The shadow actually has a gameplay function. Exact position is very important, since it's a grid based game. You need to know exactly where everyone is at all times, and the shadow is the best way to clearly define that.
Oh... so that's why I'm seeing so much MegamanEXE in my feeds. Spiff... You know, the cutscenes always have some of the best little animations.. like Lan throwing his PET at the one dood, or the grand and open acting on some of the RL badguys... they're so Saturday Morning, it's great ... ... ... AND then you mention the PET throw, awesome, thank you. I half-thought I had fever dreamed it or something. XD
I am so appreciative that you covered this series and all of the gorgeous animation that was put into it. I hope you get your own chance to just sit down and play it yourself for fun in your free time! If your girls have any favorite Navis from the game, I'd love to know what they are! And I'll remember to drink water, thank you!
My favorite animations of the series are both from BN3: there’s a secret motion input for the GutsImpact chip that has an exclusive frame of animation where Megaman does a roundhouse kick, and the entire animation of the Master Style program advance is the absolute most DBZ-feeling thing
Whoa wait what about a roundhouse kick?? Been playing the series since their original releases and never heard of this before. What inputs do you have to put in to do it?
@@megamanpwn3dmario I ended up looking up a video on all the different Gut attacks you can do. Lol I absolutely cannot hit the buttons fast enough to do the 5 hit combo one 😅 I've tried a ton of times already. Although the Gut Rocket Punch is super easy to do (down, down right, right) and do it all the time now
12:27 Actually, in BN6, the Crosses are literally using the same base MegaMan sprite palette shifted and with different torsos and arms pasted on top. BN 4 and 5 Soul Unisons did have entirely different sprite sheets for each form though IIRC. 22:01 BN6 isn't the only game to control other Navis. BN5 also gives you temporary control of ProtoMan and Colonel, and Double Team DS also has the Party Battle System that lets you use any of the allied Navis at (almost) any time.
BN5 in GBA also lets you use all the teammate Navis just like BN6. Just that unlike BN5 Protoman/Colonel and BN6 Link Navis, the BN5 teammates are confined within the Liberation Missions. But in terms of animation they have the whole package - overworld 8 direction sprite, battle sprite, etc.
Really hoping with the release of the collection that this series will get some more love. One of my all-time favorites and even inspired me when I was a kid to learn about networking which I ended up going to college for a major in
Aww, that's awesome, thanks for sharing! ^^ And I agree, I hope so too! I've only ever played one of the DS games (I think it was 5, that might be the only DS one, I'm not 100% sure XD), and I really want to get the collection to be able to play that game again, since the parts of it that I have played are super nostalgic! Plus I'd be able to play more of the previous games I haven't played, so that'd be awesome!
One thing i do really appreciate about the Megan games is how much the gameplay just makes sense. Like, why megaman and other enemies seem to teleport around? Why can't i walk on blue tiles? Why do other navis have abilities i don't? Well its simple. Its coded that way. Of course viruses also follow these rules, because as bits of data they have to follow some basic laws to exist on the net and interact with things Just something i thought of when you were mentioning how megaman moves around in battles.
I've always loved the shimmer movement because it made me feel like I was in dragon ball and just moving that fast 😁 also like you said it really helps prioritize game feel which is supper important for how quick the game can be, especially at the bullet hell type sections! thanks for the video!!
Mega man BN was the biggest part of my elementary and middle school years. Of course the fandom is kinda dead but the announcement of the anniversary pack coming out and this video with as much passion for the art as I had for the whole series is really nice to see. Lovely video
Actually there's been a BN6 esports scene for a long time and they just compiled rollback netcode for tournaments, as well as the ChronoX project, that's striving to make a "Battle Network 7". But you're right, it's not as easy to find BN stuff as regular mega man stuff.
Honestly, my favorite animation is for the program advance in the first game called "Powered Cannon," where MegaMan.exe's arm becomes this huge cannon that's three to five times his size. By no means should he be able to handle such a ridiculously enormous weapon, but I love that MegaMan does anyway.
This video means a lot to me cuz I grew up playing 5 Protoman and 6 Flazar and I’m a huge animation nerd! How you breakdown the animation is simple and easy to understand! The animations did stand out to me as a kid, but what I think really pulled me in was the color design and character design! Now that I’ve played a bunch more Megaman games, I still believe that the BN series is the most colorful and has the best designs out of all the Megaman games! P.S. - I learn so much from your videos and they help make me into a better artist!
I was hoping to eventually see an episode on Mega Man Zero & ZX series, but seeing Battle Network getting covered is a very pleasant surprise! Amazing work so far, keep it up!
