Mega Man Battle Network 3

The gameplay in Battle Network 3 is similar to that of its predecessors, with few graphical enhancements and minor gameplay changes. Battle Network 3 saw the removal of Power-Ups that were collected to improve the MegaBuster — instead the Navi Customizer was added, allowing abilities to be added on with certain rules as to how these abilities can be added with respect to each other.

Each version of the game has a separate Contest Navi: BowlMan for Blue/Black, and MistMan for White. Blue also includes another Navi, Punk, that could be challenged from time to time. Punk's chip was only available as part of a special promotion in Japan. However, it can be attained via a cheat device or by being traded from Black to Blue. White, on the other hand, has no such Navi.

The year is 200X. Doctor Wily has returned to reform the evil organization WWW (World Three) and now seeks to release Alpha, a prototype version of the Internet that went berserk after becoming corrupted by bugs and was locked away before the current Net was set up. To release it, Wily needs the passwords, referred to in-game as TetraCodes, to the firewalls Alpha is trapped behind, which are hidden in secret locations.

Meanwhile, a tournament called the N1 Grand Prix is being held, supposedly to determine who is the world's best NetBattler. It is later revealed to be part of the plan for Wily to steal the TetraCodes, and the WWW attacks between rounds.

Mega Man Battle Network 3 performed well commercially in Japan. The original version, released on December 6, 2002, was the second best-selling video game in the region during its release week at 91,351 units according to Famitsu. The game appeared within the Famitsu top 30 best-sellers list for twelve weeks following its release with 461,426 units sold by March 16, 2003. The game's updated Black version, released in Japan on March 28, 2003, was the 11th best-selling video game in the region during its release week at 28,708 units sold.

It also appeared the Famitsu top 30 best-sellers list for the four following weeks with sales of 73,964 units by April 27, 2003. By the end of 2003, the original version had sold 500,001 units and the Black version had sold 168,946 units in Japan alone.