Mega Man Star Force

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Mega Man Star Force
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date	JP December 14, 2006 NA August 7, 2007 AUS November 7, 2007[1] EU November 30, 2007
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Mega Man Star Force, known in Japan as Shooting Star Rockman (流星のロックマン, Ryūsei no Rokkuman^?), is a Mega Man action role-playing video game published and developed by Capcom for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was released on December 14, 2006 in Japan, and was released in North America on August 7, 2007.

The game was released in three separate versions simultaneously, subtitled Pegasus (ペガサス, Pegasasu^?), Leo (レオ, Reo^?), and Dragon (ドラゴン, Doragon^?). However, the Dragon version is exclusive in North America to GameStop stores for the English localization.^[2]

Mega Man Star Force has many similarities to the Mega Man Battle Network series, but is considered a separate entity. Both an anime and manga were produced several months prior to the game's Japanese release date and are currently running in Japan. So far, only the anime has been adapted into English.

On April 12, 2007, CoroCoro Comic revealed that a sequel is in the works, which was released on November 22, 2007.^[3]

[edit] Premise

The Mega Man franchise takes place in two separate timelines, one where robotic technology flourished and another where network technology prospered instead.^[4] The Battle Network series was placed in the network timeline, causing it to be completely disconnected from every other Mega Man series (Classic, X, Zero, ZX, and Legends). Mega Man Star Force explicitly states that it takes place approximately two-hundred years into the future of Battle Network, thus placing it into the network timeline. As such, Star Force deviates greatly from the standard Mega Man fare because it draws almost exclusively on elements from Battle Network (mostly gameplay elements), making very few references or allusions to the other Mega Man series. However, Capcom has produced Star Force as a stand-alone series, meaning players can fully enjoy the title without being familiar with the Battle Network series.

Set in the fictional year 220X,^[5] emphasis on internet technology has lessened, and instead, the world has become networked through use of EM waves. Though cyber worlds and NetNavis still exist in Star Force, human dependency on them has greatly decreased, and people no longer have Navi companions. Three large satellites orbiting the Earth—Pegasus, Leo, and Dragon—power the EM Wave World that exists around the Earth's atmosphere, keeping the world networked. While the EM Wave World is normally invisible to the human eye, a special piece of eye-wear called the Visualizer (possessed by the series' protagonist) allows a human to see this other world. However, like with the cyber worlds of Battle Network, viruses (known as EM Wave Viruses) inhabit the EM Wave World, causing problems in every day life.

In Battle Network, people operated PErsonal Terminals (PETs) to constantly interact with the network. Similar devices called Transers are used in the Star Force world. Transers are compatible with Battle Cards (the Star Force version of the previous Battle Chips), and when swiped through, they provide means to deleting viruses that infect the EM Wave World and other electronic devices. A group of Satella Police also exist, dedicated to stopping virus attacks and thwarting criminals who manipulate the EM Wave World in order to break the law.

Furthermore, there exists an alien planet known as "Planet FM," inhabited by extraterrestrial beings called FM-ians. FM-ians can traverse in both worlds, and also possess the ability to physically merge with human beings through a process called "Electromagnetic Wave Change" (電波変換, denpa henkan^?). Other than lending a human the FM-ian's powers, this process also transforms an ordinary human into an "EM Wave Human," allowing him or her to freely operate in the EM Wave World (as well as cyber networks within specific electronic devices).

The protagonist of Star Force is Geo Stelar, the son of a famous scientist and astronaut. He has an encounter with a rogue FM-ian known as Omega-Xis who takes residency in Geo's Transer. When the two go through an Electromagnetic Wave Change they form an entity known as Mega Man.

Whereas a large focus in the Battle Network series were the NetNavis (who are mostly based on Robot Masters from the Classic Mega Man series), Star Force focuses on FM-ians based on many real-life constellations.

[edit] Gameplay

A screenshot of a typical battle sequence.

[edit] Battle system

Mega Man Star Force is an action RPG much in the same vein as Battle Network. It is rendered in an isometric style (sprites, views, etc.) during field gameplay, but its battle system is three-dimensional, with the battles being viewed from behind Mega Man, and movement restricted to only left and right. Since enemies have a much larger playing field, battle evasion seems limited, but the player is given a choice of techniques like shielding and homing attacks to keep battles balanced. Mega Man's life is a simple "Hit point" (HP) numerical system. When he takes damage, the number lowers, and when it reaches "zero," the game is over. HP can be recovered in a number of ways, both in and out of battle.

Battle Cards are collected in a number of ways throughout the game, and the player must organize them into a folder to use for battles. Every time the "Custom Gauge" fills during battle, Cards are called up at random and are selected to use against the enemies. Depending on their arrangement on the screen, certain Cards can be selected together to provide combinations, just like Battle Chips from Battle Network. There are three different classes of Cards ranked by their power and rarity (Standard, Mega, and Giga), and only a certain number of Cards from each class, or a certain number of a specific Card, can be placed into a folder. Other options allow players to set certain Cards as favorites so that by connecting to other players via Wi-Fi, they can use their favorite Cards in a random draw during battles. This implements an element of strategy into planning battles.

