by James Alsup III
OK. Quick show of hands. How many of you thought VFX stunk? Hmmm, looks like most of you. How many of you are pining away for a quality PS Macross title? Same people. Well, fellow Macross fans, contact your local import store and pick up a copy of Macross: Do You Remember Love.
The game comes on two discs. A third disc includes playable demos of Patlabor and VFX-2. The game starts out with a newly animated prologue. Roy Fokker, Hikaru Ijicho, Max Jinas and Hayao Kakizaki launch from the prometheus on a routine patrol. Soon after, the Zentraedi forces attack. The game's action picks up from there, and takes you through all of the action of the DYRL movie.
Gameplay
I've never been a fan of side-scrolling shooters. There were always too many enemies, and my ship never ran out of ammunition. Well, in Macross, there are always a ton of enemies and our heroes never run out of ammunition. No stretch there. You can transform your Valkyrie into all 3 modes (fighter, GERWALK, and Battroid). Each mode has its strengths and weaknesses, and it's up to you to discover them. The button lay out is very intuitive and easy to learn. Some of the game documentation is even in English. At different points during the game, Hikaru enteracts with different charachters. I got a little rush when the very-sloshed Roy Fokker came to help out when Minmay and Hikaru were out in the trainer. Little nuances like that helped the game out. I chuckled when Kakizaki bit the dust. I never liked him.
Graphics
The prologue is almost worth the price of the game. It was cool to see the classic Macross charachters animated again. The cut scenes from DYRL helped move the story along, too. Unfortunately, they were poorly digitized. You can see the pixelization. Shame on you, Bandai. The in game graphics are your standard 2-D shooter fare. The Valkyrie's transformation between all three modes is well done.
Sound
If you hate Minmay, DON'T BUY THIS GAME. This game is lousy with Minmay songs. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be Macross, now would it? ^_^. This game nails the sounds of Macross. From the early 80s pseudo rock anthems to the sounds of the jets to the "brrrrrrrrrrrr" of the Valkyrie machine guns, this game has it all.
The demo disc featuring Patlabor and VFX-2 was hit and miss. Patlabor had major control problems which desparately need fixing. VFX-2 was everything its predecesor promised to be. Great graphics AND gameplay. Based on the demo alone, I can't wait to get my hands on the actual game.
Even though a) I knew what was going to happen and b) I finished the game in a day thanks to unlimited continues, I got a kick out of Macross: Do You Remember Love, as will any fan of the series. Fans of side scrollers will like it too. If you're neither, don't invest in the game. Unless, of course, you want to try out the VFX-2 demo.
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G A M E I N F O
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Title |
Macross: Do You Remember Love |
System |
Sony Playstation |
Players |
1-4 |
Catalog # |
-- |
Price |
¥5800 |
Street Date |
Available NOW |
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