Remembering: Gunstar Heroes

Gunstar Heroes is amongst the most highly-regarded games of the 16 bit era. Easily a top ten contender on the Genesis/Mega Drive platform, and undoubtedly a must-play for the retrogaming scene. This is mainly due to its creators, the somewhat legendary programming team Treasure, whom broke off from Konami to make some serious games. Games that arguably helped sell a console, or would be discovered as genre classics later on. And the odds are, you've ready played it. Sega published the title and has made it a regular feature of its retro Compilations. The merit of Gunstar Heroes as a run and gun shooter is unassailable at this point, but I want to talk about why I found it awesome. 

 

The game boots up with immediate cutscenes. What's the plot? That's complicated as somebody rewrote it for English speakers, and it's presented in media res, which is a bit high brow for a game mainly about blowing shit up. You get the impression that some bad stuff is going down, only for THAT title screen to hit like a comet, and if you wait a bit you get more exposition, but you're probably none the wiser. Basically, everyone is named after a colour, and bad guys want gems to repair some kind of doomsday robot, so stop them. Cool. So, you press start, choose your control scheme, your starting gun, and 1 of 4 levels, while two characters natter flavour text and tips. You go for the leftmost level, and immediately you have to stop robots from destroying a jungle village. Then you fight a killer plant. Then you climb a pyramid. Then you fight a boss made of boxes. Then you slide down the pyramid. Then you fight a construction robot boss, with a dramatic end of level announcement. Then there's a comedy cutscene where its crew fly off, Team Rocket Style, and your character strikes a pose. Then you're back at the level select screen. Phew.

All the above happens in under 7 minutes. By 16 bit standards, you have what amounts to an entire games worth of action set-pieces, and several games worth of "narrative" in what is the first and least impressive level, plus skippable text. It only gets better from there. This is awesome.

Gunstar Heroes is a game that is at once an easily assessable spectacular, and a mechanically nuanced system for experts. Unlike a majority of its genre, it actually provides numerical health meters for characters and bosses, thus avoiding one-hit kills. This should make the game easier, but it doesn't feel easier. Rather it means that mistakes are yours, and the game is kicking your arse fair and square. Play is more a matter of learning and skill, finding what works for you, rather than rote memorisation and twitch reflexes. You get a huge amount of freedom, from your characters firing stance, the starting weapon, the way weapons combine, and a surprisingly complex melee system. Body-slams, sliding kicks, throws, and an easily missed block, are there if you need them. The game won't punish you for experimenting, but also takes terms like "hard mode" very seriously. It's not cheap, in other words, and the creators clearly wanted you to play this repeatedly because you want to, not because it's so difficult to complete you couldn't do it in a weekend rental. R-Type, I'm looking in your general direction. Everybody can enjoy this, and it's two player co-op, where you can throw your mate as an improvised weapon. 

As a final note: while it does not shine by modern standards, Gunstar Heroes was a significant technical achievement for its day. This is best represented by sprite-scaling masterpiece that was Seven Force, possibly the single greatest boss fight of the 90's. This 7 form monster was almost unreal by Mega Drive standards, and it's obvious how proud they were with it. It's in level 2, where everybody could see it.

Go play Gunstar Heroes, you muppet.

Gunpla: The RX-75-4 Guntank (SD)

I'll admit to not quite getting the whole "super-deformed" thing, especially in relation to mecha. That is to say the Japanese merchandising practice where a character or concept is given the proportions of a toddler and generally cuteified for the purposes of low cost toys and ancillary media. Maybe it's the same cultural phenomenon that gives us mascots. Maybe there's a technological aspect, such things being much easier to make than a completely faithful recreation, at least at the time, and it stuck. There is a prolific and venerable series of video games "Super Robot Wars", and many lesser known Gundam games that started around the Super Famicom days, which stick with the style. I don't know, perhaps somebody whom actually has lived in Japan could comment? I do however know something about the Guntank, and how it is simultaneously a good and bad candidate for the SD treatment.

