The WWW has been handed defeat, but now there is a new threat in the form of the net mafia “Gospel.” To stop them, 11-year-old Lan will have to join the Net Battlers and travel to other countries.
Like any good sequel, this game will make you feel like you’re playing an extension to the first
Battle Network. The general game engine is the same as the first game; however they did add or change certain aspects:
- MegaMan’s HP no longer automatically recovers to max between battles.
- Instead of armors, you get Style Changes here, which not only give MegaMan an Element (Fire, Water, Wood, Electric, etc.) but each Style also changes the way MegaMan’s super-shots operate and has other unique effects. You can only have two Styles at once (if you acquire a third, you’re asked which of the other two you want to replace, or whether you’d rather just discard the new one). Styles can be leveled up if you use them enough.
- Many of the interfaces have been cleaned up to make them more efficient to use. For example, you can more easily see Battle Chip codes on the custom screen, and when you select a chip, other chips which cannot be combined with the chip you selected become grayed out. Overall, the usability of most of the interfaces has been vastly improved.
- You can now attempt to run from battle even without having an Escape chip; just hit the L button while on the custom screen. This doesn’t always work however, unlike the chip which is more guaranteed.
- There is now something known as “Regular Memory” which is a place to store a single chip. This chip is guaranteed to come up in every battle you fight (although only once per battle, since once you use it, you can’t use that particular chip again that battle). You can put any chip in your Regular slot as long as the chip’s memory (listed in MB) does not exceed the current capacity of your Regular slot. You can increase the capacity as you gain upgrades throughout the game. This is a powerful feature since even from early in the game you can stick a healing chip or a good attack chip in the Regular slot and thus always be sure to get it every battle. (A healing chip is a great thing to stick there, since even if you don’t need it each battle, you can use it to heal damage from previous battles, since your HP is not restored between battles.)
- Some chips now have a code of “*” which essentially means they don’t have a code. You can use them with any other chips. These are also very powerful because having a lot of “*” chips increases the number of chips you can use per round.
- The “Add” feature works differently here. In this game, you must select specific chips to discard (this is explained in the tutorial). Then, when the next round comes up, not only do you get new chips in the slots where you discarded the old (just as if you had used them normally), but you also get that same number of additional chips to choose from. The best part is, those new slots (up to 5 total) remain open for the rest of the battle, so even if you don’t use all of the new chips in the next round, you can choose them later on.
- You can get Sub Chips which work as items on the overworld. These can be used to do anything from recover some of MegaMan’s health to unlocking purple Mystery Data.
- You can win HP refills after battle (which you receive instead of a chip or zenny). These are listed as “HP+20” (where the number of course changes depending on how much you get). You get these most often when you are doing poorly.
- Some of the enemies are more or less the same here from the previous game. Also many of the chips are the same, although some have different names here.
This walkthrough will not cover every single step through the game or tell you what items you find where. However I cover the basics of what to look out for. Note that although I don’t go into details about the plot, reading through this will still involve spoilers, so skip it if you’re worried about things like that.
This covers only the initial play through the game. The hidden areas and “Title Menu Star” aspects are not covered.
- The Water Heater Gassing
- In the first part of the game there is no real danger, just some plot to go through. Be sure to talk to everyone in the classroom and search all the desks.
- The first major thing you have to do is...your homework. This is actually this game’s tutorial. After this, you’re free to go to the Net and visit the Square.
- At the Square, take the test to get the ZLicense. The test is a fetch quest. Wander the Net looking for the two data items that the tester has dropped for you to find. They look like rotating chips on the map. They shouldn’t be very hard to find. Pick up them both and return to the tester to get your license. You’ll also get the chip selection system that lets you pick a Regular chip.
- Eventually you’ll get a message from Glyde, who is worried about Yai. When you visit her house, you’ll find it filled with gas.
- Avoid the gas and work your way to the bathroom. You can jack in at the control panel to the left.
- Water Heater Stage.
- In the water heater’s computer, the moving gas clouds will push MegaMan with them if you touch them. This can be used to your advantage since they can even push MegaMan across pits and gaps that he cannot normally walk across. You can turn the gas bursts on and off by turning the red handle on the source of the gas, if you can reach it.
