Yumland’s net is a rather green place that utilizes Koto Area’s conveyers. It’s greenery carries over into battle with the introduction of grass panels. It looks like I might as well explain panels types now. In addition to the cracked and broken panels introduced in the first Battle Network, Battle Network 2 introduces six new types of panels, four of which become series staples. For the most part they correspond to the elements, and provide various sorts of Geo Effects.
Lava Panel – Only Fire element viruses and Navis can traverse lava panels unscathed. All others take 50 Fire damage if they step on to one. As a consolation, the lava disperses after the damage is dealt, and in later games the lava will eventually disappear all on its own. Aqua attacks will wash the lava away.
Ice Panel – Ice panels cause Navis and viruses to slide forward in the general direction the D-pad is pressed until. Basically they cannot step on the middle panels of whichever row or column they are on. Only Aqua element Navis and viruses won’t slip. Elec attacks deal double damage on ice panels.
Magnet Panel – Magnet panels constantly draw combatants to their panel if they are standing above or below it.
Grass Panel – If a Wood element Navi or virus stands on a grass panel they will gradually regenerate HP. Fire attacks deal double damage as well burning the grass away.
Poison Panel – Anyone standing on a poison panel will gradually lose HP.
Holy Panel – Anyone standing on a holy panel receives half damage.
Panel type can be pretty integral depending on what sort of strategy one is using. Many viruses and Navis can ignore panel effects if they float, though.
In the meantime, there’s a Regular UP 1 located to the left of the entrance, and to the right is a merchant:
- Rock Cube * - 500z
- Cold Punch B – 800z
- Spreader N – 800z
- Catcher T – 2000z
The conveyers make getting to Yumland 2 a matter of looping around to find a warp leading to a different part of the area with a clear path to the exit. Yumland 2’s conveyers lead into a big loop that eventually drops us off near a ramp that leads to a teleporter that’s connected to Yumland’s square’s entrance.
Things in Yum Square aren’t as relaxed as in the other two we’ve visited so far, sadly. As soon as Megaman steps into the teleporter we’re treated to a cutscene taking place inside Yum Square itself, revealing that the ninja Navi Shadowman
◊ has attacked the place, wiping out all of the Navis in there save for the king, or at least the king’s Navi. According to the Megaman wiki, the Navi is named Cookman, playing into the whole culinary thing Yumland has going on. He looks more like an overweight nutcracker than a chef, though.
Anyway, this Shadowman is the same one that we fought in Battle Network 1’s postgame. He uses drones to take out Cookman’s bodyguards, and he reveals that he was hired by these “gospel music fans” to attack Yumland’s Net and wipe out all Navis here. He assures the stricken king that it was nothing personal, just business, before cutting him down too. With Cookman down, Shadowman’s operator, Dark
◊ (he never appears after this scene and not in the flesh until Battle Network 5), contacts him and reveals where their next target is. Not to the audience of course, though it should be obvious what’s next. Shadowman jacks out, and a generic NPC Normal Navi runs up to the mortally wounded Cookman who uses the last of his strength before he fades away into deletion to tell the Navi to warn the other countries of what took place here.
When Megaman arrives in Yum Square he remarks on how odd it is that an area’s hub should be so completely deserted and that he has a bad feeling about this. He hears the sound of typing and decides to investigate. Yum Square is essentially a giant circle, and at the end of the path is a side room. In the “Treasure Room” he finds the Navi, but he can’t understand his language until he runs some translation software. Upon explaining what happened and learning that Megaman’s from Electopia he warns him that their country is Shadowman’s next target. As I said, it was obvious.
Before Megaman can capitalize on that information though, a red Navi introducing himself as Gospel’s Vice Commander Cutman jacks in. He’s here to mop up survivors from Shadowman’s attack, and it’s time to mop Megaman up.
Cutman
◊
HP: 600
Element: Normal
Attacks:
- Rolling Cutter – A pair of scissors will travel around the outer edge of Megaman’s field. Coming into contact with it deals 80 damage.
- Scissor Boomerang – Cutman hurls the giant shears on his head like a boomerang down one row for 100 damage.
- Scissor Snip – Cutman goes into his front column on all fours and snips the panel in front of him for 80 damage.
Now this battle requires you to be on your toes. Look at those damage values, they’re high for this point of the game. While Cutman’s two main attacks on their own aren’t hard to dodge, his Rolling Cutter cuts down on your movement, and there’s a boulder in the center of Megaman’s area, so you have to keep moving in this battle, but not so much that you run right into the blades. I think his V2 and V3 forms can even have multiple Rolling Cutters active at once.
Winning gives us 2000z.
After mopping up Cutman, Megaman learns from the Navi that he (or rather his operator I guess) was the one who sent the balloon that Lan found. Unfortunately there’s no time to forge new friendships, beating Shadowman will have to come first. Lan jacks Megaman out with the intention of going to speak with his dad about what has transpired.
Cut to a conference area where Chaud, Yuuchiro, and a handful of Center employees are receiving a telegram from Yumland (I guess Shadowman must have totally decimated everything electronic in the country for them to have to resort to a telegram) warning them of Gospel’s designs for Electopia. This is quite alarming to the Officials, given that Yumland’s cybersecurity was apparently world-class. Yuuichiro tells the others to put every Official in the country on alert while he gets to work working on a countermeasure.
Back in Lan’s room, he and Megaman receive an email from their father letting them know that they can visit him at the Center now. So that’s where we’re gonna go next.
Soundtrack
- Vicinity of Sorrow
- The game's designated "sadness" theme. Plays almost exclusively in Yum Square.
I remember the anime always coloring Shadowman's feet blue for some reason. I wonder why that was?
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