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The Lowdown
Pros: Two styles of gameplay, great visuals, two story lines, high energy
music
Cons: Short game length, somewhat easy
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
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After the release of Robotech: Battlecry in America who would expect the
Macross game would be any good? One main difference is the team that was
working on it, its done by SEGA who has also done other anime games like
Initial D: Special Stage. For those of you who don't know Robotech was a
butchered version of the Macross series. This game follows the Macross
story closely, so if you haven't heard the story before you'll get the
bonus of enjoying a good story.In the game you pilot a Valkyrie
(note: you aren't a character in the Macross series, but a random pilot
who is involved in the series), which is a space ship that has the
ability to transform into a plane, a robot and a Gerwalk, which is
something in between a plane and a robot. You can switch between any of
these three transformations with a press of button and each of these
transformations have different advantages. Since each of the three
transformations have different abilities there is an element of strategy
to the game. Plane mode is obviously the fastest mode, you'll also have
the ability to shoot homing missiles in this mode. The Gerwalk mode can
also shoot homing missiles, but it can't move as fast as plane mode. The
robot mode allows you to carry a plasma rifle, walk on surfaces and use
your jet boosters to run around. You can also lock on to targets faster
during robot mode. You'll normally have a choice between these three
modes and its really up to the player and what they feel comfortable
with.
The game itself is composed of various missions. At the start of the
game you can choose between the TV story line and the movie story line.
Each story line contains different missions, which are respective to
their stories. Missions are comprised of very simple strategies like
shooting all the enemies, surviving for a period of time or landing
somewhere. While the objective is simple, the gameplay is fun. There is
really two types of gameplay within the game. The first is a shooter
that is similar to Rez or Panzer Dragoon Orta. In the shooting mode you
can fly 360 degrees and chase enemies down. You have a radar that will
tell you where enemies are and you can chase them down and attack with
your machine gun or you can use you homing missiles on the enemies. While
you're attacking the numerous ships they aren't standing still. They'll
fire back with an array of missiles and a barrage of gun fire. You can
evade fire by simply moving side to side or you can do some tricky
maneuvers like barrel rolls and somersaults. The game's flexible
controls allow you to freely pilot your plan however you would dream of
doing it.
While you're not chasing down planes you'll be on land fighting other
giant robots. In this mode you can still be a Gerwalk or even the plane,
but it's much more fun and practical to switch to robot mode. The
gameplay in this mode is a mix of Mechwarrior and Virtual On. You can
run around a cityscape and blast away at other robots attacking you.
Another option is to use your plasma cannon, which gives a heavy amount
of damage, but has a limited number of shots. Your robot can also use
its jet system to fly up and dash side to side. The controls respond
just as fluidly as flight does. The land sequences are fast paced
you'll be dodging fire and returning it like in an action movie.
The presentation of the game is slick and well polished. The graphics
are highly stylized and SEGA has made a good use of camera angles to
capture action. The backgrounds while flying around are amazing. The sky
looks is well designed and full of different colors. The characters look
just like they would in the series, except that they're in 3D. SEGA put
in a lot of work in making the game action packed. One really neat
effect is when you lock on to a group of targets the camera follows the
missiles so you get the rewarding sight of watching your target blow to
bits. Another cool graphic addition is the smoothness while
transforming. The animation shows the parts flipping around into
different places in such a fluid motion it looks real.
While the graphics are well done, the audio is just as well done. The
voice actors are actually the same actors from the series. To gather up
all of these voice actors just for a game, is an unusual feat. The sound
effects sound like they were lifted from the series. Every little sound
effect from the sound while transforming to the jet boost sounds like
its from the series. The music is high energy music that resembles music
from the series as well. It's a blend of J-pop and techno beats. It
suits the game's action mode quite well.
The entire game has the feel of the anime to it, everything from
following the story line closely to the minute sound effects. The only
thing the game makes you want is more, after having so much fun with it
you realize that its over so fast. You can complete all twenty mission
in three or four sittings. This doesn't stand too well since the game is
$50 and if you're importing it, its even more. This is defiantly
something to think over before importing it.
Import Friendly
This game and all of its voices are entirely in Japanese, which
means you'll be missing out on the story and the mission objectives.
Luckily the mission objectives can be found out through trial and error,
but playing through this game without some understanding of Japanese
will be frustrating.
US Bound?
It is highly unlikely that this game will be released in America due
to licensing issues and since no one knows what Macross is in America.
Overall
Macross is a fun play through and something that any
Macross fan would appreciate. At the same time its rather short and
requires a lot of Japanese knowledge to enjoy. Therefore I'd have to say
this is for Macross fans only, even though shooter fans will enjoy this,
its way too short for the price of the game.
Review by: RedlineX
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