So, first a word on this kits background. The Guntank is a self-explanatory mecha from the original Gundam TV series. It was very much a transitional design, having been made by Federation engineers who'd heard of Mobile Suits, but not actually seen one. The Guntank was effectively a scaling up of a tank into something big with arms, pre-empting Battletech, via the whole Core Fighter business omitted in kits like this one. As you might imagine, it wasn't a concept that caught on, although it has its fans. There is after all a place for self-propelled artillery. The reason why it is both a good and bad candidate for SD is that it's not humanoid. You can make it a little cuter, but you can't make it a baby, so what you end up with is an inexpensive model that isn't too far from the serious ones do. SD kits often end up compromising on stuff like articulation, but a Guntank doesn't really move and is a torso atop a rhombus, so no loss? 

This isn't the first SD kit I've messed with, but the last was a very long time ago, so the experience was novel. Dated 2001, it's a very simple affair, both when building it, and from a model -making technology perspective. The quality of the materials for example is notably worse than HG, so watch those pegs, this did not do well when it hit the floor, but you get what you pay for. Plastic colours are largely on point, although it's got easy source material. The main difficulty proved to be chest vents, which defied markers, resulting in the application of stickers instead. There is also a surprisingly detailed cockpit with transparent canopy, although you'd have to paint the dude, and the box demonstrates a rather impractical example. I managed to knock this out in an afternoon, most of that time being panel-line stuff and fixing the chest. And it was a good time. I think I get that appeal: small, cheap, easy builds. Would have another. 

Mini-Review: Bomber Crew (PC)

On occasion, I am lucky. I'd been eyeing up this game, Bomber Crew, for a while. I'd felt myself in need of another habit-forming distraction as socialising remained impossible, but I wanted to at least try being financially responsible. So I walked away, patted myself on the back for not wasting money. Then, the very next day, it went on sale. OK, if I were religious in any way, I would have considered that "a sign". So here's a ramble about my experiences. 

Putting aside its adorable, miiverse—alike visuals, Bomber Crew is best described as a game of panicky crisis management. While the control scheme hands you rope to hang yourself with. You're a middle-manager, following set objectives and then delegating, never quite having direct or instaneous responses to your instructions. You have to do stuff like mark targets and waypoints by hand, and your crew will then attempt them. Enevitably, this will involve you ordering someone to switch seats or otherwise run about the plane, as things break and ammo runs low. Or possibly climb out onto a wing to fix an engine. The actual matter of bombing is simple but a little obtuse; just enough for it to become tricky under fire. Things can snowball out of control very easily, as crewmen get hurt, navigators get lost, and engines drop off. Unless you can already micromanage well, this makes for something of a steep learning curve, and I restarted the campaign several times before I found my rhythm. Things become much easier once ammo feeds and a few special skills become availible taking some of the labour out of proceedings. With that in mind: I recommend taking on those Intel Photos where possible, as these advance the tech tree, and that you remember it's easier to replace a plane than its crew.

Long term strategy meanwhile comes from selecting which missions you attempt and in what order. In addition to obvious stuff like difficulty, some target enemy supply lines whose destruction makes future missions easier, or have an Ace turn up and utterly ruin your day. There is a element of procedural generation to this, which can get samey, although important missions are scripted. Notably, you can't save during Missions either, so the game can be unforgiving, but not nessecarily frustrating in this area. In one memorable instance, I completed a mission only for the plane to crash with all hands lost. The campaign however continued with a crew of understudies and a slightly downgraded bomber. I had to spend a few missions getting back in condition, but I wasn't annoyed, and this reflects well on Bomber Crew. That said, in the latter half of the campaign I soon found myself trapped in loop where by a bomber would have a life expectancy of about 3 Missions, with maybe a couple of crew surviving into the next iteration. This makes me wonder if if the game was trying to tell me something about the nature of human life in wartime, or I'm just crap at it? 

