Mega Man Star Force

Mega Man Star Force is the first game in the Star Force sub-series, available in three versions with various elements from the Battle Network series. Unused elements suggest the game would have been darker, have maps fully-rendered in 3D, and feature customization options not present in the final game.

Removed Chat Mode
In the game's 10th message file in the local folder, there is the text used in the Wireless Network mode. Among the dialog is mention of a chat mode. Apparently the game had a feature where you could chat with other players locally. This feature is not present in the final version of the game. However, checking the font table for the game, characters that appear to represent smileys are in the table. This is the only evidence of this chat mode since menu selections and graphics don't appear for this mode. This feature was probably removed since they figured out that local-only chat was really, really, unnecessary.

The following characters are not used, but related to chat: Geo face, Mega Man face, Fire symbol, Aqua symbol, Elec symbol, Wood symbol, VS, trade symbol, Pegasus, Leo, Dragon, Standard Library symbol, Mega Library symbol, Giga Library symbol, mail symbol. These symbols were probably used for players to talk about game-related subjects much faster.

Full Weapon Name List
In the game's local 101th message file is a list of equipable weapons. However, this list is different from the list the game actually uses for the weapons. All the weapon names are spelled out much more completely and there are no real descriptions. It's possible that names in the game would have been able to fit more characters than the 11 allowed in the game.

Pointed Fangs Slashing Claws PorcuNeedles Bear Ring Cobra Fangs Blinding Eye Thief's Armband Power Ring Demon's Eye Rapid-Fire Claw Paralyzer Steel Fist Hammer Glove Zenny Finder Card Finder Sweet Mirage Kaiser Knuckle Magic Breath FM Bracelet StarForce Power B.Net Blaster

All the weapons have the generic description of "(Weapon name written in the game's shortened version) Desc."

Boktai DS Items
Because the Crossover feature in this game was removed for the localized release, these items go unused. They are still translated and can be obtained through cheats, but won't ever do anything. PMegaHd DMegaBod LMegaLeg LEmblem HPRecov PwrDrnk StarFrag Alloy

Leveled-Up Navi Cards
Inside the Navi Card dialog file, the Navi's name appears after their messages. PropellerMan, PitcherMan, KeyMan, ThermoMan, and ShovelerMan all have the numbers 2, 3, 4 after their names. This might suggest that the player would upgrade the Navi Card to have the Navi do different things. However, all the Navi Cards are used very rarely so this concept was probably not necessary.

Debug Text
Like Battle Network, Star Force has a list of debug commands used by the developers. There are similar commands on the list and not all of them have been tested. It is interesting to see dev talk on the Andromeda debug. It mentions how simply getting it isn't the same as getting it through wireless. See Bros. Ranks Delete My Record Del Friend's Rec What do you want to do with ____'s record? Begin HelpSignal End Don't End Connect CodeConnect & update data? Or correct code? Connect CodeConnect & update data? Or correct code? Equip Change name Erase Choose action... Equip Change name Erase Choose action... Start Note game Bro. face test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Line test Got ____ Got 10000Zennys! Set 0 Zennys EncounterON TripAroundWorld Got 10 HP Mems Got 20 HP Mems BeginB.ComboRcog OK! But,wait... You didn't equip a B.Combo. OK! But,wait... you've got 10 LegendaryForces. 6 Bros. reg OK Got Andromeda for mod check use!! Still ???? because didn't get via wireless Got folder 2!! Got extra folder Got Star Force!! Got Star Force!! Got Star Force!! Bros. w/Sonia!! Bros. w/Bud!! Bros. w/Zack!! Bros. w/Luna!!

Early Menus


Inside the game's subscreen archive are these two menu sprites. They contain graphics for an unused menu probably scrapped late in development. The graphics seem to depict a multiplayer interaction menu. The menu graphics also don't match any of the in-game menu graphics and Japanese text is present even in localized versions. These menu graphics haven't been seen in any trailers or early screenshots so their function remains unknown.

Early Geo Mugshot




In a prototype of the game, Geo Stelar had a different, dorkier-looking mugshot. The mugshot was quickly redone and the game no longer uses it. However, the game had a special connection with Lunar Knights: Lunar Knights featured a Megaman Star Force cameo where Geo appeared after connecting with the Megaman Star Force game. A very similar mugshot appeared in Lunar Knights, clearly based on the Geo's early mugshot. There is also a Mega Man mugshot in Lunar Knights, but it's based more on the final mugshot than the early one.

Mega Man and Geo Portrait


Also in the game's subscreen archive is this graphic of Mega Man. This graphic is unusual because not only is it unused, it seems incomplete. It looks like a sketched out placeholder graphic for Mega Man, probably on some status screen because it's screen-sized. The format is also different from the other graphics. All other illustrations in the game are 8bpp with a simple tilemap to arrange it. This graphic is 4bpp and uses a tilemap to use slightly more colors. There also isn't any black outline. The format suggest the image is really old, probably related to the parts customization feature for which there isn't any graphical connection to. There is also an image of Geo in a similar style (screen sized and low-quality) but the tilemap data is corrupted and the palette is incomplete, making it impossible to rip.

Generic Comp 2
Also similar to Battle Network is the "requirement" of having a generic comp with 2 warps used to chain consecutive maps. This makes another feature Star Force lacked since this map is never used in the game. Either the harsh, offensive use of pink and purple caused this to be removed, or there wasn't enough time to implement a series of consecutive maps in the game.

Gemini Spark's texture
Gemini Spark have a + and - symbol in their face textures, but it cannot be seen in-game because their helmets cover it.

Turning Cannons
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In some early trailers for the game, the Cannon enemies were shown to have the ability to tilt from left-to-right potentially firing at angles. In the final version, the enemy becomes completely stationary, probably because it was deemed too difficult having it attack from anywhere. This behavior can still be restored through a hack, though it doesn't function properly.

Green Mystery Wave
Among the various 3D models appears this object. A 3D Green Mystery Wave suggests that this game would have had these in battle similar to Mega Man Battle Network 4-6. There are no other alternate colors to this model. There is also no known method to get these to appear in battle. Perhaps this was a late feature since Mega Man Star Force 2 would then include a similar take on the concept of protecting an object during battle for a reward.

Test Enemies
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The video on the right shows two test enemies present in the games data. The first one (called "Mettenna" during battle) does not appear on the field until the battle begins, after which it will appear as a 1HP Dragon Sky which can neither harm nor be harmed by Mega Man (expect with the DrknesHole Giga Card) and just stays in place. Oddly enough, while the TestVirus can be "deleted" with the DrknesHole card, only the HP number underneath it dissapears and the battle doesn't end. The second one (called "TaurusFire" during battle) appears as a 500HP Fire Leo Mega Man, most likely used to test boss fights, which does nothing but continuously uses AntiSword. Unlike the first virus however, this one can be damaged and can damage Mega Man if a sword-type Battle Card is used against it. The Test Mega Man always gives a GrndWave card upon defeat.

Anti-Piracy
If the game detects it is a pirated copy, the game will repeatedly display the message "Hey, hurry up and touch the train, kid!" (in the English version) during a scene shortly before the first battle. Pressing any button will cause it to display again. The player cannot do anything else and will be forced to quit.