When Lan arrives at the entrance to the NAXA headquarters the chief tells him about the asteroid and about how they need his help to stop it. This information has been withheld from the public out of fear of mass panic. The woman tells us to head to the second floor where we’ll be told more. Immediately inside is a lobby that doesn’t have much going on save for a Regular UP 3 being gripped in the hand of a displayed spacesuit. The observatory room on the second floor is the place where all the scientists are gathered. It seems that Dr. Regal still hasn’t told anyone exactly why he needs an operator and Navi for his backup plan, but as soon as Lan arrives and introductions are out of the way he begins to detail it.
He begins by stating that there were actually two worldwide tournaments – Red Sun and Blue Moon. I don’t know why was included because the champion of the other tournament is never identified or plays any role in the rest of the proceedings. Regal then drops a bombshell on everyone assembled: the asteroid that’s on a collision course with Earth is actually manmade. It takes a second for everyone to realize the implications but Regal presses on, saying that he detected electromagnetic signals coming off of the asteroid that were of a similar frequency as Cyberworld’s. Thus, his plan is to use Yuuichiro’s laser to transmit a Navi to the asteroid and have them alter its course. Oh god, it’s Independence Day all over again.
Just as Lan agrees to this, alarms begin to sound and a voice over the PA announces that Nebula has hacked the Net. Yes, that’s right, they’ve hacked the entire Net. The announcement claims that it’s no longer possible to access the Net, but that is demonstrably false. What Nebula’s actually done is just cut off access between areas. Regardless, that’s bad as NAXA is waiting for some important data from the Sharo Space Center. Well, as always Lan volunteers to fix things, and Regal installs a transmitter on his PET so that they’ll still be able to track Megaman while he’s online. Yuuichiro also gives us our first Giga chip, Red Sun R. This chip has a Red Sun satellite appear and fire several meteors targeted three panels ahead before plummeting into it itself, this time affecting the 3 x 3 area surrounding that panel and cracking it. Blue Moon version obviously gets Blue Moon B, which merely fires a laser beam three panels ahead but it will also deactivate any programs an opponent may have installed. The same goes for DS bosses.
So in order to fix the Net what we have to do is fly out to Sharo, Yumland, and Netfrica and use their local access points to get online. Once Megaman’s online all he has to do is seek out an antenna-like device that’s blocking off each exit and destroy it. Yumland’s the only country that we haven’t visited yet, and like I mentioned back during my playthrough of Battle Network 2 it’s India, complete with elephant and Buddha statues. Aggravatingly, we have to pay a Heel Navi 6000z to get the passcode to open the access point’s security cube.
Getting some miscellany out of the way, Thunderman Alpha is found on one of the round circles in the southwest sector of Netopia Area. His chip works exactly like it did in Battle Network 2: lightning hits the column three panels ahead and breaks its panels. Coldman Alpha is at Sharo Area, and his chip has him push an ice cube down one row. Also, if we go to the Space Center’s homepage a Navi will be there to tell us that the guy with the passcode has gone to the Undernet. Something to keep in mind.
So once all of the devices are destroyed we get a call from Yuuichiro telling us to meet with an Official Navi in Netopia Area who has information on the culprit (apparently just one Nebula Navi set all of the devices up). But you know what? I’m not going to do that just yet. Since I’m currently in Netfrica Area and I have the C-Slider I’m going to explore the Undernet instead, as part of the area connects to a section of Sharo Area that itself connects to the Undernet via a C-Slider path.
The Undernet in this game appears to have a bone-and-fang motif. Shortly after entering Undernet 1 we can reach a merchant via an invisible pathway.
- HP Memory – 10000z
- HP Memory – 15000z
- HP Memory – 20000z
- Slow Gauge E – 8200z
- Fast Gauge Q – 9800z
- North Wind T – 10000z
- Static Z – 16000z
The Static chip is unique in that it can only be used by a dark Megaman.
Not much to say about Undernet 2 except that that’s where the second Expand Memory item is. Undernet 3 is where the Space Center’s homepage connects to and the Navi with the passcode can be found not far away. There are a couple of warps in this area, and by navigating through them we reach or current destination, Undernet 4. There’re a lot of C-Slider paths here, a BBS, and a Bug Frag merchant:
- Air Shoes – 22 frags
- Navi + 20 * - 28 frags
- Anti-Damage – 36 frags
- Geddon 3 U – 50 frags
- Attack MAX – 72 frags
- Holy Dream H – 100 frags
Bugs Frags are nowhere near as plentiful as they were in Battle Network 3, so even if I wanted to buy anything here at the moment, I can only afford the first two items. Holy Dream is another Giga chip, and its effect has Megaman absorb holy panels to launch a series of massive energy blasts down one row, one for each panel absorbed. In Blue Moon the chip gotten is Signal Red, which places a traffic light obstacle on the field that prevents an opponent’s use of chips when it’s red. So basically useless outside of linked play.
My destination is nearby, a wide platform upon which is a coffin resting in the center of a magic sigil of some sort and…Django and Otenko
◊? Yeah, Django and Otenko appear in this game in the flesh, which is why I mentioned that the Boktai content was at its most pervasive in this game. Of course Megaman is shocked to see him – apparently Django’s been wandering the multiverse, exterminating vampires and the like. The coffin, he says, is where Shademan is resting, and he needs to purify him with the Pile Driver solar mirrors before he revives. The problem, he explains, is that he can’t get any sunlight this deep in the Undernet, and something that would help him out, the Solar Sensor, has been stolen from him.
