Mega Man Star Force 2

Prerelease Info

Build Dates#

Embedded in ARM9 overlay 174 are the following presumed build dates.

Oct 12 2007 17:41:55

Oct 12 2007 17:48:02

Apr  7 2008 18:06:33

Apr  7 2008 18:48:33

Jul 25 2008 13:38:02

Jul 25 2008 13:59:08

Unused Text#

Unused Map Names#

The game's map list sorts maps by type: Real World, Wave Road, Sky Wave, and Boss levels. On the list where the Sky Wave maps begin, a couple Dummy names appear.

Dummy
Dummy
Dummy
Echo Ridge SW

These maps can't be accessed so they are likely used for padding or something. Echo Ridge is always first, so no maps could have used the names before it.

Debug Text#

This is the last game to have a full list of debug commands. Not all commands have been tested so it is unknown what their exact effects are. There are also some developer comments.

Word Box Brothers only
Favorite food
Hometown
Recent Interests
Favorite TV Show
Favorite phrase
Favorite celebrity
Dislikes
Words to live by
Treasured item
Best physical feature
Geo
Hope
Sonia
Prez
Bud
Zack
Prez
Mr.Hertz
Here's your play data so far. [Save] [No]
Do you want to save your progress?
Connect
Code
Would you like to connect and update data? Or correct the code?
Connect
Code
Would you like to connect and update data? Or correct the code?
Forbid escape command test. Cannot go back.
Reset command to go back.
Forbidden.....
You can also exit the page to go back.
Forbidden.....
You can go back even in a message chain.
You can forbid escape even in mid message.
Test
You got 100 Zennys
Spend 200 Zennys test
You spent 200 Zennys!
You don't have enough money...
My name is ____
(Inner monolog test)
(Inner monolog test 1st chain)
(Inner monolog test 2nd chain)
(Inner monolog test 3rd chain)
Folder name display
OK
No
Geo phrase endings
Stage/Area branch test!
This is ST8d08!
You got ____!
You got 10 HP Mems!!
You got 20 HP Mems!!
You got 10000 Zennys!
Set 0 Zennys
Encounter ON
Open all areas
Clearing DM031A and 1B,getting Swimsuit,and turning on the EM wave road to the bottom of the lake enables you to materialize and go from the Observation Deck to the bottom of the loch.
Contract with Shin
Contract with MegaMan
Contract with sub player
To Ablility Screen
Cross Tribe Tutorial Cut Scene
Start D Slot
Double Slot battle test
Side quest battle test
Star Carrier peek OK
You got Hyde Mail!!
You got a Legend Card!
Visualizer is ready to use
Now you can find all of the shrines!
All shines have been found!
Skis are ready to use!
You can access your Personal Brother Screen and the network! You can also edit your profile and enter Sky-Hi on the Plaza 3rd floor.
Start Best Combo recognition
You got "LEGEND CARD" OK! But,wait...You didn't equip a Best Combo.
OK! But,wait...You didn't equip a Legend Card.
Debug to force permission to have free battle with ghost EX boss and ghost IF boss. Please change areas from this message.
Clear Flag ON
You got Folder2!
All side quests are enabled!

A couple of unseen game features and unusual terminology appears on this list. For one, there is mention of a Geo phrase ending. This could mean that the player could have set a catchphrase or something similar in their profile and for whatever reason was removed (but this was kept in the Japanese version).

ST8d08 also appears on the list. The same terminology from Mega Man Battle Network 6 appears where, only shortened. This means "Stage 8, Dungeon 8" though this makes less sense since no map has more than eight rooms.

There is mention of a "Double Slot Battle Test". This game was the last to make use of the Nintendo DS' GBA slot, and inserting a Battle Network game unlocked a sidequest, though this suggests it may have unlocked a battle as well.

In this list, "contract" means BrotherBand so the "contract" commands likely allowed developers to add Legendary Master Shin, 1st Megaman, and the Auto-Brother as Brothers quickly.

Shines/Shrines refers to title screen marks. The inconsistent translation is odd considering the game used the term "Shines" during the story.

"To Ablility Screen" is actually misspelled like that in the message file for some reason. Perhaps the people who translated this were also responsible for not deleting it upon release.

Unused Sprites#

Demo Ending#

Hidden in the local capcomlogo file, these screens from the game's demo show up. It is likely that a demo version released in Japan used these scenes to promote the game once the player finished the demo. Because it is in the local folder (one for every language), it may also imply that localized versions of the game would have had a translated version of this screen for their demo versions. There is no known method to get the screen to appear in the game.

