Review: Mega Man: Star Force (NDS)
We were originally led to believe that this was going to be an all new series in the Mega Man lore. In the end it’s turned out to be more of a sidestep from the Battle Network series than a true leap forward. Names have been changed with your main hero being unfortunately named Geo Stelar. Cyberspace has now been exchanged for radio waves and instead of having a Navi accompanying you on your journey, the substitute is an alien called Omega-Xis (or Mega as he is more easily known) from the planet FM. Despite these changes, picking up the game for the first time you’ll be overcome by a strong sense of de-ja-vu.
The main world you'll be exploring as Geo looks incredibly similar to the one in in Battle Network. Even graphically which is probably our biggest problem with the game. You would think with the jump from GBA to DS they’d add some nice 3D effects to the world, but Capcom haven't. It looks incredibly flat and you’re practically given invisible walls that show you the way to go. You can't even cross the road without finding a gap in the pavement. The only time it shows the power of the DS is with the new battle system.
Perhaps "new" isn't the best word to use. It is basically the same system from Battle Network only this time from behind Mega Man and in splendid three dimensional form. In such an advancement there lies a really major issue, as you only have three tiles to move between (from left to right), and you can't move forward at all unless you’re using a weapon to quickly jump forward and back again. This makes the fights frustrating beyond belief, particularly when some enemy attacks can be impossible to avoid. You do have the counter move which when hitting your opponent will force him to stop his next attack, but unless you have a suitable a weapon or a barrier shield it's game over if they decide to perform a move that takes up all three of your squares. The last boss in particular does this an awful lot. We found the game to be of reasonable difficulty before hitting the last boss like brick wall at 170mph.
Star Force also utilises the same battle card system from the previous series. For those not familiar with it, it adds a layer of strategy to each battle. From the start of each fight you can choose a number of battle cards, but they all have to be the same type or in a row. Cards range from simple cannons to health regeneration with more that can be bought or found as the game progresses. They're crucial to winning as without them you only have the incredibly weak mega buster. Of course, luck is also needed as the cards are randomly generated before each fight.
These random battles don’t happen in the real world, they happen when you turn yourself into radio waves and journey along what is called the Wave Road. These are just pathways that float above the various locations which allow you to jump into various objects that have wave holes above them. Which is one of the very few occasions where you get to properly use the DS touch screen as something other than a glorified menu system.
The good news is Star Force has more in common with the earlier Battle Network games than the terrible later editions. The dire RTS elements have been completely eradicated and the game is easier for newcomers to enjoy without having a million different abilities from past games thrown upon the player. The new characters they've introduced assist this new found enjoyment factor. This may be because that each ones personality is based on a character from the BN games which confirms that Capcom are becoming increasingly lazy when it comes to the Mega Man series.
With that said we found ourselves quite enjoying the ludicrous plot. The storyline about Geo's father being trapped on a doomed space station in space and various sub plots about Mega and the FM-ians, it actually made is want to play to its conclusion. It’s not a long game either, from beginning to end it’ll take around 10-15 hours, more if you're looking to find all the battle cards. It’s just a shame that the difficulty shoots up so quickly at the end that not many people will actually be able to complete it.
Star Force takes the best bits from Battle Network and removes the bad elements, which should be a good formula for success. Unfortunately in doing so it creates several new unforeseen problems that did dampen our enjoyment a little. Still, overall it offers an enjoyable plot combined with a good battle system and interesting characters, making this latest Mega Man game a welcome addition to the saga not just for fans, but also for those wanting their first taste of the Blue Bomber.
Rating: 7 / 10
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