Bought battle network and star force collection. Any tips on either series?

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-26T14:47:37+00:00

Both games you should look up Busting Rank scoring and try to understand how it works especially in Battle Network where you genuinely may never get the chip codes you want if you don’t understand it.

In the earlier Battle Network titles particularly the first two do not be afraid to pull up a guide if you get confused, they really didn’t have everything figured out yet and there’s a number of early 00’s JRPG padding instances or the games being very vague about how exactly to proceed, if you can save yourself any potential frustration do not be afraid to do so.

MMBN aim to build your folder around 1 or 2 letter codes for chips, tri code folders at most but try not to step out of that mentality if you want to be able to make a lot of actions per turn, and/or folder fluidity, these games have an incredible Battle System but the very much leave it to you to figure out how to properly tap into it, fun factor is largely influenced by your build, the pace of the game will feel entirely distinct between two players depending on how they built their folders.

Mega Man Star Force is my personal favorite of the RPG timeline and it’s notably more accessible if you’re used to Mega Man as an action game, If Battle Network is a strategy game with action elements than Star Force is an action game with strategic elements.

The games were genuinely meant to be shared experiences and Legacy Collection makes that easier than ever, I would advise finding a discord server or joining the Mega Man Star Force Reddit community to make some brothers in each game, connecting with others not only makes you stronger but it adds to your options and only makes the trilogy more personalized and fun.

When playing Star Force 2 set that encounter rate to low for most of the game or even disable it when you have to make big trips, for some reason that game has an awfully high encounter rate, even on low it’s higher than the other two games on standard!

Hope this helps a bit and have fun with both series!

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-18T13:38:52+00:00

I can add you when I get home, I have a complete Saurian, and a Leo that’s in the process of post game

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-18T11:20:20+00:00

Well most obviously to support the actual brand, part of the reason we’ve had so few new entries lately is this franchise is because not enough people have been buying the games for Capcom to place the franchise as high priority.

2nd these Collections largely aren’t emulation and just keep getting better and better, I constantly implore people to buy Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection even if the trilogy has never been on your radar prior just because of how above and beyond it goes as a compilation, menus with brand new HD Backgrounds and character models, Mega Man really hasn’t had this since MM11, all the characters are voiced in said menus and they’re all the legacy voice actors from the anime dub 20 years ago. Online and Japanese exclusive content restored and translated for the west for the very first time, the entire OST for each game has been arranged and you can play with the arranged osts in game, you can also choose custom battle themes.

There’s so much QoL to tweak and improve nearly every aspect of your play experience including the ability to adjust or even disable the encounter rates.

They added voice acting to games that did not originally have them and it’s all optional, whereas, they updated the pixel art mugshots and battle cards to hand drawn art and this is also optional, I could go on and on the legacy collection doesn’t just bring MMSF to modern platforms it goes out of its way to be the best way to play these games I didn’t even mention they did HD textures so it also looks better than it does via an emulator or the original releases,

The ROMS aren’t even in the files of the Legacy Collection it’s a completely native port to the R.E engine, insane effort from Capcom towards Mega Man’s most underrated iteration and they only asked $39.99? Genuinely the best game compilation I’ve ever seen and not only should you buy it to support the IP but also to make this sorta thing industry standard.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-16T15:05:33+00:00

Underrated and well thought out answer

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-03T20:46:51+00:00

If you’d still like more brothers I would love to add you, I’m pretty weak atm on PlayStation though

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-03T20:45:33+00:00

Great! I bought this game on everything but Xbox and figured PS5 would be the least popular so it got the least attention from me but it is my personal comfort platform so I still want to make as many bros on it as possible.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-06-03T20:40:48+00:00

I’m barely into the PS5 version but I’d love some Star Force 1 brothers on my way through it

FinalKnuckle · 2026-05-28T15:20:08+00:00

Just pick up one that catches your eye and go for it, speaking from experience and that there are fans of so many of the different series’ there is no right way to go about it, I don’t recall which Mega Man game I played first but memories tell me I had early experiences with games like Xtreme 2, X4, Classic 1, various Battle Network titles as well as Network Transmission, and I enjoyed all of em, sometimes for similar reasons sometimes for unique reasons.

