Mega Man Star Force: Quick Thoughts Before Legacy Collection

9/30/2025

It was recently announced during a Japanese Nintendo Direct (it got cut from the English one...) that Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection would finally exist! I didn't express a lot of enthusiasm in the moment, but I'm very excited to see these games get in front of a new audience. This leaves the Legends series of Mega Man games as the last ones to remain un-collected by Capcom. That's a subject for another day, perhaps...

I'm very fond of the Star Force series, just as I am with predecessor Battle Network and, well, pretty much every Mega Man series. Mega Man is one of my biggest gaming heroes. I grew up playing Mega Man games, so the entire franchise means a lot to me. I thought it'd be fun to offer my brief thoughts on the Star Force trilogy ahead of the collection dropping in 2026.

In my youth, my first Battle Network game was 3, and I was able to play 4, 5, and the finale, 6, as they came out. Star Force or as it was first known to me Ryuusei no Rockman was one of the first times I kept up with the release of a Japanese game. Not very well, mind you. I made the Japanese website for the game my homepage, and would check it for new character portraits and pictures. I couldn't read it, of course! Also at this time I was a daily visitor of MMHP, Mega Man Home Page that would also have a few updates about the game.

I was completely enamored with the futuristic aesthetic, and the awesome series theme that would play on the homepage. Sadly, for broke kid reasons, I never got any of the Star Force games when they came out! Sad, sad little Jane. But, I would play them as an adult in 2019. They delighted me, but just like Battle Network, they're certainly not all equal.

In case you're totally unfamiliar, the Star Force games are card-collecting action RPGs. You'll pick up new cards, which act as weapons or special abilities in real-time battles. The SF series put the camera behind Mega Man, and you can only move directly left and right, with a lock-on system enabling the depth. All three are fun and worth playing, none should be skipped, and every game has extensive post game challenges if you're into that kind of thing.

Star Force - Pegasus, Dragon, Leo

The only Star Force game to have three isolated versions... sorta, kinda. SF1's biggest standout is the story. Our hero, Geo Stellar, is a lonely fellow who hasn't made friends in a new town after. He's also dealing with his father's disappearance. It's quite melancholy at times, nothing way out of line for the Mega Man series, but it's got a great atmosphere, especially early on.

In the Battle Network world, Net Navis, the internet, and to a lesser extent, cyber-crime, are all a standard part of the setting. The appearance of alien FM-ians in Star Force is treated as exciting and unfamiliar, which is perfect for the tokusatsu superhero feeling the game starts to weave into. The playing of Mega Man as a secret identity for Geo is, frankly, absolutely adorable. As is the classic crush that Luna Platz has on Mega Man, but not Geo. Doesn't get more superhero-y than that!

I'm not sure where else to mention this, but the boss theme in this game is a total slapper. The music and sound in general is greatly enhanced from being on DS vs GBA. You'll find a lot of tracks that will be great for background listening.

In terms of versions, you're basically picking out your awesome super transformation this time. They're a little underwhelming in terms of what they can actually do, and unlike the Styles in Battle Network 2 and 3, you don't stay transformed. You also don't have like 5 of them like the souls in BN 4, 5, 6, so it's not as fun to play with overall. Pick your favorite aesthetic or element and enjoy. I think the wings on Pegasus are cool, but Dragon has that classy streamlined look.

Star Force 2 - Zerker/Saurian, Zerker/Ninja

There are lot of things that are very enjoyable about this game. But it's kind of overshadowed for me by the story taking an absolute nosedive. What happened here? Geo's friends start acting like completely Flanderized versions of themselves. It is a jarring contrast from the first game. I can't really describe it as anything other than they suddenly stopped caring. SF2 wastes pretty much no time in reintroducing the villain-of-the-week format to the series. Now, that's absolutely an element of SF1 and the Battle Network series, but it just feels extremely phoned in here. Thankfully, this won't continue to SF3.

With a largely forgettable cast of new villains and characters (except for Rogue, kind of, who I'm not that big on), SF2 is a very complete feeling and more challenging game than the first. There's a higher encounter rate (by how much, I couldn't quite say) and just...more battle cards and unique enemies to mess around with. In the post-game challenges, a lot of the bosses from the first game return, so you've got a chance to try out your new abilities on them, too!

