I didn't know Megaman Battle Network was so hated. As someone who grew up with the original series, loved it, continued with the Megaman X series, and again loved it. I was unsure what to think of the Battle Network series when it first released. However, upon playing the first game for the first time, I too love that series. No, its not a side scroller, if your problem is that its not like the original games, then I guess that understandable, but me personally, I like many many genres of video games, from Mario to Halo, and everywhere inbetween I'm willing to give every new genre a go, and gave a go I did to battle network. For what those games are, its a fantastic series. People that hate the series just for the sake of hating it, seem like game hipsters to me, its pretty pathetic to see. But whatevez, haters are gonna hate I suppose. I'll give this game a try for sure, bet it will be a quality one too.