The DS era is dear to my heart for many reasons. It was my first ever handheld, and I still have fond memories of its vast library. After the release of the Mega Man Battle Network Collection, I was hoping Capcom would perhaps revisit the Star Force series. And wouldn’t you believe it, the company seems to have heard my inner wishes, because we finally got the Star Force games as a collection!
Thanks to Capcom, I had the opportunity to play a tiny bit of these games before their official release. Our full review will be coming soon, but for now, here’s a sneak peek at one of my personal most anticipated releases.
Seven Games In One Package
Just like the Battle Network collection released prior to this, each game in the Mega Man Star Force franchise is divided into different versions. For instance, the first game is divided into Leo, Pegasus, and Dragon. The second game has Zerker x Saurian and Zerker x Ninja, and finally, the third game is divided into Black Ace and Red Joker. You can play through any version, though it is worth noting that save data doesn’t carry over between versions.
Starting things off, we have the first game, Mega Man Star Force Pegasus, Leo, or Dragon. Our story begins with Geo Stelar, a fifth-grader who loves to tinker with machines and gaze at the stars. Unfortunately, after his father, Kelvin Stelar, went MIA with the explosion of the space station “Peace”, this event traumatized poor Geo to the point he just stopped going to school entirely.
One day, Aaron Boreal, a friend of his father and co-worker at AMAKEN space agency, gives Geo the Visualizer, a pair of goggles that belonged to his father. This allowed Geo to be able to see electromagnetic (EM) wave forms, and as soon as he did, he met Omega-Xis, an alien who can fuse with Geo to turn him into Mega Man, thus allowing him to surf the EM waves and defeat the threat of the FM Aliens that are attacking Earth.
Our second game is Mega Man Star Force 2, which is divided into Zerker x Saurian, or Zerker x Ninja. Now, instead of the Transer, Geo has upgraded to the Star Carrier, a new type of mobile terminal. Omega-Xis is still ever by his side, even after the events of Mega Man Star Force, and when they think that they have finally had peace… a new enemy strikes.
During their trip to Wilshire Hills, a highly technological city, a mysterious man appears and unleashes a horde of Viruses, and it is up to Mega Man once again to save the day. This is a game that greatly improves upon the first, with the introduction of the Link Power system and abilities, and it’s actually one I enjoyed going back to.
Finally, we have Mega Man Star Force 3, divided into Red Joker and Black Ace. EM Wave technology has reached incredible new heights, and Geo Stelar upgrades his device yet again from the Star Carrier to the Hunter-VG. Such amazing progress also comes with its own set of issues, though, with the EM Wave Viruses growing stronger and stronger.
At the risk of sounding incredibly biased, the third game is the one I’m most fond of, and as a kid, I replayed it several times. Upon loading this up in the collection, Mega Man Star Force 3 made me lose track of time while playing—that’s how much I still enjoyed it.
Battle Cards, Give Me Your Strength
Now let’s talk about the combat system in Mega Man Star Force. It’s a pretty simple system, but one that can get very complex as well. Mega Man has a folder of cards, and the game will pick six random ones and lay them down in a 3×2 space at the bottom screen. You can select cards that are on the same row, or cards that are the same type, such as two Cannon cards. You also have White Cards, which add effects such as additional damage or paralysis to your cards.
Once you’ve chosen your cards, you will use them in the order you selected, and will have to wait a bit until the Custom Gauge fills again until you can pick more. You’re also able to use the Mega Buster by holding down the B Button. It doesn’t do a lot of damage, especially when it comes to bosses, but it can be handy. What I most like about this combat system is how it allows for a lot of customization. I can easily see myself losing several minutes, carefully selecting cards to craft the “perfect” deck. I say that in quotes because… that is something that is unique to everyone.
The Dual-Screen and Font Problem
Now, you might be wondering the same thing I was when this collection was announced. How did Capcom address the elephant in the room that was the dual-screen functionality? Inside the Game Settings menu, there is an option called Layout, where you can adjust how the two screens are displayed. Depending on how you set it up, you can press ZL to zoom in between the top and bottom screens, and the game will also automatically perform that for you in the event your attention is required on either screen.
It’s not an elegant solution, but I can’t say I’m disappointed with how it was handled in this case. Any Nintendo DS game that made constant use of the two screens would have to find creative solutions around what was that console’s main gimmick after all. Though since Mega Man Star Force 3 took that reliance on the two screens to the maximum, it can get a bit jarring, as you’re constantly having to change between the two screens.
Now, unfortunately, there is one issue in particular that plagues the first game in the collection, Mega Man Star Force. You see, the original game had an egregious font that didn’t allow for much text to fit back in the day, which caused a lot of dialogue to be cut off. Unfortunately, this cutting-off issue is still present, so you get awkward text gaps where even when it seems like the entire text can fit in this new font, you still have to mash A to get through it. These are just some of the bugs that I think will be addressed before the game’s official release.
A Promising Collection
Though I’ve only had a few hours with the collection, there’s so much I could’ve talked about, and I can definitely say that this might just be one of my highlight games of the year. The absolute trip down memory lane I felt replaying through these titles was real, with the games feeling right at home on Nintendo Switch. While there’s still a lot of ground I have to cover, and this preview only shows a fraction of it, you’ll have to wait until our full review of the game to learn more, so look forward to it!
