DS Game Review: Bangai-O Spirits

Last year when I was told this game was coming out I did not believe it. There was no reason for me to believe it after all. Bangai-O was an obscure action title for the Nintendo 64 (in Japan) and the Dreamcast (International release) and the Dreamcast version was the one I had originally played. It doesn't look like a Dreamcast game with tiny little 2-D sprites and fairly mediocre graphics but once the action starts to ramp up you realize why serious hardware is required to play it.
The game was developed by Treasure, a small privately owned developer in Japan. Ever since one of my favorite games, Gunstar Heroes, Treasure has dedicated themselves to making the games that they want to play, catering to a hardcore video game crowd not just by making difficult arcade style games, but making difficult arcade style games that reak of quality. Their shooter hit Ikaruga has made them synonymous with oldschool style games. Though it wouldn't be fair to say they're trapped in the past as they take old concepts and twist them with new and innovative game mechanics and graphical experiments to create something positively unique.
Though they often times make licensed games, or even work as a second party to big companies like Sega, Nintendo, and Konami, Treasure has even managed to make excellent games with licenses and under pressure from much larger developers. They're the little team that could, and every once in a while one of their sought after original titles is released. Unfortunately, Treasure games are targetted at a niche audience, so often times they're not produced in high numbers and quickly become rare. In any case I could talk about Treasure for hours, but I'm here today to talk about Bangai-O Spirits.
Up until about the Gameboy Advance era, Treasure wasn't known for releasing sequels. Their policy was that once a game is finished, it's a complete work, and there's no need for a sequel. This changed a bit as Treasure said if they feel like they can improve upon a game they're revisit it. Though you can argue whether or not they have improved upon past games with their sequels is up for debate, but we'll save that for another time.

Bangai-O didn't seem like an obvious choice for a sequel. It was well recieved but not very widely known. There was room for a sequel with more levels and what not but it was also fine as a stand-alone title. The premise of the game is that you fly around in this little (at least the sprite on the screen) robot and you'd launch either homing missiles or reflective lasers at your enemies. The gimmick was the more danger you put yourself in the more missiles (up to 400!) you could launch when you used your special attack. The sprite-based game could cause so many bullets and explosions to fill the screen that it would even cause the Dreamcast to grind to a hault with slowdown. Some people would say this is a bad thing, but when you're playing a Treasure game you'd feel ripped off without slowdown because it means they weren't trying hard enough. It also helps you adjust to the frantic pace of the game so its mostly intentional. In any case the game was also filled with horrible Engrish which was hilarious and a, well, sort of a story? All that mattered was that the game was ass seeringly difficult yet it was one of the funnest, most addictive, and unique games on the Dreamcast.Bangai-O Spirits isn't a direct sequel, but it expands on the original in almost every way. Obviously, you've got more levels and new weapons which make the game a bit deeper and more strategic than the original. The weapons allow you to mix and match like Gunstar Heroes with varying results and melee weapons like the sword and the baseball bat change the dynamic of the gameplay completely. Some weapons are perfect for one level, and completely useless in the next, forcing you to use your head and promoting trial and error. For most games trial and error sounds like a bad thing, but in Bangai-O and Spirits the levels short enough that even if you die for the umpteenth time you don't get frustrated and you usually know what you did wrong which is amazing in a game where most deaths come from being swarmed by bullets. Another interesting thing about Bangai-O is that not all levels are balls-out action, but rather slower paced puzzles, which really helps mix things up and keep it interesting.
Besides your regular shots which you have a selection of mixing and matching now with the regular homing and bounce shots to the more exotic drill-tipped break bullets or napalm missiles, you can do the same for your special "EX" slowdown-creating-screen-clearing-blast-of-death. Reflect works sort of like the game Giga Wing where instead of launching your own missiles you send the enemy projectiles back at them. There's also an EX move that lets you freeze time for three seconds which doesn't seem like a lot but in this game it's an eternity. Direct is another EX choice, which clumps all your shots together for one devestating forward blast. The game's tutorial references the "Wave Motion Cannon" from Space Battleship Yamato when explaining Direct EX. The EX attack works a little different from the original game. Not only do you have to put yourself in direct danger to make a bigger blast, but also you need to have a few seconds to charge up before releasing in order to get the full potential. Because of the DS's graphical limitations it can't do the 400 missile shots, so instead it makes your missiles larger and larger for the maximum of 100 of the largest missiles that are about three times the size of Bangai-O itself and it's truly a sight of devistation to behold. In the original game you also refilled your EX bar simply by causing explosions, here however the "space fruit" isn't just for points, and you need to collect it in order to refill your EX bar making things a little more challenging.
Unlike the original game there isn't really a story, which is fine because there really shouldn't be one. The tutorial introduces a few characters and makes some self-referential humor, definitely displaying that they know what kind of gamers they're targetting with this niche game. It's pretty amusing I don't want to spoil it, and there's even an "ending" of sorts after you beat the "Treasure's Best" levels. Speaking of levels, I didn't count, but there's apparently over 160 in the US version which has been tweaked and improved over the Japanese one which is also common for Treasure titles.