The player can also use their standard Mega Buster at any time to combat with, and upgrade items for Omega-Xis can be collected throughout the game to increase the Mega Buster's rate, power, and charge speed. The Mega Buster is constantly charging to release a single powerful shot, but the player can hold the button down to fire rapidly. Other battle elements include the "Best Combo" system, allowing the player to chain together attacks, easily dealing damage well up into the thousands—Star Force's version of Battle Network's "Program Advances". At the end of every battle, a player's performance is ranked on a number of factors (like speed and amount of damage taken), and higher scores reward the player with better items (such as large quantities of "Zenny" currency or rare Battle Cards).

Star Force also borrows the same elemental properties that Battle Network uses. The four elements include heat (fire-based), aqua (water and ice-based), elec (electricity-based), and wood (plant and wind-based). Elements are attached to certain attacks and to enemies' (or Mega Man's) defenses. When an element is hit with an element that it is weak to, double-damage is dealt. Heat is weak against aqua but strong against wood, aqua is weak against elec but strong against heat, elec is weak against wood but strong against aqua, and wood is weak against heat but strong against elec.

To put it another way: Heat > Wood > Elec > Aqua > Heat (and so forth)

A screenshot of Mega Man traversing the Wave Road.

[edit] Exploration

Gameplay outside of battle typically consists of exploring areas (in the human world, EM Wave World, and cyber world), conversing with people and programs to progress the storyline or access side-quests for additional items. While traveling in the EM Wave World or cyber networks, battles ensue at random. The game also calls for Geo Stelar to run errands or perform tasks in order to solve problems or puzzles and push the story along, much like Battle Network. However, unlike Lan Hikari of Battle Network, Geo has the aid of Navi Cards, special cards that allow him to call upon NetNavis to assist him in solving problems. Throughout the course of the game, Geo collects five Navi Cards (PropellerMan, KeyMan, PitcherMan, ThermoMan, and ShovelMan), and if the player is ever stuck, they can converse with Omega-Xis to get hints on where to go next.

The game also makes use of the Nintendo DS's touch-screen capabilities. Certain cyber networks require the player to interact with the touch-screen in order to progress, such as by riding mechanical bulls or dragging rockets with the pen stylus in order to hit targets.

[edit] Other features

Mega Man Star Force consists of three versions sharing the names of the satellites: Leo, Dragon, and Pegasus, references to the constellations Leo, Draco and Pegasus, respectively. Each version offers a separate transformation for Mega Man based on the satellites: Ice Pegasus, Fire Leo, and Green Dragon. (No elec-element transformation exists in the game.) Each transformation also has a special "Star Force Big Bang" attack that can be unleashed after countering an enemy attack. All three transformations can be attained on any version through Brother Band (see below). Outside of these transformations, each version has very minimalistic differences.

Mega Man Star Force is compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection as well as wireless play. Through wireless play, players can trade Battle Cards and battle each other's Mega Men. Through use of Wi-Fi, players can use the Brother Band network (a play on broadband) to share favorite Cards, Star Force transformations, or status upgrades as well as send e-mails. The game also offers a complex portrait-creation process for one's Brother Band mug-shot similar to the decal creation in Mario Kart DS, and a censorship filter is also implemented when creating profile information. The game allows you to have up to six "Brothers" at a time; three are open for other players through Brother Band and the other three are offered to the player from in-game characters. (Note: that there is a 4th in game brother (Zack) that can be obtained after defeating the final boss.)

Takara has released a Wave Scanner accessory which functions as an AM Radio, as well as operating much like the Battle Chip Gate released for the Battle Network games. Inserted into the Nintendo DS through the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot, players can swipe actual Battle Cards to use during battles as well as communicate with the "Wave Transer" toy, also produced by Takara. The device was released in Japan in February 2007, but like the Battle Chip Gate, it is unlikely that it will be released in the U.S. The Wave Transer also functions like an e-Reader in that it allows the player to power up Mega Man by granting such bonuses as extra health.

The Game Boy Advance slot has other uses, however. Any previous Mega Man Battle Network GBA game (including Battle Chip Challenge and the Japan-exclusive Rockman EXE 4.5) can be inserted to unlock a cameo appearance from MegaMan.EXE himself. He gives the player an item for Omega-Xis if a task is fulfilled for him, but then he quickly escapes back to his own time. Outside of this easter egg, however, there appears to be only a few references to the events or characters from two hundred years ago. There are, however, at least three references: In Geo's house, a vase containing Netopian flowers can be found (Netopia being a location of one of the previous incarnations); In the snake exhibit in the "Time Square" level, a Netopian snake is featured; and in the dump of the "Dream Island" level, a landfill full of discarded PETs can be seen.

In addition, the crossover aspect between the Battle Network and Konami's Boktai series returns in this game. Characters from Lunar Knights (Bokura no Taiyou DS: Django and Sabata) appear in an in-game side-quest and can become Brothers through "Cross Brother Band".^[6] This feature was removed from the US/PAL versions, as it was from Lunar Knights. It's unknown why this feature was removed from the US/PAL versions.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Mega Man Star Force characters

[edit] Plot

[edit] Introduction

An image depicting many of the game's main characters. From left to right, top row: Hope, Kelvin, Aaron, Copper, Omega-Xis; bottom row: Pat, Luna, Bud, Zack, Sonia, and Geo.