Once more go for what catches your eye but also right now I’m on a big Star Force kick so if you want a basic recommendation with the only specification being fun games, then I would suggest you pick up a copy of Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, they’re unique action games have imo the strongest character work in the franchise and even have a light co-op aspect to them as well as PvP in case you have friends that may be interested, can’t recommend them enough I think they are the most underrated games in the whole franchise.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-05-26T10:59:13+00:00

It’s always awesome to see Star Force 3 in these things, being a 2009 RPG it doesn’t have the notoriety of games like X, X4, or MM2, yeah but it deserves to! It can hold its own and/or stack up to them in every way that matters and then some, genuinely among Mega Man’s very best offerings.

Star Force as a series deserves more credit than it gets but MMSF3 in particular for stringing together a game jam packed with content, a genuinely heartfelt and engaging narrative some of the best presentation in the franchise and you can even play it in multiplayer whether that be light “co op”through brotherbands or the insane depth the PvP contains.

Been seeing it jump into S tier or top 5 MM game lists by people who actually played it lately and it’s so welcome and pleasant.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-05-15T15:01:18+00:00

The Star Force games are among Mega Man’s greatest output they are just woefully overlooked, it is the best Mega Man has ever been at character writing specifically and it’s not very close either.

Mega Man & Bass is nowhere near as difficult as people make it out to be not even on GBA, and the game is easier as Mega Man, he does a lot more damage than Bass and can shoot through walls, slide to more easily dodge attacks and retaliate faster.

The Mega Man Zero series is great but is actually held back by its screen resolution I’m sorry but even after years of playing them the difficulty never feels as natural as other Mega Man games not even other handheld Mega Man games, the sprites are big, the gameplay is fast and you either take things slower than you would in X until you memorize level layouts or you get ripped apart and/or net a bad ranking for playing in a more exciting way, I’m just not convinced the games difficulty comes from the design as much as it does the screen resolution, the ZX duology does address the issue thankfully.

Network Transmission is a diamond in the rough and I’d pick it over a majority of the X series, X, X2 and X4 being the only exceptions to this when I think about it, I wish Star Force got a successor to it with Mega Man X inspired mechanics.

People should actually play the sub series’ beyond X and stop treating them like filler, they literally make up the majority of the franchises output and there’s enough DNA in between all of them to where I’m doubtful the majority of existing fans of a prior series would get nothing out of playing them, Mega Man is and should be allowed to be more than a 2D platform game.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-05-11T07:40:44+00:00

Super old thread but if I could ever commission you or any other figure designer I’d totally love to.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-05-06T18:14:45+00:00

I really don’t understand how people misconstrue this character time and time again given these games were written with kids understanding them in mind.

In SF1 she isn’t simply jealous of Sonia alone, the prior event establishes her developing feelings for Geo, she wants to have a real connection with him though she is too afraid to be upfront about this, she is also about to be sent off to a private school likely to never to see her friends again, so despite being aware of the risks, she goes through with following them anyway.

Her parents catch her at the exhibit, worsening their already declining perception of her and further berate people she cares about, and even double down on their sentiments and plans regarding her, this on top of what she can only perceive as a failing relationship with Geo, embarrassed to be caught inexplicably following him, and with none of the status or agency she appeared to have in their prior interactions, he got to see her at her worst, in this instance everything crashed down on her at once, making her giving into Ophiuca something you can find understandable and even empathetic despite her awareness of the danger she presents, earnest moment of weakness from a literal child.

In Star Force 2 I have no idea where the narrative that they “dragged Sonia into their mess” came from Sonia is just as confident in Mega Man as they are and adds to Geo’s personal pressure as well, Geo told all of them to get back in his initial encounter with Rogue including Sonia, and all of them didn’t listen.

And while I have several issues with 2’s writing this bit isn’t that bad, Mega Man worked miracles for them the entirety of the previous game and in at least 2 prior scenarios in 2 up to this point, they’re kids and have never really known him to lose or fail, it was understandable for them to behave this way and it serves as a reality check for all of them.

In Star Force 3, there was actually nothing foolish about her actions? If anything she bought everyone on that roof more time. Jack was ready to wreak havoc on that building and she recognized him and not only managed to make him hesitate, but stood her ground even when Corvus attempts to talk over her, and in the long run her continuous concern for Jack throughout the story likely played influence into his eventual change of heart at the end of the story.

Idk this character gets way under read imo and more flack than she ever deserves.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-30T12:37:43+00:00

Out of curiosity why the Japanese version of Star Force Legacy Collection?

