Robotech: The Macross Saga (GameBoy Advance) 12.20.2002

[NGEFreek]

Robotech: The Macross Saga (GameBoy Advance) 10.16.2002

Robotech: The Macross Saga
Side-Scrolling Shooter/Adventure(?)
1-4 Players (multicart)

“The saga begins…..
You are the Earth’s most powerful defense in an epic intergalactic battle. Take control of a powerful, transformable Vertich robot fighter as you struggle to save your planet from total destruction, destiny awaits!”

This is the message on the back of the box that greets you as you pick R:tMS off the shelf from your local game store. For those who are suckers for free stuff, a message proclaiming “FREE Action Figure Included” is plastered upon the lower right-hand of the box. The figure doesn’t really move, so it’s not really an action figure is it? Oh well, free is free, and its SD, so what’s to complain about?

If you think R:tMS is based upon its GC/PS2/Xbox big brother, your halfway right. Its still based upon the original Macross storyline, but your not confined to one particular character (Though I’ve never played the major console release of Robotech, so I can’t comment much on this).

Graphically, this game isn’t anything mind-blowing, but still better than your average game, very colorful and lush. The animation for your Vertich Fighter is quite nice. The transformation between your 3 modes of fighter (Fighter, Battleoid, Guardian) are above average. Your Jet and ‘Manjet’ modes don’t have much animation to them, because, y’know you kinda just fly there, but your Guardian mode has quite a bit of animation to it, it runs and positions its arms to varying degrees of shot targets, etc etc. Sadly, your Battloid mode is the most useless form in the game, as you can go through the entire game in Manjet mode and be just fine.

The game plays a lot like R-type (but not exactly, since you can’t charge your shots) and side-scrolling shooters of old, you have your standard shot (with upgrades sprinkled throughout the 10 levels of play) you have your standard weaker than wind bullets, that then upgrade to stuff like Lasers that decimate anything in their way, a 3-way shot to cover a wider area of enemies, these things called “explosive shells” which explode with much shrapnel to destroy enemies if you don’t hit them dead on with the bullets, and the greatest of the shot power-ups the “Ghost Fighters” which makes 2 more veritech fighters join you and have them shoot out regular bullets at a constant rate for a limited ammount of time. “Bombs” in R:tMS are actually tracking missiles that can also be upgraded to things like ones you’d see in Darius game, that, instead of tracking, drop straight down and destroy anything that gets near its explosion. The last bomb power-up is a non-tracking type of bomb, but packs one heck of a punch, as its like the one that drops straight down, only it goes straight forward and lets out a big explosion that helps take out multiple enemies.

The level design is average, you have 10 missions total, 8 of which are side-scrolling shooter type levels and 2 that are a mix of MERCS and Herzog Zwei in gameplay/presentation. You have a brief text intro to each level explaining what’s going on at the time and general tips on what to do in the mission. The multi-player levels may be different than what’s in the single-player mode, but since I’ve yet to play those levels, I cannot comment on them at this time.

Music in R:tMS is very forgettable, the major songs consist of bleeps and bloops that don’t come out well when there’s constant firing action going on (almost all the time). Fans of the series will appreciate the music, as TDK tried as best they could to recreate the classic battle and dramatic themes on the GBA in this game, but I didn’t care much for them, maybe you will.

Character cast in R:tMS is ok, you start off with the following 5 people: Rick Hunter, Roy Fokker, Max Sterling, Miriya and Ben Dixon. Each character starts out with assorted statistics that are upgradable stats. You earn ‘experience’ by destroying the enemies the Zendrotti thrown at you. After you’ve completed the mission your shown to a screen with things like “power, speed, stamina, piloting, etc”. You have 3 levels of upgrades to buy before you get a “MAX” rank in that category of upgrade. Level 1, 2, and 3 upgrades are all the same price, however they all have a set increase, like a Level 1 piloting upgrades costs 15,000 EXP, Level 2 25,000, Level 3 is 35,000. Repeat for the rest of the stats.

Replay value? You bet! Along with the 5 standard characters, another 5-6 can be unlocked, with all new stats to level up. Another twist that adds to the difficulty/fun is that certain characters only have certain forms, for example, the first character you unlock is a “Great War Fokker” that only has access to the plane mode, meaning you cannot hit he ground and not take damage if you were in Manjet mode, meaning you have to watch where your at.

In short, if you’re a fan of the series, and need a new portable game, or just want a shooter to keep you busy for a few weeks, Robotech: the Macross Saga is right up your alley. For me, it was an impulse buy that paid off.

Graphics - 7
Gameplay - 8
Replay Value - 8
Sound - 5

I hope this review wasn’t too too boring . It’s been a while since I last wrote a review
EDIT: Edited the date in the header.

[MechDeus]

"Manjet"...

[NGEFreek]

Hurrah! A new buzzword has arisen!

[Nick]

Two things struck me about your review: your apologies and the length of some of your sentences. That said, it's a good piece overall, with a very pleasant tone to it.

Taken individually, your disclaimers that a) you haven't played the console version, b) you haven't touched the multiplayer, and c) you didn't care for the music but others might, are fine, but collectively they gave the review a bit of drag. The first need not have been mentioned, the second could have possibly been researched (Does the manual or the Web site describe multiplayer? Is there any other information about it online?), the third should have left out the "maybe you will" part.

The fifth paragraph, which describes the gameplay and the various weapons, rambles too much. That first sentence is a whopping 124 words! Shorter sentences here would have not only been easier to read, they would have had more impact.

In your second paragraph, I assume "SD" stands for super-deformed, but I have no way of being sure from the context alone.

Again, good job. Your writng style is very relaxed and conversational without losing too much of its authoritativeness.

[NGEFreek]

Granted I haven't done a review in almost 2 years, I figure I'd do one to get back into the groove and get my foot in the door somewhat

I'll be sure to do my next review when I'm in my "eBay seller" mode, I find that writing style to be not so "put-you-to-sleep"-ish.

Yes, SD means Super Deformed.

[bahn]

LOL. manjet!

[Timber]

Good thing I checked out this board for the first time. I passed up this game yesterday for $10 new and I'm gonna head over and pick it up now. Good review NGE and I've got one more reason to want the SP sooner.