The game stars a fifth-grade student named Geo Stelar, who can be renamed by the player, and his FM partner, Omega-Xis. Geo has been mourning the disappearance of his father Kelvin after the explosion of the space station Peace three years ago, and as a result, he has not been attending school. A group of children from Geo's class constantly urge Geo to attend school, but he always refuses.

One day, Geo comes home and finds Aaron Boreal, Kelvin's co-worker at the AMAKEN Space Agency, conversing with Geo's mother, Hope. Aaron gives Geo the Visualizer, a glasses-like device that allows humans to see the EM Wave World. Geo goes outside to sulk on an observation deck over the city when he puts the Visualizer on. Using it, he sees Omega-Xis, who recognizes Geo as Kelvin's son and quickly performs an Electromagnetic Wave Change with him, transforming into the Star Force version of Mega Man.

Omega-Xis is considered a traitor by the FM King because he has stolen the mysterious Andromeda Key, and he also claims to know about the events leading up to Kelvin's disappearance. Geo agrees to work with Omega-Xis to protect the key, and thus, Omega-Xis resides within Geo's Transer much like Navis do in PETs. He is aided in his fight against the FMs by the three satellite Admins, Dragon, Leo, and Pegasus, who are also energy-based aliens.

The game is presented episodically in this fashion, following a basic formula: enemy FMs descend to Earth and target humans with conflicted lives, promising them the power to turn things around. However, unlike the merge between Geo and Omega-Xis, these humans merge somewhat involuntarily and lose control of their bodies during the conversion. Mega Man has to defeat them in order to rescue the innocent human from the enemy FM's control.

[edit] Side-quests

There are three optional bosses that have no placement in the game's storyline. Geo can encounter these characters and challenge them to battle, one of which can only be battled after the game's story has been completed.

Furthermore, any of the previously battled bosses can be fought again as "ghost data" found throughout the EM Wave World. These bosses are invisible and will automatically challenge Mega Man when he walks into their location in certain areas. The ghost versions of these bosses are powered up (indicated by the suffix "EX"). Upon defeating the EX form, an even stronger form (identified as "SP") will randomly challenge Mega Man (like normal virus battles) in that area.

A secret area is available to the player after completing the game's main story. This secret area offers more difficult enemies, as well as rarer items and Battle Cards to collect. However, the secret area cannot be finished without completing other tasks in the game, including collecting at least one of every Battle Card and defeating all of the SP-level bosses. The secret area also offers a battle against the game's corresponding Satellite Admin in his true form (not the weakened shadow form faced in the game's main story). Lastly, by completing the secret area, the final boss is also powered up to its ultimate form, Andromeda Infinity.

Finally, Geo can perform errands for NPCs by accessing their Transers from the EM Wave World. These errands usually include retrieving or delivering items or messages to other NPCs, or by battling groups of viruses, and the rewards vary from minuscule (such as scant Zenny amounts) to extraordinary (such as rare Battle Cards or Omega-Xis items), usually depending on their degree of difficulty.

[edit] Reception

[edit] In Japan

Among the three versions of Star Force, the Pegasus version is the most popular in terms of sales while the Leo version is the least popular. According to weekly sales report for Star Force's first week out, none of the three versions placed in the top 10. While Pegasus barely ranked in the top 20 by placing the 20th spot, Dragon and Leo both fell short by placing spots 23 and 26, respectively. The titles continued to plummet down to the 30th spots the following week.^[7]

This is quite contrasting to the sales of Battle Network titles (which precede the Star Force series); these games would debut in the top 10 and remain there for several weeks after their releases.^[8]

However, it is difficult to judge the accuracy of such sales reports since the game's sales are divided up between all three versions; if the sales of all three were combined, the game may have ranked higher. Furthermore, reviews from popular Japanese gaming sources, such as Famitsu (which gave the game an overall score of 32 out of 40),^[9] indicate that the games are getting good reception based on content. However, bad sales may be attributable to it having been released so closely to seventh generation console releases. Despite this, Capcom began production on a sequel due out November 22, 2007.

[edit] In the US

IGN gave Star Force a 5.2/10, their main concern being the games' lack of innovative gameplay and being almost identical to Battle Network. [1] GameSpot gave the game a 6.0, citing the game's similarities to the Battle Network games as a down point, despite saying it had "minor improvements", the friend system being one of them. [2] Nintendo Power, however, ranked the game a 7.5/10 for its new battle system but citing the same old look in non-battle scenes.

[edit] Music

The game's music was composed by Yoshino Aoki and Mitsuhiko Takano and released as the first disc of the Shooting Star Rockman 1 & 2 Original Soundtrack (流星のロックマン１＆２オリジナル・サウンドトラック, Ryūsei no Rokkuman wan ando tsū orijinaru saundotorakku^?) compilation.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji or kana.

• Capcom of Japan's Shooting Star Rockman game page (Japanese)
• Takara's Shooting Star Rockman product page (Japanese)