The story of Mega Man Battle Network takes place in the near-future interconnected world of Net Society, which depends upon computer programs known as Network Navigators (or NetNavi for short) to manage everything from their toasters to city power grids. While the networked age brings all manner of convenience, it has also imported a wave of cybercrime eroding all levels of society. In these games, players take on the role of Lan Hikari using their PErsonal Terminal (or PET) and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE, to confront the culprits behind these cybercrimes. Players control MegaMan.EXE as he explores the net, engages in grid-based combat, and uses Battle Chips to gain devastating abilities capable of deleting even the most sinister viruses.

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection features optional high resolution filters that allow players to enjoy smoother, less pixelated visuals. Players can turn the filters off/on at any time if they would prefer to enjoy the original visuals of the Battle Network games. Network Navigators will also be able to access over 1,000 pieces of concept art, character sketches, and official illustrations in the collection’s Gallery. The “Mystery Data” section will contain exclusive illustrations from past events and images of licensed goods from this era of Mega Man titles.

If you’d like to rock out to some tunes while browsing all of the art, the Music Player includes more than 180 tracks from all 10 titles.

Pre-orders are available now for the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection bundle at an MSRP of $59.99, which includes two additional skins for the launcher screen and music tracks to be enjoyed in the Music Player. Digital versions of Volumes 1 and 2 can also be purchased separately at launch for an MSRP of $39.99.

In addition to experiencing these beloved Mega Man Battle Network titles online with other NetNavi Operators, players who pre-order will enjoy the following exclusive additional content! The MegaMan.EXE PET on the launcher screen is customizable with two brand-new skins: Hub Style for Volume 1 and Dark MegaMan for Volume 2. Additionally, four new special arrangements of original music from the Mega Man Battle Network series will be available in the Music Player as part of the pre-order bonus package.

Just ahead of the 35th anniversary of the Mega Man franchise, the famous Director for the Battle Network series, Masakazu Eguchi, is here to share some new information about the upcoming collection. Check out the video below for more details, and read on for additional info about all the extra features that are being added alongside online play!

Both Public and Private rooms are available, allowing you to NetBattle and trade with others the world over, or just with a few friends. You can even NetBattle in ranked matches to show off your skills!

About the Retail Version of Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection

To start with, the retail package version contains two games, Volume 1 and Volume 2, on a single game card or disc. If all ten titles were combined into one package for the retail release, they’d be recognized as different games from the individual volumes. This would affect online functions, so it was necessary to keep the retail releases as Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

In addition to a collection with all ten games included in one package, we wanted to make a more affordable offering by splitting the games across two volumes while still having a version available for those who enjoy maintaining a collection.

Technical Fixes and Adjustments from the Original Releases

The games included in this collection are based on the Japanese versions of each game, and the code had to be re-written as a result. So, for this collection, the English versions will have content equivalent to the Japanese versions of each game. Of course, the development team also made some adjustments that have been implemented! Director Eguchi shared some notes about the music that plays after you reach the ending of Mega Man Battle Network 6:

“After finishing the game, when you select the ‘Continue’ option, the tense music from the game’s ending kept playing. We’ve corrected this so that when you continue immediately after finishing the game, the normal music is played instead.”

Apparently, Mr. Eguchi forgot to include instructions for the corresponding song to start playing when you started the game again.

Your Own Personal PET

Staff members from the Mega Man Star Force series and Mega Man 11 helped create the 3D MegaMan.EXE model! Plus, he’ll be able to don the special “Hub Style” skin in Vol. 1, and the “Dark MegaMan” skin in Vol. 2 if you pre-order retail or digital versions of the game. You can switch them on and off via the main menu screen.

Although these skins can be switched on and off, they just change the way he looks, and the voice lines that you’ll hear are mostly the same as his normal voice. These special skins don’t have any effect on MegaMan’s appearance during gameplay, so feel free to turn them on and off whenever you want!

Download Chips

Download Chips – unique Battle Network chips for certain games that were previously only available at special events in Japan – will also be included! All Download Chips available for the original versions will be available in this collection, as well. While you can add Download Chips to your folder and use them as many times as you like, just like any other Battle Chip, you’ll only be able to download them once per save file. Don’t go losing them! Speaking of exclusive chips…

The Z Saber

This chip had a very unique way of being obtained in the original Mega Man Battle Network 4. Because of that, the chip could also be obtained via a lotto number at Higgsby’s shop. This number was never made public, but was recently discovered. The Z Saber chip will still be available in the Legacy Collection version of Mega Man Battle Network 4 as well.

Online Custom Screen Time-out

During online battles, the Custom Screen is set to close after 20 seconds. This is to avoid both players from staying on this screen for too long as they select their Battle Chips for the next round. Note that the exact time is still being adjusted, so this might change!

The TreeBomb Prism

The infamous TreeBomb Prism combo from Mega Man Battle Network 2 is still intact in single-player. As powerful as it is, it’s been left as-is to respect the memories of those of you who played these games in their original form. However, when it comes to online game modes, the prism has been adjusted to work more like it does in Mega Man Battle Network 3 for overall game balance purposes.

Available as a single collection or as part of two separate digital volumes, the full list of titles in the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection includes:

• Mega Man Battle Network
• Mega Man Battle Network 2
• Mega Man Battle Network 3 White
• Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue
• 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
• Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC (Steam) on April 14, 2023.