Fantastic video! I've been studying much of battle network's art (and in turn, its animation styles and nieches) as a way to inspire my own art style and this video organizes all the thoughts I had neatly!
Very nice video, I am a spriter myself and I do like to work on MegaMan Battle Networkk assets, this video helped me on viewing many points, like everything has a shadow, how the posture of sprites helps on It's character personality and how well made and unique the animations are. Oh and btw, the turning animation did made it to MMBN5 in the liberation missions, but I didn't knew this was a thing supposed to be at the beginning
No I'm pretty sure turning around in Liberation Mission surrounded battles just uses a normal movement flicker, instead of a bespoke rotation(the mechanic gets reused in 6 briefly as well for TomahawkMan's mission)
Great animation study as always! It's weird that Mega Man doesn't have any idle animation whatsoever, but since you're always on the move you won't be standing still much anyways
Love that you highlighted some of the Program Advances like Heavy Stomp and GutsShoot, those along with Master Style in 3 and the "legacy" PA's in BN6 are some of my favorites from the series
I love when you counter enemies in MMBN 3, the sound and the blowback makes me laugh and makes me feel cool at the same time! Then in the later games, you get that circle thing that goes around you after a counter! I would love to see you talk about that in another video or short! Great video overall!!
Something cool about this animation (and all fighting games' really) is that responds directly to the speed at which an attack deploys to balance it. Some chips have long, detailed animations because the attack has some delay on its deployment as part of its balancing. On the other hand, the buster shot is a 1-frame pose change because the default weapon needs to be the fastest and most responsive one in the player's arsenal
HOW DID I JUST FIND YOUR CHANNEL??!!! IT'S WONDERFUL!! I wanted to make a similar channel years ago but I've decided to do like a mix of design/animation analysis and game-development. When my mental health has significantly improved, I can start. Currently unemployed and on meds...
That was awesome thank you Now for me i always loved the soul change and the different special buster effects And what would be cool to see next is maybe the change in game style and animation in mega man star force 1,2 and 3
Thanks for the video! Love the rambling from 24:00 onward, it's cutely therapeutic XD ...Particularly the shoes. I don't- I don't know why. Elecman.exe's animations are my personal favorites (and also my favorite armor design for Megaman, including when Beast Out occurs), and a favored other one for me is Bass.exe, whom you've not talked about much. To be fair there isn't much to talk about, but I do like how he gradually gains motion throughout the games, effects with his busters make fights quite dynamic. Oh, also, Quickman.exe's boomerang deflection animation. Sooooo much personality in there.
Mm yeah, there's lots I didn't get to talk about, should've gone into Bass more I think, I like the consistency between games. Yeah ElecMan.EXE is great, such a near design!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudyDunno if you'll ever get to talk about him, but I certainly hope you can ^_^ Maybe a Secret Bosses Animations thing? I dunno if that's doable. Oh yes, agreed! Big fan. He's a favored electric user of mine, too; those back cools are impeccable.
I know you mentioned the shadows and appreciated that they make everything feel grounded. But I think you haven't realised something that I've taken for granted. That is an incredibly important function in a game where it matters what grid coordinates something is on, especially when enemies can look so varied and even fly. Which also matters for the overworld as well in some puzzles. And that's why Nebula Gray and especially Falzar can feel so awkward to fight. (Can't believe I'm complimenting 4, but Duo avoids this problem through other tricks to make him easy to track)
Megaman Battle Network series are one of my favorite game series on the GBA because it was mindblowing on how much content they jam-packed on a game made for handheld console. Btw, Roll best girl in MMBN
It's great seeing an actual breakdown of the nice, concise animations in MMBN. I'm kind of curious if ypu have any plans to address the 3D spiritual success to Battlenetwork, the Megaman Star Force series. I completely skipped MMSF until very recently anf it's been interesting trying to get to grips with the 3D animations and gameplay.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Honestly relatable. I would never have touched MMSF if not for being asked to experiencr first time, by friends, for stream with friends. Somehthing to hang out over, essentially.
Really enjoyed the video! Nice to see these sprites get the admiration they deserve, and also to learn some new terminology. I'd never heard "elegance" used to describe assets being efficiently used before, but it's something I've definitely noticed. Nintendo's first-party games would be a great example - very rarely do they use a complex, fancy animation just once. Tiny bit of nitpicking: I suspect that the main limitation that the games would've had to overcome would be video RAM, not space on the cartridge.
Probably a little of both, I know for certain that they English Release of Megaman Battle Network 6 cut content from the English version due to a lack storage space in part due to the extra characters needed for English text.
