Mega Man has been one of my
favorite video-game series since I was a child. It has been with me ever since
the NES – so I cherish all those beloved moments I have spent with the
franchise. Regrettably, the series hasn’t transitioned well to the
next-generation of consoles – better yet it didn’t even transition well to the Playstation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. Now, Capcom, at their best, is milking the
franchise for all that is worth with a new series that features three individual
games: Mega Man Star Force Dragon, MMSF Leo and MMSF Pegasus.
This once again isn’t the same Mega
Man everyone fell in love with in the ‘80s – Mega Man Star Force is a
new series that takes place 200 years after the Mega Man Battle Network
series. Similar to the Battle Network series, players once take control
of another avatar that has to enter a different world to be converted into Mega
Man. The story pits players as Geo Stelar, a boy who meets up with an alien
that hails from the planet FM named Omega-XIs. Unexpectedly tagging along with
Omega are unwanted aliens that are out to harm anything and everything on
Earth. The catch is that the aliens exist only within the “EM Wave World” which
is on par to what Battle Network’s cyber world was. To stop the evil
aliens, Geo must merge with Omega-XIs and become Mega Man. Becoming Mega Man
will provide Geo the ability to ward off evil in Wave World.
Returning players of the Battle
Network series will be hard pressed to notice differences between it and
Star Force. The game looks identical in several areas and even plays the
same. The first distinction fans should recognize between Star Force
and Battle Network is the battle screen. The camera angle within the
battle screen has been changed to an over the shoulder view. Another change
comes with the grid – it’s smaller. Additionally, Mega Man can only freely move
across the bottom row of his own grid. This limitation equates to only three
squares so the action becomes stale in record time. The development team did
add in a nice ability to lock onto an enemy and counterattack which has Mega Man
dashing across the grid to attack. Overall though, the fights aren’t as intense
as they used to be.
Taking the form of a card-based
action-RPG, players have six Battle Cards to choose from on the screen and 30
cards in total to use in a battle. This is minor change from Battle Network
due to it only allowing the player to choose between five cards. Every card
will vary in damage, the radius of its attack and the elemental attributes. In
total there are over 150 cards within the game so finding them all will prove to
be difficult.
Players shouldn’t worry about the
length of the game. The story will last anywhere from 25-35 hours. Gameplay is
reminiscent of every dungeon-crawling game: it’s full of random encounters and
items to scavenge for. Star Force’s entertainment value ran out rather
fast for me because the side-quests repeatedly asked me to backtrack and find an
item. These fetch quests are tiresome and often took too long for me to
complete when I was more concerned about the storyline. But, I am sure hardcore
Battle Network fans will enjoy collecting all the powerful Battle Cards.
Using the Wi-Fi capabilities of the
Nintendo DS, Capcom has delivered a few new perks for players. Adding people to
your friends’ list is now extremely beneficial – players on the friends’ list
become apart of a “brother band.” Being a part of the “brother band” allows
those players to use their friends’ cards in battle by being able to trade. The
differences between the three games are minimal outside of the transformation
and status bonuses your friends will earn from being in your “brother band.” Wi-Fi also allows users to send e-mails
to each other and customize an
avatar. The last thing I need to mention will have fans in an uproar – Wi-Fi
battles aren’t included in any shape or form. Yes, for some odd reason, Capcom
didn’t focus on delivering the goods this time with Wi-Fi battles.
Now let’s get started on the
graphics – they aren’t as impressive as I thought they would be. The animations
aren’t as fluid as I would have liked from a Nintendo DS game. Though, the cel-shading
3D characters look great it’s not leaps and bounds better than what Capcom
accomplished on the GBA. The music is halfway decent though the sound effects
flat-out stink. It’s a mixed bag all around in the technical department for
Mega Man Star Force.
The concept isn’t as fresh as it
once was and I think patience is running thin for gamers concerning the Mega Man
franchise. If I had to pinpoint what wore me out, it would have to be the
alternating between two worlds and the fetch quests. The two worlds storyline
has been done time and time again, while the fetch quests nobody likes in video
game. Capcom needs to figure out something fresh and exciting for this
legendary character or else he’ll end up becoming irrelevant.
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Gameplay: 7.0
Disappointing as it may be, there’s fun to be had with Mega Man – for the
hardcore Battle Network fans that is. It’s enjoyable but it’s
basically more of the same tiring material that they delivered in previous
games.
Graphics: 6.5
This is no way a visual upgrade of the GBA.
Sound: 6.0
When I am tempted to turn off the sound, it’s evident that the audio work
isn’t worth a dime.
Difficulty: Easy / Medium
Compared to the Battle Network series, Star Force is on the
easier side of things.
Concept: 4.5
Capcom needs to put Mega Man through a revisualization. I feel sorry for
the poor guy as he’s no longer a landmark character that provides gamers
confidence in playing worthwhile video games.
Multiplayer: 5.5
With the lack of Wi-Fi battling, the multiplayer is barely serviceable.
Overall: 6.1
Despite the name change, Mega Man Star Force inherits all the traits
of Battle Network – the good and the bad.