I haven't tried to multiplayer yet, but it exists, and the game also comes with a level editor which is Treasure's wat of addressing the original game coming to an end. Interstingly, the game uses a "sound transfer system" and you can save custom levels to your computer by recording the sound, then put them on the Internet for other people to download by playing the sound through headphones over the DS microphone. I have tried this with some custom Japanese levels and it works great. Lots of American levels are popping up on Youtube already and I hope the trend continues so I'll have an excuse to keep playing this game for years to come.
Treasure has delivered one of the best titles on the DS, though it isn't for everyone. Casual gamers might find themselves scratching their heads at the difficulty, the unique gameplay elements, and non-linearity and lack of any kind of story. Hardcore shooter fans and even puzzle-gamers might find a lot to like about Bangai-O Spirits however. Though it doesn't replace the original game, it makes a lot of adjustments and improvements to the formula that really makes this a must have for fans of the first Bangai-O. At first I griped because it doesn't control the same, using two x/y axis in a sort of Smash TV or Robotron sort of way. Once you get used to it though it becomes second nature and the game gets a bit easier. Once you learn the pros and cons of the various weapons and attacks and the weaknesses of the enemies the difficulty shouldn't scare you away like it would for say, Contra 4, though this game was designed with Treasure's fanbase in mind, so expect to die... a lot... Unlike Contra however the deaths never seem cheap or frustrate from the addicting gameplay.

In any case don't be afraid to try something new and support one of the most dynamic privately owned video game developers in the business. I've been getting reports that this game is difficult to find in stores due to it being a niche title and not being heavily produced, so grab it before it becomes rare! Trust me, if your mind is sharp and and your reflexes are in need of a workout then Bangai-O Spirits will deliver. BANGAI-O! GO!
Score: 10/10, it's not for everyone but it perfectly achieves what its set out to do and is one of the best, and most unique, games on the DS.

Top Ten Science Fiction Capital Ships

Capital ships: the big boys that make up star fleets and lead the charge into the cosmos. These are the vessels that the heroes of space opera often times call home and are the most important pieces of technology in space science fiction. So which ones do I think are the most noteworthy? Find out below!

10. NadesicoNumber 10 on any list is usually the least serious, the one that only made the cut because the writer couldn't think of anything else to put here. This is true for the Nadesico, a ship that in one way or another parodies all of the others on this list. Nadesico takes the features from many famous capital ships like the big main gun, the unique form of travel (which is explained throughout the plot of the show and believe it or not doesn't involve going faster than light) and like most anime battleships a platoon of robots to do its fighting.

What makes Nadesico truly unique is its crew of misfits from the plucky and ditzy female captain who somehow manages to be a tactical genius to the robot pilot who just wants to be a chef. Let's not forget the fan favorite emotionless 12 year old girl who controls the ship's computer either. All of the complex relationships and off-the-wall comedy of the show was bound together by the common thread that was this ship which became a symbol for everyone living on it while in their own special way trying to bring peace while being a civilian built and operated vessel, stuck in the middle of the hopeless military and mysterious invaders.

