Cognition Dissemination: It’s Time for Another Battle Network Successor Series
It’s been a month since the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection released, the newest Mega Man set that was, by all accounts, highly requested. Capcom was quick to announce how the set sold over one million copies worldwide after only a couple of weeks of availability. This instantly made it the fastest-selling Mega Man collection yet, and one of the best-selling MM packages overall. The only other collection to exceed one million copies sold is the first Mega Man Legacy Collection, which has sold 1.3 million according to Capcom’s list of platinum-selling titles, one the Battle Network collection will undoubtedly surpass unless it automatically stops selling. Those sales aren’t all driven by the physical copies they’re having trouble keeping in stores.
More remarkable is how the Battle Network collection is already one of the best-selling Mega Man games overall. The franchise and its many spinoffs have always been popular among a vocal audience, but they’ve never demanded a large fanbase. In addition to the Battle Network set and aforementioned MMLC, the only other Mega Man games to reach platinum sales status are Mega Man 11, Mega Man 2 (NES), Mega Man Battle Network 4 (GBA), Mega Man X (SNES), and Mega Man 3 (NES). The highest-selling one among those was the last brand-new one, Mega Man 11, at 1.6 million copies. Granted, that game had the benefit of launching on four platforms simultaneously, but that’s still a worthwhile achievement for what was the first brand-new installment in eight-and-a-half years when it released in 2018. And here the Battle Network collection is on track to top that.
There is one Mega Man-related task that Capcom should be planning now. It’s a given that they’ll capitalize by releasing more Mega Man collections for sub-franchises yet to be assembled in sets with good emulation. Their biggest itinerary should involve planning a new Battle Network successor series.
A new succeeding series should have a fully 3D presentation realized through the RE Engine (or a potential new one that Capcom could be working on). Their current engine can create cel shaded graphics despite primarily being used for realistic character models and environments. The new Mega Man character should have a design reminiscent enough of EXE, albeit with aesthetic differences to distinguish him from the many other Mega Man variants that exist, with a young human accomplice capable of using him with a similarly distinguishable design. It would be a good idea if they included a female variant if they want to lock in the audience form other games with similar art styles, but the name Mega Man/Rockman might be significant impediment there.
The gameplay should be similar enough to previous titles as well. The dungeons should have a cyberspace feel to them, and include exploration and light puzzle solving. A variety of dungeon backgrounds should be made to prevent them from feeling samey and repetitive for exploration, all while keeping the aforementioned technological feel. Similar logic should apply to the battle system, which should represent a hybrid between turn-based and real-time styles. They can keep the fully real-time gameplay to other Mega Man titles — which they should also make new installments in, by the way, even if they have to outsource their developments to companies like Inti Creates.
This new game should come with a nice and colorful city to explore with plenty of NPCs to interact with, though with much better translated dialogue compared to what everyone who purchased the Battle Network collection has experienced. It should be the kind of town that can be reused in several future games, should Capcom desire to retread down a path that involves them releasing multiple Mega Man sequels in a quick fashion again.
They also shouldn’t do this without green lighting another anime series, for another cross-media franchise. It’s clear Capcom remembers how good this strategy was with the Battle Network games after the NT Warrior series was uploaded to their YouTube channel for free (with ads — unless you know how to work around them) weeks before the collection’s release. Their last attempt at a cross-media franchise with an anime through Monster Hunter Stories wasn’t the most successful effort around, though it was hardly a failure. This will mark a great opportunity to utilize the strategy again.
That is, provided they go through with the overall initiative, and they should. Capcom is largely committed to realistic-looking AAA experiences these days like the incoming Street Fighter 6, Exoprimal, and the just-revealed Dragon’s Dogma 2. But the Battle Network collection should show that there’s still room for Mega Man games of this style. (Perhaps it also shows how there’s room for overall RPGs, enough to lead to a Breath of Fire revival.) In the meantime, there’s a high chance that a Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection could arrive, and I’m far from the only one who’d love to see a Mega Man Legends Legacy Collection.
It would be even lovelier if sales of a Legends collection led to a revival of… nah, that’s enough. I’m going too far here. Cross your fingers for more Battle Network-style action with a modern sheen.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
