Robotech: The Macross Saga

"Only for fans of the anime"

Introduction
Robotech The Macross Saga is a side scrolling shooter game following the Story of the anime Robotech’s first series, the Macross Saga. In it, you find yourself playing as one of 5 characters, Rick Hunter, Roy Fokker, Max Sterling, Miriya Sterling, or Ben Dixon, all of whom are pilots of the machine known as a Veritech..

Gameplay
I found the gameplay In Robotech to be very fun at first. While you fly your Veritech ship around the screen, many enemies will be blocking your way, while some are easy and can be taken down with one shot, others are not, and can do significant damage to your Veritech. It plays like any side scrolling shooter, basically you dodge shots fired at you, while firing back. There are only a few different enemies, while all can fire the basic energy ball, others have such weapons as laser beams, balls of energy that explode when fired upon, and missiles. It can be difficult at first, depending on which character you choose, some characters will have a lower statistic in one area, while others will excel in it, but they ultimately even out, because all are strong in one instance or another. The control is responsive and easy to learn, the most difficult part is when you need to change your Veritech’s mode from Guardian, Fighter, or Battloids. Each different mode will have special abilities not present in other modes.

Story
There isn’t much story to speak of, the only story present in the game are little messages you see between missions. Only if you have seen the anime will you really know what is going on. Here is the basic story, in Robotech, Rick Hunter finds himself to be thrown into an intergalactic war between the United Earth forces, and the Zentradi Invasion Fleet. While admiring a Veritech from inside the cockpit, the Zentradi attack, forcing him to take off and join in the battle. I’ll leave the rest for you to find out on your own.

Graphics/Sound
The graphics were quite impressive by the Game Boy Advance’s standards, each ship looked perfect, as did the entire environment. The main music you hear throughout the game is the theme to Robotech, it didn’t get tiring, and was perfectly suited to this game. The sound effects weren’t anything spectacular, but they fit in with this game as well.

Play Time/Replayability
The game doesn’t take to long to complete, I find that it can be done within a half hour. As for replayability, it will get tiring after a while, after you unlock the hidden characters, there isn’t much more to this game.

Final Recommendation
I would recommend that any Robotech fans buy this game. For the non-Robotech fans out there, consider renting it first

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/03