If there was any game out there that I could recommend that I can guarantee no-one in my social circles has played, it would be this one. And I'm going to explain in the next few paragraphs why this game is one of my absolute favourites.
The game begins with Tadashi, a young man who buys a giant worker mech for his business with his girlfriend, Elina. Soon, they discover the mech is actually a 'Metal Slader' , a war mech used years ago in a great space battle. Tadashi, along with his girlfriend and his young sister, Azusa, take it to a moon colony to investigate further. After finding someone who knows about Sladers, they discover the pilot of the mech was Tadashi's late father, and has left a message warning of an oncoming threat, a threat that some of the colony are aware of and are apprehensive to explain. Tadashi soon takes the mech and goes to find what became of his father, what his father's final message means, the lurking intrigue of what the colony is hiding, and what's hiding deep within the unknown…
Being an adventure game/visual novel, gameplay takes a backseat to the story, as most of what you do in this game is talk to people and explore the many areas around you. Gameplay isn't too extensive, using menus and some point and click elements to interact with the environment. Combat does happen sometimes, but it's very rare and it's even rarer to actually fail this game. I counted twice in my playthrough where a wrong choice results in death, and even then you get taken right back to an earlier conversation.
The main draw of the game and what interests me is the many interesting characters, and the interactions between the main three protagonists. Besides a few harem comedy tropes hiding in Tadashi's interactions in the colony's living space, the conversations between him and Elina are genuinely well written and absorbing, showing their history with one another and acting as genuine as a real life couple. Other characters like Azusa are fun too, even if she's a bit of a stereotypical naive young, innocent sibling that you saw (and still see) in many anime today. Children Are Innocent is in full effect here.
What also makes this game really speak to me is its graphics, with truly beautiful sprite work in both character design and locations. The lighting in some of the traveling scenes are particularly beautiful, selling the effect of deep space travel better than most live action Sci-Fi shows and movies. Character sprites are also vibrant and large, rivaling what you'd see on NEC PC games at the time. With the game releasing so late into the Famicom's life, it's no surprise that the game is as pretty as it is, but words really do not do it justice, it looks as good as any game released on the SNES.
I feel anymore gushing about this game would drag this review on far too long, so I'll just close by saying this is a gem of a game that should absolutely be played, even if gameplay does take a backseat to dialogue and story, but it's a great story regardless so it'll absolutely draw you into its many twists and thrills. The game only saw a limited release and even fewer people bought it when the SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine CD all crowding the market, so copies are super rare. But if you can find a chance to play it, it is absolutely worth your time.
The game begins with Tadashi, a young man who buys a giant worker mech for his business with his girlfriend, Elina. Soon, they discover the mech is actually a 'Metal Slader' , a war mech used years ago in a great space battle. Tadashi, along with his girlfriend and his young sister, Azusa, take it to a moon colony to investigate further. After finding someone who knows about Sladers, they discover the pilot of the mech was Tadashi's late father, and has left a message warning of an oncoming threat, a threat that some of the colony are aware of and are apprehensive to explain. Tadashi soon takes the mech and goes to find what became of his father, what his father's final message means, the lurking intrigue of what the colony is hiding, and what's hiding deep within the unknown…
Being an adventure game/visual novel, gameplay takes a backseat to the story, as most of what you do in this game is talk to people and explore the many areas around you. Gameplay isn't too extensive, using menus and some point and click elements to interact with the environment. Combat does happen sometimes, but it's very rare and it's even rarer to actually fail this game. I counted twice in my playthrough where a wrong choice results in death, and even then you get taken right back to an earlier conversation.
The main draw of the game and what interests me is the many interesting characters, and the interactions between the main three protagonists. Besides a few harem comedy tropes hiding in Tadashi's interactions in the colony's living space, the conversations between him and Elina are genuinely well written and absorbing, showing their history with one another and acting as genuine as a real life couple. Other characters like Azusa are fun too, even if she's a bit of a stereotypical naive young, innocent sibling that you saw (and still see) in many anime today. Children Are Innocent is in full effect here.
What also makes this game really speak to me is its graphics, with truly beautiful sprite work in both character design and locations. The lighting in some of the traveling scenes are particularly beautiful, selling the effect of deep space travel better than most live action Sci-Fi shows and movies. Character sprites are also vibrant and large, rivaling what you'd see on NEC PC games at the time. With the game releasing so late into the Famicom's life, it's no surprise that the game is as pretty as it is, but words really do not do it justice, it looks as good as any game released on the SNES.
I feel anymore gushing about this game would drag this review on far too long, so I'll just close by saying this is a gem of a game that should absolutely be played, even if gameplay does take a backseat to dialogue and story, but it's a great story regardless so it'll absolutely draw you into its many twists and thrills. The game only saw a limited release and even fewer people bought it when the SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine CD all crowding the market, so copies are super rare. But if you can find a chance to play it, it is absolutely worth your time.