Which Mega Man Battle Network Games & Versions are Worth Playing? - A Series Overview for Beginners

Get ready for Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection by joining SR for a discussion on his personal recommended ways for new NetBattlers to experience the Mega Man Battle Network series for the first time! Which are the best games and respective versions to try out? Which are worth skipping, if at all? Let's go over the main games included in the Legacy Collection!

Some helpful resources:

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Chronlogical Story Order?
1:34 - Mega Man Battle Network 1
6:44 - Mega Man Battle Network 4
8:55 - The definitive order
9:08 - Best Storyline
11:31 - Best Gameplay
15:23 - Which version is right for you?
21:00 - Outro
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[burncrowsp]

Quite a helpful video, I can't argue much with most of your points. One thing I'd say myself is, if you only want to restrict yourself to the collection, play BN1 with a guide, and just do one run of BN4. We'll see what the collection has to offer, as those unknown details start coming out. 👀

[leajenkins]

Series veteran here, you pretty much nailed it. A series best to worst most of the fanbase could agree on is 6>3>2>5>4>1, and the competitive scenes of 6 and 3 are going to dwarf the rest. The prospect of more people getting into this series is really exciting, I can almost let myself think an IRL N1 Grand Prix is possible.

[megasoniczxx]

To be honest i'd say they're all worth playing through at least once and in chronological order if nothing else than because it's interesting to go through the series and see all the improvements and changes they made throughout and get to where we are with BN6. I can't speak for everyone but I think it also highlights what some games may do better than others and vice versa.

[DiegoHIA]

I feel like going 1-6 in order is the best experience personally because for me, I noticed it was harder to go back and replay 1-2 because of lack of qol features and mechanics that are added in later games

[zettovii]

It's really a missed opportunity if Capcom doesn't include the Operation Shooting Star version of BN1, since it easily could have been used as a selling point to the probably upcoming Star Force Legacy Collection.

[VesDegree]

I have a massive preference for Bue Moon and Team Protoman because it feels weird having a Battle Network game where you can't fight Protoman. Him and Megaman have been rivals since literally Day 1, so it's only right for me to play the games that feature him.

[vince]

For those who's gonna play the BNLC in chronological order.

I wish you have a lot of patience.

By a lot of patience, I mean A LOT. I mean it.

Also I'm bummed that BN5 Double Team DS didn't made to the collection (which is my opinion is the definitive version if BN5), but otherwise, its still a fun game if you are patient enough.

[shawnbenjamin]

Honestly, it's true. I played Battle Network 1 for the first time on my still-working GBA SP last year and after that experience, it's truly, basically, a stepping stone for the franchise with its flaws to be exposed and snuffed out.

[darkmage]

I played as my first Red Sun. Then a few months later I got cybeast gregar. Followed by team protoman. I will say out of all the bn games gregar is by far my favorite and can’t wait to replay it after all these years! I’m excited for the whole collection though since I never played the first 3. This is going to be a awesome collection. My brother and I both are looking forward to this!

[LyricMMX]

"Which are worth playing?" If I'm buying a collection with all of them.. I'm gonna make the most out of my Payment by playing them all...

[karlwest]

Very much appreciate this video! I only played the first game back in the day and I don't think I ever beat it, so I may use a guide to get through it this time!

[BladeCrossEXE]

My personal play order:
OSS instead of BN1. You were pretty much on point with every remark pertaining to that.
BN2, absolutely.
BN3 Blue. It's just definitively better than White.
BN4 Blue Moon
BN5 Colonel for story, Protoman for gameplay, or DS Version for best experience.
Either BN6, but to me, Gregar was always more fun.
I don't think players should skip BN4 because if they do, they miss out on the most well-designed Navis in the game, as well as the introduction of the best villain, Dr. Regal.
I always found Crosses to be annoying compared to Double Souls precisely BECAUSE of the lack of time limit. Double Souls allow you to alternate on the fly, and combo it with Full Synchro in-between Souls, but once you activate a Cross, you're stuck with it until you take a Super Effective hit (which lowers your Busting Level), or use Beast Out and become Tired, which makes it to where you can't use Full Synchro anymore. I really wish they either had a time limit, or just allowed you to deactivate the cross when you don't want to use it anymore.

[Shadowenclave]

Nice video. Can't wait for the Legacy collection to release. BN2 was the only one that i haven't played yet (White, Red Sun, Team Protoman and Cybeast Gregar are the versions i played), so i look forward to that (and i also got White for Christmas back then and it was my very first BN game).

[megatroidvania]

It's kinda funny, what you described was exactly what happened to me. I tried BN 1 to start off the series, and I didn't like it very much. I thought the rest of the games were like that so I thought it wasn't my cup of tea and never touched another BN game after that. Now that the collection is releasing I thought i'd give it another try knowing now that the series just had a rough start. I'm looking forward to streaming my first time playing them! Thanks for the great video!

[TheStormEmperor]

I’ve played all of them in order twice
And I’ve played 5 and 6 a stupid number of times since 5 was the first I fully played (tried 4 after borrowing it from a friend) and 6 after

[Mito]

I’m playing through BN1 on the collection and I’ve basically resorted to just using the Max Buster for everything that isn’t boss battles. It makes the grind so much less tedious.

[georgecortes]

Started with BN3 and to this day it’s my go to mmbn game. I haven’t tried 1 or 2 yet so it’s crazy that I get to play all of them soon

[HellBoundhorrorshow]

Great video! Super excited for this release! I have played all the games, but I never finished the first one. I played 3 and 2 first and then tried to play the 1st, and i just couldn't get into it. Not escaping from battle was so annoying!

Keep up the great work!

[loveandpeace]

In my opinion, I like going in release order since I get to appreciate all the improvements each title brings as well as seeing the series’s growth

[SilverHunterN]

I like 5 the most, because you get to play as more than just Megaman, and the 2 versions of BN5 has different characters to play as. BN1 to 4 didn't have other playable characters (before BN1 remake). I'm surprised StarForce 1 to 3 didn't have more than 1 playable character.

By the way, "blue version" BN3 has a really broken gigachip called "folderback" which basically gives you unlimited chips for the entire fight. Unless Capcom has downgraded it on steam, folderback is the most broken thing I've seen in megaman games. You basically have unlimited of any attack or healing chip with folderback.