Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars

"Turn-based RPG, lots of story, wonderful soundtrack, and expressive characters"

This game was one of the first I bought for my GBA. However, as I was doing research on it before I purchased it, it seemed that this game was severely under-appreciated. Also, there seemed to be mixed feelings about this game, which I will address later. But for me, this game was my drug for about two weeks until I had finished all of it, and even now, I play it when I’m draining off the last juices from my batteries (more on this later, as well). I’ll tell you what – for those who love to get really involved in the atmosphere, story, and soul of a game (instead of just shooting-to-kill-bad-guys-wear-your-buttons-out-rampage), don’t even bother reading this review. Just go out and (if you can’t rent it) buy a cheap copy off eBay and give it a go.

A Little Background:
First off, Zone of the Enders is a growing universe, with a movie, a TV series, and three video games (including this one). So I’m not even going to try to touch on a full explanation of the ZoE phenomenon. Also, this game was my gate into the ZoE reality – I picked this game up with no knowledge of Zone of the Enders. Even so, I was able to get a good grasp on the game with the story it provides and the instruction manual. Even without the manual, I think I would have done okay with the information the game provides.

You are a guy named Cage, whose life up to now is helping on a cargo ship, the Bonapart III. No family. One friend – Ares. Things happen and you meet up with a mysterious girl – Myona (Side note: Myona was the reason I bought this game – after having seen a couple of screenshots with Myona pictured, I was dead set to get this game). Just then, something causes the cargo ship to start falling apart, and this mysterious girl helps save you by putting you (and herself) in a LEV. (These things are one-man deals, so Cage is crammed in there with a girl. Heh heh)

What’s a LEV? I’m not going to go detail-freaky on you (you can read the FAQs for that one). Simply put, it’s a giant robot that you are inside and pilot. Usually LEVs work inside an atmosphere (in otherwords, not in space). However, there seems to be something mysterious about this LEV Cage is saved in. Cage battles a mysterious “Frame” (Frame is short for Orbital Frame—to be described later). After the battle, Cage, Myona and their LEV get sucked into Mars’ atmosphere and land safely. However, they’re captured and accused as being terrorists and blamed for the Bonapart III’s destruction.

Throughout the game, you’ll see mention of things called “Orbital Frames” or “OF.” An OF is like a LEV, except they fly, go into space, and the evolve with the skill of their pilots – they may even “grow” new weapons. An OF uses stuff called metatron – LEVs don’t. Metatron is a mysterious substance that seems to cause side-effects to the pilots in certain situations. It also allows the OF to evolve and grow.

Enough background…onto the review.

Gameplay: 9/10
I’ve heard this game compared to Advance Wars and other similar games, but I’ve never played them so I won’t be able to make the same comparison. However, I can give a run down. This game basically behaves as a turn-based strategy game. You have a map divided into a grid, you can use your turn(s) to move, fight, heal, and other things. Meanwhile, your enemy (which almost always outnumbers you) will have turns to do whatever they want to do (usually destroy you or someone else). What makes this game unique from similar turn-based strategy games is the IAS – Interactive Attack System. When you (or one of your controllable allies) are attacked, or make an attack, you have the option of influencing the outcomes. Like, you know in Role-Playing games, damage, critical hits, and things like that are all based on random, calculated odds – pretty much like throwing dice? If you use the IAS, you take control of several of the odds. Either you’re trying to dodge an attack, or you’re trying to score an attack. The difficulty of avoiding or hitting a target is controlled by things like your level, how well your LEV is upgraded, etc. I like to describe it as a chess game, except when your pieces battle, you can use your own skill to determine the outcome, instead of rules (and random chance). You also have the option to disable the IAS to make the game more difficult.

In-between battling missions, there are LOTS of cut-scenes. This is where the mixed-feelings of this game come into effect. If you’re into action and fast-paced battling, these cut-scenes seem to be a waste of time. However, if you’re one who loves a story to go along with the game, these anime text-based cut-scenes help you get involved in the game. For me, since I wanted the game because I got to see pictures of Myona, I really enjoyed the anime cut-scenes. You may have a different opinion, though.