So something to consider about many of these animations is that BN, especially the later games, has a distinct PvP element and design related to it, thus frame data and anticipation have mechanical merits in that context, this is also why Invis, and some other chips, gain Time Stopping properties in later games, there's a mechanic in later games wherein a PvP player can interrupt a Time-Stopping Chip usage with one of their own, resolving it before their opponent's chip, there's some nuances I'm skipping, but this leads to interactions such as Player 1 Activated ProtoManSP, Player 2 Cuts In with an Invisible chip, pre-empting the incoming attack and avoiding damage that would otherwise have no recourse, as ProtoMan's attack homes in on the enemy's position, this, has a unique little !! animation as well, related to but not quite the same iirc as the one that shows up when you take environmental bonus damage(eg Fire on a grass tile), or a Trap effect triggers The movement animation also plays in this balance, its snappy, but in particular, it has no transitional state, there is no way to be "between" tiles with most abilities either, the closest you get is the Rush Punch attacks in older games(which if interrupted, just snap you to a tile), you're either on tile A, or tile B, same with attack hitboxes, they always consume a tile, never a tile-edge, if you get flinched or otherwise stunned mid-step, you will actually snap to the tile you were moving to as well, so your movement can't be randomly stuffed entirely For a neat art-style detail, nobody except Bass is allowed Actual Cloth(until Colonel.exe happened, he got to have his cape), this is actually an artbook detail and it was meant to make Bass feel special for having the only tattered cloak on the internet, everyone else has stiff pieces and skintight suits, thus why ShadowMan/Style/Soul all have the Strider Hiryu solid scarf-cape going on
I always feel goofy about the battle network series, as my main experience was with the GameCube one. Which I often get flamed for liking more than the Gameboy games. But you analysis does great work to appreciate the animation within the games.
I imagine people find it odd not even because you like it more than the tactical GBA games, but because it’s a bad version of the classic platforming games. It’s kind of the worst of both worlds. If someone doesn’t like the card system, you’ll be constantly interrupted/need to “pause” to get more attacks in NT. And if you like platformers, it’s not very responsive or quick. I remember renting it as a teenager, and maybe I just sucked, but I couldn’t even beat Fire Man (the first boss). It felt oddly difficult and the controls made it feel that much worse.
My mind has just been blown. For the past 22 years, I always thought Sharks Man's fins were his feet, and that he was really short and leaning back in this really awkward pose. Kind of like if you tried to flip a pontoon boat on its back. Looking at him close up, I can see he's actually still partially submerged, and you just never get to see his lower half. Which makes more sense.
My fave animations are Duo's Anger Impact, and Bass's various animations. Anger impact specifically because it describes how rage inducing the fourth game is.
You should check out the Starforce series sometime, the visuals for the 3rd game were insane like there’s so much info getting blasted at you and you don’t even get overwhelmed
Yeah maybe, I never really got into the Star Force games. Tried the first one but it didn't feel the same as Battle Network and I didn't enjoy the 3D segments. Didn't feel right. Might have to give it another look though.
Shadows are absolutely NECESSARY in these games as sometimes enemies can look like they’re on different rows than they appear. Basically most enemies that float can have this problem. Shadows negate this problem with ease and simplicity.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy so in BN5 each soul unison gets its own sprite set Whereas how crosses display in BN6 it’s having the unique parts on top or behind the main Megaman sprite Like how weapons shot with the buster work Not sure how the sprites for beast cross is compiled though
BN6 sprite animation looks very generic compared to BN5 since they needed to account for things like sniper arm, tomahawk arm, or dual mounted shoulder cannons I never played BN4 but it might be unique sprites like BN5 too
Its almost definitely because A: A mafia/cult named "Treble" has both no menace, and kinda spills the finish immediately, and B: GospelOrg Comps have a giant G logo background that I doubt the Localization team had any resources available to redraw
correction about the sprite division: the GBA can actually handle nearly everything without TSA, it just saves ROM and memory space. I think sprites can require less draw calls.
The screen dimming mechanic is important, and that makes the invis chip hard counterable without the use a srch chip, because now instead of just resolving, screen dimming chips, can be countered by other screen dimming chips, like quick play cards in Yugioh.
I'd like to see a short part 2 with the navis. It's intrating that they arnt as detailed as Megaman and also Battlechip Challege had some good but rough starts for looking at navis
1. All enemies names appear when battle them at the start of your first loadout of chips 2. I cannot believe you didn't talk about the raw energy that is the attack "master style" it's so hard to do that attack but so worth it
Star Force was meant to be a spiritual successor to Battle Network but I always felt its reliance on low quality 3D vs. intricate spritework made it lack a certain charm. I was also kind of impressed by the fact that they had to go through the trouble of making additional animations for all of the playable/friendly navis in BN4 onwards due to being able to utilize the same chips Mega Man can on top of their own personalized movesets...though BN 4 particularly because seeing as you can't actually control them and they instead just borrow your deck during local tournament play or their dark versions, you're liable to not even see a lot of those animations.
