, , and are 2006
action role-playing video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s developed and published by
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
for the
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
handheld
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...
; combined, they are the first game in the ''Mega Man Star Force'' series, a sub series of the greater ''
Mega Man
''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...
'' franchise—and a follow up to the ''
Mega Man Battle Network
is a tactical role-playing video game series created by Masahiro Yasuma and developed and published by Capcom as a spin-off of the ''Mega Man'' series; it premiered in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance and takes place in an alternate continuity whe ...
'' series. It takes place in the years of 220X, in which technology has advanced to the point where the world is now connected through
EM waves. The game follows Geo Stelar, a fifth-grader in Echo Ridge who merges with an FM-ian named Omega-Xis after mourning the supposed death of his father.
The ''Mega Man Battle Network'' series had concluded with the
sixth game in 2005, with the developers citing the new DS hardware as their reasoning for its ending. ''Mega Man Star Force'' continues several gameplay and story elements introduced in ''Battle Network'', with battles taking place on a 3-by-5 grid in which Mega Man is limited to moving left to right in one row and attacking using Battle Cards. Players are also able to play against each other, trade Battle Cards, and form a Brother Band with another player using the DS' wireless capabilities.
Prior to its release, Capcom also commissioned
anime and manga
Anime and manga are forms of mass media produced by the content industry of Japan. The anime and manga industry forms an integral part of Japan's soft power as one of its most prominent cultural exports. Anime is a Japanese cartoon with a sp ...
adaptations to help promote the game.
''Mega Man Star Force'' received mixed reviews from critics upon release; it was often regarded as too similar to ''Battle Network'' due to its reuse of concepts, art style, and similar gameplay, with many generally finding it a disappointment. However, it was a commercial success, selling nearly 600,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2007. ''Mega Man Star Force'' would spawn two direct sequels for the same system, as well as a crossover in the form of an enhanced port of the first ''Battle Network'' game under the title ''
Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star'' (2009), released only in Japan.
Gameplay
''Mega Man Star Force'' is an
action role-playing game
An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre.
Definition
The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...
much in the same vein as ''
Battle Network''.
Outside of battle, the game is rendered in a 2D isometric view where the player travels through the real world and finds areas to Electromagnetic Wave Change (EM Wave Change), which tend to be the entrances to the EM Wave World or various computers.
In the Wave World, the player is able to encounter viruses, during which the game switches to a 3D view from Mega Man's back, and where movement is restricted to left and right.
In battles, HP represents the amount of life Mega Man has. Whenever he is hit by an attack the number decreases, and when it reaches "zero," the game is over (and the player must start over from when/where they last saved). 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; certain Chips can also have an element applied, with Heat chips being effective against Wood enemies. 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 game is compatible with
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo to provide free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download ...
as well as wireless play. Through wireless play, players can trade Battle Cards and battle each other's Mega Men. Players can also use the Brother Band network to share favorite Cards, Star Force transformations, or status upgrades as well as send e-mails.
Characters from ''
Lunar Knights
''Lunar Knights'', known in Japan as and abbreviated ''Boktai DS'', is an action role-playing video game, the fourth title in the ''Boktai'' series of video games developed by Kojima Productions and announced at E3 2006.
The game was revamped ...
'' (''Bokura no Taiyou DS: Django and Sabata'') appear in an in-game side-quest and can become Brothers through "Cross Brother Band", however this feature is missing in non-Japanese versions.
Plot
Setting and characters
''Mega Man Star Force'' takes place in the fictional year of 220X, when emphasis on internet technology has lessened, and instead, the world has become networked through use of
EM waves. Though cyber worlds and
NetNavi
Since the debut of the first ''Mega Man'' video game in 1987, numerous characters have been introduced into the series.
Overview
Key:
= Does Not Appear
List indicator(s)
* A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the prope ...
s still exist in ''Star Force'', human dependency on them has greatly decreased, and people no longer have Navi companions. instead relying on Transers. 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 eyewear 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'', EM Wave Viruses inhabit the EM Wave World, causing problems in everyday life.
Furthermore, there exists an alien planet known as "Planet FM," inhabited by
extraterrestrial beings
Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...
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 EM Wave Change. 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). Many of the FM-iams are named after
constellations (e.g. Taurus Fire), and merge with people undergoing hardship.
