Mega Man Star Force

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Mega Man Star Force
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Release date(s)	JP December 14th, 2006 NA Fall 2007
Genre(s)	Action RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS

Mega Man Star Force, known as Ryūsei no Rockman (流星のロックマン, Ryūsei no Rokkuman^?, lit. "Shooting Star Rockman") in Japan, is a Mega Man action RPG video game published and developed by Capcom for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was released December 14, 2006 in Japan and has a tentative North American release date for Fall 2007.

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.

[edit] Premise

The Mega Man franchise takes place in two separate timelines, one where robotic technology flourished and another where network technology prospered instead.^[1] 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,^[2] emphasis on internet technology has lessened, and instead, the world has become networked through use of radio 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 Radio Wave World that exists around the Earth's atmosphere, keeping the world networked. While the Radio 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 Radio Wave Viruses) inhabit the Radio 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 Radio Wave World and other electronic devices. A group of Satella Police also exist, dedicated to stopping virus attacks and thwarting criminals who manipulate the Radio Wave World in order to break the law.

Furthermore, there exists an alien planet known as the "FM Planet," inhabited by extraterrestrial beings called FMs. FMs can traverse in both worlds, and also possess the ability to physically merge with human beings through a process called "Radio Wave Conversion" (denpa henkan). Other than lending a human the FM's powers, this process also transforms an ordinary human into a "radio wave human," allowing him/her to freely operate in the Radio Wave World (as well as cyber networks within specific electronic devices).

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 beings based on many real-life constellations.

[edit] Gameplay

A typical battle.

[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 3-D 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 "Access 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 they appear more often, and by connecting to other players with Wi-Fi, their favorite Cards can also be added to the player's set-up. 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 Warlock 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)

[edit] Exploration

Gameplay outside of battle typically consists of exploring areas (in the human world, Radio 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 Radio Wave World or cyber networks, battles ensue at random. The game also calls for Subaru 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, Subaru 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, Subaru collects five Navi Cards (PropellerMan, OpenMan, PitchMan, AirconMan, and ShovelMan), and if the player is ever stuck, they can converse with Warlock 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

Ice Pegasus Mega Man using the Star Force Big Bang

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 under certain conditions. While all three transformations can be attained on any version through Brother Band (see below), the transformation for the corresponding version features greater abilities and power. 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, transformations, 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 or status upgrades as well as send E-mails. The game also offers a very complex portrait-creation process for your Brother Band mug-shot, and even a censorship filter when creating profile information. The game allows you to have up to six "Brothers" at a time; of these six available links, three are offered to the player from in-game characters.

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 heath.

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 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 no clear connections to the events or characters from two-hundred years ago.

In addition, the crossover aspect between the Battle Network and Konami's Boktai series returns in this game. Characters from Lunar Knights (Bokura no Taiyō DS: Django and Sabata) appear in an in-game sidequest and can become Brothers through "Cross Brother Band".^[3] This feature is to be removed from the international release.

[edit] Plot

[edit] Introduction

An image depicting many of the game's main characters. From left to right, top row: Akane, Daigo, Mamoru, Goyoda, Warlock; bottom row: Tsukasa, Luna, Gonta, Kizamaro, Misora, and Subaru.

The game stars a fifth-grade student named Subaru Hoshikawa (星河スバル, Hoshikawa Subaru^?) (who can be renamed by the player) and his FM partner, Warlock (ウオーロック, Wōrokku^?, War-Rock in the Japanese language version). Subaru has been depressed after the disappearance of his father Daigo (星河大吾, Hoshikawa Daigo^?) in space many years ago, and as a result, he has not been attending school. A group of children from Subaru's class constantly urge Subaru to attend school, but he always refuses.