- As you work your way through the computer, you’ll occasionally switch back to Lan. I hope you spoke to Yai in the classroom earlier.
- Boss: AirMan
- When this is done, you’ll get to see Arashi get very toasty. Take a nap in Lan’s bed to advance to the next chapter of the plot.
- Become a City Net Battler!
- Lan wants to go camping, but if you talk to Mayl (in the school) and Dex, and visit Yai’s house, you find out nobody can go. So what to do instead? The answer comes via the mail: all ZLicense holders are invited to take the test to become city Net Battlers. So head on over to the Official Center in Marine Harbor to check it out.
- In the Center, ask the person at the counter about the BLicense to get yourself an entry pass. Then walk downstairs and into the test room. Jack into any of the computers there to start the test.
- This test has three challenges, which are explained by the Navi that initiates them. You can stop for a breather between each test to save and such. Also you can retry each test as often as you need without having to redo any previous tests.
- The first challenge is survival. Fight five battles in a row against common viruses without a break between them. Ignore what the Navi says about HP recovery; you are allowed to use healing chips during the battles without penalty.
- The second challenge is another fetch quest, essentially. Enter the Net through the new area that has opened up from the entrance to the Square. Work your way through until you find the Navi that has lost his movement program. After you talk to him, wander Den Area 2 until you find the purple Navi that will attack you when you speak to him. This is a normal battle against some viruses; win the battle and you’ll get the movement program. Return this to the Navi who needed it, then go back to the tester.
- The third challenge is another survival. This one will pit you against more difficult combinations of viruses than the previous. You might want to put a healing item in your Regular slot.
- Once you become a city Net Battler, you are able to accept quests that are posted on the bulletin board just outside the testing room. There will be two quests on the board when you first get your license. If you wish you may do both quests before moving on to the rest of the game.
- When you’re done with all that, sleep again.
- Camping!
- Judging from the mail, it seems everyone can go camping now (well, except for Chaud, but who asked him anyway?) so head on over to the bus stop (you did see the bus stop they added to ACDC Town, right?) and talk to Mayl to advance the plot.
- At the campground, you must pass a group of bees to continue, believe it or not. To do so, you need to start a fire (no, you can’t use a Battle Chip!). Search a tree near the campground official to find a paper. Pick up a stick from one of the rocks in the river. Grab a lighter at one end of the rocky path down below the main path, near the top of the screen. Once you have everything, “search” the bees again and choose to use everything.
- The next obstacle is a bear, which at least is solved in a more Battle Network-ish style. First, try to approach it twice. Need to see better, hmm? On the upper level, walk behind the waterfall from the left, and press the search button, and you’ll find the Binocs. Once you have them, approach the bear again. Walk up and jack in. When you talk to the program inside, you’ll be attacked by three Spikeys. Defeat them to shut down the bear.
- You’re now free to explore the campsite. Chaud disappears and everyone else works to make BBQ. Wander around talking to people and gathering items. You should be able to pick up: a fish, a Bubbler chip, a knife, and firewood. It’s not very difficult to tell where to use everything.
- After the meal there is an explosion. The path to the dam is in the upper left, by the tree line. Head to the door in the dam and you’ll chat with Chaud, who is there trying to stop the second set of explosives. He gives you the instructions you need for the next part. You must find four detonation devices. They are:
- The PET lying where the fisherman had been standing
- The empty canteen lying on a picnic blanket
- A PET behind the waterfall (where you found the Binocs)
- Dave, the park official who hates littering (do the other three first)
- Detonation Devices Stages.
- Note that in the random battles that you’ll encounter in these bomb devices, you may see a bomb just sitting there by itself. When destroyed, the bomb damages everyone on its side of the battle field. So if it’s on the enemy’s side, hit it with a Fire-based weapon to cause it to blow. This is an easy way to clear out enemies, provided you have a Fire weapon (the HeatShots that the Spikeys give do the trick).
- Once you find the first three detonators, Chaud tells you to search for a person carrying the fourth. Talk to Dave, near the park entrance. “Ask again” and “Get suspicious” is one way to get him to ’fess up.