9. Millennium Falcon
Why so low for the famous Millennium Falcon? Well I wrestled over whether to include it or not, as a freighter it's not technically a capital ship. Size doesn't always matter however, it's importance that gives the ship its nature as a capital vessel and with the "modifications" made by Han Solo this baby isn't just a simple freighter anymore. Also after serving as a command ship in battle I think it's safe to list the Millennium Falcon here in its rightful place alongside other capital ships of note.

The Millennium Falcon is an excellent design. There's just no way you can look at a top-down silhouette of this ship and not instantly recognize it. The designers managed to construct a vessel that looks both slapped together and totally bad-ass at the same time. And bad-ass it is, this little ship had a bigger effect on the Star Wars universe than an entire fleet of Star Destroyers and is partially responsible for the destruction of both Death Stars. Of course, it's the captain that ultimately determines the success of a ship and the Falcon practically is Han Solo personified in machine form. Simply put this ship is the ultimate underdog, the good-hearted pirate you can't help but root for, the stuff that starship legend is made of.

8. Space Battleship Yamato
Probably the silliest ship on this list, in my opinion at least. Basically in a future where the Earth is destroyed by aliens, you take the ruins of the Japanese World War II battleship Yamato and slap a faster-than-light engine onto it and a really, really big gun.

This classic anime is not one of my favorites and honestly I haven't seen a whole lot of it, but it's important to list here because it opened the door and set the standard for future star-faring capital ships. It's titular "wave motion gun" would be copied by nearly every anime with giant space ships as a means of giving the title ship a big trump card weapon. Though the ship itself is a little corny it never the less marked an important turning point in anime which was changing from simple children's programming to hard science fiction, starting with Yamato's inspiration.

7. Klingon Bird of Prey
Well this ship has worked its way into so many episodes and movies of Star Trek that it would be a shame not to include it here. Fans argue about its size and its specifications mainly because nobody really cared about keeping the scale consistent in all of its appearances but we won't be getting into that here. The bird of prey combines the best of Klingon and Romulan designs from classic Star Trek to create one of the coolest bad guy ships in science fiction. Oh, and did I mention the sucker can cloak?

Despite its original purpose, to serve as cannon fodder for the Enterprise's photon torpedoes, the bird of prey is a ship class that has accomplished a lot of important things in Star Trek history. One forced the original Enterprise to self destruct, that same ship was used to get the crew back to Earth and travel in time to save the whales (if you don't know don't ask). The "to be or not to be" cloaked ship duel in Star Trek VI was one of the greatest moments in franchise history, and another bird of prey, still in service after all this time, managed to destroy the Enterprise-D. The Klingon Empire will probably never stop using these little ships which have the honor of probably being the most successful and longest running line of vessels in the Star Trek universe.

6. White Base
If Mobile Suit Gundam is the Star Trek of Japan, the White Base is the Enterprise. Called the "Trojan Horse" by its space colony inhabiting Zeon rivals due to its strange silhouette the White Base is indeed a unique ship that might not be terribly pretty but it gets the job done. Though heavily armed and armored White Base's true trump card was the cargo it was specifically designed to carry, large mecha called mobile suits, and in particular the Earth Federation's fearsome prototype, the Gundam.

Along with Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, Gundam's White Base was one of the earlier takes on the aircraft carrier in space concept with a catapult system to launch its combat units. Full of rookies and refugees the White Base and its prototype weapons still proved to be an important factor in winning the One Year War, mainly because Zeon tended to be so obsessed with the vessel and its cargo that they forgot they should be trying to win the war instead of chasing after White Base which indeed lived up to its "Trojan Horse" name as it served as a distraction for the Federation's main forces. In the end however White Base did serve bravely in the final conflicts of the war and helped bring an end to the Zeon uprising, at least temporarily.

5. TCS Tiger's Claw
Speaking of aircraft carriers in space, that's what the main vessels of Wing Commander literally are. Bare with me here, I'm talking about the games not that god awful 1999 movie. I mulled over which ship deserved to be on the list and I came to the conclusion that by virtue of being the first and the most often referenced that the Tiger's Claw deserved the spot. The original inspiration was to have a World War II esque naval war in space and the Tiger's Claw certainly does capture that feeling a bit. You get a real sense of pride for your mothership as you attack and defend your way through the Vega sector in a bold campaign to block the cat-like alien Kilrathis' clearest path to Earth.

