The game was provided by Capcom for review. Thank you!
There were a ton of games I played when I was younger on portable consoles, but the one that stands out most to me is the Mega Man Battle Network games. I played all of them religiously, falling in love with Mega Man Battle Network 5 in particular (DS version). I enjoyed it so much that I was overjoyed when Capcom brought back the games in the Legacy Collection last year. However, even when I was younger, I never had a chance to play through the sequel series, Mega Man Star Force. It was a little off-putting at the time. I had grown attached to the world of Battle Network, and its cast (like LAN), and the new viewpoint for battles seemed a little off to me. Still, I always wanted to try it, and thanks to the new collection from Capcom, I finally had the chance.
In the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, we have 7 games to play through across three generations, with three alternative versions for Gen 1, two for Gen 2, and two for Gen 3. It follows a similar structure to the Battle Network games, with each version having different transformations. But the collection also has some great extras. We have a Gallery filled with Artwork, design documents, music, and an in-game award system (similar to achievements). We also have online play, where you can build a deck of cards and battle against others online. It’s enjoyable when you can find a match, and I like the extras included, so it’s a nice bonus to go with the actual games. There are also some nice quality of life features for the games, like auto-saves and an easy way to immediately get back into the game you were playing.
I also like how Capcom managed the dual-screen aspect of the games. All of the games in these collections were made for the Nintendo DS, and because of that, they utilize two different screens. There are a good chunk of options to change how we want it to be showing, but we can easily see the information on the other screen, just by pressing a button. And if the action changes to the other screen, it will automatically change along with it. This is an aspect of DS emulation that has always felt off-putting. Trying to balance both screens on a single screen is tough, which is why I love my AYN Thor so much. But the balancing act that Capcom has gone with does the job, and I do enjoy it.
As for the games themselves, they are enjoyable, but it does feel like a downgrade from the Battle Network series, despite feeling so similar in most areas. The story across all of the games has its ups and downs, but I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. We follow the adventures of Geo Stellar, who merges with the alien Omega-Xis to become Mega Man. Together, they will work together, utilizing the Wave World, and fight enemies while trying to make their respective worlds a better place to live.
Well, it never captivated me the same way the Battle Network series did. I grew to enjoy the characters. Geo’s development across the first game and the relationship to his father were intriguing. The plot does get a little all over the place with the second and third games, but each of the characters felt distinct and enjoyable to watch.
Combat is relatively the same as the Battle Network series, with a big change in perspective. Instead of looking down at a grid and moving in a 3x3 square grid, Star Force has us move left and right to dodge enemy attacks and attack them back. We will still use the same card system, building a deck of different cards to use as attacks. Each of the cards has different effects, whether it be a cannon that shoots straight ahead, a sword that strikes right in front of you, or even transforming into completely different characters for a unique attack. They all have different damage values, can recover your own health, or even create a barrier to negate damage. And throughout the battle, we will choose from six cards at a time to strike at enemies, combining turn-based mechanics with action-oriented gameplay.
In some ways, I like the new system. It still feels challenging, maybe even a little more so due to the big restriction in how much we can move, and the card system is still very fun to play around with. Winning battles, earning money, and editing my deck is still one of the high points of the series, and the fresh 3D look compared to the original 2D sprites makes it more enjoyable.
However, I very much dislike the new viewpoint. It feels too restrictive, and I miss having more space to move around. It can make the battles feel a little too difficult at times. This was really the only notable downgrade from Battle Network in terms of combat, so if you like the series’ style, you’ll still find ways to love this one.
Outside of that, general gameplay is about the same. You’ll run around, follow along the story, and buy more cards to make yourself more and more powerful during battles. We’ve also been able to freely utilize the Wave World, check out the info of people around, and link up with “Brothers” to make ourselves more powerful.
In a way, the series feels like it was made for fans of the Battle Network series. It sticks extremely close to the formula, often times feeling so familiar that it could be classified as a direct sequel. Other than the perspective change in combat and the new story with new characters, it feels remarkably similar. As a fan of the Battle Network games, I enjoyed myself. It still has a lot of the elements that make Battle Network an enjoyable game even today for me. However, it may be hard to find the enjoyment in it without that previous joy. These are simple RPGs; the story can be a hit or miss, so newcomers may not get nearly as much satisfaction playing these.
However, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection is an absolute joy to play on the Steam Deck. Throughout the game, it will stick to around 7W-8W battery drain at 60 FPS. Of course, with these kinds of games, I wouldn’t expect anything more than that, so it performs as expected. Still, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I have seen some games that should not be so demanding still take up way more resources than they should. This is not one of those games, and it feels perfect for the portable platform.
While I understand why, I do wish the team had found a way to make battles play at 60 FPS. While the rest of the game will stay at 60, battles drop down to 30 FPS. It doesn’t feel jarring, but with the advancements in tech and power, I do wish there was a little bit of modification to make the experience stick to a full 60 the entire time.
In the settings, you can change the screen layout with the second screen, which includes size ratio, how fast the screen resizes when switching, and its position. We can also toggle some assist controls, increase the movement speed and encounter rate, change specific aspects of the difficulty, modify the controls, and change the wallpaper. We can also change the language, filter of the game, and audio settings.
Capcom’s Legacy collections have been one of the few groups of retro releases that I’ve been looking forward to. Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection is one of them. It feels very similar to the Battle Network games, both for better or worse, and all seven games that were released in the series have been wrapped up in a nice package with extras, quality of life improvements, and online multiplayer. It doesn’t change the quality of the games themselves as much, so there are still some big reasons why they may not be enjoyable, but as a fan of the Battle Network games, this was great.
On top of that, it’s phenomenal to play on the Steam Deck. It has an extremely low battery drain, runs at a full 60 FPS, and it feels like a perfect fit for portable play.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
このレビューをお楽しみいただけたなら、SteamDeckHQ の他のコンテンツもぜひご覧ください！あなたのゲーム体験に役立つゲームレビューやニュースを幅広く取り揃えています。ニュース、ヒントやチュートリアル、ゲーム設定やレビューをお探しの方も、最新のトレンドを知りたい方も、ぜひご利用ください。
Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection is the best way to experience these classic games, especially on the Steam Deck, though it doesn't fix the issues already present in the titles.
