Neon Genesis Evangelion: Koutetsu no Girlfriend

"Gainax finally release a game based on their hit anime. But is it really a game?"

This was the first game to be released on Sega Saturn and for the PC and PlayStation. Unlike 1st
and 2nd Impression, Girlfriend of Steel (Sometimes known as Iron Maiden, the literal translation
of the game name from Japanese). The three versions of the game are identical, with the Saturn
and PlayStation versions coming on two discs while the PC version, for some strange reason, is
on four discs, yet it's exactly the same the other versions in content. This review is based
on the PlayStation version.

Once again, this game is nothing more that a side story to the Evangelion story line. There is
no exact indication when the episode, but it's around the time before Toji became the Fourth Child.
The story for this game is a simple affair. A new student arrives to Tokyo-3 and ends up in Shinji's
class. Her name is Mana Kirishima and she transferred recently. Before long, she shows an obvious
intrest to Shinji and much to the protest of Asuka, they go out on a date and become quite close.

While it might sound that this game is nothing more than a rehash of 2nd Impress (Shinji meets girl,
girl shows interest in him, etc), it's quite different. I'm assuming here that the script writer
for this game was different from the one for 1st and 2nd Impression, evident by the bahaviour of
some of the characters. Then again, this was done in-house by Gainax, so it doesn't get more
official than this. Mana was designed by Evangelion's character designer, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto,
while a new un-named robot was done by Evangelion's mecha designer. Director Anno had no part in
this. Lucky he didn't, otherwise he'd probably turn it into something more dark . . .

Even though this game has been released for two consoles and the PC, it really isn't a game.
Interactivity is almost non-existant, limiting you to three action commands: look, move, talk.
That's all you do. You have no control over the battles what so ever. By choosing move, a short
description of the surroundings will be given. Choose walk, and a list of possible paths to
choose from will be displayed. Choose talk (when a character is on screen), you will talk to them.
That's all there is to it, and that's why Girlfriend of Steel falls into the category of interactive
anime.

The first sign that this game was done with low production value is the graphics. The annoying
border from 1st/2nd Impression is much smaller and doesn't obscure the main screen, but it's
still there. Putting aside the fact that there is not battle mode at all, it's terribly
disappointing to find that 98% of the time, you're staring at a still image. That's right, there
are no FMV cutscenes in this game. The beginning and ending sequence from the TV series is
strangely absent as well. There is a small amount of animation here and there, but it's so
cheap, you'll never complain about the quality of the 1st Impression videos ever again. The images
do look nice and of the standard of the TV series, but why not give us any FMV?

The sound area is where this game stands out. The voice acting is great, the sound effects are
straight out of Gainax's sound vault, and so is the music. However, once again, the music is
digitised. The quality is much worse than in 1st and 2nd Impression, bordering on MIDI standard,
but it would have been so much better if it had been CD quality. They could have at least done
this, considering there is no FMV...

As an interactive side story of Evangelion, it could have been better, just like 1st and 2nd
Impression. However, the poor production values let it down. The stort is great, the strongest
and most interesting out of all of the side stories, but with almost no branching story paths,
no battle mode, and no things to unlock, you won't have any reason to play this game more than
once. It's worth checking out just for the story, but nothing more. It's still fun, but don't
set your expectations high for it, as it's just two new episodes of Evangelion. In Japanese. With
no English sub-titles.

Graphics - 2.5/5.0

Still images of the highest quality, drawn by Gainax. The designs for Mana and the new robot are
great, but there is no FMV to be found anywhere! Not even the intro and ending credits! This
is an unforgivable sin, especially since it was developed by Gainax.

Sounds - 4.0/5.0

High quality voice acting from the original cast with sound effects straight out of Gainax's
vaults. However, the music is of a worser quality than in the other games, which doesn't
help the overall experience.

Controls - 2.0/5.0

With no battle mode in sight, control is limited to chosing between two or three options now
and then. Shut your brain off while playing this game and you should be fine. You won't need
it much.

Fun Factor - 4.5/5.0

How can this be classified as a game? It can't, and that's why it gets a score based as an
interactive side story. The story is engaging and feels right in place with the events that
took place in the original TV series. Die hards wouldn't want to miss out on this one.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/01, Updated 03/13/01