I recently in another comments section came into the insight of the true beauty of countering and bonus cards encouraging risk reward play, so I'm going with the card that serves as an unofficial auxiliary tutorial for it, Vulcan. You know the moment where you're thinking to yourself "ah, Vulcan lasts longer! I can totally bait out a counter thanks to its long active time!" but then, of course, the longer it's out, the longer you're not truly taking advantage of the stun by using a more powerful card on it. You start looking to counter bait earlier, even subconsciously. What is that? Why, that's just the same as reading the enemy AI and predicting its movements. You, nice and early on, feel like a nasty little cheeselord who just figured out the hottest tech, and the game is laughing because you're having fun by secretly learning. And it all starts with that just long enough Vulcan, which as far as just being a gun and the sensation of rapidly gunning your enemy down, also satisfies that, too. And it's also your introduction to the math side of additive buffs like attack +10 on multihits! You gun enemies down in a satisfying animation that teaches you to read enemy ai and also to think about chip synergy and really planning your turn, and in planning your turn, comes planning your folder. Vulcan is a brilliant chip.
I would have given you a pass on controlling other Navis since that's something I associate with 4.5. Mega Man X was one of my first games and I was so excited for Battle Network. It and Legends are easily my favorite MM games.
I FUCKIN LOVE THE MMBN SERIES ITS THE CORE REASON WHY I LOVE COMPLEX ANIMATIONS AND BRIGHT FUCKING COLORS YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
![Mega Man Battle Network (Series) Unused Content! | LOST BITS [TetraBitGaming]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oheKyHLN6Dw/mqdefault.jpg)
The shadow actually has a gameplay function. Exact position is very important, since it's a grid based game. You need to know exactly where everyone is at all times, and the shadow is the best way to clearly define that.
"There's an absolute pooload of enemies" - Dan Root, 2023.
It sure shows the fluidity of the games performance
Ss
Oh... so that's why I'm seeing so much MegamanEXE in my feeds. Spiff...
You know, the cutscenes always have some of the best little animations.. like Lan throwing his PET at the one dood, or the grand and open acting on some of the RL badguys... they're so Saturday Morning, it's great ... ... ... AND then you mention the PET throw, awesome, thank you. I half-thought I had fever dreamed it or something. XD
I am so appreciative that you covered this series and all of the gorgeous animation that was put into it. I hope you get your own chance to just sit down and play it yourself for fun in your free time! If your girls have any favorite Navis from the game, I'd love to know what they are!
And I'll remember to drink water, thank you!
Ha, I'm actually now playing BN4!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Solid title! 3 and 6 are the ones I remember most fondly. Be sure to stay wary of the post game haha, they're always brutal
3 is favourite, but I've a hankering to play 6 ideally, just gonna blast through 4 first, build up to it.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy comments seen before disaster:
My favorite animations of the series are both from BN3: there’s a secret motion input for the GutsImpact chip that has an exclusive frame of animation where Megaman does a roundhouse kick, and the entire animation of the Master Style program advance is the absolute most DBZ-feeling thing
Whoa wait what about a roundhouse kick?? Been playing the series since their original releases and never heard of this before. What inputs do you have to put in to do it?
@@jb0258 hold A, then hit left, B, down, B, down, B
@@megamanpwn3dmario I ended up looking up a video on all the different Gut attacks you can do. Lol I absolutely cannot hit the buttons fast enough to do the 5 hit combo one 😅 I've tried a ton of times already. Although the Gut Rocket Punch is super easy to do (down, down right, right) and do it all the time now
That same kick is used in the Master Style PA isn't it? I don't remember there being another sprite for Megaman kicking
12:27 Actually, in BN6, the Crosses are literally using the same base MegaMan sprite palette shifted and with different torsos and arms pasted on top. BN 4 and 5 Soul Unisons did have entirely different sprite sheets for each form though IIRC.
22:01 BN6 isn't the only game to control other Navis. BN5 also gives you temporary control of ProtoMan and Colonel, and Double Team DS also has the Party Battle System that lets you use any of the allied Navis at (almost) any time.
BN5 in GBA also lets you use all the teammate Navis just like BN6. Just that unlike BN5 Protoman/Colonel and BN6 Link Navis, the BN5 teammates are confined within the Liberation Missions. But in terms of animation they have the whole package - overworld 8 direction sprite, battle sprite, etc.
