The Bonne family and their army of servbots were some of the most memorable and endearing characters in Megaman Legends, so it only makes sense that Capcom would make a game to capitalize on the popularity of their breakout characters.
The premise of this game is simple and befitting of a family of pirates. As Tron Bonne, you're trying to raise money by any means necessary to pay off a massive debt, and that means a whole host of varied missions both fair and foul, with varied gameplay types as well. You rob banks and explore ruins in action sequences, dig for buried treasure in exploration missions with small RPG elements, steal cargo from docks in puzzle-minigames, and in between all of those missions is the Mother Hen Simulator where you roam your headquarters interacting with the servbots under your care.
The gameplay is a mixed bag. The headquarters and exploration/RPG segments often feel needlessly tedious due to how much menu-hopping they entail, while the puzzle minigames are fun but admittedly get too obtuse for me. The action sequences play really well, similar to Megaman Legends but with the added dimension of being able to instruct the servbots to assist you in various ways - though these levels sometimes feel rather clunky thanks to the pre-Dualshock control scheme. Perhaps the least effective aspect of the gameplay loop here is that (with one exception) the game doesn't allow you to replay missions that you've completed, which severely limits your options if you are short on money by the end of the game. It also means that you may find yourself in the unusual position of having to lose missions on purpose in order to grind for more money and items.
Ultimately though, the less than stellar gameplay is offset by everything else. The art style and aesthetic is great, the hand-drawn portraits ooze personality, and the voice acting, rather shockingly for a 1999 game, is more than decent. Most of all, it just gives off such wholesome vibes; the bond between Tron and her servbots is alternately hilarious and heartwarming, and the way the dialogue zigzags between the two is impeccable. I suppose it helps that this game is relatively brief (it took me 10 hours but can be completed in far shorter), so the annoying aspects of this game never grew to the point that they eclipsed the endearing aspects of it. I missed this when it came out, so I'm glad I got around to experiencing it!
P.S. - with apologies to a certain user on this site, Denise is more adorable than Tron
The premise of this game is simple and befitting of a family of pirates. As Tron Bonne, you're trying to raise money by any means necessary to pay off a massive debt, and that means a whole host of varied missions both fair and foul, with varied gameplay types as well. You rob banks and explore ruins in action sequences, dig for buried treasure in exploration missions with small RPG elements, steal cargo from docks in puzzle-minigames, and in between all of those missions is the Mother Hen Simulator where you roam your headquarters interacting with the servbots under your care.
The gameplay is a mixed bag. The headquarters and exploration/RPG segments often feel needlessly tedious due to how much menu-hopping they entail, while the puzzle minigames are fun but admittedly get too obtuse for me. The action sequences play really well, similar to Megaman Legends but with the added dimension of being able to instruct the servbots to assist you in various ways - though these levels sometimes feel rather clunky thanks to the pre-Dualshock control scheme. Perhaps the least effective aspect of the gameplay loop here is that (with one exception) the game doesn't allow you to replay missions that you've completed, which severely limits your options if you are short on money by the end of the game. It also means that you may find yourself in the unusual position of having to lose missions on purpose in order to grind for more money and items.
Ultimately though, the less than stellar gameplay is offset by everything else. The art style and aesthetic is great, the hand-drawn portraits ooze personality, and the voice acting, rather shockingly for a 1999 game, is more than decent. Most of all, it just gives off such wholesome vibes; the bond between Tron and her servbots is alternately hilarious and heartwarming, and the way the dialogue zigzags between the two is impeccable. I suppose it helps that this game is relatively brief (it took me 10 hours but can be completed in far shorter), so the annoying aspects of this game never grew to the point that they eclipsed the endearing aspects of it. I missed this when it came out, so I'm glad I got around to experiencing it!
P.S. - with apologies to a certain user on this site, Denise is more adorable than Tron