One day, Subaru comes home and finds Mamoru Amachi (天地守, Amachi Mamoru^?) (a friend of Daigo's and a worker at the Amaken Laboratory) conversing with Subaru's mother, Akane (星河あかね, Hoshikawa Akane^?). Amachi gives Subaru the Visualizer, a special kind of glasses that allow humans to see the Radio Wave World. Subaru goes outside to sulk on an observation deck over the city when he puts the Visualizer on. Using it, he sees an FM approaching. This FM is Warlock, and the two collide. Warlock quickly performs a Radio Wave Conversion with Subaru, transforming into the Star Force version of Mega Man (ロックマン, Rokkuman^?, Rockman in the Japanese language version). Before Subaru can make sense of this occurrence, Warlock urges him to cooperate in the deletion of viruses that were tailing the rogue FM. (This acts as a tutorial to the game's battle system.)

Warlock is a refugee of the FM planet because he has stolen the mysterious Andromeda key, and he also claims to know about the events leading up to Daigo's disappearance. Subaru agrees to work with Warlock to protect the key (and thus, Warlock resides within Subaru's Transer much like Navis do in PETs).

The next day, Subaru encounters a group of classmates who constantly push him to attend the class. The leader of the pack is the wealthy class president of Kodama Elementary, Luna Shirogane (白金ルナ, Shirogane Runa^?). There is also the nerdy and condescending Kizamaro Saishouin (最小院キザマロ, Saishōin Kizamaro^?) and the gruff bully Gonta Ushijima (牛島ゴン太, Ushijima Gonta^?). Gonta attempts to intimidate Subaru, but Warlock's brash personality takes over, and he causes Subaru to punch Gonta. Subaru apologizes and runs off, leaving Gonta in his embarrassment. Soon, Gonta is met by an FM known as Taurus (オックス, Okkusu^?, Ox in Japanese language version) who offers Gonta the power to get Subaru back.

When Subaru and the three children encounter each other later one night, Gonta picks that opportunity to perform a Radio Wave Conversion with Taurus forming Taurus Fire (オックス・ファイア, Okkusu Faia^?, Ox Fire in Japanese language version). Taurus Fire escapes into the cyber network of a truck that Luna and Kizamaro are riding in, and driving it recklessly through the city, attempts to run Subaru over. Subaru turns into Mega Man and jumps into the truck's cyber network, presenting the game's first "stage". (Every scenario has a unique stage within the cyber world with a boss character waiting at the end. Stages usually involve touch-screen interactivity and puzzles in order to progress.) Taurus Fire's stage requires Mega Man to ride on mechanical bulls in order to progress.

After Taurus Fire's defeat, Taurus escapes and Gonta returns to normal. Luna and Kizamaro encounter Subaru as Mega Man, not recognizing him as Subaru. When asked of his identity, Warlock advises that it is better to keep his identity a secret as to not get tracked down by more FMs. Subaru thus officially dubs himself "Mega Man".

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 Subaru and Warlock, 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] FM encounters

The game continues with scenarios similar to the Taurus Fire incident.

Shinsuke Utagai (宇田海深佑, Utagai Shinsuke^?) is a timid worker at the Amaken Laboratory. He contributed to the creation of the Brother Band but received no recognition, and thus, is afraid of having his work plagiarised, specifically his latest invention, the Flying Jacket. When he misunderstands coworker Amachi as claiming the jacket as his own, the FM being Cygnus (キグナス, Kigunasu^?) appears, granting Utagai the power of Cygnus Wing (キグナス・ウィング, Kigunasu Wingu^?). Cygnus Wing traps Amachi and some children visiting the labs (including Subaru) in a planetarium exhibit before escaping to the main computer.

Throughout the story, Subaru and Warlock often meet a member of the Satella Police named Heiji Goyoda (五陽田ヘイジ, Goyoda Heiji^?). Goyoda is investigating all of the recent incidents involving FMs and suspects that Subaru, who is often present during the incidents, may be involved.