And what a great new set of abilities you have. The Tribe system in this game is pretty awesome. It's not only a permanent transformation (which I believe to be the most strategically interesting style), it ALSO has variations! You will Tribe On with the version of your choosing, Zerker, Saurian, or Ninja. Yes, Zerker gets included twice across the two releases. If you have a Brother (a friend) with another version, you can MERGE them, and the base form does matter. So, Zerker combined with Saurian is actually different from Saurian Combined with Zerker. If you're a player with lots of friends, you might be able to access Tribe King, which is all three Tribes put together in a kind of super-mode. Rarely does Mega Man get to be this...gaudy? And crazy looking, but I really dig it.

The flip side of this is that a lot of this game's coolest stuff is locked behind the Brother system. I don't know if it's impossible to do all the post-game challenges without some real Brothers, but the boost in power would certainly help. You get a big power boost and strong cards in the first game as well, but I feel that it almost gimps Star Force 2. Almost. I had a great time playing this one, even if the story falls short.

Star Force 3 - Black Ace, Red Joker

Pretty widely considered to be best Star Force game without much wiggle room, Star Force 3 thankfully brings back an actual storyline, with real characters in it. It also shoots the customization and super-forms way beyond anything else in the series. It's pretty awesome, but I have a few pain points, even here.

Number one being that they change some things about the premise here. FM-ians are now a part of society, and called Wizards, and everyone has new things on their arm called Hunter-VGs. The game gets through all this in a pretty clunky way, and part of it feels like someone (again) wanted to turn back the premise to be a little more like Battle Network. It was close enough already, I think? There's nothing better or worse about it, really, it's just kind of odd, especially since this ended up being the last game in the series. There were plans for a fourth at some point. There was also no anime adaptation for Star Force 3, so it really does make me wonder...

Number two is the new part of the card system where some cards can be greyed out in your selection window. I never liked this in the game, or thought it contributed to any sense of strategy or deckbuilding. Basically, more powerful cards can be larger in your window, and they are laid out in a random fashion. If cards overlap, you can't select the one underneath. I have read before that the idea behind this was to prevent the spamming of the most powerful cards, which is a noble goal. In my playthrough though, it mostly felt like the game would just randomly go "nuh-uh!" for no particular reason. It's not a dealbreaker either, mind you. I can't recall any instance where the game wouldn't let me select some kind of game-winning card in a boss fight or something. It is very mildly annoying. Maybe it was worth it for the greater good of multiplayer balance? It's worth asking, as Legacy Collection will feature online!

Outside of those two things, I would say this one is as good as gold. The storyline with Rogue continues, there's a great new character named Ace, the romance plot with Geo, Luna, and Sonia is so lovable.

The new super-system is Noise Change, which takes that cool combination aspect from SF2 and multiplies it into the stratosphere. Now, there are 10 base Noise forms with different powers and elements, which can be combined with your Brother's to really create something unique. This is the coolest thing ever. I'm sure there's some busted-ass combination in those ONE HUNDRED forms, but who cares? I hope you see one and are like, yeah, that's the one I want!

There's even a small chance to get a Noise form from the other version you're not playing. How insanely cool is that?! You can stay transformed as well, so the sense of personalization here is super strong. There are also super-super forms, the titular Black Ace and Red Joker forms. These are fun to play with too, but Black Ace being so much cooler looking than Red Joker is kind of a bummer on that aspect.

I don't think it's uncommon sentiment that the Star Force series never quite got its fair shake. All three games were not super hot sellers in any region, and it's pretty understandable for the gaming public and kids to be a little burnt out on Battle Network/Star Force after SF3, which is effectively the ninth game in a sub series.

Legacy Collection brings an exciting opportunity for people to play these games in a more connected capacity than you could by Gamesharking everything on a R4 flashcart (which is based, but still). I know I'll be picking it up to replay them, so I hope you'll do the same, or give it a chance for the very first time!

- Jane