Mega Man Battle Network 3

MegaMan Battle Network 3, known as Battle Network Rockman EXE 3 (バトルネットワーク ロックマンエグゼ3) in Japan, takes place not long after MegaMan Battle Network 2. There are two versions: White (no subtitle in Japan) and Blue (Black in Japan).

Story
Months after the Netmafia Gospel tried to take over the world, Lan Hikari and friends return to their ordinary lives, until the crime organization World Three (WWW) started surfacing again. At the same time, a Netbattle tournament called the N1 Grand Prix was being held, in an attempt to find the strongest Netbattler in the Electopia, attracting people from neighboring countries into entering. Lan and MegaMan manage to pass the preliminary rounds, only after numerous attacks by the WWW in an effort to get the TetraCodes. Once Lan and MegaMan get into the N1 Grand Prix, it was discovered that the tournament was a set-up created by WWW to announce their return to world.

Lan and friends, with the help of Chaud Blaze had pieced together the WWW's plan after their attacks on ACDC School and the Yoka Zoo, both of which are hiding places of two of the TetraCodes: needed to revive the monster Alpha, the original prototype of the Internet, and take over the world. However, Alpha, went berserk and devoured Navis and programs upon creation. The scientists then were forced to seal Alpha to prevent further damage.

In addition to the TetraCodes, WWW had needed Bass in order to awaken Alpha. It was revealed that Dr. Wily, head of WWW, was moving behind-the-scenes in Gospel, and had put them to the task of creating a copy Bass specifically for the resurrection. This time, Wily didn't need a fake Bass because he tricked the true Bass into removing the final security measure. When Lan and MegaMan arrived, Alpha was awakened and after a battle with Bass, Alpha appears and devours Wily (who was in the Net via a Pulse Transmission) and Bass. Seeing that, the duo fight Alpha. Once they destroyed Alpha, a door appeared, leading to a Vision Burst of SciLab, where Lan (also on the Net) and MegaMan meet Tadashi Hikari, Lan and Hub's grandfather. Being only personality data, he was only able to give Lan and MegaMan an encoded letter to be delivered to Lan's father, and also remarking on how well Lan and Hub had become great friends and brothers, before the Vision Burst within Alpha collapses. Before being able to jack-out, Alpha captures Lan and MegaMan and begins devouring them, until MegaMan sacrifices himself to save Lan. MegaMan was thought to be deleted, until Lan's father finally decoded the letter from his father, which contained MegaMan's backup data, and Tadashi Hikari's personality data.

Changes from previous versions
Once again, the game introduces a few changes to the folder building system. First, the Library has been split into 4 portions - Standard Chips, Mega Chips, Giga Chips, and Program Advances. This allows for a more balanced folder whilst allowing for amazingly powerful chips to be used.


 * Standard Chips are now limited to 4 copies per folder, and all Navi chips from the previous game are treated as Mega Chips, along with some incredibly powerful chips.


 * As you can only hold one copy of a Mega chip in the folder, this prevents the abuse of incredibly powerful chips like Full Custom, which was horribly exploited in the previous game, where it was allowed in 5's like every other chip.


 * Giga Chips are a new addition, giving way to really powerful chips like Balance or Navi Recycle, and only one Giga Chip is allowed in each folder.

The Navi Customizer (NaviCust for short) is introduced in this game, too. Instead of receiving PowerUps which are used to permanently upgrade the Buster, the player now receives NaviCust pieces that grant him different abilities like the ever-useful Undershirt. Some parts of the plot also require the use of certain parts, like Press and Black Mind. This game is the only version that uses Extra Codes and Colour compatibilities, seeing that after MegaMan loses Styles in the following game, the codes and compatibilities are of no use afterwards and are hence scrapped.

Style Changes now serve a different function too. Leveling up your style no longer improves the damage of your charged Buster, but instead grants you special NaviCust pieces that can be used with the Style. Some existing Styles are also given new innate abilities, like the Custom Style's ability to yield special chips when S-ranking viruses. Three new Styles are also introduced, with two of them being exclusive to either version. MegaMan now can only hold one Style, however.

Finishing off opponents while they are in the midst of attacking - also known as Countering - will give you Bug Frags. These are used in many areas - for trading, virus breeding, and for trading at the Bug Frag trader. This game also introduces the Number Lottery, where the player can input a certain number code to get an item. Often these items would range from subchips to rare chips unobtainable through any other means.

Bosses

 * FlashMan.EXE
 * BeastMan.EXE
 * BubbleMan.EXE
 * KingMan.EXE
 * MetalMan.EXE
 * KingMan.EXEα
 * DesertMan.EXE
 * PlantMan.EXE
 * FlameMan.EXE
 * BeastMan.EXEα
 * CopyMan.EXE (disguised as GutsMan.EXEβ)
 * MistMan.EXE \ BowlMan.EXE
 * DrillMan.EXE
 * FlashMan.EXEα
 * BubbleMan.EXEα
 * DesertMan.EXEα
 * PlantMan.EXEα and FlameMan.EXEα (2 round battle)
 * Bass.EXE
 * Alpha

Optional bosses:
 * GutsMan.EXE
 * Punk.EXE (Blue version only)
 * ProtoMan.EXE

Secret bosses:
 * DarkMan.EXE
 * YamatoMan.EXE
 * Serenade.EXE
 * Bass.EXE GS

Trivia

 * The device that Dr. Cossak invented that allows living things to access the Net bears a notable resemblance to the jack-in chairs from The Matrix trilogy, both in terms of function and design.