Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection Review – Punches in Bunches

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection is Capcom’s latest Mega Man collection during the company’s journey in bringing the Mega Man catalogue to modern consoles in the form of collections. Personally, the Star Force titles mark a blind spot for me in the franchise, but this gives me the opportunity to fix that. The bundle includes Mega Man Star Force (Pegasus/Leo/Dragon), Mega Man Star Force 2 (Zerker x Ninja/Zerker x Saurian), and Mega Man Star Force 3 (Black Ace/Red Joker).

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection puts players in the role of Geo Stelar, a young boy who ends up merging with an entity named Omega-Xis to become Mega Man. While I am not a fan of the wacky character names, they do end up growing on you over time. The narrative of the game is a product of its time, focusing on friendship, trust, and finding your place. The narrative doesn’t take many risks across the three games, but it does play well in back-to-back playthroughs, an experience that was less likely if you had played the games on release. Don’t expect to be blown away by the story, but it does enough to push the player through the game.

Each game builds upon the others and operates best as parts one, two, and three rather than as completely different games. The sequel brings the Tribe On feature that lets Mega Man transform into different states based on the version, while the third game allows you to transform into Mega Man in the real world. Additionally, the third game features the Noise system, which gives players access to unique forms based, again, on the version of the game you are playing. Each game has different versions, but they mark a preference rather than completely different gameplay.

Streamlined

As an action RPG, the core gameplay loop of the Mega Man Star Force games is pretty typical, engaging in combat as the story progresses. The combat system of the Star Force titles is similar to the Battle Network games, but is a bit simpler in some ways. Rather than a side-view featuring a three-by-three grid on both sides, combat uses a third-person camera angle featuring three columns. In doing so, the game trades some complexity for a more satisfying feel. The card-based systems also work well, but don’t do anything groundbreaking.

Overall, the gameplay holds up pretty well. While they lack some sensibilities of modern game design, they are still very capable additions to your gaming experience. For those familiar with the Battle Network games, these titles are highly reminiscent of them. They do differ in meaningful ways, but the DNA is obvious.

The collection’s quality of life improvements are what make the collection worth it for those experiencing the titles for the first time or otherwise. Adjustable drop rates, combat difficulty, and enemy encounter rates are must-haves, and the collection delivers. Also, the game’s transition from the DS to single screens was excellent. Tasks formerly associated with stylus use have been rebuilt well. The ability to adjust the screen layout to account for one screen now was also effectively implemented. It was also a nice touch to add bonus cards previously obtained through time-limited events and products during the original releases. Most importantly? The addition of an auto-save function.

Looking Good

The game’s aesthetics still hold up over time, and the classic isometric viewpoint outside of combat still works wonderfully. The game allows players to toggle between the original graphics and enhanced graphics, and more choices are always welcome. While I typically prefer an original experience, I found myself preferring the enhanced graphics. Overall, the graphics of the title work well. It might not compare to contemporary titles, but the transition from the small and dual screens was well executed. For the most part, the game also allows for the ability to swap from the original soundtrack to a newly arranged soundtrack during battles.

The Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection instantly becomes the best way to play these games due to the quality of life improvements, cost, and ease. Despite not being the most popular subset of Mega Man games, the level of care put into the collection makes it easy to enjoy. For Mega Man fans or Battle Network fans, this is an easy recommendation. It’s surprisingly uncommon that collections improve an experience while keeping faithful to the originals, but this one does just that.

*** A preview code was provided by the publisher for the PlayStation 4 ***