Thanks, now I feel older then normal.
You're welcome 🤮
In that order?
@@HeavyMetalSonicRM the cycle just repeats over and over and over and over and over and over
The game did come out 2 decades ago.
@@HeavyMetalSonicRM nice 👍
Really hoping with the release of the collection that this series will get some more love. One of my all-time favorites and even inspired me when I was a kid to learn about networking which I ended up going to college for a major in
Aww, that's awesome, thanks for sharing! ^^ And I agree, I hope so too! I've only ever played one of the DS games (I think it was 5, that might be the only DS one, I'm not 100% sure XD), and I really want to get the collection to be able to play that game again, since the parts of it that I have played are super nostalgic! Plus I'd be able to play more of the previous games I haven't played, so that'd be awesome!
AMAZING INTRO!
One thing i do really appreciate about the Megan games is how much the gameplay just makes sense. Like, why megaman and other enemies seem to teleport around? Why can't i walk on blue tiles? Why do other navis have abilities i don't? Well its simple. Its coded that way. Of course viruses also follow these rules, because as bits of data they have to follow some basic laws to exist on the net and interact with things
Just something i thought of when you were mentioning how megaman moves around in battles.
Yeah those are some really good thoughts!
I've always loved the shimmer movement because it made me feel like I was in dragon ball and just moving that fast 😁 also like you said it really helps prioritize game feel which is supper important for how quick the game can be, especially at the bullet hell type sections! thanks for the video!!
Mega man BN was the biggest part of my elementary and middle school years. Of course the fandom is kinda dead but the announcement of the anniversary pack coming out and this video with as much passion for the art as I had for the whole series is really nice to see. Lovely video
Is the fandom dead? Where does the fandom lay?
Actually there's been a BN6 esports scene for a long time and they just compiled rollback netcode for tournaments, as well as the ChronoX project, that's striving to make a "Battle Network 7". But you're right, it's not as easy to find BN stuff as regular mega man stuff.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy N1GP is pretty active, there's a few associated non-English communities too that are slightly less active
Honestly, my favorite animation is for the program advance in the first game called "Powered Cannon," where MegaMan.exe's arm becomes this huge cannon that's three to five times his size. By no means should he be able to handle such a ridiculously enormous weapon, but I love that MegaMan does anyway.
Jacking in and navi customizer animations are unique across every game as well and I always thought that was super cool
This video means a lot to me cuz I grew up playing 5 Protoman and 6 Flazar and I’m a huge animation nerd! How you breakdown the animation is simple and easy to understand!
The animations did stand out to me as a kid, but what I think really pulled me in was the color design and character design! Now that I’ve played a bunch more Megaman games, I still believe that the BN series is the most colorful and has the best designs out of all the Megaman games!
P.S. - I learn so much from your videos and they help make me into a better artist!
I was hoping to eventually see an episode on Mega Man Zero & ZX series, but seeing Battle Network getting covered is a very pleasant surprise!
Amazing work so far, keep it up!
Thanks to this channel I've been learning how to make video game animations through your guidance. You have always been a inspiration for me.
Thank you! Good luck with it all!
Good luck, you can do this! ^^ I believe in you!!
Fantastic video!
I've been studying much of battle network's art (and in turn, its animation styles and nieches) as a way to inspire my own art style and this video organizes all the thoughts I had neatly!
I really like the animation of Gospel's operator - or more specifically, the palletshifting to make the awsome hair effect.
Very nice video, I am a spriter myself and I do like to work on MegaMan Battle Networkk assets, this video helped me on viewing many points, like everything has a shadow, how the posture of sprites helps on It's character personality and how well made and unique the animations are.
Oh and btw, the turning animation did made it to MMBN5 in the liberation missions, but I didn't knew this was a thing supposed to be at the beginning
No I'm pretty sure turning around in Liberation Mission surrounded battles just uses a normal movement flicker, instead of a bespoke rotation(the mechanic gets reused in 6 briefly as well for TomahawkMan's mission)
Great animation study as always! It's weird that Mega Man doesn't have any idle animation whatsoever, but since you're always on the move you won't be standing still much anyways
This is awesome
Thanks!
This is the perfect video for my current game design project, thank you
So unbelievably hyped. Thanks for the video!
I think a game is great when the people working on in are competent, driven, and are given the proper amount time to do what they love
Love that you highlighted some of the Program Advances like Heavy Stomp and GutsShoot, those along with Master Style in 3 and the "legacy" PA's in BN6 are some of my favorites from the series
I love when you counter enemies in MMBN 3, the sound and the blowback makes me laugh and makes me feel cool at the same time! Then in the later games, you get that circle thing that goes around you after a counter! I would love to see you talk about that in another video or short! Great video overall!!