Though the regal powerhouse that is Concordia is my favorite Wing Commander cap ship it's the Tiger's Claw that kicked off this epic space opera and the trailblazing cinematic video game series that followed. It embodied the idea of what a space navy is and made you feel like a part of a greater whole. On the Claw you were part of a family of other pilots, risking your lives day after day and sticking your necks out for one another only to come home and schmooze with them over a drink and take a nap in the pilot's barracks with its mysteriously leaky ceiling. The Tiger's Claw kicked the Kilrathi out of the Vega sector, hunted and destroyed a prototype Kilrathi dreadnaught, and ended a genocidal holy war making certain that nobody would ever forget its contributions to the Terran Confederation. Her doom at the hands of top secret Kilrathi stealth fighters would also lead to the twisting and turning plot of Wing Commander 2, full of heartbreak, betrayal and revenge making it one of the greatest PC games of all time.

4. SDF-1 Macross
Macross is perhaps the most important or at least noteworthy ship in the history of Japanese animation. It’s the main attraction of what’s probably the single greatest space opera in all of anime. This powerful vessel has a main gun that would make the Yamato blush and a giant robot battle mode. Its compliment of normal and transformable mecha adds to its firepower along with a (nearly) impenetrable barrier system. Yet none of that really matters. The Macross is but one ship rebuilt from alien wreckage and pitted against a fleet of hostile giant aliens called the Zentradi who only live to wage war. Deep inside the ship, which is massive for humans but just a tiny gunboat to the Zentradi, is a rebuilt city of refugees making a futile attempt to survive.

Still, the Macross does survive battle after battle through luck and the will to protect the refugees of Macross City, and the effect that human culture has the Zentradi starts to become apparent. The city itself, especially its famous singer Lynn Minmei, becomes the secret weapon against the Zentradi as human culture infects their ranks and teaches them that there’s more to life than war. Macross survives spectacular battles while exploring the human condition. It’s powerless to prevent the bombarding of the Earth against superior Zentradi forces, but in the end it becomes the saving grace of all humanity.

3. Battlestar Galactica So they may have just been knocking off the Star Destroyer when they designed this one, that’s okay. Probably the biggest influence for future aircraft carriers in space, Galactica is a fearsome battleship with a compliment of state of the art fighters called Vipers. It’s the last of its kind, the fleet of twelve now dwindled down to one and the home colonies of its people laid waste in a genocidal attack by the mechanical alien Cylons. The Galactica is now the flagship of a rag-tag civilian fleet, searching for the mythical 13th colony called "Earth."

Despite being the obvious inspiration of the new Battlestar Galactica series, this at first glance Star Wars rip off is an interesting, if not campy, show in its own right. I’d go as far as to say that the Galactica itself served as the inspiration for a lot of space operas that came after it, especially those that focus on interstellar combat with fighters and carriers. No matter what George Lucas says, it’s undeniable that Galactica has been an important influence in science fiction. It had the single ship weekly adventure feel of Star Trek with the grandiose war going on like Star Wars. If you can handle the space disco and guys with pretty perms from the late 70’s there’s a lot to like about this big and tough battle cruiser that could.

2. Imperial Star Destroyer One of the most imposing ships of all time, the Imperial Star Destroyer needed to be near the top of this list. Nothing makes rebel scum shit their pants like a fleet of these massive vessels, armed to the teeth with giant blaster cannons and hundreds of TIE fighters and Storm Troopers. Their design is so simple, basically just a triangle with a bridge attached, yet something is so cold and brutal about them that they’re the perfect ship to symbolize the iron fist of the Galactic Empire.

Regretfully we didn’t get to see these ships do a whole lot in the movies but sit around and look angry though it was heavily implied that they outclassed the rebel’s fleet in every way imaginable. Games like TIE Fighter expanded upon their combat usage and roles as carriers as well as battleships. In any case I don’t care what science fiction universe you reside in, an ISD paying you a visit will ensure that you’re not going to be having a good day.

