When I sat down to play Mega Man Battle Network, I was refreshed by an innovative, purely fun Action-RPG. When I did the same for its sequel, Battle Network 2, I was a little miffed by a lack of innovation. The battle system was still the great, interesting system that had been so innovative in the first, but it hadn't changed enough for the second. And when I heard a third was on the way, I've got to say I was highly doubtful of another fresh, new title like the first was, and feared that Battle Network would so quickly fall into the repetitive quagmire such other series as Mega Man and Mega Man X had. But I was quickly relieved to find out one major thing had changed; Mega Man Battle Network 3 would not be one game, but two.

Of course, this only made me think that Capcom was simply trying, if a little late, to cash in on the success of the famous multi-color franchise Pokémon, like others had. But its really not like that. For starters, Blue Version and White Version are not counterparts. White Version is the translated version of Rockman EXE 3, which came out Japan some time ago. Blue Version, however, will be the American version of Rockman EXE 3 Black, which actually came out after Rockman EXE 3. Black/Blue is a special edition kind of game, with specialized chips and enemies and other extras that fans will go for. There are, supposedly, however, enough differences between the two that it will be appealing to buy both. Meh.

Still, my worries for this franchise continue. The screenshots look like a lot of the same, save for the interesting Navi Customizer. It is know that we will be able to customize our Navi's, but exactly what that means is still questionable. This one looks like it will be a fairly solid title, however. If you weren't bugged by MMBN2's lack of innovation, chances are best you'll buy one, if not both, of these games. However, a clear stagnation in terms of gameplay and graphics is evident from what I have seen and played from the Japanese version. Look for this one, if you want to, in late June.

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