Like the boy scouts they are Lan and Megaman agree to help. Backtracking to Undernet 2 we find the Heel Navi who stole the sensor, but he himself had it stolen from him by a guy from Undernet 6. Undernet 6 is reached from Undernet 3 (as Undernet 5 is off limits until Megaman has all six Souls) and it’s layout is notably a complete copy-pasting of Undernet 2 from Battle Network 2, with the only change aside from the aesthetic being that what used to be the entrance to the Under Square becoming a portal of dark energy. It’ll eventually lead to the postgame area, such as it is. For now, the Heel Navi with the Solar Sensor is lurking nearby, and he’ll part with it for 10000z. Also nearby is a guy selling programs:
- HP + 300 – 9600z
- Oil Body – 6200z
- Mega Folder + 1 – 8000z
- Custom + 1 – 9600z
- Float Shoes – 8400z
- Reflect – 13000z
Not that I really have much money to spend after shelling out that ten grand…
Now we need to return to where Django is, and this is why I decided to do this part now – the Pile Driver will only work if Lan is in an outdoor location. If not, Django will say that this won’t work, and you’ll have to come back when Megaman is jacked in from outside. When the Solar Sensor activated the mirrors of the Pile Driver pop out of the sigil and begin roasting the coffin with focused beams of light. Shademan bursts out of the coffin and tries to repel the light with darkness, but with Megaman’s assistance Django is able to vanquish him. As thanks, he gives Megaman the Gun del Sol 3 G chip and he and Otenko depart. That’s not the only reward that this sidequest offers – by examining the empty coffin afterwards Megaman will find Nebula Code, enabling him to open all of the skull doors in the Net. The haul isn’t much to comment on but for the Bug Stop program, which is now just the size of a single tile on the Navi Customizer. Very useful.
The second “reward” is that Shademan Omega has now been unleashed into the area. He can finally be defeated conventionally, but he has a massive pain-in-the-ass gimmick where he’ll split up into four bats if he’s hit by an attack that does more than ten points of damage. Only one of them’s the real Shademan, and while he’ll then take normal damage they’ll quickly fly off-screen making S-ranking him almost impossible. His HP is at least somewhat on the low side for an Omega boss. His chip, which is in the X code for some freakish reason, simply has him use his Crush Noise attack, damaging and paralyzing targeted enemies.
Okay, with the Boktai sidequest done it’s time to continue on with the plot, such as it is. When we meet up with the Official Navi in Netopia Area he tells us that the Nebula Navi has fled to Park Area 1 via a shortcut through the Undernet. The shortcut originates in the Town Area, but since foreign Officials don’t have any jurisdiction in Electopia’s Net Megaman is tasked with tracking the guy down, instead of just asking the Electopian Officials to do it. We’re given the Town Data Key item, which is for opening a door on the lower level of Town Area 2. This leads to the thoroughly unremarkable Town Area 4, which in turn connects to a separate, isolated path that cuts through the Undernet. The only thing of note there is a Heel Navi who will give us Gun del Sol 2 G when talked to.
With all three of the Gun del Sol chips now in our possession we can now combine them to form the Pile Driver Program Advance. This works by having two mirrors appear in front of and behind an enemy which fry them with beams of light. If there’s not enough room on the field for both mirrors only one will appear, halving the final amount of damage inflicted. Unlike the Gun del Sol chips, I don’t believe that it’s powered up by being outside. The maximum amount of damage that it can dish out is 800 points.
Anyway, this secret path brings us to a plaza in Park Area 1 that we normally can’t get to because of a break in the path. There there’s a Heel Navi there, and he’s really, really easy to defeat. After the fight Megaman somehow knows that Nebula’s after the asteroid, despite there being absolutely nothing hinting at that. The Heel Navi awards his precognition by blowing himself up.
Quick change of scene to NAXA, where Regal exclaims that Megaman’s signal has disappeared from that transmitter he gave him before. Everyone panics, but once again Regal has a solution: they’ll just send his own Navi instead. Oh, and the asteroid’s apparently only a few hours away too.
Back at Park Area we see that Megaman hasn’t been deleted at all thanks to Gutsman, Roll, and Glyde randomly showing up to protect him with energy barriers in a last pathetic gasp of “we’re relevant characters!” After some Power of Friendship tripe it’s time to go back to NAXA, and close out this sad excuse for a plot.
Virus Listing
- Elamperor
- Elamperors are, as the name suggests, lamp viruses. They remain immobile and draw power from the type of panel that they rest on, and they attack by hitting panels on their row with bursts of flame which alter the panel type to whatever the virus is sitting on. They'll regenerate HP if they are on top of an elemental panel.
- Cirkill
- Cirkills are robots that circle around the perimeter of their fields and fire shots at Megaman whenever they align, no matter how briefly.
- Bom Boy
- My personal "nope" enemies. These viruses push explosive boxes onto Megaman's side of the field, after which they'll briefly explode and damage his entire area. The only way to stop them is to block their path with either an obstacle or a broken panel, otherwise they'll just keep coming, even if the boxes are destroyed in transit.
Soundtrack
- Heel's Paradise
- The theme for the Undernet. Quite catchy.
- Under Justice
- This game's "Proof of Courage" theme. It's a not-very-inspiring rearrangement of the game's main theme.
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