Another important character is Misora Hibiki (響ミソラ, Hibiki Misora^?), a popular pop-singer who, like Subaru, is depressed over the loss of her mother. Misora and Subaru become friends, but Misora is constantly pressured by her manager. This is when Misora meets the FM Harp (ハープ, Hāpu^?). Transforming into Harp Note (ハープ・ノート, Hāpu Nōto^?), she dashes through the city, attacking people with guitar wails. Subaru encounters her and gives chase through the Wave Road as Mega Man. After she's defeated, Subaru and Misora become friends through their common ground, and Harp even becomes an ally to Warlock. Harp Note is the only boss character who does not have a stage area.

After this scenario, Subaru begins attending school again and even grabs a part in a play written by Luna (based on the Taurus Fire incident). However, a Jamminger (a race of humanoid enemies found on the Wave Road) interferes with the set. Subaru goes to stop it, but it is impervious to Mega Man's attacks. Soon after, Subaru is met by the three Supervisors of the Earth's satellites, Pegasus Magic, Leo Kingdom, and Dragon Sky. The Supervisors question if Subaru and Warlock are strong enough to take on the FM forces, and as a test, Mega Man must battle with one of them in a weakened "shadow" state. (Which one the player battles corresponds with the version of the game.) Upon their defeat, the Supervisors reveal that they are the only survivors of the AM Planet after it was obliterated in a war against the FM Planet. Presumably, the FM Planet used a weapon named Andromeda to wipe them out.

Soon after, the scenario with Michinori Ikuta (育田道徳, Ikuta Michinori^?) begins. Ikuta is a science teacher and Subaru's homeroom teacher at Kodama Elementary. Ikuta receives word that he will lose his job as a teacher, and thus, is swiftly confronted by Libra (リブラ, Ribura^?). Ikuta's personality shifts to extremely strict, and he puts his class into a trance of non-stop studying. However, Subaru is able to overcome the trance and bring his teacher back to normal, but only by using the power provided to him from the Supervisor he previously battled with. (This gives Mega Man one of the three transformations available in the game.)

Luna Shirogane also receives an FM partner. When Luna's parents give her a hard time for the FM incidents she has recently been involved in, they decide to transfer her to a new school. She keeps this painful news to herself and instead decides to tail Subaru and Misora who are attending a jungle exhibit. Luna's parents encounter her and come down on her again, causing her to break down and encounter the FM Ophiuchus (オヒュカス, Ohyukasu^?). Becoming Ophiuchus Queen (オヒュカス・クイーン, Ohyukasu Kuīn^?), she releases snakes on the exhibit patrons before escaping into a giant snake robot.

Subaru then becomes involved with Tsukasa Futaba (双葉ツカサ, Futaba Tsukasa^?), a boy in Ikuta's class. Tsukasa is generally very nice, but he exhibits a type of split personality disorder, his other (and more evil) personality being named Hikaru Futaba (双葉ヒカル, Futaba Hikaru^?). This may be from Tsukasa's difficult childhood where he was abandoned by his parents in a junkyard at Dream Island. Tsukasa has been in contact with his FM partner, Gemini (ジェミニ, Jemini^?) for some time now. Gemini is the right-hand man of the FM Planet's king, Cepheus. Once merged, Tsukasa and Hikaru separate into two separate bodies representing the form of Gemini Spark (ジェミニ・スパーク, Jemini Supāku^?).

[edit] Final battles

An image depicting many of the Radio Wave Conversions. From left to right, top row: Taurus Fire, Libra Balance, Harp Note; bottom row: Gemini Spark, Ophiuchus Queen, and Cygnus Wing.

Taurus, Cygnus, Libra, Ophiuchus, and Gemini all escaped during their previous battles with Mega Man, and together, they begin devising a plan to defeat Mega Man and take control of Earth. Amachi and Utagai also receive a signal from Cepheus who is declaring war on the Earth. He begins by sending surges of Z wave energy onto the Earth, making the Radio Wave World visible to humans and sucking them up in a wave hole, though Goyoda is able to rescue them. Amachi realizes that Cepheus must be stopped, and he recalls that a piece of the space station Daigo vanished with once fell to Earth and is buried in the junkyard of Dream Island. When Subaru and Amachi go to retrieve it, Gemini appears and, using memory data, transforms into Gemini Spark again, though Mega Man manages to destroy him once and for all.