Something cool about this animation (and all fighting games' really) is that responds directly to the speed at which an attack deploys to balance it. Some chips have long, detailed animations because the attack has some delay on its deployment as part of its balancing. On the other hand, the buster shot is a 1-frame pose change because the default weapon needs to be the fastest and most responsive one in the player's arsenal
really enjoy your way of explaining the praticality of these animations :)) so interesting to learn about
HOW DID I JUST FIND YOUR CHANNEL??!!! IT'S WONDERFUL!! I wanted to make a similar channel years ago but I've decided to do like a mix of design/animation analysis and game-development. When my mental health has significantly improved, I can start. Currently unemployed and on meds...
That was awesome thank you
Now for me i always loved the soul change and the different special buster effects
And what would be cool to see next is maybe the change in game style and animation in mega man star force 1,2 and 3
22:25 (somewhat) got used in the ds version of mmbn5
Thanks for the video!
Love the rambling from 24:00 onward, it's cutely therapeutic XD
...Particularly the shoes. I don't- I don't know why.
Elecman.exe's animations are my personal favorites (and also my favorite armor design for Megaman, including when Beast Out occurs), and a favored other one for me is Bass.exe, whom you've not talked about much.
To be fair there isn't much to talk about, but I do like how he gradually gains motion throughout the games, effects with his busters make fights quite dynamic.
Oh, also, Quickman.exe's boomerang deflection animation. Sooooo much personality in there.
Mm yeah, there's lots I didn't get to talk about, should've gone into Bass more I think, I like the consistency between games.
Yeah ElecMan.EXE is great, such a near design!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudyDunno if you'll ever get to talk about him, but I certainly hope you can ^_^
Maybe a Secret Bosses Animations thing? I dunno if that's doable.
Oh yes, agreed! Big fan. He's a favored electric user of mine, too; those back cools are impeccable.
the INTRO THO!
Lovely to see an episode on MMBN, and how it evolved throughout its instalments 👾 Keep up the good work
This video PLUS the game coming on steam ! perfection!
I know you mentioned the shadows and appreciated that they make everything feel grounded. But I think you haven't realised something that I've taken for granted. That is an incredibly important function in a game where it matters what grid coordinates something is on, especially when enemies can look so varied and even fly. Which also matters for the overworld as well in some puzzles. And that's why Nebula Gray and especially Falzar can feel so awkward to fight. (Can't believe I'm complimenting 4, but Duo avoids this problem through other tricks to make him easy to track)
When world (or subscribers) needed him most, the king returned
I loved this game so much when I was a kid !
I wish you could double like videos sometimes ngl.
Also shadow fight 2 and vector animation and tracking is cracked
Somehow, the timing from this video and the release of the collection today, feels too good to be true
I planned it that way 😎
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy and that’s why I’m subscribed 🤝🤝
Amazing as always
"Now! MegaMan Attack!"
I love that I can tell which clips are from team bn because of the tech they use that literally nobody else does
Megaman Battle Network series are one of my favorite game series on the GBA because it was mindblowing on how much content they jam-packed on a game made for handheld console.
Btw, Roll best girl in MMBN
My favorite part of SearchCross is the charge shot. You can really feel every rapid shot
It's great seeing an actual breakdown of the nice, concise animations in MMBN.
I'm kind of curious if ypu have any plans to address the 3D spiritual success to Battlenetwork, the Megaman Star Force series.
I completely skipped MMSF until very recently anf it's been interesting trying to get to grips with the 3D animations and gameplay.
I never played the Star Force games, so I've got no real desire to dive into that right now.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Honestly relatable. I would never have touched MMSF if not for being asked to experiencr first time, by friends, for stream with friends. Somehthing to hang out over, essentially.
As animator iappreciate, admire, respect and believe what you doing.
Really enjoyed the video! Nice to see these sprites get the admiration they deserve, and also to learn some new terminology. I'd never heard "elegance" used to describe assets being efficiently used before, but it's something I've definitely noticed. Nintendo's first-party games would be a great example - very rarely do they use a complex, fancy animation just once.
Tiny bit of nitpicking: I suspect that the main limitation that the games would've had to overcome would be video RAM, not space on the cartridge.
Ah, I knew I didn't know enough about all the techno stuff on cartridges 😅
Thanks for the info!
Probably a little of both, I know for certain that they English Release of Megaman Battle Network 6 cut content from the English version due to a lack storage space in part due to the extra characters needed for English text.
