Mega Man Battle Network turns the popular platform shooter franchise on its head by introducing RPG elements, strategic battles, and Pokémon-style searches for (and link cable-trading of) "battle chips."

Players take the role of a young hacker named Lan who enters cyberspace under the guise of "Mega Man.EXE" to battle crime. "Mega Man.EXE" is the codename of Lan's personal digital assistant, which can make phone calls, send and receive emails, keep a calendar, store data, shop on the web, and check news from around the world.