1. USS EnterpriseThere was never any doubt what number one would be on this list. The USS Enterprise in all its many incarnations as it’s difficult to pick just one and they all share the same design lineage anyway. No matter what angle you view its silhouette the Enterprise is easily recognizable. The genius design by Matt Jefferies made certain that it would be unique and memorable and after all these years that hasn’t changed a bit. The Enterprise introduced us all to the idea of large capital ships in science fiction and to many except for people reading novels and short stories it introduced the idea of a space navy as well even though the Enterprise was on a peaceful exploration mission it was still a warship as well when it needed to be.

The interesting design comes from the ideas that Matt Jefferies had about the ship being smooth since it was so high-tech that visible machinery wouldn’t make any sense. He separated the engines from the main saucer section under the pretense that they would be so powerful it would be dangerous to have them connected to the living quarters. Along with her crew of adventurers the Enterprise would be thrown up against alien warships, false gods, doomsday weapons, hijackings, and just about anything else you could imagine and always come out on top. It’s become probably the most recognized space ship in the world and the Star Trek franchise shows no sign of dying off or even slowing down as we head towards the next movie. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Mobile Suit Gundam, just about every work of space science fiction owes its existence to the Big E.

Well, I guess I have to say which Enterprise is my favorite now don’t I? Trust me the answer isn’t hard. Andrew Probert’s redesign for the movie is without a doubt the most beautiful starship ever created. Taking Matt Jefferies’s ingenious but woefully dated original design and turning it into the majestic, timeless creature that is the Constitution Class Refit is nothing less than a work of true artistry. Too bad they don't make physical models anymore.

Can We Fix it? No We're Fucked!

So now that the general election campaign has finally started I’ve had a hard time following the news. The Democratic race has mentally drained me and probably a lot of voters who had to put up with Hillary and Obama beating each other’s heads in. I have to say it is pretty amazing that this happened though considering George Bush Jr. got reelected I guess anything is possible in politics. Though I said the first time I ever saw Barrack Obama that he would one day be the President of the United States, I was pretty resigned to believing that Hillary would eventually come out on top. I guess I shouldn’t get into trying to predict political stuff since I’m usually wrong, not that anybody in the media knows what they’re doing anyway. The polls, the big impressive charts and graphs, it’s all BS.

Anyway here we are, general election woo, the Democrats can work together now right? Right?! Unfortunately one of my political predictions did come true, at least partially. The rift in the Democratic Party that still exists is unacceptable. The tooth-and-nail race that the candidates ran has left grudges in its place, some of which with unimaginable consequences. Hillary Democrats swearing their allegiance to John McCain.

It’s one thing for them to “refuse to vote” due to the loss of their matriarch but it’s another thing to vote for the Republican candidate. And it’s not that they’re doing it because they think he’ll be a better president but rather just to spite Obama for having the audacity to beat Hillary in the primaries.

I know, I know, things like Florida (I fucking hate Florida, they mess up every election they touch. If it were up to me the entire state would be disenfranchised permanently. Sorry Floridians, no offense. Please teach your government how to run an election.) and Michigan delegate woes were a little underhanded though they’re lucky they got counted at all. I also know that I gave McCain a bit of a thumbs up in the past if only because he was better than the other candidates offered by the Republican party. However, since becoming the presumptive nominee, the once independent-style McCain seems to have fallen in line with his party as if they held a gun to his head and told him that if he didn’t act like Bush they’d pull the trigger.

Now let me get this clear right now, I think McCain is smarter than Bush, I think he’s a better man than Bush. I don’t think, however, that McCain’s policy of staying Bush’s course if he gets elected is the right direction for the United States. I also fail to understand how Hillary supporters can look at McCain, look at Obama, and decide that McCain better represents their interests when McCain’s stance on the issues couldn’t be further away from Hillary’s. Let’s not forget than in early Republican debates, McCain was right there with everyone else bashing who they thought they’d be running against, Hillary Clinton, with comments that bordered on school yard bullying and sexism. And this is the man they’d rather vote for than the Democrat whose stances are in all honesty nearly identical to Clinton’s? What's worse is most of Hillary's die-hard supporters are middle class voters who are truly struggling in the current state of the economy yet now they're going to vote for somebody whose view on the economy is to keep it running the same way it has been in the past eight years and expect it to get better? I don't want to make this an issue of race or anything but seriously, sometimes I wonder.

