Mega Man Star Force 3

Mega Man Star Force 3, known as Shooting Star Rockman 3 (流星のロックマン3) in Japan, is the third and, to date, final game in the Mega Man Star Force series released in two versions: Black Ace (ブラックエース) and Red Joker (レッドジョーカー).

A major feature in the game is 'Noise', which is a substance that corrupts Wizards (the new FM and UMA) and causes mutations. Mega Man, under excessive exposure to noise, will gain an ability, Noise Change, to change his form.

Using the Hunter VG, (which replaces Transers and Star Carriers), some characters are capable of EM Wave Changing, though only through a Trans Code provided by the Satellite Server. The creator, A.C. Eos has his own Wizard, Acid (together they are known as Acid Ace). Also the Hunter VG changes Geo Stelar's form as Mega Man.

Prologue
(Direct from Instruction Booklet)

EM Wave Viruses wreak havoc...

Systems go crazy due to increased Noise Levels...

And...Meteor G draws ever closer...

The whole world is in danger!

In this world, EM Wave technology has reached incredible new heights. EM Waves with physical bodies can now do more than their creators ever dreamed.

But along with this amazing progress, EM Wave Viruses grow ever more destructive and systems across the world are running amok in response to increases in Noise Levels.

As if that isn't enough, the EM World is now starting to feel the effects of the Noise, thanks to Meteor G, a mysterious giant meteor that suddenly appeared and is quickly approaching Earth. Will Geo and his friends be able to stop this enormous meteor in time?

Plot
The game opens with a shot of the starry skies, and an unusual big red shooting star, and two mysterious characters talking about the coming of the end. Some time after, Geo is in his class room, as he and the rest of his class update the Star Carrier into a Hunter-VG, a more upgraded version of the Star Carrier, and allowing the use of Wizards, EM Beings who can appear anywhere, without the need of Visualizer to see, and are made of Real Wave. A new student join the class, Jack, and his sister as a teacher, Ms. Tia, the same people from the beginning of the game. Geo is told by Luna, who wants to be class president once again, to look for people in need of help, and he eventually meet Woody, the head of the Science Club at school, who wants to launch a rocket into space using his Wizard, Magnes. Woody asks Geo to get him a special card, which is only available from a tournament in Spica Mall. At the same time, a mysterious man is following Geo and tells him he knows his identity as Mega Man, which surprises Geo, and tells him he can get the card if he shows up at Spica Mall to fight him as Mega Man.

At Spica Mall, Geo is late due to a malfunction in the security system, only to find out the mysterious man, known as Ace (short for A.C. Eos), a Satella Police officer, defeated all of his opponents in mere seconds with his Wizard, Acid, who are able to EM Wave Change together into Acid Ace. Geo and his friends get the card from Ace, who says he'll check Geo's fighting skills in another time, and they all prepare to the rocket launch the next day. That night, Jack and Tia appear at school and infuse Magnes with a Noise Card - which uses the Noise (a by-product of Wizards) to corrupt Wizards, thus creating Spade Magnes. The next day, before the rocket launches, the rocket malfunctions and threatens to destroy whole Echo Ridge, but eventually stopped by Mega Man. After Spade Magnes' defeat, a large amount of Crimson is created, and flys from the battlefield to an unknown destination.

Some time after, Sonia Strumm arrives in Echo Ridge and asks Geo and his friends to come to WGB Studios, to be extras on the show she is on. They are all excited, but Geo meets Ace at the park before going to the Studios the next day. Ace gives him the Ace Program/Joker Program (which depends on the version the player is playing), which allows Mega Man to harmonize with the Noise, even though it is dangerous to EM Beings to be near large amount of Noise.

