Reply With QuoteIs this thing out for the Cube yet? Cuz it's alls I gots, and Mario is driving me apestuff.
--Carter--
SO I picked up my copy of Robotech:Battlecry, and I've been futzing with it for an hour or so... I gotta admit, it's pretty cool.
There are things I wish it would allow that it doesn't... in seriously needs a camera-target lock feature, something many flight sims (and for the most part this is indeed a flight sim, with a twist) have and something which can be invaluable when your opponent is flying rings around you and you can't figure out where the hell they are. And sadly it's not that easy to change modes in the midst of battle, since I find that using the D-pad to switch modes while in the heat of "sweet mother of god where the hell did all these guys come from?!"combat is a bit distractingly difficult, and requires me to take my thumb off of the left analog that's controlling my flight. They could have used the shoulder buttons for this, ala Macross VFX, but sadly they do not.
Thankfully you have a rather efficient chaffe/flare countermeasure system to help defend yourself from the swarms of twisting missiles that come at you, since only in Battloid mode (that's the robot form for you sad, pitiful few who were either unborn or living under a rock back in the early eighties, when Robotech was the coolest damn cartoon EVER to hit the States) can you do that kickass thing where you shoot down a flight of missiles bent on ruining your paint job.
Ah, but there's lots of good things here as well. For any fan of the series, you'll be swimming in nostalgia as you listen to the music, the familiar voices, and get to fly at high speed through a swarm of Zentradei battlepods before skimming along the surface of a massive battleship and blasting away at your opponents with rapid-fire precision... mmmmm, that's good blastin'.Vicious Cycle has obviously worked hard to capture the flair of the series.
Most of the game appears to take place during the last third or so of the Macross series, after the Earth is shredded by the Zentradei battle fleet. I'm only a few missions in, but Chapter 1 pretty much encompasses the main character's involvement in the whole "Return to Earth" portion of the series. You fight in the battle for Macross Island (the first two episodes) but when the SDF-1 pulls the hyperspace fold that sends itself and most of the island to Pluto, you get left behind. You pick up again during the Barrier fiasco that destroys Ontario, and then again during the aformentioned Battle Fleet's assault on the planet Earth that destroys pretty much 75% of the planet's population. From then on it's various chapters of a personal story that takes place during the two-year period between that destruction and shortly after Khyron's final suicide attack against the SDF-1.
The voice acting is pretty good, if somewhat repetetively annoying. I espescially dislike being berated by my commander after every failure, espescially when it's a hard damn mission. The graphics are excellent, with the exception of the story-mode cutscenes, which were obviously done by Americans... it's that sort of "we're trying real hard for the manga look" artwork... it ranges from acceptable to gawdawful. Of course as a fan, an artist, and an animator, I'm being picky but it's still sad that they didn't go with a good Japanese illustrator for these scenes.
In-game is a different story, though, as the cel-shade renderer keeps you feeling like this is part of a cartoon, which keeps you feeling as though you're part of that universe. The models are flawless and the animation is pretty good, although your craft performs much cooler moves during the cutscenes than it does during the actual game. The fights so far range from pretty easy to fairly hard... but I could always ramp up the difficulty if I feel like it. Or ramp it down...
This could be so much better, but as it is it's certainly the best Robotech game I've ever seen or played. I highly recommend that any fan of the Robotech series give it a try, it's available for X-Box, Ps2, and eventually Gamecube.
Is this thing out for the Cube yet? Cuz it's alls I gots, and Mario is driving me apestuff.
--Carter--
I think it's supposed to come out for it, but I don't know when... check a few gaming sites and see if there's a release date.
thats the thing i never really liked about nintendo. they don't usually release the huge games when the other companies do... oh yeah, sounds like a sweet game, dude...if i had a ps2, id get it...
Dreamcast is my girlfriend...
***DROOL***
robotech...
I got my copy this morning but havent been able to play since i have to work during the day. I waited for it to go on sale at Circuit City for like $37. I alos got the last one too.
Damn, it sounds too sweet, luckily i have the images in my head from when i played it at the SD con. (spaces out to scenes in head)
Anyway, back to earth, i will Definately play mine when i get home and enjoy the hell out of it!!!! This i decree!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and i believe that Nintendo is releasing theirs in Oct. but dont hold me to that. I believe thats what it said in this months EGM.
Later
"If only I could cough the word Douche Bag." - Dave, Code Monkeys
Damn, I gotta start buying my games at Circuit City...
Hey, I'm a little late to this party. Okay okay, the party's been over for a long time now and those people don't even live there anymore. Anyway, I actually designed Robotech: Battlecry. And since I'm also a Penciljacker, I thought I'd throw my hat in.
Inkthinker: Glad you enjoyed the game!
Sorry about the non-Japanese look. We were an American company trying real hard to look Japanese, guilty as charged. But hey, when you end up with a Japanese-based license, that's your job. I promise we did the very best we could.
By the way, most of the non-painted artwork was handled by Udon
You need a pat on the back that bad, huh?Originally Posted by Adam C
Hey, I'm a little late to this party. Okay okay, the party's been over for a long time now and those people don't even live there anymore. Anyway, I actually designed Robotech: Battlecry. And since I'm also a Penciljacker, I thought I'd throw my hat in.
Inkthinker: Glad you enjoyed the game!
Sorry about the non-Japanese look. We were an American company trying real hard to look Japanese, guilty as charged. But hey, when you end up with a Japanese-based license, that's your job. I promise we did the very best we could.
By the way, most of the non-painted artwork was handled by Udon
Money can't buy you happiness, but it will pay for the search.
Holy crap, I actually thought this was about the novel by "Jack McKinney" (a pseudonym for the guys who cobbled Robotech out of the 3 originals). I didn't even notice it was my own old thread. Good god, I've been here too long.
Man, I wrote this forever ago, it feels. It nice to know it got read by someone who cared...
You be nice, Pop. The man's confessing his sins.
I did enjoy the game, but I'm afraid it didn't have enough replay value for me... and recently I got to play the latest Japanese Macross game on an import box, and to be brutal... that game takes the top rank. It just follows the storyline and recreates all the major moments from the anime, which is what the fans want. Plus, even without being able to understand Japanese I was able to do pretty good with it, the controls are very instinctive. Nothing is more important than gameplay, for lasting value.
If I recall, the biggest problem with Battlecry really was the transformation keys... not placing them on the shoulders/triggers was a big mistake, because part of what makes the game fun is transforming on the fly... can't do that if you have to stop flying to press the D-Pad. But I really enjoyed the space levels, flying through the wrecked Zentraedi cucumbers and blasting battlepods.
Still, I'd like to see you guys take another stab at it. As an animator, I know how hard it is to try and live up to existing material. I just spent a month creating a Lupin III animated short, and while I'm very proud of what my team and I pulled off... it's certainly different. It's not Miyazaki, it's not Monkey Punch, but we have to try and live up to what they've done. I expect your team was under much the same pressures.
So, are you still in the cutthroat game of game-making? Or is there something else on the plate?
Last edited by Inkthinker; 06-23-2005 at 09:02 PM.
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