It leads me to only one conclusion. It’s a popularity contest, it’s like “reality TV” more than it is a government election. People weren’t going to vote for Hillary Clinton because they liked what she stood for, they were going to vote for her because they just happened to like her. And just like the immature kids these voters are they’re going to jump ship because I guess they never really gave a damn about what the Democratic Party is trying to accomplish anyway. If they’d rather have a Bush sequel then they can bring it on themselves. I just want to make this plea to these people, if any of them for some strange reason happens upon my blog. Just DON’T VOTE. If you feel neither of the candidates represent you, you have the right and the privilege to not vote. If you’re upset with the party, it doesn’t mean you should support someone whose views are the polar opposite to your own instead just because your candidate lost. Hillary isn’t supporting Barrack Obama because somebody is making her, she’s doing it because it’s what all Democrats should do and she wants her supporters to do the same and even that hasn’t fazed some of them.

I know most of those Democratic voters are in the minority, or at least I hope they are. Though I’ve been a supporter of Barrack Obama from the beginning I truly expected him to lose and was prepared to offer my full support for Hillary Clinton. This needs to be the year that Democrats can finally come together to try and do something about the current state of our nation. Somebody needs to restore the world’s faith in the United States and retune a failing economy. If you think John McCain is the man to do that then I’m fine with your decision and your opinions. If you think Hillary Clinton was that person and you’re voting for McCain out of spite, then you seriously need to rethink your action before the ballot is cast.

Political Highlander?

I'm not sure if Time was aware of the hilarious pun they were making with this cover. It sums up the state of the Democratic Party pretty nicely though.

I wonder... which one is MacLeod and which one is the Kurgan?

Movie Review: Iron Man

It's been a very mecha-ish last couple of weeks for me. Today it's Iron Man which I saw last Saturday in a pretty classy theater I might add. As I said before in a much earlier blog post about the release of the Iron Man trailer I have been waiting for this movie since I was a child. Iron Man is my favorite super hero and it's been a torturous time waiting for him to get his turn on the big silver screen. The wait is finally over, so did the movie disappoint?

Two words: HELL NO!

I have to say there have been a lot of bad comic book movies. Some are good movies but poor adaptations and others are good adaptations but poor movies. Iron Man somehow manages to be both. Iron Man is the first effort by the brand new Marvel Studios and they were of course very respectful of the source material, something I was really afraid that they wouldn't be. Iron Man's origins have been messed with a lot over the past but the movie stays very close to Stan Lee's original origin except it moves it from the Vietnam War to a more contemporary Afghanistan location in order to avoid making the film a period piece.
In any case everybody who knows Iron Man knows what happens at the beginning. Billionaire industrialist and weapons designer Anthony or rather Tony Stark takes a little trip to a war zone to show off his newest weapons. To make a long story short he's wounded with shrapnel to the chest, has his life saved by a fellow man of science named Yinsen who helps construct an electromagnet that keeps the shrapnel from digging deeper into Tony's wounded heart, and Stark builds a big bad suit of powered armor that he uses to make his escape.
The movie focuses on business rival, in this case business parter, Obidiah Stane as the villain. When Tony returns from the middle east after finding out that people have been using his own weapons against the US army he's ticked and decides to take matters into his own hands. He announces that he's done building weapons and his company takes a sharp drop in the stock market, something Stane doesn't like very much. Tony builds a new and much more advanced suit of armor and returns to the middle east to get rid of the weapons he created while Stane gets his hands on the prototype Iron Man designs. I don't want to say much more since I've spoiled enough already. Go out and see the movie for yourself.Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect Iron Man as he plays the most amazing lovable asshole any human being could create. The man simply is Tony Stark and he's gone through similar trials and tribulations in his real life as Stark did in his comic book one. His chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts is ripped almost exactly as it should be from the comic book. Stane could've used a little more developing but as it is Jeff Bridges plays an excellent manipulative and bad ass villain.
Some people complain that there isn't enough action but the superb story telling and comedic elements make up for it. I'm inclined to agree but the action that is there is incredible. The suits look real and almost as if they stepped down from the comic pages and onto the screen. The action is easy to follow and thrilling to watch as well. I for one am glad that the movie isn't a CGI fest. There's a lot of special effects that aren't CGI and they also look fantastic and really make the movie feel that much more real.The actors have all signed on for three films (The next one scheduled for 2010) and with hints and promises of the Mandarin and War Machine you better believe I'm looking forward to them. If they're any bit as good as this first effort then look out for the next few movies from Marvel Studios as well including a new Hulk, Captain America, Thor and of course when they all join together in The Avengers.