Acknowledging my horrific crew turnover, one criticism I could make of Bomber Crew is its sanitisation of World War 2. That's a weird sentance to write, I know, but bear with me. While nobody should need or expect a history lesson from a game visually similar to Funko Pops, a pinch of home truths, and a spoonful of satire would have helped. Bomber Crew doesn't acknowledge the more controversial aspects of strategic bombing, or why you're doing it. The creators were clearly walking a fine line, and have created a fundamentally good natured game, but they didn't take any risks. So it's not Cannon Fodder, but at least it hasn't mistaken angst for art. Incidentally, there's a scifi spin-off in the works, hopefully that won't have a similar issue.

Matters of tone aside, Bomber Crew is a good little game, that offers fairly distinctive gameplay. While I got this on sale for under 4 quid, I wouldn't have been disappointed at full price.

Plamo: The 30 Minute Missions “Digger” Rabiot (Orange + Option Armour for Special Operation, Yellow)

Yes, its been a while, but I finally got my hands on one of the newer 30MM kits. And while this was a less involved project than the last one, I did find this a very satisfying experience.

As both a kit and a robot model, the Rabiot is very much cut from the same cloth as the Alto and Portanova. This is mainly due to the common joint sprue being retained for compatibility, while the visuals are akin to the Alto but bulkier. The main functional change involves the weaponry, which sees both the Roy Roy and the unconvincing melee weapon being dumped in favour of a larger shotgun type weapon. Those options return in other kits, and there is an adaptor present so you can swap out the gun barrel if that's something you want. Like most 30MM kits, the Rabiot is largely flawless as a no-nonsense grunt project, and if you've built one previously, you know what you are getting here. With one exception.

Bandai seems have taken the opportunity to go a bit weird with these "2nd gen" kits, and the Rabiot is clearly not intended as a straight iteration on the Alto. You do get armour sets, but these, for reasons, feature crotch mounted digging equipment. This is hysterical, but it's not without precedent. Combat engineer variants of the Zaku for example have been around longer than I have, and the idea of "subarms" goes back to Zeta and the Titans Test Team. Then you realise that one set is in yellow, while the Rabiot is in orange...... JCB! CONSTRUCTICONS MAYBE LATER! BUT RIGHT NOW, JCB!

So, I got the Orange Rabiot, and two of the yellow armour sets, my research indicating that you could easily double-up. The result is this asymmetrical but unambiguously construction themed mecha. Observant readers will note the use of stickers, which come new with these armour sets. As stickers go: they aren't bad, but I was glad to have a spare sheet. Actual paint would look much better, but the yellow is very bright, so that would have taken time. Even more observant readers will also note the lack of “before” pictures of the unmodded Rabiot. Ummm, well.... I've left those bits on the sprue for future projects.

 

I know this is one of the shorter and less intellectual blog articles I've wrote, but hopefully the pictures will make up the difference. Its a JCB that would kick your ass, and I love it.

Plamo: The “Technolog Robogear Astrogladiator” Or Something

Ever roll a dice on an eBay listing? I'm a little vague on what this actually is. I know its Russian, a wargaming piece, and a giant robot. Robogear is a name once associated with Airfix circa 2007, although more recent information is behind a language barrier. The model kits of that line have a certain reputation as good conversion fodder for Ork units, but it seems in never really caught on in the west. The lack of context for this gives me pause for thought, but here's how I got on with it.

First impressions? Not great. The plastic is thick, but there is some nasty ass flash, big obvious mould lines and the parts fit is lacking. This could be some form of bootleg, or just really cheaply made, either is credible. Nothing is difficult to manage, but adds to the “toyish" feel that comes from the joint design. The good news is you can build this in sub assemblies before painting, and pose it later, not requiring glue. The bad news is that these joints are based on friction, not glue or polycaps, and you need to use a bit of force. Force isn't something I was happy applying here, because the plastic marks easily, but paradoxically, I'm reasonably certain an assembled model would survive the drop test. I'm hesitant to be too harsh or too kind here, knowing so little about its providence, buuuuuut I've handled far less robust models than this. Its got the build quality of a robot toy you find in a random papershop somewhere for a fiver, one that maybe holds up better than you'd expected, but one that could appear on a Knockoff Beatdown.

