History YMMV / MegaManStarforce

* UnderusedGameMechanic: The Star Force series conducts repeated experiments with {{Utility Party Member}}s (Navi Cards, Matter Waves, borrowed Wizards), but never managed to find a way to implement them into general gameplay; many of them have only very limited uses. This is a shame for things like Ollie the skyboard, since SkySurfing could have been a convenient way to get around.

** The second game's BonusDungeon is a BadFuture, but doesn't explore why there's no Mega Man, why the FM-ian bosses are running around (and why they don't recognize their human names), or the implications of Apollo Flame (and his mother). Geo barely even reacts to the IF bosses as anything more than Mooks.

* CriticalResearchFailure: In the anime, season 1, episode 6, where Copper is tailing Geo, Omega-Xis says that the detective is "at three o'clock". However, Copper is clearly on Geo's ''left'', which, using clock position directions, as explained [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_position here]] on Wiki/TheOtherWiki, is at "''nine o'clock''". "Three o'clock" would be to Geo's ''right''.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Having friends is good. Being emo is bad.

* ContestedSequel: To ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork''. You either feel it streamlines ''Battle Network''[='=]s mechanics with its own unique spin or you find it a water downed and less interesting version of ''Battle Network''[='=]s gameplay, with little in between.

* FakeBalance:
** The Fire element, which consists of many powerful cards and has a lot of power-boosting support, making it easy to unleash high power assaults and destroy anything before you.
** Not all transformations are created equal. In the first game, Dragon is one of the best versions to go with as the transformation provides Status Guard, while the other two transformations have perks that NPC [=BrotherBands=] automatically provide. Meanwhile, [=BrotherBands=] with Pegasus players give a universally-appreciated Gauge speed bonus, while Leo and Dragon [=BrotherBands=] give less useful +1 Buster attack and +1 Mega capacity perks respectively.
** In the third game, NonElemental non-dimming cards get the most perks in single player mode. Despite not being able to capitalize on the ElementalRockPaperScissors, they are the only way the player can raise the Noise Gauge which powers the game's SuperMode. During a long boss fight, it is possible to jack the Noise Gauge all the way to its cap, allowing you to see the ''real'' potential of your Finalized form.

* ContestedSequel: To ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork''. You either feel it streamlines ''Battle Network'''s mechanics with its own unique spin or you find it a water downed and less interesting version of ''Battle Network'''s gameplay, with little in between.

-->WheresTheKaboom There was supposed to be an EarthShatteringKaboom!

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: While fans were torn over the differences between ''Star Force'' and ''Battle Network'', game critics thrashed the entire ''Star Force'' trilogy because they felt that the games wasn't different ''enough''.

** Bob Copper, the quirky detective who investigates Z-Waves in the first game, uses a reflecting barrier to keep Z-waves away. Omega-Xis claims this is technology humans shouldn't have yet, but the games never dig very deep into Bob Copper and his cool toys.

** Geo and Jack in ''3''. More a case of FoeYay, it starts off with Geo trying to befriend Jack. Then Jack seems to start finally warming up to Geo after they hang out in swimsuits at the beach. Then after [[spoiler:TheReveal, Jack spends the rest of the game obsessed with trying to kill Geo (not defeat, ''kill''), only to fail utterly to stop Geo from ruining all his evil plans at the last moment...then within a few minutes, gives into Geo's will, leaves with his sister back to earth, and eventually works to save Geo's life after he's left out in space. And according to the credits images, does become at least friends with Geo.]]

* SeasonalRot: The series ran out of ideas for its own premise immediately after the first game. The sequel had almost nothing to do with space, and the third game was a complete rehash of the dark chip duology from ''Battle Network'', connected tangentially to space by [[RecycledPlot an impending meteor]]. Years after the series ended, news of the unreleased ''Star Force 4'' revealed the plan was to fall back even further into the ''Battle Network'' milieu with a game based on hacking and a character descended from Lan Hikari.

** Cygnus Wing is obviously a campy character, but his plan to imprison people while they died from suffocation would be much easier to take seriously if his method of imprisonment wasn't [[HypnotizeThePrincess forcing them to do ballet]].

** The second game's BonusDungeon is a BadFuture AlternateDimension, but doesn't explore why there's no Mega Man, why the FM-ian bosses are running around (and why they don't recognize their human names), or the implications of Apollo Flame (and his mother). Geo barely even reacts to the IF bosses as anything more than Mooks.