10 out of 10: If you ever liked a single comic book movie go see this one now. I may be biased a little though, just a little.

Giant Robot Review: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

As a fan of anime mecha I have of course known of 2007's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TTGL from now on to save on typing) for some time now. It's been getting immensely popular, not just among fellow mecha fans but surprisingly among general anime fans. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing I don't know. Mecha anime usually has its strict niche audience but TTGL has managed to transcend that subset of anime geeks.

I shouldn't be that surprised, as Gainax is responsible for other popular mecha titles like Gunbuster and Neon Genesis Evangelion which have also made a big impact on anime, especially Evangelion which is perhaps one of the most popular and influential anime series in existence (even though I personally kind of hate it).

TTGL is set in the far future where humans are forced to live under ground. We don't know why right away and I don't want to give much away since there's still quite a few people who haven't seen the series yet and are waiting for the soon to be released DVDs. At the beginning we follow around Simon the digger, a young boy who... well... digs. He digs to help expand his village and does so dutifully, believing that digging is the only thing he's good at. Then there's his "big bro" Kamina with crazy sunglasses that end up becoming the icon of the series, and a hot blooded attitude that parodies/pays homage to super robot heroes of the old days. Kamina's dream is to break through the ceiling of their cave dwelling and reach the surface, something to pair achieve at the end of the episode after being introduced to robots designed around giant heads called Ganmen (or Gunmen I'm not sure what the proper romanization is yet).

The story that follows is filled with great super robot action, entertaining commedy, and heart wrenching drama. It takes the formula of the common super robot show, twists it to suit its needs, and creates an excellent show. The problem with a lot of super robot shows is they're really over the top, but their stories and characters leave something to be desired. There's always a sense of cliche especially in the OVAs based on older shows. This isn't always a bad thing, and there's a lot of purposely inserted cliches in TTGL, but they've managed to make a show that's both absolutely absurd with lovable characters and a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat at the end of each episode.

The first half of the show progresses predictably where an enemy shows up, the heroes scream really loud and through courage and hot blood the enemies are defeated. You never really see them as evil though early on they seem to fight for no good reason like most super robot bad-guys you learn at the epic climax of the show's first half that there was some method to their madness. The second half of the series takes a dramatic left turn and everything changes. In a way the show's plot covers a lot of ground in terms of anime mecha history, paying homage to a lot of old sources and deriving its story and design from them while somehow being fresh and original. Everything in the show ties together and even when things get really ridiculous or come out of nowhere there's usually a reason or the event was somehow foreshadowed.

That's enough about the story though as I really don't want to say much. The show's animation is superb, done sort of in the same style as Gainax's popular show FLCL while at the same time also resembling old style super robot anime. The result is a very kinetic show, especially the action which is frantic, breathtaking, and downright insane. It's full of eye candy for mechaheads and general anime fans alike.

There's really not much else I can say about this show other than kick reason to the curb and pierce the heavens! Go and watch it right now, you're in for a ride.

10 out of 10

DS Game Review: Front Mission

Although I got the game Front Mission months ago I finally got around to finally beating it mainly because I've been on one of my giant robot kicks again. I've known about Front Mission for a long time, but it's a series that's remained in Japan for the most part except for the PlayStation installment Front Mission 3 and the PS2 sequel Front Mission 4. I've played neither of those games though I'm no stranger to Japanese turned based strategy games/Turn based RPGs.

