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Oh how I do love Macross! I always have since my older half brother showed me Robotech in the 80s, and following that, "Macross: Clash of the Bionoids" (a badly dubbed and edited version of Macross: Do You Remember Love?). I have since followed every Macross incarnation (including the first eight episodes of Macross 7, and the full version of DYRL). So it's a foregone conclusion that yours truly is a huge Macross fan. However, when writing this review I have tried to keep a level head and review it as a game, and not so much as a anesthetically pleasing slide-show for the movie. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say that it does come dangerously close to being just that in more ways the one.

When I first heard about this game being released on the Saturn, I was very much looking forward to it. I was even more ecstatic upon the news that it would be a 2D shooter. A genre that is both tried and true, not to mention favored by yours truly.

Actually the game is billed as a 2.5D horizontal scrolling shooter. Everything is made out of sprites, but there are some scaling effects to give it a decidedly 3D look. Enemies and friends alike can move across three different plains. The foreground, the background, and the middle (where you're at).You play the part of Hikaru Ichijyo, a member of the Skull Squadron, together with your three wingmen, you must fight through 11 levels that span an entirety of *two* discs. Yes, you heard me right, that's *two* discs. The reason for that is because of the large about of audio and video data crammed into the game. You can transform your Valkyrie (variable fighter) into three different modes using the L or R buttons (but of course, this is Macross! ^_^).

Now Option-wise, there are three modes of difficulty. Easy is piece of cake. Normal presents more of a challenge, but compared to other games it is still very easy. Finally there's Hard, which can be a pain in the ass. So much in fact, I have trouble beating the first level. It's all a little lopsided. I think a mode between Normal and Hard is missing. The change in difficulty allows for more enemies on screen and their projectiles to fire much faster. You also have a weapon select mode which I haven't quite figured out (one of my friends is going to translate the manual). Every key in the game can be setup to your liking, but the default is usually very adequate.

The game follows the movie almost exactly. Perhaps even a little too exact. Each level is fairly short. Some are split up into sub-levels separated by FMV sequences. There's even the part where you have to fly though the rings of Saturn while Zentreadi are chasing you, and much like in the movie, you are unarmed, and have to survive just long enough for Roy to come save you (if you've never seen the movie, don't worry, you'll catch on quick).

Every once and awhile a U.N. Spacy shuttle will fly by and drop out power-ups that will help regenerate your shield. Other then that, there are no weapon power-ups. However, in one level your Valkyrie can be mated to armor that will allow you to fire double the missiles you normally would (and at a faster rate). The unfortunate drawback is that it limits you to the slow and cumbersome battloid mode. In the final level you are armed with a super-pack witch adds a forward firing laser cannon. With that you can transform into any mode.

The main problem with the game is it's WAY too short. Shooter fans will most likely have an empty feeling upon completing this game. There are 11 levels, but they are all very short. I myself beat it on easy mode in about 2 hours. If you're really that die hard of a shooter fan, try Thunderforce 5, Darius Gaiden, or Soukyugurentai. In terms of length, Macross Scrambled Valkyrie for the Super Famicom, was much longer, and offered a higher degree of difficulty, even on the easy mode. Most of the data on the two discs went towards FMV. As a Macross fan, this doesn't bother me, but some gamers will no doubt feel jaded by their purchase. This isn't helped any by the fact you can save your game after every level (takes up two blocks of memory).

Graphics are very well done for a 2D shooter. I'd have to say that they exceed Darius Gaiden. While Darius Gaiden has nice (and large) 2D sprites, it never had the enemies zooming in and out of the fore and background like here in Macross (except for a few instances). When they zoom towards the screen, you'll notice pixilation, but it's no biggie. All the enemies look CG rendered. There are no polygons used in the this game to my knowledge. Everything is very well colored, and there is absolutely no slowdown whatsoever. The game features plenty of parallax scrolling backgrounds, and transparencies galore. In between levels (or sub levels) you are treated to some True Motion cinemas from the movie. True Motion is a lot better then standard Saturn cinepack. It appears that the cinemas were slightly touched up for use in the game. Although there is still some pixilation, it's not nearly as bad if you stand back from the screen a little ways. The cinemas are shown is a non-widescreen, letterbox format. By that I mean you have bars on the top, bottom, *and* sides. There are about four or five cinemas that were not from the movie. The opening is a brand new (and very cool) piece of animation by Haruhiko Mikimoto. As is a cinema towards the end with Minmei and Misa. Some cinemas are CG rendered, and look good in their own right.

Sound is straight from the movie. The laser shots, the explosions, the sound of your gunpod firing. The in-flight communications are spoken by (or sound a lot like) the real Seiyuu (voice actor) from Macross. Even for Hikaru Ichijyo (who's Seiyuu is tragically dead :( ).

The Music is also straight from the movie. One thing worth mentioning is that it is not composed of Redbook audio tracks. It's all PCM (Apple AIFF audio format of all things), recorded at 16-bit 22Khz Stereo. Every track sounds very clear with no static, and when played though a high end audio system sounds almost like a CD. Some audio portions are recorded in 44Khz. And all the famous tracks are here, from Minmei's "Do you Remember Love", to the groovy battle theme Macross fans have grown to know and love.

Control is standard for a shooter. You have your fire button, your missile button, your super bomb button, and your roll button (a maneuver which will give you an added burst of speed). Like previously mentioned, if you're not satisfied with the default layout, you can change it (too bad the control menu is in Japanese). One thing I noticed right off the bat was that Battloid mode is very sluggish and doesn't control well on the ground. It's also a little difficult to swing your gunpod around to shoot above and behind you. The same goes for when you're using it in Space, but there it's a little easier. After playing for awhile though, I became used to Battloid and used it to greater advantage (tap the directional pad, and then hold to fire button to aim the gun in the direction you want). You also have an auto-tracking gunpod which locks on to enemies (including those in the foreground and background), but you can only fire that in bursts, and then recharge (double tap A, and watch the meter in the upper right hand corner of the screen). GERWALK (Guardian) is the best mode in my humble opinion. Not as fast as fighter, but you don't have to worry about slamming into the ground.

Okay kids, bottom line. If you're a Macross fan, get this game! If you're a anime fan, get this game! If you want to support the Saturn in Japan, get this game! If you're a die hard gamer, looking for a fantastic shooter, you may want to pass.

Next stop. Thunderforce 5, Sakura Wars, and Lunar SSS.

Results
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Features, Funfactor, and Replayability: 7.0

Graphics: 8.0
Sound: 9.0
Music: 9.0
Control: 8.0

Overall: 8.2