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Strictly
speaking, I should refer to this game as "Tech
Romancer." That, after all, is the proper
name under which it was released in American
arcades a year or so ago. The trouble is, I
can't do that. It would be utterly and completely
wrong. This game is made great by its unmatchable
flavor, and "Tech Romancer" doesn't
suit that flavor at all. It's like taking Super
Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional
Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada,
throwing them in a blender, and calling the
lot "Robotech." Thus, I will call
it by its rightful name, the true name of its
spirit: Choukosenki Kikaioh.
It
sounds best if you take a deep breath and yell
it really loud. Lay some crescendo on it, and
let your voice start cracking into the upper
register by the end: "choukoSenki KIKAOOOOOOOOh~!"
Then maybe you'll understand.
Kikaioh is composed of about one part arcade
fighting and two or three parts mad love poem
to the glory of giant robot anime. The gameplay
bears a certain resemblance to Rival Schools,
but the style of design is ripped straight out
of a host of mecha classics - Giant Robo, Great
Mazinger, Mobile Suit Gundam (Zeta and Char's
Counterattack), Super Dimensional Fortress Macross,
and even a touch of Evangelion to keep the kids
happy. I'm disappointed by the lack of some
Gold Raitan action, but as they say, you can't
have it all, and there's more than enough here
to keep any geek happy.
Aside
from the opposition and other hidden characters,
there are nine playable mechs, not including
some that have multiple variations with different
special moves. Not a one of them looks less
than completely cool, particularly given that
the game's been tuned up to take advantage of
the Dreamcast's polygon-cranking abilities (the
arcade original ran on the System 11 board,
or some similar kinsman of the Playstation,
I believe). Technically speaking, the game doesn't
look a whole lot better than the rather depressing
Plasma Sword, and it's certainly a few lengths
behind Soul Calibur. The polygon models aren't
exceptionally complex, nor do the stages have
a great deal in the way of interesting 3D scenery
(although you are capable of omnidirectional
movement). But as I've often said, a little
creativity of design can make up for a heck
of a lot of technical showmanship, while the
finest of programmers can do nothing without
quality artists to back him up, and here is
further proof. There is just nothing that can
beat the coolness of really well-designed giant
robots.
Kikaoih's
cast runs the gamut: there's the Mazinger-inspired
Kikaoh, the stomping olive-drab Wise Duck (dead
ringer for the Macross Monster, an old personal
favorite), the spindly spear-wielding Pulseon,
and perhaps the most creative and endearing
of the crew, the mahou shoujo-ized Bolon, constructed
out of the remnants of a giant's toybox. Though
the gameplay is relatively simple, with Rival
Schools' emphasis on basic combos and flashy
super attacks, the characters do possess enough
individuality of fighting style to keep the
game interesting, and when that fails, it can
still fall back on its immense visual flair
to bring players back for more.
It's
actually hard to say which of the play modes
is the most fun. Taking on your friends in the
versus mode is great, as you marvel over the
super attacks and scramble for power-up items.
After you destroy the buildings around you or
deliver particularly punishing assaults, you
can pick up odds and ends like extra health
and special-weapon enablers. But the single-player
story mode is where the game's presentation
gets its chance to shine, with lengthy dialogue
cutscenes that flesh out the plot. It's in this
mode where you really feel like you're playing
a cartoon. Each mech has their own logo done
up to look like it's part of a real show. The
stages include classic scenes like Tokyo Tower,
Mount Fuji, and a moon-base where a host of
battleships hangs in the sky. The intro movie
is worth the price of admission on its own,
as a classic sentai theme plays over opening
credits and "Capcom" kana patterned
after what I'd swear used to be the Sunrise
logo.
I'm
not sure if I'll ever properly review Kikaio,
since while I generally adhere to an aggressively
subjective style of journalism, here I've at
last come upon a situation where, maybe, my
weirdness hampers my artistic judgment. But
I can say that if you love giant robots too,
you'll probably love Kikaioh. Virtual On 2 possesses
supremely well-crafted gameplay and a much more
restrained design sense, which makes it undoubtedly
the better game of the two. Capcom's entry into
this corner of the Dreamcast arena lets it all
hang out, in almost all areas - that makes it
the weaker game in an objective sense, but that's
what also makes me enjoy it so. I mean, just
say the two titles with me:
"Virtual
On: Oratorio Tangram."
"choukoSenki
KIKAIOOOOOOOOOOOOH~!"
See
what I mean?
Kikaioh
Intro Movie - 1:19 - RealVideo:
3.6 MB - MPEG:
9.7 MB.
And
for those of you singing along at home, the
lyrics.
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Defeat
the mecha monsters that destroy peace!
