Super Robot Wars Alpha
JC

Introduction:

I can't really play with toys anymore.

I can collect them, pose them, keep them in their original packaging and put them on the walls of my room. I can stack them on my computer at work so that I can point out to the world I'm an individual, but I can't truely play with toys like I used to back in das day.

I used to take my grand box o' toys filled to the brim with G.I. Joe's, Robotech, Transformers, Battle Beasts, Robotix, Starriors, Wind Raiders, Wheelied Warrior, M.A.S.K and ton of others! I'd spill them on the floor of my living room, divide them up and then commence to wage my war of good against evil...... Zeke against Fate.........

Hot Wheels would race through coffee tables, and through chair legs dodging blasts from the decending evil Robotech bot. Skidding to the base the guy would hop out of car load up into his Voltron and take the fight back to Robotech!

The fun I had was never ending. Ten thousand plots and stories unfolded in my living room and dining room that I'll never remember the details of.

Suddenly, the mish mash of insanely cool toys, waging some random war for the fate of the universe is back in my hands. And since it takes place on the TV screen as oppose to my living room and roommate's bedrooms, I don't get laughed at! Sound effects and background music are even provided, leaving my mouth to only supply the occasional dialogue of "You time is up, sucka!" or "Aw, man!!!" or "AAAAAHHHH!!!!"

How Good is it?

Uhhh, tell ya the truth, I've no ferkin' idea. The whole game's in Japanese! So, I just fill in the dialogue with my own vulgar and offensive, but funny to me, dialogue. As the fight unfolds, I subconsciously decide what's going on and how these people all seem to live on the same planet.Kinda like I used to when I have Rodimus Prime duke it out with the Wheeled Warrior's Saw Boss!

So, honestly I couldn't tell you. Faces you know and love(like Duo Maxwell or that guy from Tranzor Z!) pop up and start yapping at each other about some desperate situation or another. The battle erupts on various terrain's ranging from city scape, to bridges surrounded by water to mountain ranges. Overlaying the battle field is a grid map, in which your big bots have varying ranges of limited motion. Further in the game you get the more toys, uh, I mean "characters" you get.

So far I've attained Tranzor Z (Mazinger Z), Aphrodite A , the big fat robot from that show who's only good use is his self destruct mechanism (unfortunately I found out about it while standing next to one of my own guys )... and that's it from that show. From Gundam fame I have Duo Maxwell(complete with White Reflection soundtrack whenever he dives into battle!), a Core Fighter, some other Gundams that I think are from Gundam Zeta, and.... White Base! Lastly, I have Getter Robo and some other randoms I don't know.

The Dreamcast version that I'm playing (surprise, surprise...) features special 3D cinema sequences for the given attack you choose. And for special occasions fully CGI movies. Like I up and turned into a giggling geekie mess when I got my TZ hover craft to base and suddenly the screen winks to CGI mode! The hover crafts swoops around the base as Tranzor Z arises and with a cry of, "Mazingeeeeerrrr, something-something!!!!!!" the craft comebines with the bot and I got me Tranzor Z, complete with fist firing action!

Alright, here, lemme 'splain to you about the gaht damn menu which is what I worried about most. "It's strategy RPG, all in Japanese," said Arcadius. "I don't think you're going to like it. I can play import games kind of, because I took a Japanese course in college." At first I was a bit apprihensive when I first started playing the game. Only things in English were the words START, CONTINUE, and LOAD. I plowed ahead anyway.

Turns out, a moderate I.Q. and years of video game experience is really all you need! I quickly figured out which menu did what. I mean, in an RPG the first option is usually ATTACK and the second or third is some kind of defense. Trial and error, and a little bit of that Japanese RPG know how is all you need to get the hang of the game. Next thing I knew, I was pitting Tranzor Z's "Rocket Punch" against the Ace Pilots of the Zeon Spacenoid forces! Hundreds of random super robot toys for me to play with, all across a digital living room television screen.

My Opinion:

If you're at all a "super robot" fan and loved Voltron, Gundam, Mazinger Z, Macross and others that I don't even know.... this game is a must find/must play. So far I find it to be pretty addicting. I played it on a whim yesterday, since I finally got back my Black Dreamcast from Captain Yurika. Next thing I knew I had a dozen super 'bot heroes at my command and 3 hours disappeared into the night!

It's come out for just about every system ever made, so as long as you have some video game playing system and access to the internet you have a chance to play this timeless classic that just doesn't happen enough in cartoons, anime, or video games.

The game isn't groudbreaking, nor is the story compelling, but neither was playing cars, spaceships, or robots on your living room floor. It was just it's own kind of awesome.

Hope all that up there made sense.

<< Keith "JC" Hayward >>