At WBG Studios, Geo meets Belle and her Wizard, Ice, who is obsessed with getting Belle more screen time, despite Belle not wanting to.While shooting, Jack infuse Bud with a noise card, which wakes up Taurus inside of Bud, and Mega Man must fight the rampaging Taurus Fire. After the incident, Taurus apologizes to Bud, asking him to be his Wizard, and giving Bud the ability to EM Wave Change.Later, Jack and Tia corrupt Ice too and she becomes Diamond Ice, who freezes the event stage Sonia is playing on, and was created by Lee Stern, a WGB Studio employee who is an expert on creating Real Waves. After Mega Man defeats Diamond Ice, the gang hears Sonia's new song (which is the game's theme song, and lyrics appears in the game but are not heard).

Some time later, Ace reveals to Geo that the red shooting star he sees is called Meteor G, a huge meteor made out of Noise, and is controlled by an organization called Dealer, who plan to crash it down into Earth to destroy all EM Wave technology.

While traveling to their school's trip in Alohaha, a beautiful island which is covered in EM Environmental System which prevents any natural disasters from happening, Mega Man takes the Astro Wave to get there on time, but encounters Dark Phantom, who wants Mega Man's Ace/Joker Program. Though able to defeat him, Mega Man is overwhelmed by Noise, but is suddenly able to control it, and even Noise Change. Dark Phantom flees, and Mega Man continues to Alohaha.

At Alohaha, Geo meets the EM Environmental System's Wizard, Strong, but he is eventually corrupted by Dealers as well, making him Club Strong. After the fight, Mega Man decides to follow the Crimson which appeared, and is lead to the beach, where he finds out the ones collecting the Crimson were Jack and Queen Tia, and they also have FM-ians with them, Corvus and Virgo (respectively). They both EM Wave Change, and Jack Corvus decides to fight Mega Man (in a fixed fight, the player must survive 3 turns). After the fight, Mega Man is exhausted, and a mysterious tall figure named Joker appears, telling Jack and Tia that Mr King, Dealer's leader, decided they do not need to fight Mega Man yet, and Luna shows up looking for Mega Man. She is attacked by Joker but Mega Man defends her, only to be fooled by Joker, which uses Dread Lazer to delete Luna.

Geo is crushed and mourns Luna, but Ace contacts him, telling him they can still restore Luna, by using Dr. Goodall, a scientist of WAZA, and with Acid's Frag search. After Geo founds all of Luna's Data Frags, Dealers launch an attack on WAZA HQ, sending waves of copies of Omega-Xis at them, as Mega Man and Omega-Xis must defend against until Dr. Goodall charges her super weapon, a Noise Jammer, which disables low-level(like the clones) EM Bodies within its range. After the successful defense, Mega Man finds out that Dark Phantom has gotten into WAZA HQ, and has kidnapped Taurus Fire and Harp Note, but Mega Man defeats him, which causes Dark Phantom to become confused, and he stumbles from the Cyber Core road, into the abyss.

After the battle, Geo finds out Acid Ace fights Queen Tia's EM Wave Change, Queen Virgo, but Acid forces him to quit the EM Wave Change because he has reached critical levels of radiation which are lethal to Ace. Ace reveals he was part of Dealers before becoming a Satella Police Officer, and that he liked Tia, and wishes she would leave Dealers to join him. Though powerless, Ace asks Mega Man to fulfill his wish, and Mega Man fights and defeats Queen Virgo, which leads to the arrest of Queen Tia. Dr, Goodall is then able to bring Luna back using the data Geo found.

Jack, learning his sister was arrested, is furious, and disobeying Mr. King's orders, he goes to Echo Ridge Elementary and unleashes a fury attack on the election day, where Luna and the rest of the school is. Although no match to him, he is stalled by the School's gardener, Damian Wolfe and his EM Wave Change, Wolf Woods. Geo rushes to school, and finds Zack, Luna and Bud in the class, and Solo with them. Jack Corvus unleashed a large amount of Noise-corrupted Wizards in school, and Geo and his friends are unable to exit the normal way, so Solo cracks open a huge hole in the floor for them to drop (although Zack stays behind), and using the Noise Wave, Mega Man and Rogue fight together the Strong Noisms at the Noise Waves and before reaching to the roof, Rogue challenges Mega Man to a fight and loses, and as Geo proceeds to Jack Corvus' fight, Luna tries to reason with him, but fails. Mega Man defeats Jack Corvus in front of everyone at school, and Jack falls unconscious.

