Seeing as this is the 25th anniversary of the Mega Man franchise, expect to see at least 3 Mega Man titles released this year by Capcom. Of those titles, some are bound to be good, while others are bound to be duds. Mega Man: Network Transmission is the first game out of the gate, but it is also the first to stumble.

Visually, Network Transmission is rather impressive, but in the subtlest of ways. This is a game that screenshots do no justice for. The animations are smooth and transition rather well. In fact, the only real negative I saw was the 'linebacker' position Mega Man adopts when running and resting. But, this is only a personal thing and shouldn't count against the game. The various animations for the different enemies and Net Navis you run across are also nice to see. At face value, the cel-shaded graphics do come off as a tad hokey, if not bad. I've even heard some people refer to the look as SNES era graphics. This is clearly not the case. While not the most impressive graphics I've seen, the package is still solid, especially when lighting effects begin to come into play.

Your like or dislike of the game's sound will come down to one thing -- your tolerance of the Japanese language (or rather, the squeakingly annoying actors that are usually cast as voices). All of the voice work in Network Transmission is in its original Japanese form (with English subtitles), so take that for what you will. The sound effects and music are very well done, and reminiscent of the GBA series of games it's based after.

Mega Man: Network Transmission is based after the popular Battle Network series of games on the GameBoy Advance. Unlike the GBA series, Network Transmission isn't a top down RPG, but instead a side scroller similar to the old school series of Mega Man games.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Battle Network series, a little background info is in order. Taking a complete departure from the normal Mega Man mythos (Dr. Light, Zero, Dr. Wiley -- all that good stuff), Battle Network takes place in a future world where people all surf the web via a personal assistant called a Navi. Just as in real life, there are both good and bad Navis. You play as a young boy named Lan and his Navi Mega Man as they set out to battle bad Navis. Network Transmission begins a few months after the events of Battle Network 2. The WWW has been destroyed, and things have been rather quiet, which means that Mega Man's Navi-busting skills have become rather rusty. As it turns out, this becomes a device through which to explain the game's unique battle system. After receiving a distress call from Roll, another Navi, Mega Man runs into an out of control Navi named Fireman. This encounter sets off a chain of events which involves a plot to spread the Zero virus throughout the net, which causes Navis to go rogue, by using the vaccine that is supposed to prevent it. Along the way, Mega Man will run into friends and foes from the previous games including Protoman, Gutsman, and Starman.

The game's side-scrolling engine is rather unique for a Mega Man title since it takes after games like Super Metroid and recent Castlevania games instead of the level-based affairs found in previous games. Since the game takes place predominantly on the Internet, nearly everything in the game is connected. When you first begin, your travel options are few, but as you bust rogue Navis and find passwords, new paths are unlocked. Also, as you meet friends, you also gain access to log into different jack ports throughout the real world, which also helps to quicken the pace of traveling.

Mega Man games have never been easy. And, sometime after Mega Man 7, someone decided to make them downright impossible. Mega Man: Network Transmission continues this trend, but turns out to be toned down when compared to recent games in the series, such as Mega Man X Zero. At the start of the game, plan on seeing the ominous 'Mega Man Deleted' screen a lot. Busting Navis is a very hard thing to do, and the randomness of the almost Poker-like combat system doesn't help much either. Since the game does share some RPG elements, things become increasingly easier as you find power-ups throughout the net that help increase Mega Man's attributes. New armor styles also become available to help ease troubles somewhat.

Though the game's presentation and setup are solid, it's the actual mechanics of the game that end up crippling it. The overall control is very good and responsive. The set up is easy to figure out and shouldn't take that long to pick up, regardless of your gaming status. However, when you start playing around with the game's Battle Chip system, things get sticky.

The Battle Chip system plays similar to a hybrid of card games like Poker and Magic: The Gathering. You begin the game with a folder of 40 Battle Chips. As you progress through the game you can purchase and find new chips to expand your library. When you jack into the Net, (or your Custom bar fills up during play), 5 chips randomly pop-up. You can choose any of these chips to use as weapons as long as there is enough power on your Battle Chip power bar. Sometimes, a certain series of Chips will pop-up and cause a Program Advance, which is a mutated version of a Battle Chip. These attacks pack a punch, but are hard to come by unless you plan your folder around them.

Coming into the game as a big fan of the GBA series, I was disappointed that some of the RPG elements in the handheld series don't make the leap over to the GC version. The armor system isn't nearly as realized as the Battle Network 2, where armor would not only change your appearance, but would also increase certain stats and grant Mega Man new abilities in addition to elemental protection. Here, armor types are limited to a name and protection you're not likely to notice.

Network Transmission is also remarkably short, and can be finished within 10 or 11 hours. After this, there's really no reason to play the game again, which makes this game a rental at best.