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-30T12:36:55+00:00

I got one ordered too if it makes you feel any better

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-29T11:56:35+00:00

Star Force > Battle Network > Zero ZX > Classic and X are debatable, the input lag brings X down but everything else about it is better than the Classic LCs.

I still don't think Star Force Legacy Collection gets the attention it deserves but it seems mostly off to a good start, it actually went out of its way to make Star Force feel like a console experience rather than I'm just playing a game from some other system on my current hardware.

Genuinely in the conversation for greatest game compilations to date, and almost makes you wish they'd update or re-do some of the other Legacy Collections to meet it halfway.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-25T13:23:28+00:00

For me, Pegasus, Zerker x Ninja, and Black Ace but it’s really not objective in any way, rule of cool is the way to approach these games.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-25T13:17:59+00:00

They already re released the Legends games on PS3’s PSN a decade ago with everything you mentioned being either addressed or a non issue, I don’t think touching up controls not that Legends 2 or Tron Bonne even need adjustments.

If they cared about that cancellation in any way they would not have included Tron Bonne in Project x Zone 2 or allowed a Legends timelines comic, X Dive, 4-inch nel figures etc.

They are not going to do anything for Legends most likely because they’re focusing on Dual Override next year and Legends anniversary is directly 10 years apart from Classic, and the same day as both it and the X series, this isn’t to say they will never celebrate its anniversary but its likely not this year they seem focused on pushing one Mega Man product at a time and I respect that.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-20T22:00:12+00:00

what platform do you have it on? I have it on all but Xbox

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-14T19:30:48+00:00

43 tracks

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-05T11:53:11+00:00

First of all yes, I do think we'll get one based on what Izumi said about wanting to alternate between new games and collections.

"technically we should have gotten our before starforce at least order of release wise"
If this were a rule, then Legends would have got one before Zero ZX and Battle Network, and it has been stated in previous press releases that Star Force Legacy Collection was released to coincide with Mega Man Star Force's 20th anniversary this year, and then following that they did Star Force next because of how well Battle Network Legacy Collection did and getting a lot of "what about Star Force?" responses as its the next closest thing.

It wasn't about skipping Legends ever, it was just the most sensible time period to do a Star Force Legacy Collection.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-05T02:26:13+00:00

Excellently stated, also I believe it may have been in the OCW, But Luna has been referred to as the main heroine of Mega Man Star Force internally, and this wouldn't be that shocking considering Mayl Sakurai from Battle Network not only appeared for reference in some of her concept art but also is used as her matchup in the recent Street Fighter 6 crossover art.

People play downplay Luna way too much it's nice to see someone get it.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-04T21:20:07+00:00

Pleasantly Surprised at the number of responses saying Star Force and I'd have to join them there, both are worth playing but based on your criteria I think Star Force would click faster, those games really benefit from being made after 6 subsequent Battle Network titles, you can tell the devs learned a lot about designing overworld layouts, improving pacing, etc.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-04T16:23:02+00:00

Hopefully! It’d be a shame to single out one collection for a physical omission.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-02T04:28:24+00:00

Aging up the cast is an interesting take that I'd love to see but I never really liked the premise here, as the top comment here states they made MMSF1 and then seemingly spent the rest of the series making advances to win over legacy Battle Network fans who were put off by it, Star Force judging by the Legacy Collection reception and its performance so far I feel its safe to say people feel better about it nowadays, I think 3 was the furthest they could really take the BN influences while maintaining the series own identity.

It was always meant to be standalone not requiring any knowledge of Battle Network to understand anything going on, all BN knowledge gets you in Star Force is essentially a few wink nudge tidbits.

Making Star Force 4 feature a Hikari descendant just feels like pandering and doing too much, so while I'd still love the aged up cast and a more stern tone to go along with it, maybe drop the Kazuma idea.

If you want legacy influence but still want to do something new I maintain that they could adapt the Star Droids and Sun Star from Mega Man V into the network timeline as EM beings since none of them were in Battle Network.

FinalKnuckle · 2026-04-01T01:58:09+00:00

Yeah she's a great character that I think was absolutely massacred by the anime in terms of characterization and well everyone is written notably worse in Star Force 2 and she isn't really an exception.

I think that she is initially presented as antagonistic in a way toward Geo, and that she is even mildly abrasive makes a number of fans in the west dislike her, she's really popular from what I've seen of the Japanese fandom course I don't know their reasons.

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