Capcom has been treating fans with a series of re-releases of retro collections, with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection being the latest of these compilations. While the Mega Man series 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, the Mega Man Star Force series seems like the next logical choice for a re-release.
The Mega Man series is infamous for its numerous subseries including Mega Man X, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, Mega Man Battle Network, and Mega Man Star Force. With such a diverse catalog within the greater Mega Man franchise 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 leaves Mega Man Star Force as the next in line to get the Legacy Collection treatment.
A Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection Would Be a Natural Follow-Up After Battle Network
The first Mega Man Star Force games released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS across 3 different versions: Mega Man Star Force: Leo, Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus, and Mega Man Star Force: Dragon. The games would receive two sequels each split into two versions with Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Ninja and Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian released in 2007, and Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace and Mega Man Star Force 3: Red Joker in 2008. While the games were nothing special critically, they were popular enough to warrant representation in the Super Smash Bros. series via Mega Man's Final Smash.
The gameplay of Mega Man Star Force follows the formula established by Mega Man Battle Network with RPG elements alongside real-time tactical combat. Where Mega Man Star Force takes 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 from Mega Man Battle Network, it makes the Star Force series similar enough that a modern compilation could capitalize on the success of the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection.
What could make Mega Man Star Force difficult to translate to modern platforms is the series' original home on the Nintendo 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 a Legacy Collection for Mega Man Star Force will depend on the commercial success of the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection to justify the investment.
Having a compilation of the Mega Man Star Force series would also be a great way to finally have all versions of each entry available in one package. The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection goes this route for its entries split between two versions, so it's likely a Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection would follow suit. Despite some of its criticisms when compared to the Battle Network games, the Mega Man Star Force series holds an important place in the franchise and deserves a modern re-release to help round out Capcom's library of Mega Man collections.
The Mega Man Star Force series is available on Nintendo DS.
