The Megaman Battle Network series has had an impressive run of games spanning three different consoles. For this list, we’ll be looking at the six main story games that were featured on the Game Boy Advance. Also for clarification while the third to the sixth games had two different versions I’ll be grouping them together because I just don’t see enough differences between the two that would make them place any differently on this list.

Megaman Battle Network 1:

So the first game, while great, takes the lowest spot on the list. It wasn’t a bad game by any means but it was the one with the greatest number of flaws. For example, maps in the game were absolutely impossible to navigate in as they had narrow pathways and everything looked exactly the same. I’ve personally played through this game three times and I’ve gotten lost multiple times in each playthrough. Plus the gameplay was the least refined in this one and some of the puzzles were more frustrating than fun like the one where you battled Elecman. The story was decent and provided the big reveal that set the stage for the story of Lan and Megaman for the games to come but that wasn’t enough to keep this game out of the bottom.

Megaman Battle Network 2

The second game in the series provided a lot of much-needed improvements seen in the first game. The maps were much better and easier to navigate around plus this game featured one of the best stories in the entire series. The only real downside to this game was the fact that while it fixed some of the problems of the first game it still had not perfected the gameplay that we’ve grown to love in the later installments. Plus some of the levels were again more frustrating than fun like the Iceman level.

Megaman Battle Network 4

So the first game to be featured out of order we jump to the fourth game in the series. At this point, the gameplay has been fine-tuned and we see what we love about the combat in the game in full force. It’s the story that really hinders this game as there really wasn’t much of one. A meteor is on a path to Earth and Lan is busy entering various net navi tournaments till he wins one that determines who will save the world from the meteor. It does feature a great story element of dealing with Megaman’s inner evil but the medium used to do so, the dark chips, were not as interesting or tempting as I think the developers thought they would be.

Megaman Battle Network 5

Again we see the fully refined gameplay that we enjoy and in this installment, the story is much better. We see an evil Megaman once again but in a more entertaining fashion plus the game features a new method of battle called liberation missions. These missions introduce a pseudo-strategy RPG element to the game that was far from perfect but still really entertaining and made for a unique experience that allowed you to not only control Megaman but other incredible characters you have never had any control over till this point.

Megaman Battle Network 3

Going back to the third game of the series this is when the gameplay realizes its full potential and is at its best. The levels are challenging but not in a tedious way and are a lot of fun to do. Plus the story is in my opinion the best of the entire series as you really get invested in some of the side characters, you’re taken on quite the emotional rollercoaster and Lan finds himself in a lot of his most interesting ordeals. In additional to that, fans may remember the famous Megaman attack where Lan throws Megaman at a person and this is the game that made that moment happen.

Megaman Battle Network 6

While the third game had the best story the sixth and final game wasn’t that far behind. It also had it’s fair share of emotional gut punches and provided the most entertaining gameplay of the series so it’s improved gameplay is enough to overcome the difference in the quality of the story to push this game to the top spot. The series went out with a bang and what a wonderful series it was from start to finish.