Mega Man Star Force

Mega Man Star Force is an action role-playing game much in the same vein as Battle Network. Outside of battle, the game is rendered in a 2D isometric view where the player travels through the real world and finds areas to Electromagnetic Wave Change (EM Wave Change), which tend to be the entrances to the EM Wave World or various computers. In the Wave World, the player is able to encounter viruses, during which the game switches to a 3D view from Mega Man's back, and where movement is restricted to left and right. In battles, HP represents the amount of life Mega Man has.

Whenever he is hit by an attack the number decreases, and when it reaches "zero," Mega Man is deleted and the game is over (and the player must start over from when/where they last saved). HP can be recovered in a number of ways, both in and out of battle.

Mega Man Star Force takes place in the fictional year of 220X, 200 years after the events of the Mega Man Battle Network series, when emphasis on internet technology has lessened, and instead, the world has become networked through use of EM Waves. Though cyber worlds and NetNavis still exist in Star Force, human dependency on them has greatly decreased, and people no longer have Navi companions, instead relying on Transers. Three large satellites orbiting the Earth—Pegasus, Leo, and Dragon—power the EM Wave World that exists around the Earth's atmosphere, keeping the world networked. While the EM Wave World is normally invisible to the human eye, a special piece of eyewear called the Visualizer (possessed by the series's main protagonist) allows a human to see this other world. However, like with the cyber worlds of Battle Network, EM Wave Viruses inhabit the EM Wave World, causing problems in everyday life.

Furthermore, there exists an alien planet known as "FM", inhabited by extraterrestrial beings called FM-ians. FM-ians can traverse in both worlds, and also possess the ability to physically merge with human beings through a process called EM Wave Change. Other than lending a human the FM-ian's powers, this process also transforms an ordinary human into an "EM Wave Human", allowing them to freely operate in the EM Wave World (as well as cyber networks within specific electronic devices). Many of the FM-iams are named after constellations (e.g. Taurus), and merge with people undergoing hardship.

The decision to end the Mega Man Battle Network series with the sixth entry wasn't made until partway through development, since the developers wanted to take advantage of the new hardware. According to Capcom producer Takeshi Horinouchi, the Mega Man Star Force games have been among the most difficult games in the franchise to develop because they "[came] on the heels of the Battle Network series," increasing the expectations of the fans. Masahiro Yasuma wrote that the reason for the more simplistic battle system was due to the system in Battle Network 6 being too complicated, so they 'reset' the system so younger children could play; the change in perspective was done to allow for new gameplay, while maintaining the Battle Network feel.

To promote the new game, Capcom commissioned an anime series produced by ShoPro and Xebec, which began airing on October 7, 2006, as well as a manga adaptation by Masaya Itagaki in CoroCoro Comics. Japanese pre-orders came with a replica of Geo's pendant, although these were soon recalled due to safety concerns.

According to weekly Japanese sales report of the first week of release for Mega Man Star Force, none of the three versions placed in the top 10. However, Media Create sales data shows that the three versions of the game sold a combined 219,171 units in Japan by the end of 2006, placing it as the 59th best-selling video game of the year in that region. An additional 374,504 units were sold in 2007, making it the 37th best-selling game of that year and totaling sales to 593,675 units for Japan alone.

Mega Man Star Force received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic; Pegasus, Leo and Dragon all scored 60, 58, and 60 out of 100 respectively.

Due to high sales, Capcom produced two sequels for the same system, as well as Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star (2009)—an updated port of the first Battle Network game with a new crossover scenario with Star Force.

A fourth Star Force game was in development between 2009 and 2010, but was cancelled due to low sales of Star Force 3 and Operate Shooting Star.