Wow, did my review of this really get wiped when I hit save?
Fine. I'll do it again.
Truly, the first reason I ever wanted to play this game as a kid was because of the box art. It's pretty shmexy, right?
I eventually played a little of it when a friend rented it, but that was it. I remember liking it well enough, so I picked it up this summer when I rounded out my GameCube collection.
Robotech is aggressively fine. Its vices are not damning and its virtues are not salvific. I've been playing it since August with a multi-month break in the middle there, but it felt long and arduous the whole time. I was definitely checking my proverbial watch waiting for it to be over, but the core gameplay is actually good.
You pilot a Veritech that can transform into one of three modes at will. Each one has appreciable differences and they make a pronounced impact on gameplay. There is no default choice or mode that's obviously better than another. You will have to make use of each one and learn its ins and outs so you can rapidly transform on the fly to make the best of a scenario, even transforming multiple times in a few seconds. The controls are jankier than I think they needed to be, but when you get natural with them, you can actually pull off some pretty impressive and satisfying maneuvers.
The voice acting is decent even though the material they're working with is largely crap. And the one liners...oh, the one liners! Ad nauseam. "Time to take these guys to SCHOOL." To Robotech's credit, they actually do an honest job presenting a narrative tying all the missions together and motivating all your actions. Though whereas most games will give you a text synopsis of your mission on a loading screen that either is a repeat of a cutscene or will be repeated in the following cutscene, Robotech actually packs a lot of pertinent info into those little screens...so if you were to not read them, you'd be totally lost. The connective tissue isn't all there even when you do the reading, but I respect the effort.
The graphics are quite good and the cel shaded style is on point. The quality holds up well and I only noticed a handful of performance issues with some frame rate dips. Destructible environments were a welcome surprise; they look all right and they actually affect the gameplay as you start depending on cover to survive. The sound effects are okay. Some are good and sound right on; others sound retro and tinny (maybe they were lifted from the TV show?).
There are multiple Veritechs you can unlock and select, but I didn’t stray too much from the default mech. There is an up-armored one I liked, but it takes a missile capacity penalty for the armor boost, and there are lighter mechs with more missiles but less armor. In many instances, I couldn’t afford either compromise in a tight spot and tried to split the difference.
Robotech is hard. This is Rogue Leader all over again. Short 5-10 minute missions, but no checkpoints, no health recovery, and a lot of dying. Like Rogue Leader, it sometimes forces you to to really master a certain level or encounter by playing it over and over until you have it down just-so. Other times it's because of something the game either doesn't explain very well or doesn't bother to tell you at all. You feel accomplished after you finally beat a really tricky mission, but there's a lot of feelings along the way that, "Dang it. Enough of this already. Not worth it."
That level of challenge and exacting demands upon the player have all but evaporated from the industry. I like and dislike it in equal parts. I think a checkpoint system or a way to regain health or a lighter difficulty would make this more manageable, but more than one of those things would probably make it too easy.
The core gameplay in Robotech is a lot of fun, especially after you’ve gotten comfortable with the controls and you have the hang of whatever mission you’re doing. I like how varied they made each Veritech mode and how you really have to lean on each. I’m glad I played it, and now I’m glad I’m finished. Onto the next thing…
Fine. I'll do it again.
Truly, the first reason I ever wanted to play this game as a kid was because of the box art. It's pretty shmexy, right?
I eventually played a little of it when a friend rented it, but that was it. I remember liking it well enough, so I picked it up this summer when I rounded out my GameCube collection.
Robotech is aggressively fine. Its vices are not damning and its virtues are not salvific. I've been playing it since August with a multi-month break in the middle there, but it felt long and arduous the whole time. I was definitely checking my proverbial watch waiting for it to be over, but the core gameplay is actually good.
You pilot a Veritech that can transform into one of three modes at will. Each one has appreciable differences and they make a pronounced impact on gameplay. There is no default choice or mode that's obviously better than another. You will have to make use of each one and learn its ins and outs so you can rapidly transform on the fly to make the best of a scenario, even transforming multiple times in a few seconds. The controls are jankier than I think they needed to be, but when you get natural with them, you can actually pull off some pretty impressive and satisfying maneuvers.
The voice acting is decent even though the material they're working with is largely crap. And the one liners...oh, the one liners! Ad nauseam. "Time to take these guys to SCHOOL." To Robotech's credit, they actually do an honest job presenting a narrative tying all the missions together and motivating all your actions. Though whereas most games will give you a text synopsis of your mission on a loading screen that either is a repeat of a cutscene or will be repeated in the following cutscene, Robotech actually packs a lot of pertinent info into those little screens...so if you were to not read them, you'd be totally lost. The connective tissue isn't all there even when you do the reading, but I respect the effort.
The graphics are quite good and the cel shaded style is on point. The quality holds up well and I only noticed a handful of performance issues with some frame rate dips. Destructible environments were a welcome surprise; they look all right and they actually affect the gameplay as you start depending on cover to survive. The sound effects are okay. Some are good and sound right on; others sound retro and tinny (maybe they were lifted from the TV show?).
There are multiple Veritechs you can unlock and select, but I didn’t stray too much from the default mech. There is an up-armored one I liked, but it takes a missile capacity penalty for the armor boost, and there are lighter mechs with more missiles but less armor. In many instances, I couldn’t afford either compromise in a tight spot and tried to split the difference.
Robotech is hard. This is Rogue Leader all over again. Short 5-10 minute missions, but no checkpoints, no health recovery, and a lot of dying. Like Rogue Leader, it sometimes forces you to to really master a certain level or encounter by playing it over and over until you have it down just-so. Other times it's because of something the game either doesn't explain very well or doesn't bother to tell you at all. You feel accomplished after you finally beat a really tricky mission, but there's a lot of feelings along the way that, "Dang it. Enough of this already. Not worth it."
That level of challenge and exacting demands upon the player have all but evaporated from the industry. I like and dislike it in equal parts. I think a checkpoint system or a way to regain health or a lighter difficulty would make this more manageable, but more than one of those things would probably make it too easy.
The core gameplay in Robotech is a lot of fun, especially after you’ve gotten comfortable with the controls and you have the hang of whatever mission you’re doing. I like how varied they made each Veritech mode and how you really have to lean on each. I’m glad I played it, and now I’m glad I’m finished. Onto the next thing…