Capcom has been treating fans with a series of re-releases of retro collections, with theMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collectionbeing the latest of these compilations. While theMega Manseries has seen sparse brand-new entries over the past few years compared to its heyday, these compilations have been a great way for fans of the series to relive its history while making these older titles accessible to new audiences. With how successful these releases have been, theMega Man Star Forceseries seems like the next logical choice for a re-release.
TheMega Manseries is infamous for its numerous subseries includingMega Man X,Mega Man Legends,Mega Man Zero,Mega Man ZX,Mega Man Battle Network, andMega Man Star Force. With such a diverse catalog within the greaterMega Manfranchise that spans decades of releases, Capcom’s commitment to releasing a collection of these titles for modern platforms has streamlined their accessibility. Most of these series have already received a modern collection, which leavesMega Man Star Forceas the next in line to get theLegacy Collectiontreatment.
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A Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection Would Be a Natural Follow-Up After Battle Network
The firstMega Man Star Forcegames released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS across 3 different versions:Mega Man Star Force: Leo,Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus, andMega Man Star Force: Dragon. The games would receive two sequels each split into two versions withMega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x NinjaandMega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurianreleased in 2007, andMega Man Star Force 3: Black AceandMega Man Star Force 3: Red Jokerin 2008. While the games were nothing special critically, they were popular enough to warrant representation in theSuper Smash Bros.series viaMega Man’s Final Smash.
The gameplay ofMega Man Star Forcefollows the formula established byMega Man Battle Networkwith RPG elements alongside real-time tactical combat. WhereMega Man Star Forcetakes gameplay to a new level is by shifting the perspective from a 2D side view to a third-person view of the battlefield. Although the games were criticized for not doing enough to differentiate gameplay fromMega Man Battle Network, it makes theStar Forceseries similar enough that a modern compilation could capitalize on the success of theMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection.
What could makeMega Man Star Forcedifficult to translate to modern platforms is the series' original home on theNintendo DS. With the games being designed around the DS' two screens, finding a way to condense the UI onto a single screen while still maintaining the feel of the original games could take more work than simply porting the games to modern platforms. As such, it’s likely aLegacy CollectionforMega Man Star Forcewill depend on the commercial success of theMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collectionto justify the investment.
Having a compilation of theMega Man Star Forceseries would also be a great way to finally have all versions of each entry available in one package. TheMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collectiongoes this route for its entries split between two versions, so it’s likely aMega Man Star Force Legacy Collectionwould follow suit. Despite some of its criticisms when compared to theBattle Networkgames, theMega Man Star Forceseries holds an important place in the franchise and deserves a modern re-release to help round outCapcom’s library ofMega Mancollections.