Mr. King, losing two of his agents, believes the only ones still on his side is Joker and his right hand, Heartless. While Geo and Ace are looking for clues where many Noise Wizards went rampant on, Joker shows up and reveals his powers are also able to control Acid, which turns Acid Ace into his finalized form, Acid Ace Illegal (or Black Acid Ace). Mega Man is able to hold out for enough time for Acid Ace's EM Wave Change to fade, but Ace is physically exhausted and is taken to the hospital.

Mr. King decides to show the Earth the power of Meteor G and uses it's ability, called Dread Lazer (the same as Joker's) to create Noise around WGB Studios and WAZA HQ, thus trapping Belle, Lee and Dr. Goodall, but they are saved by Mega Man.

The Satella Police decides to raid Dealer's base, and discovers it is a Crimson factory. After reaching Dealer's main room, Mega Man confronts Joker, but Ace shows up and Joker again finalizing Acid Ace, and Mega Man fights and defeats Acid Ace. After the fight, Acid Ace tells Mega Man he regained his senses, but knocks Mega Man out, and proceed to Mr. King's room. Mega Man wakes up, and rushes to Mr. King's room as well. He sees the unconscious Ace, and Joker standing on top of him. Mega Man fights Joker, who is revealed to be an Mr. King's Wizard, and uses his finalized form, Dread Joker to fight Mega Man. Jack and Tia shows up to confront King, but he orders Joker to use his self-destruct, and escapes alone, as Heartless reveals herself as a spy for the WAZA. Joker is about to self-destruct, but Ace EM Wave Changes again into finalized Acid Ace on his own, and fights off Joker, sharing the explosion with him, deleting himself but the others are saved.

Geo is invited to the Orbital Base by Heartless, who tells him she was able to stall Meteor G's course to Earth, with the aid of none other than Kelvin Stelar, Geo's father, who is inside Meteor G. Jack and Tia shows up and tell Geo they plan to reset the course to Earth, destroying 80% of Earth's population as well. They reveal they are the prince and princess of a country who was advanced in EM Wave technology, but was wiped out due to the other countries will to take the technology to themselves. They were left alone, but were picked by Mr. King and to his organization. They go to the Meteor Control Cyber Core, and although Mega Man catches up with them, they have already set Meteor G's course.

Geo and the staff of WAZA HQ, as well as Lee Stern and Woody, meet up and discuss what they should do, saying Meteor G will crash to Earth in 12 hours, but Heartless reveals that due to Kelvin's power, he is able to stall the meteor for at least 24 more hours, and WAZA decides to launch Mega Man into the red shooting star to destroy Meteor G using Woody's space rocket, and Lee building Real Wave barrier to protect the rocket until it reaches Meteor G.

Geo rides the giant Wave Station through a Noise Hole, where he meets Magnes, and finally transcending to the Meteor Server. Jack and Tia are aware of Mega Man's presence, saying it has come to destroy their red shooting star (Meteor G), that blue shooting star (Mega Man).

As Geo enters the Meteor Server, he is guided by memories of his father, but confronts the Noise Wizards he fought before passing each area (Spade Magnes, Diamond Ice and Club Strong).The first memory is of what happened before the execution of the space station Peace and it's crew, after Omega-Xis converted them to EM Waves. The second memory is of Kelvin before he went to space, and he talked to 9-years old Geo and Hope, and told Geo to look after his mother if he was gone and Kelvin is thankful he has such a wonderful family, which he then thinks to himself that he talks like he won't come back, but Kelvin promises he will hug Geo and Hope once again after he returns.The 3rd memory is a damaged one, showing only some of the memory, due to the high noise levels near the core of Meteor G.

