Mobile Light Force

"Mobile Light Force = BRILLIANT shooter, XS Games = ungodly stupid company"

''Don't be so quick to judge, or you shall meet your end..''
Lets face it, the game doesnt have the best cover ever. If a game has a cool and original cover, youd look more into it, right? A company called XS Games brought over a quirky Japanese shooter, titled Gunbird, over to the good ol' USA for the first time for American console use. Thats all good, thumbs up XS. It's what they didn't do which hurts it. Upon bringing it over they did the following: Gave it NO promotion, changed the original cover art, took out the game's fantastic 457 page art gallery, STRIPPED the entire game of ANY storyline, and changed three of the male characters names, including naming two (Ash and Tetsu)after the members of the staff of XS, which is completley asinine. (Funny side note though, they let the ''Mobile Light Force'' joke slip for Valnus the robot's name. MLF/MILF 2000. Whats a ''milf'' you ask? Watch the movie American Pie. The prettay ladies on the cover and a game initialed MLF? Good job, XS...) With all those things gone or altered, whats left? A fantastic shooter, thats what.

Story 1.0
Sadly, as mentioned above, for the US console version theres none, nadda.. BUT, the original story goes as follows: A group of 5 vigilantes, want to restore the pieces of the much sought after Magic Mirror. But a nasty group of pirates, doesnt want that to happen. So they do everything in their power to stop them. With in game anime scenes and funny dialouge between characters, the story could be considered one of the best parts. (I sympathize briefly with XS Games for a moment, though. The characters, Ash and Tetsu, had their own different ''personal agendas'' that censors wouldnt be to happy giving an ''E'' rating too.)

Sound 6.0
Very good and catchy music! Luckily for us, XS Games decieded to leave in the Sound Test for us to enjoy. (Thats one feature besides the actual game..) The sound effects also add to the nice presentation. Although Valnus's (MLF 2000) lasers can get kinda annoying though.

Graphics 7.0
SPECTACULAR! The massive detail in levels and the anime style characters are very good in a shooter like this. Although I wish the story scenes were included to continually show off the explosion of visual delight.

Gameplay 8.0
God bless you XS. You left this alone. Thank you!!! (Okay, enough of that.) The gameplay is very tight and precise. Allowing a full range of movement and nice shooter gameplay. You start off (as in most shooters) with a fairly weak weapon, but then progress buy collecting power-ups and coins scattered thoughout the level. You have a normal shot, (which can be charged) rapid fire, and a highly destructive bomb. Playing is alot of fun, and alot more fun with a friend.

Replay 6.0
Besides all the downers of the game, try to keep in mind that shooters were made for one reason, and one reason only. To blow things up. The entire game is eye candy with a taste of delicious music to the ears, with a side of excellent gameplay. (Try not to laugh to hard) This score would be higher if they left in the story and hillarious endings.

Pros:
+ EXCELLENT gameplay
+ AWESOME graphics and sound
+ Very cheap $10
+ Fun 2 player mode!

Cons:
- Absolutley no story
- No gallery existant (files still on CD though, if you want to see them you will need a Playstation file viewer for the PC)
- Beyond horrid cover art
- XS Games rep if they keep doing horrible localizations like this.

Overall 7.0
Gunbird is a great shooter with lots of fun extras.
Mobile Light Force is a great shooter.. and thats it.
It needs nothing else. Sure, a few extras would be nice, but the gameplay is still intact, and thats all you need to play. MLF is a great bargain shooter which can be picked up for people hard on the cash flow and who want an overly enjoyable experience.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/03, Updated 07/24/03