Capcom’s quest to compile and reissue its Mega Man games continues in Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, and I think it’s hard to argue that we’re not getting towards the bottom of this particular ice cream pail. At this point we have all of the mainline releases of Mega Man Classic, Mega Man X, Mega Man Battle Network, and Mega Man Zero/ZX. With Star Force checked off, there’s really only series left to go unless Capcom feels like rounding up spin-offs. We’re not talking about Legends today, however. No, today we discuss Mega Man Star Force, the other half of Mega Man’s Nintendo DS adventures.
The Nintendo DS era was a good one for many gaming franchises. The handheld console was wildly popular across a wide variety of players, and that presented opportunities for games to reach a whole new audience. Up to this point, Capcom had done a fairly good job of maintaining Mega Man’s relevance over the years by periodically reinventing it for new generations of players. Indeed, Mega Man had found a great deal of success on Nintendo’s previous handheld console, the Game Boy Advance. The Mega Man Battle Network series of RPGs were a big hit, with some of that cross media magic serving as added wind in its sails. Mega Man Zero wasn’t as big of a seller, but it landed well with the more hardcore Mega Man fans.
Both series were starting to fall victim to the usual Mega Man fate by the time the Nintendo DS arrived. Too many entries, too little change between those entries, and predictably falling interest and sales as a result. But hey, new hardware makes a great reason to try some new things, and thus two new Mega Man franchises were born to take over from Battle Network and Zero. Mega Man ZX seemed to have some promise, but its follow-up Mega Man ZX Advent dropped off badly. So much for that!
As for Mega Man Battle Network’s successor, Capcom chose not to stray too far from what had already been working. Indeed, some of the bigger changes came as a result of trying to connect better with the young audience that had been so taken with that series. Some elements of the gameplay were simplified, and it’s hard to say if that was a good call or not. Naturally, Capcom also wanted to make use of the increased power and capabilities of the Nintendo DS, shifting the battle scenes from 2D to exciting polygonal 3D graphics. It’s like you’re really there!
Still, Mega Man Star Force was very familiar to anyone who had been playing the Mega Man Battle Network games. Perhaps too familiar. It’s set two centuries after Battle Network, but some things never change. Protagonist Geo Stelar and his electronic partner Omega-Xis explore various areas in an isometric viewpoint, frequently entering the computer space of different objects to fix all manner of problems. Once inside, you’ll explore maze-like paths and battle enemies using an assortment of abilities that come in the form of cards. As you make your way through the game, you’ll collect more cards and expand your range of actions.
The battles are set on a grid again, but this time the view is behind Mega Man’s back. You can’t move into the grid, so you’re restricted to moving left or right along the three lanes. To make up for this decreased mobility, you can now make use of a shield and a special homing attack. I prefer the system in Battle Network, but Star Force’s spin on it is fine enough. It’s active and varied enough that you don’t find yourself getting bored as quickly as you might in some other systems. As for the exploration, you’re not dealing with quite as much confusion on average as you may have in the Battle Network games. Again, a little simplified.
The original Mega Man Star Force came in a whopping three different versions, and you get your choice of all of them here. I suppose I can do the full roll call for Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection now. It includes the entire Star Force series, which gets you the following titles: Mega Man Star Force: Leo, Mega Man Star Force: Dragon, Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus, Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Ninja, Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian, Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace, and Mega Man Star Force 3: Red Joker. You can count that as seven games if you like, but there aren’t many differences between the different versions of each entry. In practice, it’s more like three games. Three fairly chunky games, though. It would have been nice if the Battle Network remake, Operate Shooting Star, had been included. It crosses over with Star Force and I can’t imagine where else Capcom could stick it.
The sequels follow the usual pattern for Mega Man follow-ups, making refinements to the gameplay systems and presenting a new adventure, but without any major shake-ups. Unfortunately with the games already feeling fairly similar to the six-game Battle Network series, the formula got tired a little more quickly. After the third game, not even Lan and Mega Man EXE could generate the necessary push for a fourth chapter. At least that third game ends on a decent enough note. It’s not like Geo got left on the Moon or anything.
I probably don’t sound terribly excited about Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection. Look, I’m going to be realistic here. In terms of pure gaming value, this collection is in the lower ranks of the Mega Man sets we’ve seen so far. It’s nice that it’s an all-in-one, but it really had to be. I’ve never been as down on Star Force as some, and I think a lot of the muted response to them was as much a result of burning out on the formula as opposed to anything specific the games were doing wrong. At the same time, they’re not all that exciting either. There’s some intrigue around the core mysteries of the whereabouts of Geo’s missing father and the backstory of Omega-Xis, but it’s almost impossible to not compare these characters and narrative threads to those of Battle Network, and they come up rather wanting in that match-up.
Well, the games are the games. They’re not changing by this point, and I’m sure they have their fans who will be very happy to see them back out there again. They can be even happier since Capcom has taken the same superb approach with this collection that it did with the Battle Network games. Similar options and extras, including some galleries and a section where you can listen to the music from the games. The in-game text has been replaced with a high-resolution font that is certainly more readable but also sticks out badly against the lower-resolution graphics in much of the game. The battle scenes really look dynamite here, as the 3D is sharper than the Nintendo DS could have ever dreamed of rendering it. It’s especially nice if you’re playing on a Switch 2 in the new handheld boosted mode, but it looks good no matter how you slice it.
You can also enjoy a very robust set of online options, allowing you to battle or trade with other players around the world just like you would have been able to on the long since shut down service on the Nintendo DS. Fortunately, these games didn’t make a whole lot of use of the dual-screen display or touch controls that characterized that handheld. In this collection, the default set-up does a nice job of showing you the right screen for the job most of the time, but you can always use a button to flick over to the other one or try another display setting if you’re not happy with it. There is also a good selection of assists and difficulty options you can tweak if you want an easier or harder time of things. Capcom has come a long way from its early in-house efforts in the Legacy series, to the point that I can’t find much of anything to complain about concerning the package around the Star Force games.
Basically, if you already have affection for the Star Force games, you’ll want to pick up Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection. This may not have been the most successful of series for Capcom, but there’s no lack of love in how the games are presented here. They look and play their absolute best, and you get a whole pile of options and extras to mess around with. Battle Network fans who skipped on this series should give this a look as well, since there’s a lot of shared ground between the two.
If you’re new to all of this, you’ll probably want to start your journey with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. It’s not that you can’t jump in with Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, but the included games aren’t quite up to the highs of their predecessors. Star Force adheres too closely to Battle Network for its own good, and where it does make changes they are generally for the worse. With all that said, it’s hard to fault Capcom’s work here on dressing these games in their Sunday best and getting them back out there.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review Copy Provided by Capcom
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