Cyberworld Endless

What is Cyberworld Endless?

Cyberworld Endless is a roguelike that runs Mega Man Battle Network 6: Cybeast Gregar itself, straight from a ROM the player supplies. MegaMan is jacked into a net that is generated anew for every run, assembled from layers laid out in the style of BN6's own areas and stocked with that game's viruses, chips, shops, Mystery Data and music.

Nothing shipped here contains Capcom's data. An unmodified .gba file dumped from the player's own USA Cybeast Gregar cartridge is required, and without it there is no game. Cybeast Falzar, other regions and the Legacy Collection's files do not work yet. Team Colonel (USA) can sit beside the BN6 ROM as an optional extra.

The project is free, open source and still in development, and it runs in the browser or as a download for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Steam Deck, iPhone and iPad, handhelds with PortMaster, and the New 3DS family.

How to play

A run opens in Lan's room, at his PC. Each layer ahead is generated fresh and dressed with BN6's set pieces: purple data that needs an Unlocker, security cubes locked behind P-Codes, lanes of arrows, pads that teleport, gaps only Rush can cross, and obstacles from Link Navis that a Cross in the run can clear. Every third layer finishes in an arena, and the Net Dealer keeps a chip chosen to answer that guardian. Guardian Data hands over five HPMemory units, the guardian's chip, a Cross if that guardian has one, and a NaviCust program to pick.

Between acts Lan goes home. Central Town keeps a memory of the run, AsterLand can order any chip the Library holds, and locals put up requests. Three acts in comes the Cybeast Nest on layer 10, and felling its guardian wins the run in about an hour.

After that the endless net opens: nineteen layers down through the Undernet and the Graveyard to the Cybeast's den, then around again, harder, with Bass waiting in the Secret Area and Chaud and ProtoMan arriving for a busting duel.

Controls

In the browser the player picks ROM files for two cartridge slots. Movement falls to WASD or the arrow keys; J and K stand in for A and B; Q and E are L and R; Enter is Start, Backspace is Select, and the player's menu sits on F1. Controllers work as they are, and on a phone the game draws its own buttons. OPTIONS on the title screen sets keys and buttons.

Progress is saved in the browser on every new layer. Because browsers clear their data, Save backup in the player's menu downloads saves as one file that also works on every other system. The browser player on this page keeps its saves apart from the one on the project's website. On a New 3DS the bottom screen is the PET, and saves travel between all supported systems through the SAVES screen.

Tips for your first run

Every run starts as strong as the first. What runs unlock are choices for the next jack-in rather than permanent power: folders, a Cross from the first battle, ten threat rungs and helpers. Dad's mails keep a record against every guardian, and BN6's own title marks count the milestones. The habits that pay off early are preparation and speed: - Buy the Net Dealer's chip before a guardian's arena, since the stock is picked to answer him.

- From the second act, one branch at the fork can lead to a dark layer that becomes a Liberation Mission made from that layer; clearing it against par decides the chip left behind.

- Chase Guardian Data: five HPMemory units, a chip, a Cross where one exists and a NaviCust program are worth a detour. - AsterLand orders any chip the Library holds, so use Central Town to patch holes in the folder.

- Nothing in the Net Square makes a run stronger; the only thing that comes home is a chip you traded.

Content and replayability

Past the first win, the endless net loops nineteen more layers at rising difficulty, and the choices a run opens multiply across ten threat rungs. Because the tenth layer closes with a guardian, an hour is still the shape of a single climb.

From the second act, a fork can send a run into a layer gone dark, rebuilt as one of BN5's Liberation Missions from the layer itself: a board of dark panels, each one a battle of three turns, DarkHoles and their guardians, and a Darkloid at the far end. The liberation proceeds phase by phase against a par, and faster clears leave a better chip for the rest of the run.

With Team Colonel (USA) beside the BN6 ROM, BN5's areas, viruses, chips and Navis join runs in their own tiles, music and bystanders while the fighting happens in BN6's engine. Beating one of its Navis grants his Soul, and UNITE then works in every battle after.

Presentation and performance

Everything seen and heard is BN6 running from the player's own ROM, and the footage shown is whole frames of the game in motion. Imported BN5 material keeps its own tiles, music and bystanders, so the two games stay visually distinct even when they share a fight.

Online, rollback keeps input delay to two frames on a good connection. The Net Square runs eight players to a channel, with talk limited to phrases and emotes picked from a fixed list rather than typed freely, and any battle in the channel can be watched from the stands. A weekly DeepNet lets everyone in the Square dive the same net.

Saves are a single file, portable between browser, desktop, phone, handheld and New 3DS installs. In the browser the ROM stays where it is and is never uploaded. The build runs on an embedded mGBA core, the code is MIT-licensed, and the project is an unofficial fan work rather than a Capcom release.

Who should play it

The core audience is anyone who still has a Cybeast Gregar cartridge and a way to dump it. The roguelike structure rewards fluency with BN6, since Unlockers, P-Codes, arrow lanes and Cross-cleared obstacles all read as shortcuts to someone who knows the original areas. Deck-building instincts help too, because folders, chips, Crosses and NaviCust programs decide every guardian fight.

Players arriving for the multiplayer have conditions to meet. The Net Square itself takes BN6 alone, but trades, NetBattles and the DeepNet want Team Colonel beside it, and NetBattles run on every system except the New 3DS. Falzar owners, owners of other regions and Legacy Collection players have no route in yet.

Roguelite players who like short, repeatable climbs will find a complete run measured in about an hour before the endless net takes over and the threat rungs begin stacking.