Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Ninja (DS) Review

Posted by Chris Vicari on 07.19.2008

Not only is the title a complete mouthful, the game itself is a little hard to swallow.



As a big fan of Mega Man back when he made a big splash on the NES and SNES, I was excited to get my hands on Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Ninja for the Nintendo DS and review it. I was a bit miffed to find out that it wasn’t the Mega Man I was accustomed to as I haven’t played any of the previous Battle Network games, but I figured what the hell.

Mega Man Star Force 2 is the eighth game in the Battle Network series and takes place in the year 220X. You play the role of Geo Stelar, a fifth grader with the power to transform into Mega Man by fusing with his alien companion, Omega-Xis. Geo also has the ability to see the Wave World which is a strange dimension connected to our world that powers every electronic device on the planet. As the story progresses and Geo battles with various foes from the other dimension, he learns that a not-so-friendly bunch of individuals are seeking to revive the lost continent of Mu.

Gameplay

When you’re not faffing about in the game world talking with other characters and reading through mind-numbing dialogue, you’ll be spending most of your time doing battle with gun turrets, robots and suspiciously looking enemies that look like a beheaded Marvin the Martian. Randomized battles make another grisly appearance and in this game it’s even more pronounced and more annoying than ever. You literally cannot move more than five or six steps without being accosted and it gets old mighty quick.

Once battle begins, it takes place on a 3x6 grid with enemies on one end and Mega Man on the other, but right off the bat I already notice a few issues. It has become apparent that Mega Man is suffering from a debilitative disorder since he can only sway from side to side while his enemies move all over the grid. The developers have also turned Mega Man’s head into the focal point of the action as half the time it limits your view when enemies move up close and personal. Battles also have tendency to get repetitive since you’re in them so damn often usually using the same attacks over and over.

Battles are fought in fast-paced action through the use of battle cards which are Mega Man’s only means of advancement as there are no levels or experience. Mega Man’s only means of defense is to dodge every attack, stand on a grid path with no enemies on it or just put up a shield. I opted to dodge everything since the shield has a tendency to lag before being effective. Mega Man’s offensive prowess comes through the use of battle cards or he can just use his regular blaster.

Battle cards are selected before the actual battle begins and depending on certain rules the game explains in detail, only certain cards can be picked at one time. Battle cards can also be picked mid-battle when the Custom bar on the right side of the screen fills up. Mega Man has the choice of a wide assortment of cards ranging from sword attacks, gun blasts and bombs to shields, HP boosts and damage enhancers. New abilities and cards can be awarded for defeating particularly tough foes, forging powerful bonds with ingame friends or simply found strewn about the game world. While assembling your deck of choice can be intriguing and fun to tinker with, once you find the set that suits you, it’s all about ability spammage with little point to change things up.

The Zerker x Ninja x Saurian thing comes into play after Geo and Omega-Xis find a special artifact. This artifact, named the OOPArt, allows them to transform into a Zerker, Ninja or Saurian to gain unique abilities to a specific element which are electricity, fire and wood respectively. These three classes, where Saurian is the exclusive class in the other version of the game, represent the three tribes of Mu. There’s little point of owning both games though as you gain abilities of every class through the course of the game anyway. It’s a tad redundant if you ask me.

One other point to note is that Star Force 2’s multiplayer functionality allows players to fight it out, form character bonds to gain better abilities or trade battle cards.

Graphics

The graphics were quite disappointing for me since the only time when the game took advantage of the DS’ capabilities was during the battle sequences. Other than that, the game uses an isometric 2D perspective with graphics no better than GBA. I think the devs could have done much better here.

Sound

If you disregard the fact that all the sounds and music are mostly rehashes of the game’s predecessor, you shouldn’t have too much of an issue with it. The sound is of good quality and sound bytes of the explosions, blasts and slashes all fit pretty well. The only thing I noticed is that when Mega Man or his enemies take any damage they don’t utter a peep. Some cries of agony or something wouldn’t have hurt. Regardless the sound is fine.

Lasting Appeal

One of the main plusses this game has going for it is its extremely long singleplayer game. Totaling to about 30-40 hours of game time, you’ll be playing this for quite a while. Star Force’s multiplayer and card trading opportunities should add some hours to the pile as well. Despite the game’s extensive campaign, it lacks in the replayability department as I doubt you’ll want to play it through again upon completion.

Fun Factor

To be quite honest I really didn’t have a lot of fun playing this game. I felt like I was slogging through the game just for the sake of it and while I’ll admit that the battles were pretty cool at first, they occurred so often I started getting sick of them. I think it’s because I am used to regular Mega Man and not at all familiar with the Battle Network series. It’s safe to say then that if you’re a fan of the previous games you’ll find this game fun to play.

The 411

For new players the game offers an interesting take on the Mega Man series and for returning players you’ll feel right at home. Regardless, the campaign’s length is more than enough to whet anyone’s Mega Man appetite and the $29.99 price tag suits it just fine. Despite my criticisms and the fact that I got bored of it fairly quickly, I would recommend renting the game to see what you think before going out to buy it.

Graphics	6.0	The game only utilizes the DS' capabilities during battle sequences and looks like GBA graphics everywhere else.
Gameplay	7.0	When you're not constantly doing battle since randomized encounters crop up like crazy, you'll be bored going through the endless streams of dialogue. Even though the battles can be fun and the battle cards help spice things up, it gets old pretty quick.
Sound	7.5	The sounds are just simple rehashes of the first Star Force game, but they are of good quality regardless.
Lasting Appeal	8.0	With a 30-40 hour singleplayer campaign you'll be occupied for quite some time. The multiplayer aspect helps pile on additional hours, but once you beat the game I doubt you'll want to play it through again.
Fun Factor	6.5	I got bored pretty quickly with this game, but returning players will have a ball. I recommend renting the game if you're not familiar with the series.
Overall	6.5   [ Average ]