Visually, the kit evokes a Heavy Gear design, although its quite generic with other bits suggesting Gundam. It's not without its own flair however, with the gun seeming attached to the hand by a nut and bolt. It's wide shouldered and stocky, although I ended up ditching the oversized ankle guards. Articulation meanwhile is basic, leading me to the fixed pose you see here. I can see this kit being mainly of interest to kitbashers, mainly fans of Warhammer 40K looking for conversion fodder.

In terms of painting, I opted for basically what I always do for ork vehicles: dirty metals paired with bright blue. It's the same technique as The Last Gorkanaut, although using a black undercoat this time. I don't it came out quite as well, buts it certainly not bad. This is also the first time I've tried making camouflage netting from fabric bandages. I found the process messy, but worth the effort, and I think I know how to do it better next time.

Revisiting Gurren Lagann

 Or "Who the hell do you think we are?!"

This is not a review, as I am somewhat irrational about this series. It was the last anime I unreservedly loved, and despite its problems, I still do. It was one of those zeitgeist moments, where I had the good fortune to be on at the ground floor. In 2007, Gurren Lagann exploded onto the Internet, promoting a thousand memes, and a million shouts of "fuck yes!". A Saturday morning Cartoon from Studio Gainax. A loving tribute to super robot shows. A deconstruction of robot shows. A relentless parade of explosions, drills and fan-service. It was all this, and somehow more. But I want to tell you why it means so much to me, and why I've returned to it in times of depression and stress.

Gurren Lagann starts out as a comedy, but turns up the dials to maximum, especially the one marked "passion", so it flips over to earnest and incredible. Plotwise it's about the nervous Simon and the bombastic Kamina, two teens whom live underground in the far future. When a giant robot falls through the ceiling, closely followed by a lass in minimal clothing, they get to see the sky for the first time and embark on a grand adventure. Collecting allies and mecha as they go, Team Gurren starts in a hole in the ground, and ends up fighting at the very ends of the universe. Mere words are insufficient to express the sheer crazy, creativity, and technical skill on display. But what people always want to talk about is Kamina. The godlike Kamina. Highly memetic Kamina. The Kamina I would follow into hell. Kamina the SPOILER ALERT FOR A DECADE OLD SHOW, decoy protagonist whom ends up pulling a Gai Daigoji.

 

Kamina overshadows the meek Simon. Kamina overshadows mountains. Kamina struts around bare-chested in a red cape and sunglasses, with a sword. Kamina cares not for logic, or matters of brain. Kamina cares for manliness and boobies. Kamina can out meme Chuck Morris, and cause BRIAN BLESSED to go deaf. His speeches could motivate the dead. He has given motivational speeches despite being dead. But while being bravado personified: its an act. Kamina radiates positive reinforcement and cool Big Bro vibes. He seems all talk, and he is. But the reason why the talk is there is because he knows people, especially Simon, need that. And Kamina needs Simon, both as an inspiration, and as the real power of the partnership. We didn't see this, the other characters didn't, nobody saw it, despite the narrative shouting it, but Kamina did. And he spends almost his entire screen time trying to unlock Simon's potential. Just as Simon spends much time ensuring Kamina's actions actually work. If you've ever been depressed, this should speak to you. It certainly spoke to me. And how does this all manifest? In an escalating chain of masculine insanity where something incredibly awesome happens at least once an episode.

Sadly, there is an obvious and immediate problem to note. The downside to Gurren Laganns OTT masculinity, juvenile but endearing, cis refuge in audacity is however the way it treats non-bloke characters. I dread mentioning this, as it's the sort of thing that summons angry incels in the comments, making the false equivalence fallacy. About Kamina's chest. But, as the most obvious example, let us consider for a moment the character design of Yoko, the de facto female lead. 

