Capcom has been releasing its classic Mega Man games in what it calls Legacy Collections, with the classic series, the X series, the Zero and ZX games and the Battle Network games. Now Capcom has brought the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection. Capcom gave me a chance to play the game early on Nintendo Switch for preview, and this was actually my first time with this particular sub-series, so I was excited to see what the games were like.
As this is a preview, I will not be going too much into detail, but will just give my general impressions. Like with previous Legacy Collections, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection feels like a labour of love, especially when you consider that the games were not particularly successful when they were first released. That Capcom has put in a great deal of work to bring these games to modern audiences is deeply appreciated, especially since the Star Force games were released the way the Pokémon games were, with separate versions, with both versions of each game included
Much like the Pokémon games, depending on which version of the Mega Man Star Force games you chose, you could gain different abilities and transformations that were unique to that version. Having all the individual versions included for the Mega Man Star Force games really lets you experience the full force of what the games had to offer. Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection gives an explanation of each version and the abilities within to help players decide which fits them right.
This is not all though, as Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection features a number of modern updates designed to make the experience comfortable for modern players, such as cleaner pixel visuals and a newly arranged soundtrack. It should be noted that these games were originally played on the DS, so two screens need to be balanced and Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection does a great job of making adjustments to help you get used to it, as well as customize how you want the screen to look. There are also options to change the border, color, filters, and other in-game settings, such as using the “original” or “modern” settings, or select a custom option that allows them to mix elements of both. Another change is that the battle graphics have been made noticeably crisper and smoother and feel much cleaner than before.
The story for the games, which we will go into deeper in our review, is set centuries after the last Battle Network game, and the world definitely feels much more advanced than that series. The art style tries to invoke its predecessor series, but there are differences such as a switch to a 3D perspective in battles that certainly does emphasize that these games were made for more powerful hardware than the Battle Network games., and as such, combat feels completely different, and to be honest, a bit more fun although it takes time to get used to. I should also note that Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection also contains a large amount of bonus content that includes concept art, finalized game images, artwork for all the games’ battle cards as well as a jukebox for each title’s soundtrack, showing that Capcom is not skimping out here,
I am loving these Legacy Collections for the Mega Man series and Capcom keeps raising the quality standards with each release. There is a lot to this particular sub-series that is to be enjoyed, and it gives me hope that other smaller Mega Man sub-series such as the Legends games will see a re-release in this way as well. Still, with the games running flawlessly on Switch, there is much to enjoy with the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, and we will discuss more in our full review soon.