Mega Man Star Force is an action role-playing game much in the same vein as Battle Network.[8] 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.[9][10] 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.[4][9][10] 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.[10]
Battle Cards are collected in a number of ways throughout the game, and the player must organize them into a folder to use for battles.[10] Every time the "Custom Gauge" fills during battle, Cards are called up at random and are selected to use against the enemies.[4][10] Depending on their arrangement on the screen, certain Cards can be selected together to provide combinations, just like Battle Chips from Battle Network.[9] There are three different classes of Cards ranked by their power and rarity (Standard, Mega, and Giga), and only a certain number of Cards from each class, or a certain number of a specific Card, can be placed into a folder; certain Chips can also have an element applied, with Heat chips being effective against Wood enemies. Other options allow players to set certain Cards as favorites so that by connecting to other players via Wi-Fi, they can use their favorite Cards in a random draw during battles.[4] This implements an element of strategy into planning battles.[10]