Mazinger-Z Arcade Game
By Jeffrey Couto

What is it About?

This arcade game is an overhead shooter that takes place in the Mazinger - Z universe.

How Good is it?

Man, I always wanted to play a game where you could take on the role of Mazinger, Great Mazinger or Grandizer! Unfortunately this is not the best way of doing it. Even though you do have a choice as to which super robot you control it doesn't really matter because they are all essentially the same character disguised with different graphics. Therefore the only difference between the characters are the graphics, their weapons (they look different, but are really the same. For example Mazinger's Breast Fire is the same as Great Mazinger's Breast Beam) and the voice effects.

However, if you are a fan of any one of these characters these things won't really matter. Being able to control all three super robots as they fight familiar enemies from the Mazinger universe is a real blast! You have the option of using either one of the lesser weapons (like Mazinger's eye beam or Great Mazinger's Rust Hurricane) or one of the more powerful ones (like Grandizer's rainbow beam). When all else fails you can also call forth a super attack, which consists of a powered-up version of one the robot's main weapons, like Great Mazinger's thunder ray.

I should also mention that the graphics are pretty good although kind of standard for this gaming fare. Each stage is reasonably detailed and based on some of the more frequently visited locations from these shows (Tokyo, Mt.Fuji, etc.)

The other highlights of this game are the sound effects and voice-overs. Whenever you use one of your more powerful attacks you will hear the corresponding pilot yell out the weapon's name, just like in the shows!! All the music also comes straight from the 3 series, although the majority is taken from the Mazinger series.

Jeffrey Couto