- Boss: QuickMan
- Yumland
- When you’re done camping, Lan decides he wants to find out about, um, Yumland (I don’t make these names up, honest!). In order to get there through the Net, however, he needs an ALicense. So, it’s back to taking tests.
- Before you can even take the ALicense test, you have to clear three missions on the request board. They are:
- Mission 1: Talk to the scientist standing next to the ACDC Town Metroline. He wants you to find three experimental Navis. Look for purple guys standing in the far corners. They’re found in the following items:
- The doll lying in the playground
- The classroom blackboard
- The portable game system in Dex’s room
- Mission 2: Go to KotoSquare (in the Net; the path to it opened up just recently). Talk to the purple Navi, then leave and jack into the coffee machine in the Center like he requests. Once you defeat the purple Navi in the coffee machine, return to the Navi in the KotoSquare to complete the mission.
- Mission 3: Help find a lost program on the Net. Go to the campground and talk to the person in the middle of the river. Then jack into the Net; the program is right near the Yumland security cube.
- The exam itself has three challenges, just like before:
- Problem 1: Survival. This works just like before, only with different viruses.
- Problem 2: Two bad Navis are on the Net. Hunt them down and defeat them. One’s near the Square entrance. The other is right outside KotoSquare’s entrance (in KotoArea).
- Problem 3: Survival again. This one can be a little tricky, but keep at it.
- Finally you have your ALicense and can go to Yumland’s Net. The terrain looks different here and you’ll encounter grass panels for probably the first time. Once you get to Yumland’s Square, however, you’ll discover all is not well.
- Boss: CutMan
- Defend the Mother Computer
- Since DenCity’s Square is the next target, you need to power up. Head to Lan’s dad’s office (it’s up the elevator in the Center). He’ll tell you to find a program known as Chng.bat.
- Head to the Square and search the message boards until MegaMan posts a message. After that, wander the Square talking to people and such and keep checking the board until someone responds to MegaMan’s message.
- Go to the park in ACDC Town and talk to the man there. He triggers a wild goose chase. Go to the campground and talk to the girl in front of the tent. She sends you to a purple Navi in KotoSquare (on the Net). Finally, this Navi tells you the program is in YumSquare and gives you the key you need.
- In YumSquare, go past where you fought CutMan and use the key on the door. There is a purple Mystery Data beyond; you don’t need an Unlocker, just search it.
- Unfortunately, taking the Chng.bat triggers an alarm. You must now fight your way out of the Square. Once you leave the Square however you are able to jack out.
- Return to Lan’s dad with the program. This will enable you to change MegaMan into different Styles.
- After this is done, you’ll get another alarm. Go downstairs and jack into the Center’s computer (the one everyone is standing in front of).
- Boss: Goofball
- Now the Mother Computer is under attack. Talk to Lan’s dad again, then head down the hall from his office to the room over there. Talk to the Net Battlers and follow them around until they ask for your help. Jack in.
- Mother Computer Stage.
- You have to input a series of passwords (you’d think if the Net Battlers really wanted your help they’d just tell you the passwords!). The first one is CAT. The second is RIVER. The third is NB. (Feel like you’re in a Pac-Man game yet?)
- After the cut scene, jack into the control panel. There are more passwords here. They are: AFBECD, WATCH, ALMOSTTHERE. (Note: If you want to get items that are beyond incorrect letters, solve the password first, then get them. You are allowed to walk anywhere on the green tiles once the password is completed.)
- The next password is a little tricky. You have to input four in a certain order. They are: WIG (lower left), GEM (lower right), MASK (upper left), KNIFE (upper right).
- The rest of the passwords are (in this order): UCANGO, JUMPS, SPIDER, APPLE, B (yes, just the B), DONTGIVEUP, RACCOON, GIKMOQSUWY, SYSTEMAHEAD, SYSTEMCLOSE, VIRUS.
- Boss: ShadowMan
- Remember the second rule of Gospel: “Death to those who make lame excuses!”
- To Netopia!