Your content is gold
Thank you
So something to consider about many of these animations is that BN, especially the later games, has a distinct PvP element and design related to it, thus frame data and anticipation have mechanical merits in that context, this is also why Invis, and some other chips, gain Time Stopping properties in later games, there's a mechanic in later games wherein a PvP player can interrupt a Time-Stopping Chip usage with one of their own, resolving it before their opponent's chip, there's some nuances I'm skipping, but this leads to interactions such as Player 1 Activated ProtoManSP, Player 2 Cuts In with an Invisible chip, pre-empting the incoming attack and avoiding damage that would otherwise have no recourse, as ProtoMan's attack homes in on the enemy's position, this, has a unique little !! animation as well, related to but not quite the same iirc as the one that shows up when you take environmental bonus damage(eg Fire on a grass tile), or a Trap effect triggers
The movement animation also plays in this balance, its snappy, but in particular, it has no transitional state, there is no way to be "between" tiles with most abilities either, the closest you get is the Rush Punch attacks in older games(which if interrupted, just snap you to a tile), you're either on tile A, or tile B, same with attack hitboxes, they always consume a tile, never a tile-edge, if you get flinched or otherwise stunned mid-step, you will actually snap to the tile you were moving to as well, so your movement can't be randomly stuffed entirely
For a neat art-style detail, nobody except Bass is allowed Actual Cloth(until Colonel.exe happened, he got to have his cape), this is actually an artbook detail and it was meant to make Bass feel special for having the only tattered cloak on the internet, everyone else has stiff pieces and skintight suits, thus why ShadowMan/Style/Soul all have the Strider Hiryu solid scarf-cape going on
Wow, there is my channel. Thank you. 👌🏻
YES MY FAVOURITE MEGAMAN SERIES
amazing channel really learnt alot
Great video, could you make a video about Blasphemous animation, really curious to see that game?
Thanks. It's really tricky making videos right now. Maybe in the future at some point.
My fav megaman series ever. Thanks
I always feel goofy about the battle network series, as my main experience was with the GameCube one.
Which I often get flamed for liking more than the Gameboy games. But you analysis does great work to appreciate the animation within the games.
I imagine people find it odd not even because you like it more than the tactical GBA games, but because it’s a bad version of the classic platforming games. It’s kind of the worst of both worlds. If someone doesn’t like the card system, you’ll be constantly interrupted/need to “pause” to get more attacks in NT. And if you like platformers, it’s not very responsive or quick. I remember renting it as a teenager, and maybe I just sucked, but I couldn’t even beat Fire Man (the first boss). It felt oddly difficult and the controls made it feel that much worse.
Beastman going bazinga all over the field is an animation sequence I'll never forget, nor cease to fear.
My mind has just been blown.
For the past 22 years, I always thought Sharks Man's fins were his feet, and that he was really short and leaning back in this really awkward pose. Kind of like if you tried to flip a pontoon boat on its back.
Looking at him close up, I can see he's actually still partially submerged, and you just never get to see his lower half. Which makes more sense.
I loved playing that video game.
Which one?
My fave animations are Duo's Anger Impact, and Bass's various animations. Anger impact specifically because it describes how rage inducing the fourth game is.
I love the pixel animation.
Best game of all the time i repeat playing all the series like once every 1-2 years for over a decade
Wished it does have continuation make it over 20 series lol it's so fun
Finally a video of Dan jackin.......in, good to see.
Thank you for this video, excellent!!!
You should check out the Starforce series sometime, the visuals for the 3rd game were insane like there’s so much info getting blasted at you and you don’t even get overwhelmed
Yeah maybe, I never really got into the Star Force games. Tried the first one but it didn't feel the same as Battle Network and I didn't enjoy the 3D segments. Didn't feel right.
Might have to give it another look though.
Shadows are absolutely NECESSARY in these games as sometimes enemies can look like they’re on different rows than they appear. Basically most enemies that float can have this problem. Shadows negate this problem with ease and simplicity.
Thank you so very much for this.
Still remember the weird overlay for crosses in BN6 whereas BN5 had complete different sprites for soul unison
Were they overlays in 6? 🤔
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy so in BN5 each soul unison gets its own sprite set
Whereas how crosses display in BN6 it’s having the unique parts on top or behind the main Megaman sprite
Like how weapons shot with the buster work
Not sure how the sprites for beast cross is compiled though
BN6 sprite animation looks very generic compared to BN5 since they needed to account for things like sniper arm, tomahawk arm, or dual mounted shoulder cannons
I never played BN4 but it might be unique sprites like BN5 too
to be fair Bass' dog in the classic megaman games Trebble in japanese is Gospel just for some reason they ignore that detail with battle network games
Its almost definitely because A: A mafia/cult named "Treble" has both no menace, and kinda spills the finish immediately, and B: GospelOrg Comps have a giant G logo background that I doubt the Localization team had any resources available to redraw
correction about the sprite division: the GBA can actually handle nearly everything without TSA, it just saves ROM and memory space. I think sprites can require less draw calls.
