Topic: Mega Man Battle Network

I didn't see a topic about this game, and I have been wondering about it. What is the gameplay like? I have never played a Mega Man game outside of the main numbered series before. Is it a full-blown RPG, or something else? I watched the video on the eShop and it looks like the enemies are on a 3x3 grid like in Radiant Historia, but with real-time battles. Is this accurate?

Pretty much, yes Battles take place on 2 3x3 areas mainly. In general, no entity can leave this area except a few enemies.
Throughout the game you collect attack chips, one time enemy attacks so to speak (replenished after each battle, so you wont lose any) which are drawn randomly at the start of each battle.
You will always have 5 chips at hand, so if you use 2, you will get 2 new chips the next time you "draw" new ones.
Drawing is determined by a bar at the top of the screen, sorta like an ATB bar from final fantasy.
Once its filled up, you can leave it like that or draw a new set of chips by pressing L or R.
When you pick your chips our of these 5, you have to roll with them until this bar is filled up again.
But there is a catch to how many chips you can take "into battle" at once: Chips have a certain code ( a letter) and you can only pick chips with the same letter OR chips of the same type. For example, you could pick 3 Cannons with different codes (A, C, E for instance) or three different chips all labeled with the same code (Spreader A, Cannon A, Met Guard A)
So the entire strategy of this game lies withing building a deck that gets you the highest chance of drawing chips you can use simultaniously and / or work well together.
And all happens in real time, so it doesnt solely rely on tactics but also huge amounts of reaction time.

Interesting. So is the strategy of the game basically creating a good hand of chips for the enemy you are facing, or are there other factors like where you and the enemies are on the grid? Also, your description makes it sound like everything is simply reliant on each individual battle and which chips you happen to draw there. Is there any overarching leveling-up system for you character and/or your attacks, or is it all on a battle-by-battle basis?

the position of you and the enemies are really important as every chip has its own attacking area some go straight ahead, some hit a few pannels in front or around you, etc.
the battles can get you new chips and money but nothing else(maybe bug frags but I don't know which game in the series those started appearing, only owned 4,5 and 6, though I played 3 a little)
but you can get upgrades for Megaman, like faster Megabuster, more HP or some skills
and if you get bad chips you can always select the most of them possible and keep stalling for the turn end so you can draw more chips.

Just started and I don't think I'll like it.

Excuse the necro thread but I'm wanting to sample this series and was wondering where is a good place to start?

As a total newbie would anyone recommend the first tile or jumping to a better sequel? And what about those titles with different colours? Does it make that much of a difference or do they simply offer alternative characters/chips?

And is there anyone who really disliked these games? If so then why?

Don't bother with Battle Chip Challenge which is what I was referring to earlier. But the main Battle Network games are fine. They do play similar to each other though with no real changes to the gameplay.

This is probably the first game that I stopped playing because of random battles.

I mean, there is no excuse in the early 2000s for them to be this obnoxious. And finding places is so annoying too so I get lost and it's just the worst. The actual game is fun but that really made it difficult for me to try to continue any further after a while.

Cheers both...do these random battles get any better throughout the series?

@Jimtaro Unfortunately, no. Random battles are abundant, the encounter rate is just annoying, and even escaping from battle takes some time, so it gets tiring really fast. And to add insult to injury, there are also no reliable ways to reduce the encounter rate.
That said, it is actually recommended to fight most battles to optimize your combat style and BusterRank, which can net you a large sum of zenny in no time, plus you get Battlechips that can be either used or traded in for others.
It all depends on your patience and willingness to put up with the high encounter rate. If you can tolerate that, you'll have a really fun and challenging game ahead of you. Otherwise, it's just a chore.

@Kaze_Memaryu:
Thank you for taking the time to explain the encounter rate. I'm in two minds, as much as I want to dip into this series I'm also enjoying the originals, and I wonder if the change in pace from action to RPG would cause annoyance. I think what I'll do is to complete MM1-3, give the first Battle Network game a shot, then I'll always have MM4-6 to fall back on if it doesn't suit my tastes.

Thank you again to everyone whose given some advice, it's really helpful.

I would recommend starting with Battle Network 3. That's when yhe series really starts to hit its stride.

@Kaze_Memaryu: I think BN3 or 4 starts giving the SneakRun subchip, allowing you to avoid encounters. That game also starts using Soul Unison and Dark Chips as well. BN3 has the Navi Cust to change Mega Man's abilities and so on so forth.

One thing I can say though: Battle Network 1 has the worst internet design. As of BN2 and on, each area of the net has it's own design, so ACDC looks different from Yumland, which looks different to Netopia and YokoArea etc. etc. Plus the areas are only a room sections big, so you have ACDC1-4, Yoko1-2 etc.

I will say, having just recorded a Let's Play for this game: Don't 100% it. Ever.

@Cyber-BLP-- Oops, kinda forgot about that, though with the arbitrary SubChip limitation, it's not very reliable, either. But yeah, it's still an option.

Is six different Battle Network games really necessary? Especially since four of them have alternate versions like Pokémon. I'm not complaining aboutthem coming to the VC, just they only really should have made three at most on the GBA.