Piloting

Man, I really wanted to like this title. The minute I loaded the disc, I marveled at the stunningly clear introduction movie and drooled over the countless customizations for Armored Cores. I was even impressed by the mock e-mail system used to give characters life and progress story details. Suffice it say, the game had me the second I hit the start button.

According to the ESRB, this game contains Animated Violence.

Despite the fun of the intense, Star Wars-like battles and the small degree of strategy involved in some missions, Starlancer gives itself a black eye through numerous glaring flaws.

They tell us in advertising class that the best way to measure how well your product will sell is by its unique selling proposition. Most games have a pitch like this, whether its touting their mind-blowing graphics, one-of-a-kind gameplay, or simply being the sequel to last years blockbuster. Starlancer has none of these qualities, so during the Dreamcasts packed fall of 2000 it fell between the cracks while gamers opted for more well-known titles like Shenmue. It came, got some decent review scores from web sites and magazines, and disappeared without leaving so much as a dent on the medium. Is it worth sniffing around the corners of your local game shop for a look at this forgotten relic? Well, lets just say I now know why it was forgotten in the first place, and that knowledge was not worth a twenty.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence

Game Description: Step into the giant, mechanized suit of the Gundam. There, across battlefields of a war-beaten Earth, you'll command your forces against units of the Zeon army. You'll need to master every move in your suit—and weapon in your arsenal—to outflank the Zeon and complete each mission. And although you've got armored vehicles and ant-sized infantry on your side, the battle will be lost or won by your ability to jump, hover, and fly into battle while zooming in your weapons on the enemy. A cross between first-person shooter and strategy game, Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise From the Ashes comes from a series that originated on the Sega Saturn. This title features such enhancements as detailed 3D mobile suits, cinematic interstitial scenes, a dramatic soundtrack, and actual sound effects from the anime TV series, Gundam.

The most surprising thing about Side Story 0079 is the way it looks. While being based on one of the most popular anime of all-time, it doesn't look anything like its animated counterpart. Colors aren't typically bold and vibrant. Also missing-in-action are anime trademarks like physics-defying hairstyles and wide-eyed facial features in the character designs.

Well, this isn't going to be much of a review on my part because I agree with Chi completely. Gundam Side Story 0079 is a cool game that could have been great had it just lasted longer. I must say though—while I was playing, I truly felt like a part of the war effort against the Zeon forces. I thought the developers missed an opportunity to make the missions more interesting (which of course would have made the game longer and more involving). In fact, the game never really pushes the envelope conceptually, but it's hard to complain about a game that does so many things right. And as Chi stated in his review, the best part of Gundam Side Story is the authenticity of piloting the Mobile Suits. Being a part of the White Dingo team, the war-torn environments, the awesome weaponry—it's all so beautifully realized. It's for this reason I keep playing the game over and over again.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence

Of all the games released that are based on hit titles in their respective genres, few escape the stigma of being a clone or rehash. Those that do usually do so because either there is such a dearth of that type of game on a system, or that the developer did such a great overall job that the similarities can be ignored. In the case of Vanark, it is such an underwhelming game, that as a whole it cannot shine.