Macross Shooting Insight marks the first Macross game to be released on Western shores, and it blends horizontal and vertical shoot ’em-ups with top-down 360° shooting and even third-person-style blasting modes.
Blasts From the Pasts
The game combines characters from Macross Plus, Macross 7, Macross Zero, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta, with a mix of gameplay akin to Asteroids, R-Type and Ikaruga. This “Multi-Dimensional shooting game” combines the five series into one sprawling universe full of iconic pilots and songstresses.
As a Westerner, I am entirely unfamiliar with any of the cast or reference material. I vaguely remember seeing snap-together models of the vehicles in a Forbidden Planet store when I was younger. The mecha anime genre almost entirely evaded me growing up. I was only able to watch a few manga and animes at friends’ houses; but if I’m brutally honest, neither ever clicked with me well enough to indulge in the genre in my own time.
Macross reminds me more of the cool plane-based battles in something like the original Transformers cartoons. The ships transform into mechs, they all blast everything, and they all save the day. This version of the game includes Japanese dubbing and English localization, so at least I could understand what was going on, even if I had no clue who was who or what was what.
Great looking Planes but Gameplay’s Plain
The game mixes its shooting styles at each level to include a bit of everything each time. It follows a formula of vertical then horizontal traditional pilot-based shooting, followed by a third-person mecha boss fight. During the later part of the stages, you hear from the songstresses, who have the power to soothe, hypnotize, and minimize conflict. The bizarre singing sections certainly hammer home the “Space Opera” genre of the game and movie series.
I like the graphic direction of the game. There are subtle nods to its arcade roots, with a CRT-looking curved monitor effect throughout the blasting sections. It’s colourful, vibrant and attractive, but above all else, the game feels extremely sluggish and unexciting to play through.
As a newcomer to it all, I thought I might find some excellent gameplay, but sadly, I was taken aback by just how monotonous and ordinary the game felt to play. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way a master of this genre, but I felt like it was a real chore to sit through.
Fans Might Enjoy This
Macross Shooting Insight will be a blast for those into the lore and original series. While I found it very well-rounded in portraying the characters and the ensuing tales, when playing out the battles, I found it quite lacklustre and monotonous.
The game doesn’t lack variety, it just lacks the spontaneity and random encounters I have come to enjoy from most modern games.
In essence, it’s a basic retro game with a blingy modern skin and cut scenes, and holding one button and avoiding bullets wasn’t quite enough to keep me captivated for long.
Verdict
What We Liked …
- A varied mixture of styles
- Brings all characters into one game
What We Didn’t Like …
- Extremely repetitive
- Sluggish mechanics
Gameplay
Arcade-feeling and action-packed, it’s not quite bullet hell, more blasting and blasting and blasting… and blasting some more. Holding down one button, you can beat the whole thing.
Presentation
Beautifully presented and graphically strong, the game looks superb. The art style captures the mecha anime reference material perfectly.
Lasting Appeal
With 56 trophies, including the platinum, there is quite a lot to dive back in for, but overall, the game is very repetitious by its very nature. Fans might enjoy the online leaderboard aspect too.
Overall
As gorgeous as the game is, I found it to be monotonous. Retro arcade shooter fans might get a kick out of this style of game, but for anyone looking for something with more depth and less repetition, this isn’t for you.
