Detailed account of OSS from TGS

Tokyo Game Show 2009 has come and gone, and to close up our coverage we have a report from MMN reader Fireman, who was fortunate enough to get to attend the event and try his hand with some of the Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star demos on hand. So we shall tie up our TGS coverage with his first hand account of visiting the events and playing the demos. I have to admit, the details on the Rockman Star Colosseum make it sound like a lot of fun!

Three playable demos were available.  A four person battle in the Rockman Star Colosseum or the “Rock Colo”, the main game up to until Netto’s (Lan) oven goes wild, and the battle type game where Netto and Rockman meet Meijin (Mr. Famous) for the very first time, and Meijin summons viruses, Fireman and even Shooting Star Rockman to battle with Netto and Rockman to see if they have what it takes to protect the world.  I had time to play the Rock Colo and the battle with Meijin, as well as while waiting in line, had a chance to watch the main game being played.

Unfortunately the demo for the main game only contains material that was, as far as I can recall, the same as that in EXE 1, aside from, of course, the map and the slight changes in the system.  For the most part the system aspects of the game are closest to EXE 2’s rather than EXE 1’s.  Aside from the opening video, Shooting Star Rockman does not seem to appear in this demo.

The battle with Meijin is where Netto meets Meijin for the very first time (as these events are before EXE 2), and Meijin gives the option to hear the basics of Net Battling or not.  I was in a hurry and already knew the basics, so I skipped that part.  Meijin then summons simple viruses, after beating them he summons Fireman, who has 300 HP.  Lastly, Meijin summons Shooting Star Rockman, who actually appears on the overhead map as well, and although he has nothing to say, his mugshot appears as well, with his eyes not visible through the visor (different from any we have seen before).  Netto and Rockman are surprised to hear that Meijin calls him Rockman as well, and then take it as SS Rockman being a fake version of Rockman.  Meijin says they are wrong and that SS Rockman is a hero from 200 years in the future and such.  But to test if Netto is worthy of protecting the Earth from an impending crisis, Meijin wants Netto to face SS Rockman.  Netto believes even if it is the hero from 200 years in the future, they will not lose.  The fight itself is still fairly easy, but SS Rockman will use his shield and War Rock Attack and Beast Swing often, as well as Rock Buster rapidly and Charge Shot and deal more damage than most enemies in single attacks.  I tested the strength of his shield by summoning Gutsman right in front of his shield when he was using it, but of course it did not break it or do any damage.  Although SS Rockman does not have Air Shoes or Float Shoes is one thing I can say for sure.  Anyway, you defeat SS Rockman and he falls to one knee (during the battle scene) and then Meijin congratulates you on being so powerful, and with a flash, he and SS Rockman vanish before your eyes leaving Netto to wonder about the mysterious Meijin and the mysterious SS Rockman and the impending doom.

You cannot play as SSR in either of those demos.  You can, however, play as SSR in the final demo, the 3 minute action battle mini-game Rock Colo, which had its creation headed by one of the younger members of the staff of this game.  You can play with four people, and although on stage they announced it allowed up to 6 people, they only had four DSs to use.  Also on the stage, they had shown a team battle, in which the EXE team (all players as Rockman EXE faced off against the Ryuusei team (all players SS Rockman), but in the non-team mode which they had at the booth, it was a single battle.  Also, to make note, you only need one game to play this mini-game with friends.  Even if your friends do not own the game, if they have DSs you can play with the wireless download feature.  Anyway, the game starts and you choose your character (Rockman, SS Rockman, or Blues) and your element (rock, paper, or scissors).  In the final version there will be many stages in which to choose from, but for the demo it was a randomized stage.

The stage itself is much like those in the Ryuusei 2 Sky High Colosseum, except that sometimes pathways will vanish, making it unable for someone chasing you to follow.  Not sure if they can vanish while you are on them or not.  The object of the game itself is to collect more stars than other players.  To do this you need to either pick up stars   or attack other players, which I will explain later.  There are at least two types of stars fallen on the map: the big stars count for one point, or the little ones with a number inside which count for the number inside the star.  Sometimes the stars are inside ice blocks and other obstacles you can destroy by attacking.  There are also warp holes that appear randomly around the map.  If you enter a warp hole, you will appear somewhere randomly on the stage with your element changed.

Rockman and SS Rockman play pretty much the same by shooting a shot out of their Rock Buster with the A button.  Blues swings his sword for closer range attacks.  It seemed to be that you need your element to be strong against the other in order to inflict damage on, or rather steal stars from the other players.  If you get hit too much and have no stars left, you get knocked out and warp to somewhere else on the map.  During the course of the game you can pick up rock, paper or scissors items and use them with the B button to change your element.  If you use two of the same element in a row, you will get an aura around you and be powered up.  But you still cannot go up against someone who has an element strong against yours.  Basically you want to always have a back up plan, be able to switch elements as soon as you find your opponents.  Aside from element switching items, there are also trap items such as pit holes, bombs and summons.  There is a black hole trap where you can set on the map, and if someone walks over it, you can attack that person continuously until the effect wears off.  The bomb you can place on the map where you like and will explode causing serious star loss to anyone around it.  It seemed some people also had bombs attached to them, which when exploded caused a loss of all stars to the attached person, and half the stars of those around that person.  The summons (or at least one summon) that I used cause Club Strong to appear and smash the ground.  When Strong appears the players who did not summon him need to go hide in the warp holes before the effect takes place, or else they will lose stars.  When the time runs out, the person with the most stars wins.  I was successful in defeating two kids and the father of one of those kids, and only felt a little bad about it.  Although, the opportunity for a come back in that mini-game is huge, so anyone could have won.

Aside from the previously mentioned, and what other people have mentioned already, Horiken announced on the stage that he wants to have events and downloadable chips for this game.  Likely, the same as with Ryuusei 3 though, even if you cannot go to the events, you can still probably get download chips through Wii channels or at DS stations.

Thank you for your report, Fireman!

LanceHeart