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.