Although the battle map during missions seems rather simplistic at first, once you understand the nuances of your options to attack, avoid, etc. it makes a lot of sense.

Something useful is the Save feature. At certain points between “chapters”, you can save in one of 25 save slots. Plus, during the battle map sessions, you can do a quick save (good in case your batteries are failing or you’ve got to catch the bus). Quick save lets you pick up the game right where you left off in the battle, however you can only have one quick-save at a time – if you save again, your old save-point is gone.

This game almost works as an RPG because as you kill enemies, your skill will increase and you will gain cash for upgrades. There are also a few items to “pick up” along the way. ;)

Graphics: 9/10
For a GBA game, these graphics are killer, at least to me. Although the main battle map is simplistic and the IAS shows a still picture of your enemy flying around without any depth, the anime pictures and background during cut-scenes are excellent. Plus, if you activate this feature, after every avoid or attack, you see an animated scene of the attack/avoid, which is cool for a while, but may get boring if you’re up against a lot of enemies or you don’t have lots of time on your hands (luckily, you can turn this animation off). But overall, this game makes great eye-candy if you’re into anime characters.

During the cut-scenes, the anime-style characters will have their little “mug-shots” on the screen as the dialogue scrolls below. However, you’ll notice that their expressions will change to match what they say. The story is so funny and interesting that having the expressions on the screen can help you laugh with them, or cry along side them. Plus, you get a better liking (or dis-liking) of the characters when you can see them on-screen.

Sound: 10/10
Probably the best thing about this game is the music. I haven’t heard another GBA game with better instrumental music as this. The instruments are well sampled, and the composition is perfect. As you play the battle map and progress through the cut-scenes, music will change with the mood of the game. It’s either quick and techno, or slow, mellow, and ambient. It gives a great atmosphere to the gameplay and really helps the enjoyment of the game. Plus, you get the option to listen to (almost) any music track from the game using a Sound Mode option. Any good game with a good soundtrack should have one of these.

As for effects, several sounds are used over and over, but for the way the game is designed, I couldn’t imagine it any other way. There are even small sound effects within the cut-scenes, too, which sometimes are pretty funny.

Story: 9/10
Story is what this game is about – you battle so you can learn more of the story. The only reason I rated the story a 9 is because there were parts where the game made references to other things in the Zone of the Enders universe – things that weren’t well-explained. There also appears to be small mis-translations of certain things in the game, which have led to confusion for people who have played other ZoE games on the Playstation.

Other than that, the story is so enjoyable that it’s almost like sitting down and reading a comic book (manga). Cut-scenes are best viewed when you know you’ve got lots of time on your hands, because they are a little lengthy. The story is developed well and has lots of minor sub-plots (like romance) and (along with the background music) is the most entertaining part of the game.

Replayability: 9/10
There are two different endings to this game, and each ending has two variants, so there’s lots of room to replay the game (or pick up from a save-point) to try the different endings. It’s also fun to just pick up and play sometime after you’ve already won it just to get the story again – like reading a favorite book over again. However, the game is long and sometimes difficult (especially if you disable the IAS), so replaying might be a lot of work. But for me, who’s played the game through over five times, it’s worth it.

Overall: 9/10
One of my favorite games for GBA, this game is great if you’re really into story and plot. If you’re looking for hardcore action only, this game might frustrate you because of all the dialogue during cut-scenes. The music will only further the atmosphere of the game as you play, and the wonderful save options make this game real flexible to your schedule. Definitely recommended, even if you have no idea what Zone of the Enders is all about (like I was).

Rent or Buy? If you can get this game rented for a week straight and have enough time to play it, you could get the major benefit from it and never play it again. However, I love knowing I’ve got my own copy because I just love this game so much – the story and the characters. But like I said, if you’ve got several completely free days, you could probably finish this game within a rental period.

Other Fun Stuff: Since the game features great save options and since you can gain experience, retreat, and play a mission over and gain more experience, this is a great game to help you kill off your pairs of AA batteries that are weak. You can save as much as you want during the map screen, so when your batteries finally fail, you’ll be just fine.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/03, Updated 05/21/03