I played the first Mega Man Star Force game back in the day on my Nintendo DS and really dug it. Given its narrative and gameplay connections to the Mega Man Battle Network series – my favorite Mega Man franchise – I’ve always wanted to go back and check out Star Force in full. After Capcom has been whipping up these snazzy new Mega Man collections for the past several years, we’ve finally reached the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, and this one seems just as exceptional as the rest.
If you weren’t aware, Mega Man Star Force is another RPG-esque subseries from Capcom’s iconic platforming franchise. You run around futuristic towns and the “EM Wave World,” which is essentially the internet from Battle Network overlaid across the real world. While traversing the EM Wave World, you’re thrown into random encounters with enemies.
Like in Battle Network, fights take place on a grid, though you fight on a single horizontal row from your character’s point of view rather than the right side of the entire board. Enemies still have nine panels to maneuver across, while you’ve only got three, making for a different and slightly more challenging core concept. You still use battle chips to take down foes, though, with deck customization being an absolute blast. The attacks are quick and flashy, and it’s always cool to earn enemy abilities as Battle Cards once you’ve defeated them.
I’m also impressed by how the collection approaches the dual-screen aspect. Given that all of the Mega Man Star Force games all came out on the Nintendo DS, both screens were always in use. In the collection, the bottom screen is minimized in a corner of the screen during regular gameplay, with it maximizing at the top when you choose your cards in battle. Additionally, holding down a button lets you swap the top and bottom screens whenever you want, which is an elegant way to convert two screens into a single-screen console’s display.
The Assist features of Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection are fantastic, and will serve newcomers and returning fans equally well in different ways. People who find it too difficult will be able to power up their Mega Buster and adjust various settings to make things easier, while people who are replaying will love being able to reduce, increase, or disable random encounters and speed up Mega Man with the press of a button. It’s a fantastic feature that I think all RPG rereleases would benefit from.
I’m thrilled that all of the versions of each game are available, making it possible to use whichever exclusive cards you choose. Plus, the previously Japan-exclusive Battle Cards are included, which is a big get for fellow international fans. I suspected Capcom would do this given the precedent set by the Battle Network collection, so I’m glad to have been proven right in that regard.
Credit: Capcom
The Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection looks fantastic on current consoles.
Both the pixel art and 3D models throughout Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection’s titles look excellent, having been smoothly updated to be sharper with less jagged edges. A lot of the pixelated 2D character art seen in dialogue boxes seems to have been swapped with the base art itself, which is a pleasant little way to show off the original illustrations. You can turn the HD filter off; however, if you prefer the classic pixel look, which I appreciate immensely.
Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection is shaping up to be another strong collection from Capcom, and I’m stoked to dive deeper into the later entries in the coming weeks to see what all I missed.