I found the original Front Mission for DS surreptitiously as I didn't even know it existed and I wasn't aware at first it was an enhanced port of the original Super Famicom game that for whatever reason (Probably Squaresoft thinking it too hard/complicated for their Western audience, something they did a lot of back then.) Knowing the name and the reputation it has among fans of mecha like myself I bought it for a bargain price that I still don't understand since everywhere I see it today is much more expensive.

In any case let's get to the actual game. Front Mission is a strategy role-playing game, with an emphasis on the strategy part. It reminds me a lot of Battletech in both the oddly Western robot designs and the whole squad based combat angle that the game takes. There are two scenarios you can play in, the beginner's campaign which is the original campaign from the Super Famicom original and the more advanced campaign made specifically for the remake so it's a little shorter. Both tell the same story from different sides of a war that's being fought on a newly formed island in the Pacific in the near future. The story is simple, but full of interesting plot twists as you uncover a military conspiracy. The same events happen in both campaigns, the second campaign referencing the first quite a few times, even having cameos from some of your characters in the first game. It was a neat addition, and I'm sure the Japanese kids who were addicted to this game when it was originally released really got a kick out of it. I did and I've only known the characters for a few months now.
Besides the leveling up of characters and learning skills aspect the game-play is really bent more towards the strategy aspect. You get over a dozen troops and you can literally spend hours tweaking and customizing your robots or "Wanzers" as Front Mission calls them. Wanzer is short for "Wandrung Panzer" which means "Walking Tank." You can choose which arms, legs, body, a variety of hand held and shoulder mounted weapons, and an energy boosting backpack that makes up your Wanzer. The customization is by far the deepest element of the game, though the combat isn't a walk in the park.

Basically your Wanzers are situated on a pseudo-3D isometric scene separated into a grid. The environments are pretty well drawn, upgraded from the Super Famicom version, and they range from all types of scenes from urban fighting to forests, mountains, deserts, etc. You move your Wanzers around on this grid, and a supply truck that can repair and reload if you have one, and engage the enemy from long, medium, and short ranges. The long range weapons like missiles and medium range weapons like bazookas are essential to success because an enemy can't counter attack when you're attacking them from a distance. The short range weapons like other guns and melee attacks however require you to get up close and personal and unless you destroy the weapon they're attacking with or stun them they'll most likely counter attack you. If you try to do a melee attack and the enemy has a gun however, he'll get the first shot. The damage is randomized and you can destroy an arm, legs, or torso, the latter causing the entire enemy to blow to smithereens if you destroy it. Later in the game you do get the skills to target certain parts and it helps immensely.
When you attack somebody the view changes, and you get to see your little customized robot kick ass in a nicely animated and more detailed little scene. Every part has its own sprite which makes the customization even more interesting. My only complaint about combat is just how broken long range attacks are. You're limited on missile ammo but they're usually rather powerful and they don't require you to put your units in danger. There's also items like chaff that throw off missiles but for the most part missiles are insane and I've won entire missions with long range barrages alone. They don't completely break the game though, and I really enjoyed the simple combat as well as buying new weapons to see what they do.

I also need to stress the length of this game. If you go through both campaigns you're looking at easily over 60+ hours of game-play especially if you're obsessive compulsive about customizing your Wanzers like I was. This game is best in small doses though, I really don't recommend anybody sit down and go through several missions at once because you really need a break after some intense tinkering with parts and fighting for your life in a mission only to be presented with a whole new collection of parts.

I can't really recommend this game to everyone because you need to devote a lot of time and effort into it to really get the most out of it. If you do give it a chance though you're in for a lot of the old Squaresoft magic with an intelligent story, inexplicably fun game-play, and lots and lots of robots beating the crap out of each other. I don't know why Squaresoft didn't release this on the Super Nintendo but I think it would have been a classic in the West if they had. As it stands now the game is a bit dated, but that shouldn't be a problem for anyone who enjoys old-school graphical style as it's certainly not ugly just dated compared to what the DS is capable of. There are some sweet CGI cut-scenes in the second campaign at the very least. It's a game that I feel like I missed out on that I'm glad the Nintendo DS let me experience.

8 out of 10