Mega Man arrives to the core of Meteor G, and sees his father. They talk for a bit, but are interrupted by Mr. King, who fuses with Meteor G's core and becomes Crimson Dragon. Crimson Dragon absorbs Kelvin, but before, Kelvin tells Mega Man he must defend the ones Geo loves, and that he came to Meteor G to stop it. Crimson Dragon taunts Mega Man, saying he wouldn't dare hurt his father, but Mega Man listens to his dad and fights Crimson Dragon. After his defeat, Mr. King disappears, but Crimson Dragon does not, as it's tapping off of Kelvin's power, and in a final act of desperation, he attacks Mega Man and knocks him out cold and the high Noise causes the rocket Mega Man came on to get away from the Meteor. Back on Earth, Geo's friends and WAZA are cheering for him, praying that he can defeat Meteor G, and Dr. Goodall asks Ace to watch over him.

Mega Man dreams of Ace coming to him and motivating him to fight, and Mega Man gets up from his dream, and uses the all the Noise power to preform a Finalize, turning him to either Black Ace or Red Joker. The player then fight Crimson Dragon in a fixed fight, where neither Mega Man nor Crimson Dragon can die (only drop to one), and only ends when Mega Man uses his finalized Noise Force Big Bang - Black End Galaxy or Red Gaia Eraser, is he able to defeat Crimson Dragon once and for all. Kelvin is freed, but disappears again, thanking Geo. Geo is sad, but decides to destroy Meteor G once and for all. Meteor G's explosion is seen from Earth, lighting the sky, and Geo is then seeing floating in space, defended by an EM shield, created by his dad. He realizes that he is lost in space, and admits he misses everyone, and the scene cuts to WAZA HQ. They are unable to contact Geo, but a transmission from Kelvin is sent to everyone on Earth, asking for every person to pray, picture or hope that Geo will make it back home. The people of Earth decides to do whatever it takes to find Geo, and everyone in the world changes their Purpose (of their Hunter-VG), to "Bring Back Geo!". His friends change their purpose to that as well, and Geo is seen awakened by the voice of his father and Omega-Xis. They tell him he is able to be sent home due to the massive amount of "Purpose Wave" sent from Earth, created when strong purposes are formed, and send him off to Earth. Geo asks if he will ever see Omega-Xis or his father ever again, and Kelvin says he is definitely coming home. As Geo move towards Earth, the third memory from the Meteor Server is shown without interruptions, revealing it was the day Geo was born, when Hope and Kelvin talked about naming him with a name who has unlimited love and power, and Kelvin called him Geo, a reference to the Earth, who has both. Geo thanks his parents for supporting him, and as he gets close to Earth, he hears everyone calling for him to come back. He is then shown to be flying towards Earth in a blue shooting star.

As the credits roll, pictures of events which happened after the story are shown; Geo comes back to earth and is celebrating with Bud, Sonia, Luna, Zack and even Jack at Luna's class president party, and Solo is shown to be wandering a desert (presumed Whazzap Desert) with Laplace. A picture of Ms. Tia, Dr. Goodall and Acid visiting the now-recovered Ace,who eats Mega Snacks (which he became addicted to during the game).. Geo is then shown to be on top of the roof, watching the sky as he used to do after his father disappeared, but this time he is smiling.

The final cutscenes take two weeks later, Geo is standing on the roof and again watching at the sky, saying how he is glad he made it back home to his friends and family, and is living his life to the fullest when he notices a blue shooting star coming at him. As it gets close, the screen flashes, revealing that Omega-Xis came back to Geo as he promised, commenting that he should look to the sky, as someone should be arriving soon. A second shooting star is shown, and the scene cuts to Geo's house. Geo comes home, and Hope is surprised to see Omega-Xis, but they say someone else is here to see her. Kelvin walks through the door, and saying "Honey, I'm Home... I'm finally home". As the game ends, the final picture is shown, featuring Kelvin holding Omega-Xis, Hope and Geo in his arms...