Did I mention this show was originally broadcast at half 8 on Sunday morning? Yoko is introduced with the Male Gaze in full effect, Kamina's to be specific, and is generally animated for sex appeal. This is an area which I find both embarrassing and problematic about anime in general, and Gainax works in particular. I wrote a lengthy digression about this topic, but decided to shelve it until I can do the matter justice. As such, I'm limiting myself to the following. Gurren Lagann is a bit off-putting in its sexual politics, just on first impression, and doesn't look any better if you start digging into the details. To be fair on the show, I have seen much more tasteless and inappropriately sexualised works than this one. But as I age I find myself less able to tolerate such things, and I don' t feel that such a tolerance be the price of admission for watching anime. Perhaps I've matured, maybe I'm just prudish, I dunno, but I felt it would have been dishonest not to raise the issue. This article is about my feelings, and that's one of them. Gurren Lagann does mature into such a show that this does not detract from its merit, but let's acknowledge it for what it is. Its like an adorable puppy whom insists on humping your leg, or perhaps a mate whom makes dirty jokes in McDonald's while eating a Happy Meal. Please stop, stop, stop. Damn, you'd be so much easier to live with if you'd just dialled it back.

But that's not all that it is. What Gurren Lagann is, at least to me, is uplifting. The characters are often machismo personified, but it's not toxic masculinity. It's defiance in the face of unjust authority, of old men telling you it has to be this way, and defiance in the face of despair. Gurren Lagann is full of authority figures whom are wrong. They think they have good reasons, but their methods produce needless hardship for their people. It's not really a matter of personal power either, these people aren't actually evil, with the better examples being visibly depressed or conflicted. The protagonists are mainly orphans, who have hard lives, and don't want to take it any more. But it's never the motive at fault, it's the refusal of people to attempt a better way or to simply step aside for someone else. The universe of Gurren Lagann is one where millennia of needless pain has been caused in the name of the common good, fearing terrible consequences. The protagonists challenge and defeat this, but it's ultimately not framed as history repeating. It's the start of hope, as those old fears get addressed in a way that's better for everyone. This theme is above all personified by Simon, the actual protagonist. And yes, I know its odd to find a life-affirming message in a cartoon THAT ALSO has a bikini sniper and relentless phallic imagery, but its there.

Not confident in the first place, Kamina's death in battle breaks Simon, sending him straight into a pit of self-hatred. Kamina falls to a sneak attack, but Simon blames himself as it was him that placed Kamina in that spot. Its understandable, but ultimately not his fault. But seeing Simon overcome his grief, mainly thanks to his love interest Princess Nia, meant a lot to me. So many mecha protagonists start or end up as angst-ridden pricks, but Simon came out the other side as a more complete person and this is a joy. Then things get subverted: Simon's won the war, its seven years later, but nastier foes await, and he's loosing the peace. Nia is claimed by this new threat, as an avatar, while co-pilot Rossiu has decided its up to him to make the hard choices, even if those choices involve throwing Simon under a bus. A bus Rossiu is also driving; it was so very easy to hate Rossiu during those episodes. Things get bleak, only for despair to be again defied. Simon rises to the occasion, and Rossiu realising he's made a lot of bad calls. The strain of this leads him to attempt suicide, only for Simon to intercede in what can only be described in the most Gurren Lagann of ways, a sliding punch to the jaw. This is a callback to Kamina's last moments, and it's not an act of hate, or a judgement. It's saving a friend, and telling him you understand. The following and final story arc sees the despair and defiance theme repeat. Oh shit, we're outmatched, people are dying. Yes, they died, but they wanted you to live, and they'd make the same choice in an instant. The powers you invoke will doom the universe, is the girl worth it? Yeah, who are you to present that choice? We can save both! The ending is bittersweet? Well, if that's what it costs. The next generation won't have to deal with your bullshit, and we'll step aside so they can make their own way. Things can be better, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

There is so much more to say, but that's why you need to watch Gurren Lagann.

