Vixen 357

"Funky name, Kickin' game!"

This really should have been done long ago, but I suppose I'll have to be the first to review this most excellent game.

Overview Vixen 357 is a turn-based strategy game. It's an anime-style mecha game, based on machines and characters that are very common to the genre. Maps are 2D top-down, while units are a little vertical so you get a nice profile. As far as I know, the game was only released in Japanese (which is hardly surprising,) so all the dialogue, story, and controls are unreadable for those who can't read Japanese. I personally found that this wasn't much of a hindrance; most of the controls were easy to figure out, and the basic story isn't too hard to follow, even when they throw some curveballs at you. For me, the game itself was so stinkin' fun that I didn't care one bit that I couldn't read any of it.

Gameplay: 9/10 Very nicely done for a basic strategy game. The maps are varied, with lots of terrain and such. The enemies always outnumber you by a fair margin, so it's always a challenge, but never to the point of being ridiculously impossible. Control is done by a basic ''select unit and use command menu'' setup. After a command has been selected, an icon will show what you're doing. All units have a ranged and melée attack. Attacks are shown in a cool full-size animation of the attacking mecha against his target, with the result (miss, deflection, partial hit, full hit, or even a retalitory attack in the case of melée attacks) shown as well. Background terrain These animations are pretty cool, but eventually get so time-consuming that you'll want to turn 'em off. It took a bit for me to find the option in the menu.

And there are a LOT of options. You can shuffle pilots and machines, make repairs, alter weapon loadouts, all sorts of junk. You'll want to become quickly adept at using your dropship in a battle, as oftentimes it is the ONLY thing that gives you a hope of winning. I found that it didn't take much trial-and-error to figure most stuff out, and quickly became used to the command setups.

Pilots are on an Experience system which is pretty straightforward. You get a status bar which fills up as the pilot gains experience, and he or she gains a level when the bar is filled. You gain new pilots and mechas as the story progresses, starting with three and building to an impressive group complete with its own little airforce.

Graphics: 8/10 For a Ye Olde Genesis game, they're quite nice. Maps are good, animations are good, character pictures are good (and nicely typical for anime. Some cute pilots, too.) Nothing spectacular, but solidly nice.

Sound: 6/10 Not fancy, but gets the job done. Can't really say much about it.

Design: 9/10 While most of this has been done a zillion times before on animated shows, it's still good stuff here. The mechas are vastly different from each other, with all sorts of differing attacks and defenses, strengths and weaknesses. I remember one level I almost lost because a BUNCH of enemies were standing offshore with these giganticus shoulder-mounted artillery pieces, and I hadn't deployed my team such that the faster units could lose in quickly enough. I got PUMMELED by the time my team was able to get within attack range. Anyhoo, lots of cool variety, and very appealing designs.

Replayability: ?/10 Dunno. Mine conked out on me before I could finish (there are a lot of levels) and I haven't been able to find another one. I imagine you can play it over a few times and still have fun.

Overall: 9/10 What can I say? Get this game. I loved every minute I played it. It's jolly-near impossible to find, and almost no one has ever heard of it. Find it any way you can and play it. Give it some time to get used to it and get into it. Speaking for myself, it's a very enjoyable game, and there's plenty enough to it to keep you occupied for a while. It's a lot like Shadowrun in that respect.

Get it, play it, love it, then post on the message board.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/22/03