Using a transmitter in the space station debris, Mega Man is able to enter the original space station in space. In this final stage, Mega Man again faces the remaining FMs that he once battled and must take them down in a similar fashion as Gemini (by fighting them in their merged forms via memory data). Eventually, Warlock finally tells Subaru of a time when he met with Daigo. Daigo always had a desire to visit the FM Planet but was unable because he was human, so Daigo pleaded to be turned into a radio wave being like Warlock. Just as Daigo was transforming, Taurus attacked the space station. Warlock also reveals that he, like the three supervisors, was a survivor of the AM Planet, and has come before Cepheus to seek revenge for the destruction of his homeworld. Cepheus views the Brother Band as a means for humans to invade and conquer his planet, and thus, seeks to stop it. He then summons Andromeda, the ultimate weapon responsible for destroying the AM Planet, to battle with Mega Man.

Through Subaru and Warlock's bond of strength and friendship, as well as the support of their friends and family, Mega Man is able to defeat Andromeda. Leaving only the weak Cepheus alone, he prepares to be destroyed, but Subaru refuses. Subaru then offers Cepheus his friendship, causing the king to turn over a new leaf. The three Supervisors appear and reveal that the AM Planet was not completely obliterated, and as a token of his new friendship, Cepheus offers to help rebuild it. Warlock then decides to return to Earth with Subaru and live at his new home.

While using an escape module to return to Earth, Subaru loses consciousness due to a malfunction. Approached by the spirit of his father, Subaru rests a bit easier knowing he is still alive. Reawakening, Subaru discovers that his escape module is guided back home through the efforts of his friends and family's Transer signals. Subaru and Warlock return to Earth, and Subaru begins his life anew.

[edit] Side-quests

There are three optional bosses that have no placement in the game's storyline. Subaru can encounter these characters and challenge them to battle. (Why they have FM partners is unknown.) These three bosses include Chiyokichi Hazami (狭見千代吉, Hazami Chiyokichi^?) who merges with Cancer (キャンサー, Kyansā^?) to become Cancer Bubble (キャンサー・バブル, Kyansā Baburu^?), Jūrō Ogami (尾上十郎, Ogami Jūrō^?) who merges with Wolf (ウルフ, Urufu^?) to become Wolf Forest (ウルフ・フォレスト, Urufu Foresto^?), and Jean Couronne Velmond Georgione XIV (ジャン・クローヌ・ヴェルモンド・ジョルジョワーヌ14世, Jan Kurōnu Berumondo Jorujowānu Jūyon-sei^?) who merges with Crown (クラウン, Kuraun^?) to become Crown Thunder (クラウン・サンダー, Kuraun Sandā^?). While Chiyokichi and Jūrō are regular humans, Jean is a deceased French soldier who appears as a ghost, and he 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 Radio 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 Supervisor in his true form (not the weakened shadow form faced in the game's main story). Finally, by completing the secret area, the final boss is also powered up to its ultimate form, Andromeda Infinity.

Finally, Subaru can perform errands for NPCs by accessing their Transers from the Radio 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 Warlock items), usually depending on their degree of difficulty.

[edit] Reception

Star Force is yet to release outside of Japan, so until then, the following pertains only to the Japanese release of the game.

Between 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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 of an overall score of 32 out of 40)^[6], indicate that the games are getting good reception based on content. However, bad sales may be attributed to having been released so closely to next-generation console releases like the Wii and Sony PlayStation 3.

[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 Ryūsei no Rockman game page (Japanese)
• Takara's Ryūsei no Rockman product page (Japanese)