Manual Brother#

In the title selection's sprite file, all the options can be found. The unused Japanese option which reads Manual Brother was likely a removed feature from the game. Since the player can create an Auto-Brother, Manual Brother may have been an option to register a real brother or make a generic brother with more customizing options. The title selection cannot be accessed and it is unknown if its intended function can be recovered. No other in-game text supports this menu's existence.

Unknown Green Background#

The first background texture in the background archive is this green background. It can be still be accessed in the game, though it scrolls awkwardly when it's clearly a stationary background. The background hasn't appeared in any early screenshots so it is unknown where it would have appeared. A building is depicted in the distance but none of the architecture matches anything found in the game.

European Elemental+ Cards#

When Star Force 2 was released in Europe, the Wave Command Card system was removed. This meant that all the "Blank Cards" in the game could not be used to turn into other cards. These elemental+ cards could only be obtained through Wave Command Cards. If the cards are hacked in, no image shows up. However, each language still has its own version of each card even though it is no longer used. It is also interesting to note that even though similar cards existed in the previous game, some cards got new translations for the +30 version.

Revised Overworld Sprites#

Kelvin and MegaMan.EXE's overworld sprites have been revised in this game due to the change in graphical style. However, Kelvin doesn't appear in this game and neither does MegaMan.EXE. Because the sprites were revised rather than removed, it's possible that these characters were going to appear in the game at some point. This revised Kelvin sprite did end up being used in Star Force 3, but MegaMan.EXE's sprite was never used past the first game.

My Page Placeholder Text#

The game's "My Page" screen always have information over it. When the layers are removed and only the base layer remains, small placeholder text and info can be seen where the real info would go. Link Power defaults to 0123. When the game is normally played, the real graphics cover up these comments and the real Link Power number goes over the placeholder.

Unused Battle Cards#

Most of the non-damaging Battle Cards (such as Paralyze Stage and the Recover cards) have a Star Card variant. In normal play, the player can earn Star Cards from defeating large versions of viruses. These starred variants offer attack boosts to cards of the same name when equipped (e.g. Defeating a giant Mettenna will yield a GrndWave1*2, which will boost the attack power of GrndWave1 cards). However, since cards such as Paralyze Stage don't do any damage, nor are they given out by any viruses, these starred variants go unused.

In the Japanese version, the Boktai DS cards from the first game are present in the data, but they are incomplete and can't be added to the Folder.

Regional differences#

Japanese vs. International#

Voice acting#

= Some parts of the game have voice acting. For example, some characters might pronounce the game title and edition, and Mega Man exclaims certain transformations. Here's a list of the voice lines, all of which were removed from International releases:

Legacy Collection changes#

“G Blazer”

Fire Saurian's special LFB attack is named “ジェノサイドブレイザー” (Genocide Blazer). In the English localization of the DS games, it was shortened to “GBlazer” due to space constraints, and since voice lines were removed from the English game, the full name of this attack was never heard. Later, with the release of the Legacy Collection, most Battle Card and attack names had more characters available, so abbreviations weren't needed. However, “GBlazer” was just changed to “G Blazer”, not expanding the G. The new English voice line now says “G Blazer”, probably to avoid the usage of the word “genocide”.

Features#

Profile

The My Page screen has a second screen called "Profile", which contains additional personal information, such as favorite food and favorite TV show. Also, the Japanese version has one extra default avatar with Subaru (Geo's Japanese name) written on it.

HumorWrd

There is an ability called HumorWrd in the game. Its description reads: "Press L and Mega will..." and costs 1 LP to equip. It works similarly to the Humour program from the Mega Man Battle Network series and was also included in Mega Man Star Force 3. It was most likely removed overseas due to many jokes being related to the Profile screen, and while it can be obtained with cheats, it doesn't work.

Star Carrier toy compatibility#

All Battle Cards listed in the Library have a five-digit number in the bottom left. Those numbers allows players to use the Battle Cards with Star Carrier toys released only in Japan. They were removed overseas.

Graphic changes#

Also, some areas with Japanese text were changed outside Japan:

Japanese version	English version

American vs. European#

The Wave Command Card function was completely removed, meaning that there is no way of obtaining some Command Card exclusive cards during normal gameplay. Also, whilst the cards are obtainable in the European versions by hacking or using a cheating device, their images have been removed and they are greyed out, so they cannot be used in battle.