Battle Network Rockman EXE 3 (バトルネットワーク ロックマンエグゼ3)

Platform: Game Boy Advance (GBA)
Release:
- Japan: December 6, 2002 (original version)
- Japan: March 28, 2003 (Black version)
- North America: June 24, 2003 (as Mega Man Battle Network 3 White/Blue)
- Europe: July 4, 2003 (as Mega Man Battle Network 3 White/Blue)
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Tactical Role-Playing / Action RPG

Battle Network Rockman EXE 3 is a tactical role-playing game and the third installment in the Mega Man Battle Network series, marking the first game in the franchise to release in multiple versions. The game follows young operator Lan Hikari and his NetNavi partner MegaMan.EXE as they battle against the reformed WWW organization led by Dr. Wily, who seeks to awaken the ancient and destructive program Alpha. The story features a NetBattle tournament that uncovers a sinister plot to dominate the global network, ultimately leading to dramatic confrontations where MegaMan must sacrifice himself to save Lan from Alpha's destructive deletion process. Combat takes place on real-time tactical 3x3 grid battlefields where players collect and deploy Battle Chips for attacks and abilities.

This installment introduced revolutionary features that would define the series going forward, including the Navi Customizer system that replaced Power-Ups and allowed players to equip abilities with specific placement rules, version-exclusive content with different Contest Navis (MistMan for the original/White version, BowlMan for Black/Blue version), and the most extensive Battle Chip library in the entire series with 20 Giga-class chips. The game features a Virus Breeder where players can raise friendly viruses using BugFrags to level up corresponding chips and unlock Omega Virus encounters. Japan received the original version first as a standalone release, followed by the enhanced Black version featuring bug fixes, new areas, optional bosses like the exclusive Punk Navi, and improved chip trading mechanics. The international release split these into White (based on the original) and Blue (based on Black) versions, marketed simultaneously with unique Giga Chips exclusive to each version.

Captured on GB Operator (For Game Boy®, Game Boy Color® and Game Boy Advance®) - https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator

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