Retro Review: Kidou Senshi Gundam F91 - Formula Senki 0122 (Super Famicom)

In terms of genre influence and sheer relentless merchandising, the Gundam franchise is very much the Japanese Star Wars. Not the first of its kind, but one of those works that came along, dropkicked the status quo, and became the establishment. Anime wasn't the same after. It even has its own laser swords and Space Nazis. As it has nearly 40 years of material, of wildly variable quality, its not easy to generalise, but the gist is as follows. People live in space stations, some on Earth, bad feelings all round, so war with giant robots, piloted by angsty teens. Lots of moral ambiguity and war is hell motifs. Today's game, Kidou Senshi Gundam F91 - Formula Senki 0122 , or F91 for sanity, fits into the original Gundam canon, where a bunch of Space Nazis from Mars are causing trouble. They use robots which look exactly like those from the 1979 original, though updated, seemingly just for reasons of brand recognition(1). But is F91 any good? Well, interesting is perhaps the better word. 

The games big selling point is that while it looks like a SRPG it's actually a , honest to god, turn-based/real-time hybrid. A faintly underwhelming map screen, gives way to a faux cockpit, with 3rd person battle animations. Your main inputs are manoeuvre and positioning in real time, but with attacking and the map screen handled in a turn based fashion. Its a a rush to line up a shot against rapidly moving targets, with each weapon having own its optimal range, and your Gundam having limited fuel. Succeed, and you get an animation of the attack connecting, and hopefully an explosion. Fail, and see it miss. You can dash back to a capital ship for a top up, and switch between fancy weapon packs mid battle. The Gundam(2) you use for most of the game has modular parts, allowing you to tailor it to your requirements, adding a layer of strategy to an otherwise tactical game. But the battle continues without you, Jegans and Zakus beating 7 bells out of each other, meaning you can get flanked, and so on. Its not rendered in 3D, but feels a solid representation of Mobile Suit combat as presented in the various animations, with the music being a highlight. Meanwhile there's a story going on, depicted mainly by cutscences between battles. Any good? Well, it's a Gundam sidestory where the antagonists are cosplaying warmachines from 40 odd years prior. A translation patch is required, which seems to work OK. The narrative definitely looks and feels appropriate to the franchise, if not one of it's best. And that's the game in a nutshell, really. It looks and feels right, having pretty good production values, if not necessarily exceptional in its execution. The general feeling of above average is also backed up by it having a battery save, even though the game is light of justification for one. This game could have easily worked with a password system, as it has only 12 levels and is not an RPG, so I can only assume Japanese convention was happily at work here.

The battles do however get a bit samey. As the battle animations are repetitive, what the game ends up doing is training you to stare at the radar in the bottom right, as that's where most of the useful info is. That sense of repetition also increases as the game goes on, where you end up on Earth after fighting in space, and the game plays the same. Kinda disappointing, that. Its also something of a coin toss if an attack connects or not, as the game doesn't see fit to let you aim yourself, or tell you the odds. Also, choosing between the weapon pack doesn't actually represent that big of choice, as there's only 2 at first with limited weapons. This makes things a little frustrating, although new weapons and equipment do unlock and ease these complaints. Ultimately though, its not that deep of a game, despite nailing the setting. While by no means bad, I feel this game needed to be either more of a simulation, or more a bangy-zoomy game.

 

Conclusion
<Indecisive noise>, okay. F91 is a game that sets out to capture the spirit of its setting, while defying gaming convention, and largely achieves both aims, but I didn't love it. I wouldn't really call it a great game, but it is an mechanically interesting one. And, despite nitpicks, I can certainly imagine Gundam fans then and now warming to it. Some distance from a classic, but it doesn't have much to apologise for. If the concepts discussed above appeal to you, maybe check it out.

Foot notes

1. I am deeply cynical about this, and it makes less and less sense the more I think about it.
2. The term “Gundam” is also used mainly for brand recognition, as in universe it was the most famous Federation mecha.

Retro Review: Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross (Famicom)

I think we need some context, here. In 1982, Big West went and made The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, a very influential Japanese anime. They did however run short of money, prompting some poorly worded contracts, and a never ending legal nightmare for all involved. It is for this reason Macross is known as the foundational instalment of Robotech, a series where 3 unrelated properties were nailed together by the famously litigious Harmony Gold. Its a long story, but eff those guys. Transformers fans will also recognise the main mecha from it as Jetfire. Meanwhile, the UK gaming scene was off being its own thing, dominated by low-cost computers like the Sinclair Spectrum, and then by the Sega consoles and stuff like the Amiga. This is also a long story, but suffice to say the NES/Famicom wasn't as a big thing here as in America and Japan. Advance forward thirty odd years, and I'm experimenting with retrogaming platforms. I chance upon a Famicom Macross game, and decide it would make a good test subject for my Retrofreak.

I kinda hate it.

Now, this is not automatically the same as saying its a bad game. I lot of people make that mistake, especially fanboys, you disliking something is not automatically a failing in that media(1). Objective flaws of course do exist, coding bugs for example, and when writing a review it's best to keep some kind of dispassionate viewpoint, lest you confuse an emotional response for an actual fault. What this game does wrong is mainly be very old, and not especially creative with the licence, while I generally suck at this sort of game and don't have the necessary nostalgia goggles. 

So, lets talk mechanics. CJYM is a side scrolling spaceship shooter, a shoot-em-up, the Battle Royale of its day. You advance from left to right, shooting baddies, and eventually fighting bosses. It's fairly typical of its time, although with two major exceptions. Your Valkyrie can change form, behaving differently in each, and has a health bar. I didn't find much reason to transform, but the latter change goes some way to making the game tolerable for me, if still having embarrassing difficulty with the first level. Presentation is also quite reminiscent of the series, with recognisable enemy designs, and a Minmay doll starting the action with a gong, while a chip tune version of the series' track Shao Pi Long also plays. In so far as the technology of the time allowed, it's a reasonably mix of gameplay with licence, like putting Bruce Lee in a Street fighter 2 clone(2). Mind you, "of the time“ is probably the most obvious stock complaint I could make of the game. Its production values show its age, and the gameplay isn't good enough to compensate. Less subjectively, it would appear to be a game with no actual ending, instead looping indefinitely the same level, just with an increasing enemy count. I can't confirm this, and the let's play I found tend last 20 minutes at most, but I honestly can't bring myself to check. It's Transbot all over again. 

Conclusion

There could have been a good game here, but what we have here is a best a prototype that wasn't finished. Video games based on licensed properties do have a terrible reputation, and my self-doubt aside, this game is an example of why. I honestly can't recommend it. Maybe look into Scrambled Valkyrie on the Super Famicom, I hear its rather good.

Foot Notes

1. I'm looking at you, people complaining about female characters in Star Wars and Captain Marvel.
2. Which they did. And a Bruce Lee clone in actual Street Fighter 2.