Mega Man Network Transmission - Reception

Reception

Media Create sales data for Japan shows that Mega Man Network Transmission sold 23,147 copies during its first week on sale, 9,041 copies during its second week, 7,859 copies during its third week, and 4,679 copies during its fifth week. A total of 79,360 copies were sold in the country by the end of 2003. A bargain-priced version of the game was released in Japan on March 18, 2004. According to NPD Group, Network Transmission sold 30,224 copies in North America, making it the eighth best-selling GameCube game in the region for the month of June 2003.

Network Transmission has been met with mixed critical reception. The game currently holds scores of 67% on GameRankings and 65 out of 100 on Metacritic. A point of contempt for many critics was the game's difficulty level. Skyler Miller of G4 summarized, "Network Transmission is painfully difficult not because of any genuine challenge, but because of its cheap enemies, frustrating weapons setup, and unnecessary complications. For example, you can only save after beating a boss, which is common in the Mega Man series. It's tedious to have to wade your way through the relatively straightforward levels time and time again only to meet instant death against a boss." GameSpy's Benjamin Turner felt that the difficulty level was unbalanced rather than too steep, and that once a player gains a foothold on the gameplay and collects enough Battle Chips and power-ups, the challenge subsides. Reviewers for Eurogamer, IGN, and GameSpot all similarly agreed that the greatest difficulty is presented toward the game's start, particularly with its first few boss battles.

Opinions on the visuals and audio in Network Transmission have been decidedly split. Turner found the music perfectly fitting, but stated, "You may also be disappointed that the graphics don't quite push the GameCube. They're generally okay, and even pretty a few times, but overall the visuals are a bit spartan." Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot described the backgrounds and animation as appropriate, that the Japanese voice acting matched the characters, and that the music was upbeat. However, he found the art style lacking in personality, the weapon effects and summons "understated", and the sound effects "underdeveloped". IGN's Matt Casamassina was conversely impressed by the art style, backgrounds, and frame rate, but disliked the graphics as a whole, proclaiming, "It's a brand new product, but it looks like it could have been released on PlayStation 1, or perhaps even on Super Nintendo." Miller found the game's use of cel-shading useless and the titular protagonist "the weakest link of all, looking undefined, vague, and more than a little awkward".

The game's integration of Battle Chips into the side-scroller genre was admired by some reviewers. Casamassina was entertained by discovering and capitalizing on which chips are useful against which enemies. Turner was impressed by the random shuffling of chips in one's inventory and the instances of forced improvisation on the player's part. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer expressed satisfaction with having the needed chips at the right times, but admitted frustration with having to disarm oneself to organize them. He asserted, "Even glancing at what you might move to the top of the list involves sending the blue bomber's current chips back to the 'Folder', leaving you with a choice between edging forward with the paltry chargeable beam weapon and standing around waiting for your Custom bar to fill up again."