I knew from the outset that this was going to be a difficult review.
Not because of the game itself mind; that’s actually quite pleasant.
But what we’re dealing with here is one of those mangled, repurposed anime series
that typified the art here in the states in the 70s and 80s, and which lay on the borderline
between youthful nostalgia and the kind of bastardization that would be unthinkable by
today’s sensibilities.
For every middle-aged guy who grew up watching the show during its original syndicated run
in 1984, there’s a purist who would put a gun to my head if I didn’t mention that
what we know as Voltron is an amalgamation of Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger
XV.
Paradoxically, sometimes those people are one and the same.
But historical accuracy aside, this is a video game.
Never mind that it uses a whole lot of footage from the show.
I can safely say, though, that Voltron continues the rather unusual trend of games adapted
from really old anime: They’re a lot better than you’d ever expect.
Astro Boy on the GBA?
Awesome.
Tastunoko Vs. Capcom?
Awesome, but I may be biased by the inclusion of Megaman Volnutt.
Voltron for the PSN and XBLA?
Really, really fun.
There are three distinct modes to the gameplay...
well, four, if you count “Sit and watch the cartoon itself.”
The most common puts your lion of choice on the ground, where you can run around, get
into melee combat, pounce to pull airborne units crashing to the ground, and fire your
ranged weapons using the the left stick.
It’s your basic Robotech...
I mean, Robotron control setup.
The more enemy forces you waste, and the more stylish your rampage, the faster your health
is restored.
Drop to zero, though, and your Pilot is jettisoned and must survive on foot amongst the tanks
and madness for ten seconds while the lion repairs itself.
Note that this Survivor Mode is only available on land; screw up similarly in the Space-shooter
mode or Voltron mode and you’re just a dead guy in a deactivated robot lion.
Sucks to be you.
But let’s get down to business.
VOLTRON.
The giant robot, assembled, up against a massive foe... after you wear it down in your lion,
of course, because that’s just how shows like this go.
You can’t expect the thing that will actually work to be used any earlier than the last
possible moment, can you?
Didn’t think so.
After going through the transformation sequence (with some quicktimey little score-boosting
events thrown in so you can’t just go make a sandwich), you get to spar with the enemy
monstrosity... by taking turns in quicktime events.
All this, leading up to somewhat of a letdown.
But I can understand why they did it.
After all, no giant robot show is one by one guy alone.
It takes a team, and in the case of Voltron, you can have up to four other players assisting
either as autonomous units in Lion and Space modes, or contributing to the success of the
Voltron itself.
The reason you can’t just beat things up as Voltron, much as that would be awesome,
is because... what would the other four people do during that time?
I rest my case.
Voltron is exactly what you wish would happen to a childhood favorite.
The game itself is a quality production, loaded with nostalgic footage, fantastic multiplayer,
and twelve stages of mayhem to wreak.
Games like this make me hold out hope for a tactical RPG adaptation of Samurai Pizza
Cats.
A boy can dream, can’t he?