Thanks for the info
That battle theme from the first game is burned into my brain.
The screen dimming mechanic is important, and that makes the invis chip hard counterable without the use a srch chip, because now instead of just resolving, screen dimming chips, can be countered by other screen dimming chips, like quick play cards in Yugioh.
Nice!
Do the boss analysis in shorts! Think it will really help the algo and draw people to this wonderful video.
Evening is now... SAVED!
I'd like to see a short part 2 with the navis. It's intrating that they arnt as detailed as Megaman and also Battlechip Challege had some good but rough starts for looking at navis
Looking forward for Star Force video now XD
1. All enemies names appear when battle them at the start of your first loadout of chips
2. I cannot believe you didn't talk about the raw energy that is the attack "master style" it's so hard to do that attack but so worth it
I SAID I REFUSE TO LEARN!
Also fair point.
I want to get the Battle Network Legacy collection now because I mostly played the X, Zero and classic series with a little bit of Legends
Do it!
20:36
It IS Treble, they just didn't localize his name for some reason
Can't wait for part 2.
Which part?
The shadows also help you tell what vertical plane the flying enemies occupy.
Which is probably why I find Duo so difficult!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Yeah, comparing Duo to the flying enemies that charge at you, Duo is much less readable.
Searchman is indeed top tier soulcross
BN's animations were awesome.
they did a lot with with a little.
Star Force was meant to be a spiritual successor to Battle Network but I always felt its reliance on low quality 3D vs. intricate spritework made it lack a certain charm.
I was also kind of impressed by the fact that they had to go through the trouble of making additional animations for all of the playable/friendly navis in BN4 onwards due to being able to utilize the same chips Mega Man can on top of their own personalized movesets...though BN 4 particularly because seeing as you can't actually control them and they instead just borrow your deck during local tournament play or their dark versions, you're liable to not even see a lot of those animations.
20:36 well you did enough research to know that robot master it's based on was renamed Treble when they localized Mega Man 7 and I'm glad you did
17:18 stoneman actually has another attack that he rarely uses where his arms detach and fire lasers
My favorite part in the series is that IF you are correctly timing it, you can 'phase' through an attack. takes a bit of practice though...
Ooooh yeah think I've done that a few times. Clever trick!
... The first Battle Network game, is almost as old as I am. I still feel old
so glad to see the moment where lan literally bludgeons a man with a fucking brick at the end.
I never knew Battle Network remixed so many classic Mega Man tunes.
It was mostly in 4.5, tbf
Nice intro
Thank you!
Just finished the vid. Nice outro too. XD
Search soul is pretty dope
A video on the Star Force games would be sweet
I didn't play the SF games, so I've got no real desire to do that just yet.
My favorite animation is easily Lan throwing Megaman at someone
GOAT
I recently in another comments section came into the insight of the true beauty of countering and bonus cards encouraging risk reward play, so I'm going with the card that serves as an unofficial auxiliary tutorial for it, Vulcan. You know the moment where you're thinking to yourself "ah, Vulcan lasts longer! I can totally bait out a counter thanks to its long active time!" but then, of course, the longer it's out, the longer you're not truly taking advantage of the stun by using a more powerful card on it. You start looking to counter bait earlier, even subconsciously. What is that? Why, that's just the same as reading the enemy AI and predicting its movements. You, nice and early on, feel like a nasty little cheeselord who just figured out the hottest tech, and the game is laughing because you're having fun by secretly learning. And it all starts with that just long enough Vulcan, which as far as just being a gun and the sensation of rapidly gunning your enemy down, also satisfies that, too. And it's also your introduction to the math side of additive buffs like attack +10 on multihits! You gun enemies down in a satisfying animation that teaches you to read enemy ai and also to think about chip synergy and really planning your turn, and in planning your turn, comes planning your folder. Vulcan is a brilliant chip.
Master Style
I would have given you a pass on controlling other Navis since that's something I associate with 4.5.
Mega Man X was one of my first games and I was so excited for Battle Network. It and Legends are easily my favorite MM games.
I FUCKIN LOVE THE MMBN SERIES ITS THE CORE REASON WHY I LOVE COMPLEX ANIMATIONS AND BRIGHT FUCKING COLORS YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