Theme
Once again, the current subject in the game is related to brothers and brotherbands. In this case, the game revolves around the idea or "Purpose". When brothers, friends or acquaintances join and work for a single goal, a "purpose". The main characters constantly change their purpose for the situation at hand, making new allies who in the end, join together and use their unique skills to aid Megaman in his final battle. The villains also make clear their purposes and the reason to do so. The concept of Link power is no longer mentioned, only as part of the game, not the plot.

Noise Gauge
After gaining the Ace/Joker Program (which one depends on the version being played) from A.C. Eos, Mega Man now goes through battles with a Noise Gauge. Starting at 0%, the gauge increases by 1% for every excess point of damage done by a non-dimming non-elemental card when Mega Man overkills a virus (e.g. deleting a Mettenna with a Sword will gain 40% noise). For bosses, it increases by half the damage done by a non-dimming non-elemental card.

If noise exceeds 50%, it will gradually decrease until it reaches 50%, where it will stay. Going over 100% noise (200% in PvP) will also cause all of Mega Man's attacks to pierce Invisible. This is reflected in PvP mode when the opponent's HP count turns red. If Mega Man finishes the battle with over 100% noise, the card data will change, often yielding powerful secret cards (some from previous games). Mega Man will also start his next battle at 50% noise. S-Ranking a battle with even higher noise levels (~200% or higher) may also yield more than one piece of card data.

Noise Change
After a certain plot point, whenever Mega Man completes a battle with Giant viruses, he stands a chance of gaining a Noise Change. These forms work similar to Styles from the Battle Network games, with Mega Man only being able to keep one at a time, with the exception of Black Ace and Red Joker, which can not be kept.

Noise Kaizou Gear
Similar to Wave Command Codes from the previous game, Noise Kaizou Gear allows for the player to input codes, granting them special boosts and changing their set of White Cards. It was locked in non-Japanese localization. Though it can be accessed with codes.

Secret Servers
Players have the option to unlock special Satellite/Meteor Server cards, which will appear as Brother cards in their folder. These are unlocked and leveled up by inputting a code, although the cards cannot be leveled up unless a certain card from the possible card selections is used. Once the card is used, at the end of the battle, A.C. Eos will contact the player that the next level is unlocked, and informs them of the code needed. The cards do not follow a linear route whilst leveling them up, and it is up to the players to decide which path they should take whilst leveling up the cards.

When a secret server card is used, the player is prompted to choose A, B, or C. Choosing one will present the player with a fresh screen of six cards from the server's possible card selections. The cards presented will depend on the server card's position when selected, and whether the player chose A, B, or C. The Secret Server seems to be locked in localization.

Satella Police

 * Acid Ace (A.C. Eos and Acid)
 * Mega Man (Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis)
 * Lyra Note (Sonia Strumm and Lyra)
 * Taurus Fire (Bud Bison and Taurus)
 * Cygnus Wing (Tom Dubius and Cygnus)
 * Wolf Woods (Damian Wolfe and Wolf)
 * Dr. Goodall

Dealer

 * Mr. King
 * Heartless
 * Joker (Dread Joker)
 * A.C. Eos (former member)
 * Queen Tia and Virgo (Queen Virgo)
 * Jack and Corvus (Jack Corvus)

