We here at Destructoid have very fond memories of the Dreamcast. It was great system that could not last due to the lack of good third party support (thanks a lot, EA). But there was one company that greatly benefited from their support of the system and that company was Capcom. Capcom delivered games like Power Stone, Cannon Spike, Star Gladiator, Project Justice, and numerous other titles.

I remember this game very well. When I saw this video, I knew which game I would right about. So does Tech Romancer stand tall with the other videogame giants or does this game deserve to be sent to the scrap heap?



The Basics

Tech Romancer
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Console: Dreamcast
Year:2000

The Premise



Like most fighting games that are created, the premise of this game is very simple, you have crazy people piloting ridiculous robots that fight to the death. The thing about this game is that it is influenced very highly by the mecha animes of the past. So, the characters in this game are very odd to say the least.

One example of this game's crazy character is the character known as Pollan, who is the pilot of the Magical Patched Robot Bolon. She has a crush on the main character in the game known as Junpei Todoroki. She is exactly eight years old but with the power of magic, she is able to transform herself into a seventeen year old. Her entire story mode is dedicated to taking on every female character in the game because she thinks that they are after her man. I can't make this stuff up.

The Game


The game itself is a standard fighting game that takes place on a 2d plane. The health system requires the player to eliminate both life bars of an opponent in order to end the match. Power-ups like defense boosts and weapons can give a player a slight advantage during battle but I never found my self using them often enough for it to play a major factor in my experience except for one. This power-up is known as Hero Mode which gave the player a significant boost depending who the player is fighting with. The player can have all of their missle and long range projectiles lock-on to their opponent.

Now, let me tell you about the game's final boss known as Goldibus. At that time, Capcom seemed to find a new appreciation for the bosses that were created by SNK for the KOF series because this is one of the most annoying bosses in fighting game history. Goldibus is a terrible bosses due to that he FOUR life bars. He has two health bars for his first form and another two health bars for his second form. So the battle was already stacked against you from the beginning of the as you only had your two health bar to work with. I can't tell you how defeated I felt when I found out that he had a second form. This can really ruin a fighting game experience.

The Controls

The game itself plays like an typical Capcom fighting game and but it uses a slightly different controls with only two attack buttons, a block button, and jump button. Unfortunately, the controls felt unresponsive at times. But, the controls simplicity allow for the user to jump in very quickly and make progress very quickly.

There is a move that can be pulled off when your opponents 2nd health bar is half way eliminated. it is the final attack. It is very similar to the Instant Kill move that is used in the Guilty Gear franchise. After the move connects, small in-game cutscene happens and the character after the cutscene ends, the match ends with your opponents defeat. This mechanic is only activated through pressing four buttons in order to activate

The Graphics and Sound



After the glorious graphical powerhouses that were available at the launch of the Dreamcast like Soul Calibur, Tech Romancer does not even hold a candle to some of the late Playstation game that came out around that time. This is disappointing considering the anime art that is used in the game is top-notch.

However, the sound direction is pretty good. The voice acting that is in the game is of decent quality with the English actors providing solid B-Movie acting chops. For the purists out there, you can have the original Japanese actors doing the voices in this game. The music fits the anime ascetic very well.

The Verdict



Slight Suckage: 3

This is game that showed it's age because the game was originally made for the arcades in the year 1998. Fortunately, the game is compelling enough to last you though a couple of play-thrus. If you can find it on the cheap, consider picking it up, you may find it crazy enough for your time.