are playing online. Consider this review based on the offline aspects of Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection as of now.
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection on Switch vs PS5 and PS4
I’ll be updating this once I’ve tested the online more on each version, but I have no problems recommending the Switch version of Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. The issues I have with the collection apply to all versions of the game, and you have a great portable option here. If you don’t care about portability, the PS4 version has support for trophies and faster loading in general. It also runs at a higher resolution when compared on my 1440p monitor. This is noticeable right from the start in the main menu on the 3D mdoel.
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (the bundle) is an easy recommendation even for even newcomers to Mega Man. I love the gameplay, and Capcom did a lot more than I expected coming into this package with tons of extras, added content, and an accessibility option. While it has a few issues holding it back, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is another win for Capcom in 2023, and I can’t wait to hopefully play it online over the coming months.