Gunpla: The ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior (HG)

Periodically, I wonder if I should give the Gundam SEED universe another go. This was an alternative continuity circa 2004, which more or less functioned as a de-facto remake before going in its own direction. Japan loves it, although the Western fanbase is far less keen, and I'll admit to following the herd on that issue. Truth is, I don't think I ever saw enough of it to have anything more than a gut feeling about its merit. Then again, SEED as a whole was not exactly known for creativity in its mecha designs, and has a genetic engineering theme I find troubling. Case in point: the ZAKU Warrior, a Zaku  remake with no pretence of originality, operated by a faction of GMO teens whose existence and story role has some unfortunate implications. 

Looking back, the Warrior was both a warning sign and a hate sink for the series SEED Destiny. Nobody disputes that Zakus are cool, not least me, but this gave the impression of creative bankruptcy, as Seed already had an obvious Zaku expy. This is best represented by the almost aggressively acronymic arglebargle of its name. Its called the ZAKU warrior, so what does ZAKU mean? So, what does ZAFT armed keeper of Unity. What does ZAFT mean? No, it's not a bathroom cleaner, it means Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. But wait, there's more! The Warrior has a modular "Wizard Pack" that this kit omits, basically weapon kits, and assorted variants. Depending on which variant and/or weapons it has, this Mobile Suit could gain prefixes and suffixes lengthening its name further. And, in a hopefully unique case, a suffix acronym too. Somebody needed a slap. This could so easily have had its own identity, if only they'd gone for a less stupid naming convention, and possibly different colours. 

Now, I've spent the above 300 odd words badmouthing SEED, and if you're previously familiar with that setting, nothing I've said will be out of the ordinary. So, here I will say something controversial: The Zaku Warrior is more up my street than the Zaku II. Yes, it is so obviously a copy of the original, true, but what changes they make are to remove the more dorky and impractical aspects. This is a "tacticool" Zaku, which is possibly missing the point entirely, but it's still a good look.

Opening the box proved to be a bit of a pleasant surprise. This is a 2006 kit, but colour accuracy is notably good in places, with an unusual effort for the thrusters. Seam and mold lines are a thing, and the knees don't like staying attached, but the plastic presented few problems in the area of stubs, especially the light green. This was definitely a therapeutic build, as nothing clever is being done here, there 's a lot of petty irritations and needless complexity which just aren't present here. This makes for an interesting comparison with its forebear, which came out at around the same time and just didn' t do it for me. As sacrilegious as it is to suggest, the Warrior is more satisfying, because while it does require touch-ups to look its best, what it does require are no-nonsense newb stuff that I can wind down with. At least until we start talking accessories, anyway, which are mainly cast in black and/or require a white trim.

Acknowledging that such details would not be addressed on a HG kit; there are few colours more of a nuisance to work than white, especially when atop black. 

While no wizard pack is present, accessories are more than adequate. The beam rifle has two spare batteries, storing on the inside on the shield, while the rifle can fold to store on a concealed butt port. Articulation is solid if unremarkable, so you can do the poses you'd want for a grunt, with the shield being on a flexible mount, which I love. There is also a beam axe, and 4 decorative grenades, which is about the point where the colour separation runs out. I experimented with a beginner gundam-marker set and other techniques to compensate. This had mixed success, with the white marker behaving like a tipex pen, and the axe ending up in blue rather than the intended fluorescent magenta. (Long story.) Mind you, I left the grenades on the sprue before attempting their trim, and they turned out OK. I can see myself using that marker again, for small details. 

I'm not gonna say the Warrior is necessarily a great kit, see the loose knees, but they definitely put effort where they didn't have to. The shield and thrusters are good examples, and I've seen much worse shortcuts than casting weapons in black. So, yeah. This was kinda fun, and more interesting to talk about than some other kits. Give it a go.