Ever wanted to play around with Battle Network’s real-life Battle Chip Gate peripherals that were never released outside of Japan? Buying tons of expensive chips from the secondhand market is now a thing of the past, with The Rockman EXE Zone admin Greiga Master‘s brand new Battle Chip Gate Homebrew!
This nifty GBA homebrew app turns a second GBA with a flash cart into a Battle Chip Gate and is fully compatibility with both the English and Japanese versions of Mega Man Battle Network 4, 4.5, 5 and 6, as well as Mega Man Zero 3. The app also lets you build folders for easy access to your favorite chips and even slot-in Program Advance combos automatically, making it far easier to use than the real Battle Chip Gate.
Although a number of the real-life BattleChips were sold outside of Japan, the Battle Chip Gate, first introduced in Mega Man Battle Network 4, was not. This peripheral connected to your Game Boy Advance via the link port and allowed you to play a special mode named Operation Battle in Battle Network 4 and 5. This was later followed up with full-game compatibility in Rockman EXE4.5 and Battle Network 6.
The Battle Chip Gate Homebrew supports multi-player as well – it’s even possible to combine it with a real BattleChip Gate if you have one on hand. Greiga Master lists the following additional features:
- Battle Chips are arranged by Library and can be sorted by Name, Attack, and Element
- Can mark chips as Favorite for quick access in a dedicated tab
- Create up to 16 Chip Folders for managing multiple themed folders or strategies
- Favorites and folders are saved
- When browsing Chips, switch between Send Mode to send instantly, and Sort Mode to rearrange Chips in the order you want
- Send Navi Chips, grouped by compatible game version
- Send Program Advance (PA) combinations automatically
- For Battle Network 6, send Navi chips in all available levels and even view their stats before sending
- Can do multiplayer battles with real Chip Gates or with other Chip Gate Homebrew players
Download the Battle Chip Gate Homebrew below (be sure to read the included readme.html!) and head on over to TREZ Forums to discuss the project!