Mega Man Battle Network 2

The general gameplay is essentially identical to that of the original Mega Man Battle Network game; indeed, the two games utilize a significant amount of the same graphics. However, Battle Network 2 introduces several new concepts that augment the system established by the original game.

In terms of health, MegaMan.EXE no longer heals fully and automatically after each battle. Furthermore, the game introduces the SubChip, a device similar in basic concept to a Battle Chip but one that can only be activated outside of battle.

Three months following the events of the first game, and two months following the events of Mega Man Network Transmission, the world is in a time of peace following the defeat of the organization known as WWW (World Three). However, NetCrime, perpetrated by a new NetMafia organization known as Gospel, is on the rise. Once again, Lan Hikari and his digital NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE, become involved and work to defeat Gospel's plot to destroy society.

NetNavi Operators are given the chance to become City NetBattlers, a lesser form of an Official NetBattler, which Lan does, allowing him to travel around the world, both in cyberspace and in real life. In doing so, Lan stops Gospel's attempts to collect four particularly powerful computer programs, called SuperPrograms, on numerous occasions. However, Gospel is eventually successful and uses these programs, in combination with computer bugs, to construct a SuperNavi of immense power. This Navi is a duplication of Bass.EXE, who appeared in the original game as a hidden boss and who plays a larger role in later games. However, after fighting MegaMan, the Bass copy destabilizes and transforms into a gigantic, wolf-shaped super multibug organism.

Development on Mega Man Battle Network 2 started shortly after completion of the first game; programmer Koetsu Matsuda stated that when making the first game, there were several things the development staff had wanted to do different, but couldn't due to time constraints, specifically citing the escape system. The game was first announced at the Japan World Hobby Fair in June 2001, prior to the release of the first game in international territories; during the event, Capcom held a contest to design a boss character for the game, similar to previous games in the Mega Man franchise. The winner was eventually announced to be Shoichiro Satokawa, and his character GateMan.EXE.

The game was officially released in Japan on December 14, 2001; Japanese television advertisements for the game featured the song "feel the wind" by Janne Da Arc; the Japanese version came with a bug that would cause the save data to corrupt if the LockEnemy Sub Chip was used, which was acknowledged on Capcom's official website. It was later released in North America on June 11, 2002, while Ubisoft would publish the game in Europe on October 18, 2002.

Mega Man Battle Network 2 sold 124,349 units in Japan during 2001 and has been listed by Dengeki Online as the 91st best-selling video game in the region for that year. Famitsu sales data showed that the game was the 30th best-selling game of 2002 with a total of 344,230 units sold by the end of year. The magazine showed a total of 446,938 units sold in the country at that point.

Battle Network 2 was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Role-Playing Game on Game Boy Advance" award, which went to Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis.