Megaman Battle Network 5 - Double Team DS

With the DS' unique features and the natural fun the Battle Network series, this title shines bright on the DS

Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team DS is a combination of the GBA games Megaman Battle Network 5 Team Protoman and Team Colonel. Both are available in this cart, and the DS adds in many new features to the game involving its nice touch screen(although the touch-screen isn't needed for any of these features).

I only give it a low score because story has never been the Battle Network games strong suit. This game isn't played for the story. Anyway the story starts off with Lan's father, Dr. Hikari, calling him to have him and his friends visit Scilab to show them something. They arrive there and before he gets to show them, Dr. Regal attacks Scilab with his henchmen, knocking everybody out with sleeping gas. He captures Dr. Hikari and steals the PET's from Mayl, Dex and Yai. Lan luckily is out of their site, so Megaman is safe. Lan wakes up 3 days later to find his dad missing, and decides to do something about it. At Scilab after a supposed break in, he meets Protoman/Colonel(depends on the version your playing), who is forming a team to take down Nebula and Dr. Regal. That's basically how the game starts off >.>.

The graphics, as usual, are very well done. All the attack chip animations are well done and on point, and Lan looks a lot better in the 5th installment. And in this DS version, when your outside of battle you'll see Megaman on your touchscreen, which basically adds as your PET. Megaman's facial expressions change depending on the story situation, and he also moves a bit. You'll also see him jack in and out from the screen when you order him too, looking exactly like it does in the show, which is a nice touch.

The DS version has one plus when it comes to music; the GBA slot. By inserting one of the old Battle Network games in there, the battle music changes. This is good for those who for some reason hate the battle music. The other background tunes are good as well, nothing really seeming out of place or unneeded.

The gameplay is what makes this game a great one. Battles take place on a 3 by 6 grid. 3 by 3 is colored red and on the left side of the screen, and 3 by 3 is colored blue and located on the right side of the screen. The Navi you control (be it Megaman or a Battle Image) will be on the red, and all the enemies on the blue. At the start of each battle your custom menu opens, allowing you to use chips. Chips are used with the A button, and your Buster with the B. The Mega Buster can be charged as well.

The thing that makes the gameplay fun is there are so many different types of chips. You can have regular attack chips, support chips like Wind that blows enemies away or Invisible which makes you practically invincible for awhile, Defensive chips like Guard that cancel certain types of attacks and can damage the enemy as well. You can use chips that steal your enemy's panels temporarily, or break them if you feel like it. You can heal yourself, or use a Navi Chip, which are chips based on Navi's like Protoman, Gyroman, and Shadowman that have different effects.

The 5th installment fixed up the 4th games Soul Unison system. Soul Unison allows you to sacrifice certain element chips to transform Megaman into a Unison of himself and another Navi for 3 turns. Meaning you can transform him into ProtoSoul, ColonelSoul, ShadowSoul, KnightSoul, etc. Each soul has different abilities to offer. ProtoSoul lets you charge Sword type battle chips, and when fully charged launches Megaman 2 spaces forward and then attacking with the chip, giving sword chips more distance.

Dark Chips have also made a return. Now their attainable as regular chips :D. Their sold and obtained by different people and places in the game, and each in their own right are extremely powerful. You can put them in your regular folder and use them in regular battles if you wish. Doing so lowers your max HP by 1 though, and if the battle doesn't end after using the chip Megaman will be glitched for awhile, causing him to slide across panels, break panels he walks over, and other stuff that makes battles more bothersome than they already are.

The real strength in Dark Chips though is the ability to use them for Chaos Soul Unisons. It's like Soul Unisons, only you sacrifice the appropriate elemental Dark Chip instead. This Chaos Unison only lasts 1 turn no matter what, but the great thing about it is you charge your buster and fire while it's purple, you will use the Dark Chip you sacrificed! So you can have DarkProtoSoul using DarkSword chip attacks over and over again. Although, there is a catch. If you release charge when the light is green, Megaman returns to normal and a Dark Megaman appears on your enemy's field. He can't be targeted, so you have to either end the battle fast or wait for him to disappear if this happens.

This game also introduced Liberation Missions, which are strategic in nature. Megaman and the other Navi's on your team start out on one point of the map, and have to fight their way through Dark Panels and Dark Holes to reach the Boss Navi at the end. Each Navi on your team has special abilities during Liberation Missions that help make them go quicker. Megaman can use Long Sword, which can clear two forward Dark Panels instead of one. Shadowman can run over Dark Panels to get to other places faster. Searchman can search many panels ahead and detect traps and destroy them. Each play a role in helping get your team across the map to the Boss Navi. Each mission gives you're a target phase in which if you reach it, you get a special chip. Beating the mission 1-2 phases before the targeted phase gives you an even better chip, so the more efficient you are the better the reward.

The DS added in new features. One is it changed the menu screen layout, as well as the Chip folders layout. You can use the touch screen to drag chips in and out of your folder, which works a lot faster than move up and down the folder like the GBA version. It also added in the Party Battle System, which lets you fight with up to 2 other Navi copies of your regular teammates. Each of these Battle Images of your teammates have special effects during battle, like Colonel will use his special C Cannon every turn he's not in play, and if Megaman stuns an enemy and you switch to Colonel, both will perform a charged attack at the enemy. There is a limit to how many times you can change during battle, so only use it if it's necessary. This feature is disabled in many important storyline events, so don't rely on it too heavily.

The fact that both titles are in this DS cartridge, and starting a new game on the 2nd save slot unlocks a few secrets when you have beaten the game on the 1st slot makes this game replayable. Once you find other people who have this game and get into real Netbattling, you'll be plugging in many more hours looking for rare chips and putting the finishing touches on your folder and Navi Customizer to get it working just the way you like

Although I enjoyed Battle Network 3 a lot more, this game is simply fantastic. All the new features contributed by the Nintendo DS and the two games themselves make it a worthwhile buy. Unless you already own both Team Colonel and Team Protoman for the GBA, then you should definitely pick this game up. Even if you have one of them you should get it. Putting it in the GBA slot will allow you to access your folder there as a Bonus Folder in this game, as well as unlocking a few other secrets.

NAME: MEGAMAN BATTLE NETWORK 5 - DOUBLE TEAM DS
SYSTEM: Nintendo DS