* AccidentalInnuendo: Partway through the anime, Hope plays ShipperOnDeck for Geo, who's [[http://i40.tinypic.com/o87wbo.jpg too embarassed]] to deal with the conversation, and Hope notes that [[http://i39.tinypic.com/20r36zs.jpg he's still just a kid]] when it comes to romantic topics. But the lines and the expressions are a great out-of-context joke.

** [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork4RedSunAndBlueMoon Duo]] is still out there, especially with the general space theme of the series.

** The series missed a choice opportunity to capitalize on a returning character from ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork4RedSunAndBlueMoon'' by failing to have Duo return.

** [[https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Project-TC Project Trans-Code]] (a Satella Police project [[AllThereInTheManual only available on the now-defunct website]]) indicates Cygnus Wing is designated Transcode-020, and thus there are at least ''twenty'' other [[HenshinHero Wave Changers]]. There are more than twenty bosses in the series, but only nineteen are Wave-Changers, and of these, Jack Corvus and Queen Virgo aren't registered, while Libra Balance's and Queen Ophiuca's human selves did not reconnect with their FM-ian counterparts by or during the third game. If we assume the remaining wave-changes were registered, this leaves at least five SailorEarth candidates.

** The AM-ians and FM-ians were both named for western constellations, but only a few of those constellations were used. Likewise, at least one alien (Sirius) was named for an individual star. This leaves a ''lot'' of SailorEarth potential.

* {{Adorkable}}: Once Geo's true personality emerges, he begins to behave like this. He fanboys over the trend of the moment (Space, the [=OOPArts=], the Satella Police), has no idea how to handle crushes or romance, and has a hard time accepting praise.

** Each rendition of the main theme, ''Shooting Star'', is amazing; it even got lyrics in the third game. There was going to be an official vocal by Sonia, but Capcom never got around to it due to low sales. Luckily there's a well-done Japanese fan version available for your listening pleasure on Youtube: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlDs071_k6U Here it is.]]

** While still a labyrinthine setup, Libra Scales' dungeon is surprisingly simple to beat, since the puzzle involves rapidly answering some rather easy questions (in multiple choice), and you only get punished a measly 10 HP per wrong answer. And answering incorrectly doesn't even bounce you to the beginning of the "test" path, so there's no trial-and-error element involved.

** Oh lord, the Gemini Spark chapter of Star Force, between Pat and Geo. The first part of which is more or less Pat and Geo going on a date together and then Geo shyly and awkwardly asking Pat if he wanted to be "Brothers" afterwards.

** The anime had bits of it between Geo and [[InterspeciesRomance Omega]]-[[{{Squick}} Xis]]. The two most notable bits were [[PlayedForDrama Omega-Xis being moved to tears by Geo forgiving him for supposedly killing Geo's dad]] and [[PlayedForLaughs Omega-Xis commenting on how a comet reminded him of Geo's "lovely eyes" after his personality was affected by said comet's EM waves.]]

** In the anime, for Gemini, it's either when he [[spoiler: just starts killing the FM-ians, just when he kills Wolf, or when he kills ''his other half.'']]

* TheScrappy: Zack is the least popular of Luna's posse for having both the most obnoxious behaviors and the least (competent) writing put into him. He causes Tom to believe that Aaron betrayed him (resulting in Cygnus Wing), lets Sonia's manager know she took the bus to Amaken (resulting in general misery and Geo getting punched), never apologizes to Geo for antagonizing him like Bud does, makes mean-spirited comments about Bud and Amy, refuses to make a plot mandatory Brother Band with Geo despite being saved by him multiple times until midway through the second game, refuses to contact Geo and Luna when at Loch Mess [[IJustWantToBeSpecial for purely selfish reasons]], gives out obnoxious sidequests, and has [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking an annoying habit of bringing up the "Zackpedia".]]

* TheScrappy: Zack is the least popular of Luna's posse for having both the most obnoxious behaviors and the least (competent) writing. He lets Sonia's manager know she took the bus to Amaken (resulting in general misery and Geo getting punched), never apologizes to Geo for antagonizing him like Bud does, makes mean-spirited comments about Bud and Amy, refuses to contact Geo and Luna when at Loch Mess [[IJustWantToBeSpecial for purely selfish reasons]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking his sidequests are obnoxious]], too.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In the first game, Cygnus comments that betrayal is the essence of society to his host Tom. While this could, at the time, seem like standard manipulation, learning the backstory of the FM King at the end of the game places this line in a light. Was Cygnus truly just preying on Tom's fears, or was he as jaded as Cepheus due to all of the betrayals that had been suffered, particularly the one most recently perpetrated by Omega-Xis.