- Finally, Electopia is safe (for now). Lan is called, along with the rest of the Net Battlers, to a meeting in Netopia. He even gets a free plane ticket. Fasten your seatbelts, because this is going to be one heck of a trip. In fact, make sure you shop around and do everything else that you need to before you go to the Airport. (Luckily, you don’t have to worry about the plane taking off without you!) If you have lots of spare chips (you can only put 5 per Folder, so any others of the same type are useless) take them to the Center and gamble them away in the chip trader machine. You can get some chips you wouldn’t be able to obtain at this point normally.
- When you’re sure that you’re ready, head to the Airport via the Metroline. Talk to everyone and jack into the flight information board if you want (you’ve been jacking into everything in sight, right?). Once you head through security, you can’t come back.
- When you go through security, you’ll lose your PET. Then when you enter the gate waiting area, you’ll lose all of your zenny to boot. Talk to Chaud and say “Go away” (it’s impolite, I know, but that seems to be the only dialect he understands) to get your PET back. You can’t get your zenny back until you land in Netopia, at which point talk to the thief twice to recover your cash.
- When you try to leave the Airport, you’ll trigger another series of events where you’ll lose all of the chips in your Pack (be sure to fill your Folders with all the chips you think you might need first) and then, once you find your hotel (look in downtown to the left), you’ll lose your PET again! Sheesh!
- There’s only one way to make Lan come to his senses. Leave the hotel room and wander back to Netopia Park where you arrived to find Mr. Higsby. Once you’ve spoken to him, you can head back to the hotel and recover MegaMan. (At least he’s still there, even if not all in one piece...)
- Once you’ve left the hotel again, find the old man in the park who will direct you to Jim. Jim’s the kid in the back alley. He’ll want a Guard * in exchange for his help; you don’t have to give it to him now, but make sure you get one if you don’t already have one. (It won’t be hard; all of the Mettaurs give them.)
- Talk to Raoul in the corner and battle ThunderMan—you need Raoul’s security code.
- Boss: ThunderMan
- Enter the Net from Raoul’s radio in the back alley. It shouldn’t be hard to find your way to the NetSquare. Talk to everyone, then head out to Netopia 3 to find the purple thug Navi; defeat it (it’s a FullFire this time) to get your passport back.
- Talk to Jim again and give him the Guard chip, and he’ll tell you how to get your chips back. The millionare is in the jewelry shop.
- Boss: SnakeMan
- At least she’s a good loser. She not only gives you all your chips back, but also her link and some zenny! Not bad!
- Sleep in the hotel to advance the plot.
- The Net Battler...um...Meeting
- Now it’s time to head to the meeting. It’s in Net Castle; walk through the crest on the wall.
- Surprisingly, there are only five people at the meeting (big turnout). Talk to everyone to advance the plot.
- Castle Stages.
- Once you end up in the castle, you’ll need to jack into various places to disable traps. Inside these cyberspace areas, you’ll encounter nasty creatures roaming on the overworld map. The vampires are probably the least dangerous effect—they suck up 100 health, but you can get it back relatively easily (try putting a healing chip in your Regular slot) and they can’t drop you below 1 HP. The zombies will teleport you back to the nearest gravestone, and the bandits will steal half your zenny, although you can get it back from Mystery Data that appears in certain places, usually near the doors (the ones you need the CyberKeys for).
- For the first trap, jack into the light switch.
- For the second, jack into the control panel by the door (it looks the same).
- For the third, Lan will throw his remote to the switch, so just hit the jack-in button from where you’re standing.
- Boss: ProtoMan
- The final area leads to KnightMan. Again, once Lan throws the Wireless, just jack in.
- Boss: KnightMan
- Once this is done, you are able to re-fight SnakeMan and ThunderMan if you desire to try to win their chips. When you’re ready to leave Netopia, head to the airport via the bus stop (you want Departures). Talk to Chaud if you want a ProtoMan chip; just be warned that Chaud has gone a little overboard with the HP upgrades this time around.
- The Really Long Flight Home
- On the plane ride home, at first you can just wander around. Talk to everyone, jack into everything, the usual drill.
- After lunch go to the restroom area (in the back of the plane).