The protagonist of ''Star Force'' is Geo Stelar (although they can be renamed by the player), a fifth-grader living in Echo Ridge who has been in a state of isolation after the suppossed death of his father, Kevin Stelar, several years ago after the explosion of the
space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...
''Peace''. He is soon joined by a rogue FM-ian known as Omega-Xis, who takes residency in Geo's Transer; both are able to EM Wave Change into Mega Man (known in other media as Star Force Mega Man), and travel between both the real and EM Wave worlds.
Story
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. He is aided in his fight against the FMs by the three satellite; eventually, they make it to the space station ''Peace'' which had been seized by the FM King, during which Omega-Xis reveals to Geo that he knew Kelvin Stelar before coming to Earth, but converted him into a wave form so the astronaut could escape the king's wrath. They defeat Andromeda but spare the king, following his father's dream to establish peace with other life. The king tells Geo his name is Cepheus, but asks Geo how he could possibly trust one from another world, for he never has. Eventually, he is convinced that he and Geo are kindred spirits and must both set out to make their parts of the universe a better place.
Geo is ready to return to Earth, but the station begins falling apart and he is cut off from the wave road he used to reach the station in the first place and he is forced to escape via a derelict escape pod. For days he and Omega-Xis drift through space, doomed to die on this spacecraft and be lost in the void forever but just as Geo is ready to give up hope, somehow, from the endless vastness of space, his father's spirit is finally able to reach him. Geo is confronted by his father in a dream where he tells Geo he must hold on to those he loves most and as long as he keeps believing in them, Kelvin shall always watch over him, no matter how far apart they are. At that moment, Geo's friends, even Pat, have gathered at Geo's favorite spot to call him back home. The strength of their bonds causes all their Brother Bands to converge into a beam that connects with Geo's space pod and miraculously saves him. Geo simply watches the Earth draw closer as he is brought home during the game's credits, never to be the boy he used to be again.
Development and release
The decision to end the ''
Mega Man Battle Network
is a tactical role-playing video game series created by Masahiro Yasuma and developed and published by Capcom as a spin-off of the ''Mega Man'' series; it premiered in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance and takes place in an alternate continuity whe ...
'' series with the
sixth entry wasn't made until partway through development, since the developers wanted to take advantage of the new hardware. According to
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
producer Takeshi Horinouchi, the ''Mega Man Star Force'' games have been among the most difficult games in the franchise to develop because they "
ame #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME
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/nowiki> on the heels of the ''Battle Network'' series," increasing the expectations of the fans. Masahiro Yasuma wrote that the reason for the more simplistic battle system was due to the system in ''Battle Network 6'' being too complicated, so they 'reset' the system so younger children could play; the change in perspective was done to allow for new gameplay, while maintaining the ''Battle Network'' feel.
To promote the new game, Capcom commissioned an
and Mitsuhiko Takano and released as the first disc of the compilation.
According to weekly Japanese sales report of the first week of release for ''Mega Man Star Force'', none of the three versions placed in the top 10. However,
sales data shows that the three versions of the game sold a combined 219,171 units in Japan by the end of 2006, placing it as the 59th best-selling video game of the year in that region. An additional 374,504 units were sold in 2007, making it the 37th best-selling game of that year and totaling sales to 593,675 units for Japan alone.
; ''Pegasus'', ''Leo'' and ''Dragon'' all scored 60, 58, and 60 out of 100 respectively.
Reviewers generally expressed disappointed about the lack of changes from the ''Battle Network'' series, particularly in gameplay and visual style;
"it's more likely to leave the gamer mystified, feeling positive they've been down this road countless times before."
agreed, stating "we were hoping that Capcom would take this opportunity to reboot the series into something fresh. Instead, we have more of a sidestep than a step forward," although they felt the game would be fine for people who hadn't played any of the prior ''Battle Network'' entries.
However, the game received minor praise for its few improvements; reviewers consistently praised the BrotherBand system,
had hoped it would allow for more than six friends per game.
The expanded length was also praised, though a common sentiment was that it took the story too long to get going, as well as the high amount of backtracking involved in progression.
'' (2009)—an updated port of the first ''Battle Network'' game with a new crossover scenario with ''Star Force''.