This article has a talk page!This page details pre-release information and/or media for Mega Man Star Force.
Timeline#
- 2005
- November 23: Rockman EXE 6 is released in Japan, marking the end of the Battle Network series.
- 2006
- May 26: Fan site Rockman Synergy reports1 that pre-orders of the upcoming Rockman ZX will include a bonus DVD with “scoop footage of a top-secret project”2.
- June 28: A user in GAForum.org3 reports an upcoming Nintendo DS game titled 新生ロックマンZN (Shinsei Rockman ZN, “Rockman Reborn ZN”), though the name is meant to be temporary or tentative (“仮”). It's scheduled for release in winter this year.
- July 6: Rockman ZX is released in Japan. The pre-order DVD includes a trailer for a new Mega Man project, dubbed 新生ロックマンプロジェクト, announced as the successor of Battle Network, for the Nintendo DS. Note that the previously reported name (新生ロックマンZN) is nowhere to be found in this trailer.
- July 13: Gaming news site Gamefront.de4 reports that Japanese retailers have listed a new game titled 流星のロックマン (Ryuusei no Rockman) for the Nintendo DS, scheduled for release in “winter 2006”.
- July 15: Ryuusei no Rockman is featured in July 2006's issue of the Coro Coro Comic magazine, showing several screenshots and revealing part of the story and features.
- July 24: Famitsu reports on the new game, including screenshots and story details.5
- September 22: CAPCOM announces the localized title for the new game: Mega Man Star Force.6
- September 23-24:7 Ryuusei no Rockman is part of CAPCOM's lineup for Tokyo Game Show. 12 demo units were available across all three game versions.8
- November 22: Boktai DS is released in Japan. This is relevant because of an ongoing collaboration between Mega Man and Boktai, dating from the Battle Network days. Both games can connect to each other to exchange power-ups and items, some of which can only be obtained in this way.
- October 7: The first episode of the Ryuusei no Rockman anime airs in Japan.
- October 26: The save data format for Ryuusei no Rockman is finalized, according to a value stored in the save data of the final Japanese and USA release.
- December 14: Ryuusei no Rockman is released in Japan.
- 2007
- February 6: Boktai DS is released in the United States as Lunar Knights. It's been heavily reworked to “disconnect” it from the Boktai series, being marketed as a different game. It does not include any of the Mega Man collaboration content.
- June 8: The save data format for the European version of Mega Man Star Force is finalized, according to a value stored in the save data of the final European version.
- July 23: The first English-dubbed episode of the Mega Man Star Force anime premieres on Toonami Jetstream. The 10-minute Japanese episodes were combined and adapted to fill a traditional 30-minute slot.
- August 7: Mega Man Star Force is released in the United States. It does not include any of the Lunar Knights collaboration content.
- October 27: The Ryuusei no Rockman anime ends its run in Japan after 55 episodes.
- November 3: The second season of the Ryuusei no Rockman anime, Tribe, premiers in Japan, based in the upcoming sequel game.
- November 22: Ryuusei no Rockman 2 is released in Japan.
- November 30: Mega Man Star Force is released in Europe.
- December 10: The Mega Man Star Force English-dubbed anime ends its run, only reaching until episode 25.
Prerelease Trailer#
A trailer showing close to the final build. Taurus Fire's Fire Breath attack (3:28 in the video) has a different animation.
Early Screenshots#
|
Prerelease |
Final |
|---|---|
|
|
Multiple differences can be seen when Omega-Xis crashes into Geo Stelar:
- Not only is Geo not using the correct portrait, it's also more basic looking; interestingly, his cameo in Lunar Knights seems to be based on this version.
- The ground is a dull gray, while the final added a blue tint; the final also added small lights.
- The stars are in different positions.
- The lamp-post was altered to look more modern in the final game, while the fence was changed to look less generic.
- Exclamation marks are spread out more in the prerelease screenshot.
- The prerelease screenshot does not include the Transer icon in the top-left.
Early Battle Cards#
Among the pre-release content, some earlier versions of Battle Cards can be seen. In one of the trailers, there's also a card that's barely visible, but its shape cannot be mapped to any existing card (and the video quality doesn't help either).
Battle Card |
Prototype |
Final |
|---|---|---|
BraveSwrd1 |
 |
 |
LongSword |
 |
 |
Unknown |
 |
Early Menus and Screens#
Brother Screen#
Geo |
Luna |
Bud |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Prototype |
 |
 |
 |
Final |
 |
Note: Luna and Bud screens come from magazine scans, hence the pink squares and different colours.
- The early Brother screen always shows the “ON AIR” indicator, even for NPC brothers.
- The kanji for the names of these characters have not been implemented in this screen yet.
- Screen background lacks the grid pattern in the prototype.
- Geo and Luna show an early version of their mugshots.
Personal Screen#
Geo |
Mega Man |
|
|---|---|---|
Prototype |
 |
 |
Final |
 |
 |
Early version of the Personal screen. Its elements still remain in the final release:
References#
- https://web.archive.org/web/20060618183037/http://www.rockmansynergy.com/index.php?archive=1149145560&subaction=list-archive&↩︎
- https://web.archive.org/web/20060613030054/http://www.e-capcom.com/shop/?goods=1238767↩︎
- https://www.gaforum.org/showthread.php?s=03660220aa6628d3b2192bc4799cb3fe&p=5056986#post5056986↩︎
- https://gamefront.de/archiv07-2006-gamefront/juli-02.html↩︎
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070103024119/http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2006/07/14/104,1152884978,56926,0,0.html↩︎
- https://web.archive.org/web/20061025144730/http://www.capcom.com/news/news.xpml?prid=700073↩︎
- https://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2006/kids/stage.html↩︎
- https://web.archive.org/web/20061018144405/http://ds.ign.com/articles/731/731738p1.html↩︎