Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection Review – The Nostalgia Isn’t Enough

We’ve spent some time with the latest Mega Man revival effort, and this time, the focus is on the Star Force trilogy. It follows the Battle Network Legacy Collection from 2023, and if you dove into that one, you can expect more of the same here.

The Star Force series has often been overlooked in favour of Battle Network, and the decision to bring all seven versions of its three instalments into one comprehensive package is definitely a clever one. But is that enough to make Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection worth its price tag? Let’s take a look at what works and what doesn’t.

"Coming to the games themselves, your mileage is going to vary depending on how nostalgic they feel to you."

Star Force is set around two hundred years after Battle Network, introducing Geo Stelar as a new protagonist and host for Omega-Xis, or “Mega” as it prefers to be called. Mega is an extraterrestrial being from a planet known as FM, which Geo’s father had previously attempted to establish friendly relations with. That resulted in his disappearance, leaving Geo devastated and withdrawn from the world around him as a result.

The first game wastes no time in getting Geo and Mega to combine, taking on the Mega Man mantle in the process. It’s an interesting story for those who never played the Star Force games back in the day, but by modern standards, it can feel dated enough to make you roll your eyes at times. Nevertheless, Geo’s story is a coming-of-age adventure spread across three games that’s probably the biggest draw on offer in this collection.

But looking at it as only three games might be doing this collection a disservice, since it’s actually three versions of the first game, and a couple of variants each for the second and third ones. Those variations come with their own unique cards, often tied to the versions released in different regions, so returning players who have a preference for one version over another should be pleased. However, if you’re looking for something drastically different from each one, you’re going to be disappointed.

Coming to the games themselves, your mileage is going to vary depending on how nostalgic they feel to you. They’re faithful recreations of the original games for the most part, quality-of-life changes notwithstanding. Battles feel smoother and faster than they did in Battle Network, while the simplified deck-building makes the action more immediately engaging

"The story is paced quite well across the three games, and the worldbuilding is consistent enough across them all to give Geo’s story the emotional weight it needs to click with those of you who aren’t familiar with it."

But that doesn’t stop the battles themselves from being far too simplistic and repetitive from a modern standpoint. While things do improve over the second and third titles, there was only so much grid-based fighting I could do before the entire thing got stale. It doesn’t help that the first two games require you to find a Grid Wave before you can Phase In to the FM World as Mega Man, which quickly becomes tedious. Thankfully, the third game addresses this.

The story is paced quite well across the three games, and the worldbuilding is consistent enough across them all to give Geo’s story the emotional weight it needs to click with those of you who aren’t familiar with it. His banter with his friends and Mega stands out, and there’s a charm to it all that’s quite light-hearted and fun.

As a package, the collection gets stronger from game to game, and the overall quality remains fairly consistent throughout. I do wish the developer had included an option to skip tutorials in each game, because clicking through the same speech bubbles every time a character walks you through combat or other systems gets tedious fast.

All of what I’ve said thus far holds true for the original versions of each title, but this collection brings a few new additions to the table. Autosaving is quite nifty, as is the ability to pan your camera when you’re out in the game’s world. It can be quite helpful when you’re looking for an objective, and it definitely served me well during my time with Geo.

"Since Star Force was originally released on the DS, getting to play these titles on a PS5 was certainly novel."

The option to adjust the game’s speed, tweak encounter frequency, and recover lost HP after fights are all welcome additions. However, with the combat being as simple as it is, and a generous amount of recovery cards showing up during fights, that last one isn’t really a necessity. It’s still nice to have, as is the option to increase the amount of Zeni earned after each battle. That makes it easier to collect more cards, and can perhaps stave off boredom with the combat system to a large extent.

You also get the option to adjust the amount of damage your enemies get to do, as well as another one to guarantee an escape for rare occasions when you’re on the losing end of a fight. Once again, I didn’t find any need to use them for the most part, but they are thoughtful additions that make the package more accommodating.

I’d say that all of these upgrades are respectful to the original games, making them more palatable to both newcomers and veterans who are playing them for the story. That said, all three games are easy enough that most experienced players probably won’t need these options in the first place.

Since Star Force was originally released on the DS, getting to play these titles on a PS5 was certainly novel. However, the way the two-screen setup is implemented did force me to sit closer to my TV to clearly make out what was happening on the smaller screen. The customizable screen layouts don’t really help, but the option to tweak the experience to your liking is always welcome.

The menus are perfectly serviceable, the text is clear and readable, and I didn’t really miss the DS touchscreen while navigating them. However, I can see how players used to the original versions might find this one a tad frustrating, but I’d say it just takes some getting used to.

"Performance on a base PS5 was solid throughout, with a stable image, fast load times, and smooth gameplay across all three titles."

As far as extras go, this one brings a ton of artwork and soundtracks, battle card archives, and other goodies to the table that you may or may not appreciate based on how invested you are in the Mega Man franchise and its lore. If you are someone with only a passing interest in the character over the years, they wont entice you enough to give that part of the collection more than a second glance. Still, the extras themselves are well presented, for what that’s worth.

While I couldn’t test the collection’s online functionality, the lack of cross-platform support is disappointing, especially for a release spread across both current and last-gen systems. Performance on a base PS5 was solid throughout, with a stable image, fast load times, and smooth gameplay across all three titles. Considering their simplicity and lower resource-intensiveness, that isn’t really a surprise.

However, I did come across instances where I could not progress past a dialogue box, requiring a restart of the game and a tedious amount of clicking through the same conversations before I could continue. It happened often enough across all three titles to become a real annoyance.

"If you’re looking for a simple, fun experience for kids on your consoles, this one’s definitely worth looking into."

With all of what I’ve said up until this point, you might be wondering if the Star Force Legacy Collection is something I’d recommend to you. Well, if you’re a die-hard fan of Mega Man, and you’re looking to collect all of the games in this subseries, this one’s for you. But for everybody else, there may not be enough here to justify the asking price.

The deliciously retro look and feel of it all, along with the nostalgia that Geo’s story evokes, aren’t going to be enough to keep you invested in it from start to finish. However, if you’re looking for a simple, fun experience for kids on your consoles, this one’s definitely worth looking into. But as an adult, I found myself drifting off far too often for this one to be a first-day purchase. I’d recommend waiting for a sale.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.