|
Now Loading...
SF is the sequel to Remote Control Dandy, a mecha sim that propelled Sandlot into the giant robot business.
Now Loading...
Reborn on the PS2, it's visually more impressive and engaging than its PS1 incarnation.
Now Loading...
Though with more than a fair share of problems.
One of these days they're going to find a way to design a giant robot that doesn't require the pilot to be too young to be sent to war by even the most liberal nations. The chosen one this time is an angelic-looking tike, outfitted in a yellow jumpsuit with a spiky helmet that makes him look like Pikachu on a bad ear day. After shoving a controller in his hands, his gruff-speaking stereotypical Japanese coach gives him a multi-part tutorial meant to provide the ins and outs of giant robot operations, and also desensitize him to loading screens seemingly every few minutes.
The story that unfolds doesn't really bear repeating, since it was essentially cribbed from some of the better "boy and giant robot" anime that were all spawned from the great granddaddy of them all, Gigantor. It's filled with characters you've already seen before, the whacked out scientist, the aging commander, the bridge bunnies...your standard Robotech setup. The enemy mecha, on the other hand, could not be less inspired, with motifs based on phones, padlocks, and even an out of control gas grill. More like rejects from Power Rangers than any real threat to humanity.
Whatever bizarre forms these malevolent junk heaps take, smashing them to lovely exploding bits can be a thrill once you master what is likely the most complicate control scheme ever introduced to a console, at least for a game that wasn't ported from the PC. However complex, it does allow control of both the robot and the pilot simultaneously. Similar to R.A.D., the massive mechanized feet are operated from the four triggers while the pilot is controlled via the analogue sticks in the form of a first person shooter. Though I think the choice of a first person perspective was a bad one, however, since it makes it that much harder to gauge the position of the pilot relative to the world, which is important if you don't want to be stomped on.
Fighting involves manipulation of the d-pad and about every button combo the dual shock can manage, allowing everything from small jabs, to flying uppercuts, to a half dozen devastating special attacks. Even after the long tutorial, you'll probably need to go a few rounds in training just to keep track of it all. The problem is not many of these options are ever really used in the actual missions, which tend to be too short and too easy, making them easy to forget when you actually need them.
At least there's a varied selection of mecha to choose from, most available right from the start. They're based off of some classic robot designs, from "walking tin can" style of Gigantor to the sleek Mazinger clone, complete with rocket punch. With the budget you earn by clearing missions in the most efficient, and least destructive, manner possible, you can purchase upgrades that will improve the general abilities of all your assorted mecha, as well as purchasing new special attacks for your favorites. Robots can be customized further by changing the RGB values of all the little parts to create your own paint jobs, which will appear both in game and in cut-scenes.
Have I mentioned the loading times? Every scene requires a good twenty seconds of loading, even for ones that don't last that long. One cut-scene was just five seconds of a person glancing down a hall, buffered by loading screens both before and after, while the vast majority of these scenes consist of people standing around and talking as if they were contestants in the world exposition tournament. The fact that most of the cut-scenes aren't really worth loading makes just getting to the actual missions a grueling experience at times. When choosing a robot, there's also five seconds of loading for the selected one to appear, and it doesn't even bother keeping it in memory after it loads them, so if you leave one only to come back again, be prepared to lose another five seconds of your life. This can be skipped, but it makes you wonder why the developers could ever let such an irritating flaw pass on by.
Completed missions can be replayed in mission mode, but when they can't earn you more points to upgrade your mecha, and can't be play cooperatively there isn't much point. Even raising the difficulty doesn't provide as much additional challenge as it really should. There's a split screen versus mode, but it won't sustain anyone's interest for long, just like the design galleries that are unlocked as you progress through story mode.
There's a fantastic core to RCD SF with a control scheme that manages to do so much and yet become so intuitive after a few missions worth of practice. The problem that it is encapsulated in a game that in nearly every other way isn't really worth playing. Hopefully, the control method will reappear in a future title where the player doesn't spend half the time staring at the "now loading" screen.
|
