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- Voltron defender of the universe game review full#
- Voltron defender of the universe game review series#
Ground combat has already been detailed and Voltron segments are a whole 'nother can of worms, but space sections are actually a good bit of fun. The game is ostensibly divided into three parts: ground, space, and Voltron combat. The second shining star within Voltron's black void is, ironically, space. Extra lives are only a few star shards away, and survivor mode kicks in if your health is depleted, allowing you a chance to re-enter your lion after it starts back up, assuming you can avoid your foes in the interim. That extends to the fact that the game, despite its annoying mechanics, is pretty easy. It feels like tearing through a bunch of papier-mâché, minus the tactile fulfillment. Further, while we're on the look of the game, nothing you destroy ever dies or explodes in any kind of satisfying or visceral way. The framerate kicked up and the controls became infinitely more responsive for the only three seconds when it didn't matter. Then I hit a rare moment of clarity, with no geometry more complex than a flat plain and the lion onscreen. At first, I thought the slowdown was intentional, to accurately convey the feel of piloting one of these powerful and massive lion mecha. This is exacerbated by a game engine that, as low-res and low detail as it appears to be, barely chugs along. It becomes a frustrating task of running in a circle, trying not to be on whichever side of a takes-too-long-to-die enemy this multitude of deadly energy orbs/mines/missiles decides to spawn on. Later on, however, it becomes perfectly clear why the developers were reluctant to kick things up a notch by the end, the game is throwing projectiles at you in bullet-hell densities, but your ungainly vehicles are too busy swinging their hips to dodge between or even around the blasts. They go down quickly and easily, rarely presenting any credible threat. The starting levels are dull and lifeless, with most enemies dwarfed by the mecha you control. One of the keys in Renegade Ops was hectic action, which Voltron lacks early on. Where Voltron goes wrong, though, is in every other aspect of its core gameplay. As we've seen in shooters such as Renegade Ops, this fusion of satisfying momentum and hectic, twin-stick action can be employed to extremely positive effect. Appropriately, they can't turn on a dime, sudden shifts in direction causing their hindquarters to satisfyingly swing around their planted forelegs as they skid to a halt before bolting off on their new headings. This is a twin-stick shooter, but your vehicles are quadrupeds, bounding through their environments. One of these is the momentum with which the Lions control. It has a couple of redeeming gameplay touches, but they're in the vast minority.
Voltron defender of the universe game review series#
So, it doesn't do well at telling its story, but it's a downloadable title set over only twelve levels, and probably couldn't hope to cover the entirety of the original series effectively. It's an incomprehensible mess, which leaves players with absolutely no understanding of Voltron's past or investment in the amalgam robot's future journeys. It all suffers from a complete dearth of context, disjointed transitions, and a lack of explanation as to just what each mission is actually intended to accomplish for the Voltron Force. If such is the case, it fails spectacularly its twelve short levels tell a fractured and fragmented version of the story in between-level cutscenes (all ripped from the original animation). Maybe it's intended as a primer for kids who are enamored with the new animation but lack a solid background in the original tales that precede it. Voltron: Defender of the Universe has nothing to do with this latest addition to the mythology. You rarely hear anyone mention GoLion, no? It's always Voltron, which was popular enough in the West that it not only saw the typical DVD rerelease, but an entirely new series (ongoing) produced by an American studio. Back then, though, the shows were fun to watch and developed a dedicated fandom, which holds them aloft today.
Voltron defender of the universe game review full#
Today, such an act would be met with the full ire of the internet, the anime fandom shouting their lungs out in horrified and virulent messages on boards and via e-mails across the web, decrying these alterations from the pristine Japanese originals. Voltron is one of those '80s series like Robotech and Battle of the Planets/G-Force that was adapted from a differently titled Japanese production and, in some way, fundamentally altered to be more family friendly and appealing to the masses of Saturday morning cartoon-watching kids in the United States.