- Once you find out about the spider, talk to the guy who knows about bugs (that’s bugs as in, insects, not computer bugs!).
- Go back to the lavatory area. Then talk to the doctor (you did find him, right?).
- Find the bug guy by the magazine rack.
- Get the thread from the stewardess by the lavatory, the chopsticks from the old lady in economy, whiskey from the dude in first class (you have to pass a mini-game first; just write down his song and repeat it back to him), and the pilot’s cap from the cockpit.
- Once you have everything talk to the bug guy again, and you’ll get a cut scene.
- After all that, there comes a problem with the plane computer. Go to the cockpit and talk to the captain.
- Airplane Stage.
- Boss: MagnetMan
- After you get off the plane, you’re free to wander around doing request board missions and such. If you bought the souvenirs from the guy in Netopia you can give them to Mayl, Dex, and Yai for rewards. Sleep when you’re ready to advance the plot. Before you do that though, there are a couple of things to note:
- Around this time the request for defeating a bad Navi should appear on the board. Clearing this one will net you the GospCode which opens all of those mysterious cubes you’ve been running into, so while it’s not required I highly recommend you get it.
- Pick up GateKeys by doing requests and such. Use them by stepping on the correct blank circle in the section near Lan’s computer on the Net...if you have the right GateKey, the warp will open and you’ll have a shortcut to and from that Square.
- At some point you’ll get a mail giving you a free pass to visit the plane. That’s not all it does—you can also use it for instant access to Netopia (whatever happened to the long flight time?). Go back there when you get a chance and pick up the Netopia GateKey; it’ll come in handy later.
- The Internet Gets Iced! (AKA The Big Run-Around)
- You have to save Roll, but there’s ice all over the Net... MegaMan can break the gray-colored ice by himself, although you’ll be attacked every time you do it. For the other colors, you need the right cure. The battle fields will almost always have ice on them, but this can hinder the enemies as well as yourself.
- When you find Roll (she’s in Yumland’s Net), talk to the program nearby as well while you are here (he should mention something about working in a hot place).
- You should be able to learn about the Doc from the Square’s message boards by now. Once you do, if you haven’t already, it’s time to head to the Undernet and its own Square. You can get to the Undernet from Netopia 3; just follow the signs.
- Once you find the informant, pay him what he asks and he’ll tell you to look for someone in Netopia’s Square.
- Head to NetSquare and learn that the guy who knows the keyword left to buy chips. When you exit the Square you’ll be able to see the NetDealer where the guy is visiting. Work your way around to it and talk to him. He wants a ZapRing2 B.
- Now that you know the keyword, go back to UnderSquare and post it on one of the boards. Then leave the board room and go find the Doc near the dealers. The Doc will say he wants all of your chips and PowerUps but he gives them all back afterward, so don’t worry about it.
- First thing you need is HeatData. You will find the program that has it inside the stove in the Okuden campground.
- Now that you can break some more of the ice, find the Navi in Netopia 2 that wants you to look for his lost brother in the Undernet. Agree, and head to Undernet 3 to talk to the purple guy near the blue crystal. Turns out he’s the key maker you’ve heard so much about, and now you need three BluFrags.
- Get BluFragA from the brother of the key maker, who asked you to search for him.
- Go back to Undernet 3 (as if you are going back to the key maker) to get a cut scene which reveals where the second BluFrag is.
- The key maker went back to NetSquare, you’ll discover. Head there yourself to talk to him and get GateKeyD (which leads to Kotobuki).
- When you use the Kotobuki GateKey, don’t step on the conveyer belt. Instead enter the warp gate you see down left. This leads to the UnderKoto you’ve heard about.
- You’ll eventually wind your way back to the Undernet. Defeat the purple guy with the BluFrag and get GospelID, which you need to get through the gate in KotoSquare.
- Head to KotoSquare and through the door that was blocked all this time.
- Boss: FreezeMan
- Talk to Lan’s mom for a cut scene. Go to sleep to advance the plot. You might want to take care of any unfinished business first though. There’s not much turning back after this.
