Having been a Mega Man fan since his appearances on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, it was great to see our friend in blue go from platformer shooter to role-playing game hero. The Mega Man Battle Network games were a breath of fresh air but after a number of sequels and what was to be a completely new reboot, the series hardly brought anything new to series. Unfortunately, the same can be said about Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker X Saurian for the Nintendo DS. Sorry, Mega Man fans, but this one just feels like familiar territory you might not want to revisit yet again.

In fact, Star Force 2 is a little too much like the first Star Force game. I’m all for reboots (it worked fabulously for the new Batman movies, right?) but not this soon after the original was released. Star Force 2 even brings back its main protagonist, Geo Stelar. Geo is a young lad who discovered an alien being known as Omega-Xis who merges with Geo to become Mega Man. Entering a parallel universe known as Wave World, Geo combats physical representations of viruses that are unseen by the real world. In this sequel, a mysterious figure appears and is determined to unleash dangerous viruses for his own nefarious plans. Once again, it’s up to Geo and his friends to put a stop to this new threat.

Ok, I think to myself, nice setup but the story just feels too familiar and on top of that the story simply falls apart way too soon to keep you interested in the developments that pop up throughout this rather lengthy game. Since Geo is actually a charming and likeable kid, he has the ability to make friends quickly and is joined by other Star Carriers like him to form a BrotherBand that accompany Geo on his quest to stop the mystery villain. The BrotherBand system is actually a clever way of trading Battle Cards with the other characters as well as with friends online via the DS’ Wi-Fi capabilities.

As a role-playing game, the original Battle Network games were rather impressive and in a way it still is seeing as there are tons of side quests to take on and various characters to meet along the way. The problem is that the side quests are simple fetch quests that get old quickly and - like the main story - require way too much backtracking. As I mentioned before, the story falls apart way too quickly in the game and you’ll start to feel that you’re going through all the trouble for nothing. Worst yet, the seemingly nonstop dialogue text cannot be skipped.

Unlike most role-playing games, Geo doesn’t level up. Rather, he gains new abilities through battle as well as gain more powerful Battle Cards to use during the many skirmishes you’ll encounter. For those who played the first Star Force will find battles have not changed at all. You will still go up against enemies on grid in a 3D perspective. You’re limited in movement seeing as there are only three columns but this is enough to take down the enemies that appear before you. There are Battle Cards that are arranged in the lower touch screen with different properties you can use during a fight and it’s possible to unleash a combo using them. If you liked the battles the first time around then you will be pleased with combat in this game. Really, if it wasn’t broken in the first place then why fix it?

Aside from the enjoyable battles using different Battle Cards as your arsenal, there are the transformations based on a particular “Tribe On” you picked during the beginning of the game. You are asked to choose from the Zerker tribe to become a Thunder Zerker or the Saurian tribe to transform into a Fire Saurian. There’s another version of this game subtitled Zerker X Ninja with the Ninja transformation being the replacement for the Saurian Tribe On. Each Tribe On has its own abilities, armor type and charge shot attacks adding some variety to your fights. You can even challenge friends online with up to seven players.

As far as the visuals are concerned, there’s really nothing here that screams DS. In fact, this is more like a really good-looking Game Boy Advance game with some 3D action tossed in to mix things up a little. The anime-styled character design isn’t bad at all, actually, and works well for the series. The music is just simply Ok even though it recycles throughout the game. The sound effects are actually good and makes up for the lack of voice acting.

Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker X Saurian is a disappointing Nintendo DS game that feels like a slightly modified version of Star Force with very little new to add to the series. This is too bad, really, seeing as the Mega Man Battle Network games are an interesting twist to the Mega Man franchise but simply slapping on a new story isn’t enough to keep returning fans interested. If you’re new to the series, this one is worth a look but everyone else might want to skip it and hope the next game will bring something new to Capcom’s long-running franchise. 

Gameplay: 5.5
The game’s story will not intrigue gamers and alas many of the game’s quests require some backtracking that will prove to be frustrating even for role-playing game fans. For returning gamers, this sequel feels too much like the original. At least the card battles are fun.

Graphics: 6.5
As far as the visuals are concerned; they’re nice but more fitting to the Game Boy Advance rather than the DS that is more than capable of displaying some impressive graphics. Well, at least the visual effects aren’t bad at all.

Sound: 6.0
The music is tolerable … but just barely seeing as it is recycled throughout the game. There are some solid sound effects that work well but other than that there’s very little here worth mentioning.

Difficulty: Medium
The card-based battles can occasionally be challenging depending on your opponent so expect some exciting battles here. The rest of the game is composed of some tedious backtracking and fetch quests that aren’t too hard for novice or returning gamers.

Concept: 5.5
Star Force 2 brings us back to the Mega Man Battle Network universe with a story that is lengthy and filled with good card battles. Unfortunately, nothing has really changed in this sequel and there’s very little different between Zerker X Saurian and Zerker X Ninja or even the first game in the series for that matter. Online gameplay is really fun, though.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Online battles is where the real action takes place and you can always trade abilities and Battle Cards with friends and other gamers via a Wi-Fi connection that runs rather smoothly. Now if only there were more Mega Man fans out there.

Overall: 5.5
It’s hard to review a game that just feels too similar to a previous Star Force game but for newcomers there are a just a wee few things to like about Zerker X Saurian. Sadly, for returning fans there is very little here that is worth a purchase seeing as the rest feels like a rehash of the first game.