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Mega Man Star Force 3 is the third and last game in the Star Force sub-series, taking the series back to its space theme with a meteor coming in to destroy the world. Oh, and the Star Break and Tribe On features have been replaced by Noise Changing. Fun!
While considered a step up from the previous games in every way, Star Force 3 ended up selling very poorly which, combined with the poor sales of Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star, would lead Capcom to scrap a planned fourth entry. It was also the only Star Force game that never released in European regions until Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection.
Unused Graphics#
Backsprites#
Unused backsprites for both Sirius and Club Strong. It is possible that there would have been a freefight with Sirius after the bonus chapter at one point, but he never appears in the overworld after said chapter. In the case of Club Strong's sprites, it is impossible to talk to him from behind because of invisible walls blocking the player from doing so.
In Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, the player can see backsprite of Club Strong at Alohaha Castle when turning on EX/V2 Boss Locator in game settings.
Leftover Geo Stelar mugshots#
Geo Stelar's mugshot from Mega Man Star Force 2, which was used in early screenshots of this game.
MegaMan.EXE and Lan mugshots#
Unused mugshots for Lan and MegaMan.EXE are also present, although in this case they are simply leftovers from Star Force 2. Both mugshots still remain in Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection.
Sky Hertz#
It seems the Sky Wave was planned to re-appear in the third game, seeing as this Sky Hertz mugshot was updated from Star Force 2, but since the Sky Wave doesn't appear neither do the Sky Hertzes.
Trader Man mugshot#
The TraderMan's mugshots, almost the same as the ones used in Star Force 2 except that the second mugshot is different.
Intro Screen#
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Final |
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A blue-tinted, earlier-looking intro screen with "1a" written on it. The most notable difference between this and the final version is that everyone is placed closer together and there is significantly less damage on the road.
Ending#
Smaller versions of the images of Solo and Laplace and the Stelar family reunion (including Omega-Xis) used during the ending exists for whatever reason.
Unused Textures#
Dark Phantom#
A texture of Dark Phantom grinning.
Rogue#
The textures for Rogue's sword from Star Force 2 are present within the game. Unused because he uses the Laplace Blade in this game instead.
Regional Differences#
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Noise Mod Gear#
Three separate power-up systems, collectively forming the Noise Mod Gear system, were removed from the localized versions of Star Force 3, but was re-added in Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection. All three function in a similar manner to the Wave Command Code system in Star Force 2, and the White Cards system that still exists in Star Force 3. Through hacking, these features can be re-enabled, and have been fully translated save except for one error described below.
The first and most notable of the three is the Noise Poker mechanic, which allows players to acquire up to five sets of abilities through certain inputs, using a poker hand-style system to determine compatibility as per the motif of the game's antagonists. The access method is the only part of this system that has been dummied out, a player who has already equipped Noise Poker abilities may freely access and disable them without any further hacking.
The game also features Purpose Card codes, which allow changing the player's abilities of their Finalized Noise super mode after the main storyline has been beaten. One of these codes raises the rank of the form's folder by one level, which if used in conjunction with accessing the normal maximum level allows reaching an additional, even more powerful version of the folder never seen in normal gameplay. Also for encountering Rogue ZZ in JP version if one of teammate enters this card, while the North American version uses a cheat if the player has the top row of stars completed.
The last of these is the Secret Satellite Server, which allows replacing up to three of the player's Brothers with a special card which can be used to access various folders based off characters from the Mega Man franchise by going through a complicated unlocking system in battle. Each time a new level is unlocked, the game will display a message providing a six-character input code meant for use with a touchscreen overlay. While this feature has been fully translated, as have all the others, it suffers from an unusual translation error wherein every code provided by the game gives only the first five letters of the code rather than all six due to the text going past the drawable area within the text box. Because of this, a guide is still needed in order to navigate the system. When the following Action Replay codes are applied, the full code will be drawn which is otherwise not viewable.
Black Ace:
521F2328 E12D005F
221F2328 0000000A
221F23DA 0000000A
D2000000 00000000
Red Joker:
521F2348 E12D005F
221F2348 0000000A
221F23FA 0000000A
D2000000 00000000
Because of the region lockout, the English version of the "Download" voice line (only for in SSS when selected folder) can't be heard through legitimate means.
Unobtainable Cards#
In original release, three battle cards, which appeared and were usable in previous Star Force games, called Dragon Sky GX (DragonSkyGX), Pegasus Magic GX (PegasuMgcGX), and Leo Kingdom GX (LeoKingdmGX) respectively, are unobtainable by legitmate means.
Due to the Secret Satellite Server being unused in the localized versions, these cards go unused, due to only being usable via the SSS. However, these cards are obtainable in Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection.
Graphical Differences#
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North America |
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The Satella Police officers have different sprites when they are defeated in the North American release, presumably to tone down the violence in such scenes.
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North America |
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When the Omega-Xis copies are defeated in the Japanese version, they play a special recoil and deletion animation. In the North American version, likely for the same reasons as the Satella Police's injured sprites, this is replaced with them teleporting away.
When Dread Joker is about to explode along with Acid Ace in Dealer's Base, they hold each other's shoulder in Japanese version. In the North American version, they hold each other's hands.
The Japanese release of Star Force 3 has several references to Umaibō, a Japanese puffed corn snack, including a pop-up image if the player purchases one at school; the North American version localizes these as "Mega Snacks" and removes the special image.
Removed Voicelines#
- In the Japanese version, clearing the game would change the voice on the title screen from Ryuusei no Rockman 3 into Shooting Star Rockman 3; the U.S. version has no such feature, using the same Star Force 3 voice clip for both.
- Ace's "Wave battle, ride on!" line when a VS Match begins is removed in the English version. It was added back to Legacy Collection, but remains unused.
Other Differences#
- The behavior of the WolfWoods card has been changed. In JP, WolfWoods will attack furthest down the row even if there’s no enemy. In NA, WolfWoods will always attempt to attack to attack the row that the first enemy or obstacle is on, this includes going out of bounds if the target is on the same row as the player Mega Man.
(Source: The Rockman EXE Zone)
Revisional Differences#
Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection#
- During Wave Battle, player can select the darkened Battle Card with controller buttons, which cannot be done in original release. In original release, it can be only selected by touching the screen.
- The prerequisite of fighting Rogue ZZ has been changed.
- In Legacy Collection, player has to acquire AJ Star and equip a Purpose Card so Rogue ZZ would show up.
- In original release, player has to collect every Standard, Mega, Giga class Battle Cards and acquire SS Star so Rogue ZZ would show up.