- The Final Showdown Versus Gospel
- You’ll need to head to Lan’s dad to get the equipment you need. Once you’re done with that, go to the Metroline and just walk through the gate area since you already have a pass to use.
- Once you’re inside Gospel’s headquarters, go up the elevator and then into the only room you can enter and jack into the computer.
- Gospel HQ Stage.
- Once you get the ElBitEV you can use the elevator.
- Boss: AirMan, QuickMan, CutMan (Yes, you have to fight all three in a row. No, it’s not fair—but you should be powered up enough that it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.)
- Go to floor 30 and enter the room to the left. You’ll get a cut scene; jack into the server.
- Boss: KnightMan, MagnetMan, FreezeMan
- After this the program will warn you to save. Once you jack out and then walk through the door as Lan, you won’t be able to save anymore, so you might want to take the advice to heart.
- The rest of the game is pretty much on auto-pilot.
- Boss: Bass
- Boss: Gospel
Most of the bosses in the game are Net Navis or normal virus enemies which are detailed in the
Data Base. This section only contains details which differ from the Data Base. Note:
Hidden bosses are not yet listed here. I will get to them later.
- Mr.Famous’s Navi: GateMan
- Famous can be found in the Center. You can challenge him to Net battles and win GateMan chips, extra Folders, and other goodies. See GateMan’s database entry for his attack pattern.
- Goofball:
- (No, I did not name these things.) The mask in front is, for all intents and purposes, invincible. When it pulls it away to attack, the mask is still in front of it, so you have to use Chips which can hit around or through the mask. The gas that damages you only appears in the tiles immediately surrounding the mask, so you can avoid it if you stand far away from it. Beware, the Goofball will use multiple AreaGrabs, so you’ll want to have a few on hand yourself. Fill your Folder for this fight with healing items (in case there’s no room to dodge), steals, swords, and things like Shockwav which go through the mask. You can also hit the mask with a punch attack to abort Goofball’s attack that round, but you won’t destroy the mask.
- Dark’s Navi: ShadowMan
- See ShadowMan’s database entry for details on his attack pattern. I used the HeatGuts Style for this battle and didn’t have any troubles. It helps that ShadowMan starts the battle standing on grass (bwahaha!) so don’t waste the opportunity. (You did know that all Fire-based attacks deal double damage to anyone standing on grass panels, right? Good!) Your flamethrower charged attack will burn away the grass panels it hits, so the extra damage is only good for one shot per panel—make the most of it.
- Chaud’s Navi: ProtoMan
- Well, everything happened exactly as I foresaw. Bozos. Anyway, you know the drill. ProtoMan is slower with his shield in this game which means you can actually get in a few hits before he puts it up. He has a couple of new attacks as well, but the pattern is pretty easy to get down.
- Bass:
- If Bass gives you trouble, you have no hopes of beating Gospel. See his database entry for his battle pattern; he goes down pretty easily.
- Gospel:
- (Shouldn’t that be “Treble”?) First of all, you can’t hurt it unless it has its mouth open (which only happens during certain of its attacks). Also you’ll likely run out of chips during this battle if you don’t make each of them count. Since most of Gospel’s early attacks will only hit the center row, stand to the top or bottom and wait until the attack goes by, then move back to the center quickly and blast Gospel while it still has its mouth open. Do not stand in the center while waiting because then Gospel tends to use its drill attack which as far as I can tell is never vulnerable. I recommend a lot of healing chips for this battle, and anything which has high attack power and is relatively easy to aim, since there is such a small window for you to damage Gospel. Also chips which break panels will make half of Gospel’s attacks useless; if you’re fast, you can also use these to prevent yourself from being sucked toward Gospel during the last 400 or so HP of the battle.
Well, the kid behind Gospel was only doing it to get back at the world for his lousy childhood (I sense a trend here) and so he was trying to merge the cyberworld into the real world (how does this work again?). Later on in the ending, though, Lan’s dad implies that someone else was manipulating the kid behind the scenes (Bass, evidently, or maybe even Wily) which explains why the third installment of this series came so quickly it practically tripped over the second one. The ending is long but not without charm; there are also lots of cute scenes during the credits.
