Old School Games: Robot Alchemic Drive

When I was a boy, the most exciting thing was a television block called "monstervision." Often it would feature horror films, but on many nights it featured Japanese Godzilla-type movies. Kaiju's the word, but giant monsters seems to describe it better. If only for english speaking "gaijins". Another thing as a child was a cartoon called Transformers. Robots that could transform. Beast Wars was my favorite, but you know what else? There was a movie called Robot Jox. You've seen it, but you don't know the name. It's about a future where wars are fought between two giant robots, I think. It's got a few robot fights, but the movie was rather silly otherwise. Watch these scene.



That's amazing isn't it? I'm the type who loves cheesey fun robot stuff. Now let me start talking about this game. You might know the developer from Earth Defense Force on the 360 and maybe the PS2 ones in the PAL region. This playstation 2 game is a must have, if you're into this stuff. If you like robots and silly japanese stuff, please buy this. I got a copy for ten dollars. If you can find one, get it.



In this game, you fly around on foot to find the right perspective to see from. You're in control of a giant robot and have to fight another giant robot. Pretty simple to understand. What makes it cool is the way you control the robot. Move each leg and arm separate from one another is the best. I love this. Instead of just pushing up to move, you have to control each leg. Instead of just pushing a button, you have to move the sticks around swinging your arms. Some robots can transform. All the robots have guns as well. The blue one transforms into a jet. The big green one transforms into a tank. And the red & black robot can do the Mazinger Z robot punch. If you're not familiar with that, the robot can fire off his arm. Much like in Robot Jox. Much like in Chrono Trigger. Much like in anything great with robots.



If only the gameplay could always be like that, this game would be legendary. Classic. Near flawless. The problem is that a storyline is in there. Too much of it's a bad thing. The storyline is great in small small chunks, and a lot of it is filler. Goals in missions to protect girls or fly around finding the right place as a human is lame. I mean that in the most effeminate and soul crushing way. When a mission comes on and I have to do some nonsense, I get mad. Some missions don't involve the robots either. They just want you to move around, listen to some talking, and that's it. That's a shame. Such a great game brought down by all this storyline. It's just the sheer amount of talking. I feel like the game has been 4/1 in terms of me being a giant robot and people talking.



This game's psuedo sequels make me want a special PS2 to play import games on. There are several games that are all the same thing as this, just not named the same. One features Gigantor and has you actually see his controller on the ground as you look up at his battles. Look at this video.



See, that's a sequel to this game. If no one else says it, I will. It appears to control and have similar enough content. Same developer, same style, and same controls? I'm iffy on the control part, but look at it. It's made by the same dudes and looks enough like this game to make me want to play it. Then there's this video.



It appears to be a prototype demo for the engine. Maybe not a full game, but it does answer one criticism I have. No giant Godzilla monsters are in this one. They are in the other Earth Defense games, but not this one. A bit about this engine, every building is destructible. Tons of people run around. And it powers some really amazing games. This and Earth Defense Force 2017. That game actually has two prequels that are available in europe, but not here. But that's another article for another day. Did you ever play Robot Alchemic Drive?