Other Wizards

 * Pedia
 * Vogue
 * Magnes
 * Ice
 * Strong

Bosses

 * Spade Magnes - Noise corrupted Magnes, Found at the Rocket CC, and again in the Meteor Server.
 * Diamond Ice- Noise corrupted Ice, found at the Event Stage CC, and again in the Meteor Server.
 * Club Strong- Noise corrupted Strong, found at Environment CC, and again in the Meteor Server.
 * Jack Corvus- EM Wave Change of Jack and Corvus. Fought at the Beach (although the player only has to survive a few turns), School's Roof and Meteor Server.
 * Queen Virgo- EM Wave Change of Tia and Virgo, fought at WAZA HQ and again in the Meteor Server.
 * Acid Ace- EM Wave Change of Ace and Acid, fought in the Main Computer CC, as corrupted (finalized) on Event Stage and again before fighting Dread Joker.
 * Dread Joker Finalized form of Joker, fought at Dealer's Base.
 * Dark Phantom- The EM Wave Change of Hyde and Phantom, fought as part of the storyline in National Astro Wave 1 and Main Computer CC.
 * Crimson Dragon- The core of Meteor G fused with Mr. King, last boss of the game in the story line, fought in the Meteor Server 4, once normally and then in a fixed fight (which the player cannot lose or end until the player use the Noise Force Big Bang).
 * Taurus Fire- Now the EM Wave Change of Bud and his wizard Taurus, fought at WBG Studios, and whenever the player want to battle Taurus Fire by talking with Bud.
 * Cygnus Wing- EM Wave Change of Tom Dubius and Cygnus. now a member of WAZA, fought after entering WAZA HQ.
 * Wolf Woods- The EM Wave Change of Damian Wolfe and Wolf, on the school's roof.
 * Rogue- The EM Wave Change of Solo, fought as part of Jack Corvus chapter, and again at Alohaha.
 * Moon Destroyer - a mysterious EM Being from the Moon, unknown Human counterpart, and fought on National Astro Wave 2.
 * Apollo Flame- Hidden chapter only.
 * Sirius- Hidden chapter only.

Trivia

 * The game skips to a Mega Man Battle Network 5 like theme, with the formation of a "Liberation Squad" in Battle Network terms, and Noise Cards taking the place of Dark Chips. The gameplay mirrors Mega Man Battle Network 2 with the Noise Changes resembling Style Changes, with the card copy limit being raised to 5 and introduction of the Regular System. The plot bears a similarity to Mega Man Battle Network 4 with the threat of a meteor heading for earth and the final boss originating from it.


 * Program Advances return in this game (e.g. three Mini Grenades form a Big Grenade, hitting a 3x3 area three times for 60 damage per hit).


 * The final boss battle comes in two parts - one is done as normal, while the second is fixed such that the player can neither win nor lose until they execute a certain attack.


 * This is the only Mega Man Star Force game that has a demo downloadable on the Wii.


 * Like MegaMan.EXE having an unused sprite in Mega Man Star Force 2 this one also has a sprite of Lan Hikari.


 * Despite the Noise Changes of numerous characters, most characters from the first Star Force game are not in this game such as Libra, Ophiuca, Gemini, Patrick Sprigs, Cancer, Claud Pincer, Crown and Jean Couronne XIV.


 * This is the second game in the Star Force series to feature voice acting outside Japan. First Mega Man Star Force game was dubbed in menu selection.


 * This game has the largest amount of bosses in any Mega Man Star Force game.


 * This game feature a Keyword system, mostly used on characters and events from the two previous games.


 * This game was actually rated for mild language. However, there is no use of words like "damn" or "hell," just the use of words like "butt" more often. Ironically, this is the only Mega Man game rated for language that actually does not have the use of any controversial taboo. Mega Man 7, several games in the X series, and Mega Man Battle Network 2 all use the word "damn" and occasionally "hell," but were not rated for the use of those words, causing slight controversy.


 * More instances of things appearing before they're revealed, like boss cards in character's Transers before they are met in the first game, Omega will talk of Noise spots at the beginning of the game when the player examines them, even before anything has been said about Noise. The best example is if Mr. Shepar's desk is examined right after the opening cutscene, completely before any mention that Noise exist.
 * It is the only game that doesn't have a Harp Note Battle Card.
 * The game was promoted by the comedy duo Hige Danshaku.