New Macross Game from Sega for PS2

[Graham]

I like to launch my RMS-1 in fighter mode, then fly away from the target and use the d-pad to change to action view so I can see my fighter flying away from the exploding Zentradi ship.

BTW, how do you fly backwards in Gerwalk mode?

Graham

[Ghettohawk]

Has anybody played this game on a U.S. console successfully using the slide card/swapdisc method??????

Edited October 27, 2003 by Ghettohawk

[UN Spacy]

Has anybody played this game on a U.S. console successfully using the slide card/swapdisc method??????

I'll let you know (hopefully) by the end of next week. (with tons of pics)

Play-Asia shipped my PS2 game last Wednesday.

Tisinc.com shipped the Slide Card last Thursday.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed until then.

[Murphy]

I like to launch my RMS-1 in fighter mode, then  fly away from the target and  use the d-pad to change to action view so I can see my fighter flying away from the exploding Zentradi ship.

BTW, how do you fly backwards in Gerwalk mode?

Graham

when in gerwalk mode hold down the the brake (its triangle) and you will fly backwards slow at first then it will pick up speed

btw its amasing what you can learn fron the tutorial and i dont speak or understand japanese

Edited October 27, 2003 by Murphy

[Murphy]

Has anybody played this game on a U.S. console successfully using the slide card/swapdisc method??????

not using the slide card but i use the flop top methood and that uses the same boot disk i think

[Graham]

I like to launch my RMS-1 in fighter mode, then  fly away from the target and  use the d-pad to change to action view so I can see my fighter flying away from the exploding Zentradi ship.

BTW, how do you fly backwards in Gerwalk mode?

Graham

when in gerwalk mode hold down the the brake (its triangle) and you will fly backwards slow at first then it will pick up speed

btw its amasing what you can learn fron the tutorial and i dont speak or understand japanese

Heh, heh. I went through the tutorial twice and it is pretty good, but guess I just didn't pick up on the brake function.

Graham

[Graham]

Looks like the first of the two PS2 Macross game guide books is already out. See here.

I'm going to see if I can pick it up tonight on the way home from work.

The second book is scheduled for a November release.

Graham

[hevangel2]

Wow! I just played the first 3 level of the game at my friend's place today!

It is marvelous.. Definitely the best macross game ever made.

It follow very closely with the TV and movie story, down to the very details.

The control is really smooth, in battoid mode, you get auto lock machine gun,

while you can get missile in gerwalk and fighter mode.

So far my best strategy is close combat in battoid mode using maching gun,

and switch to gerwalk mode and launch missile once the enemy is out of gun range.

This strategy is so effective! After playing this game, I truely realize the usefulness of transforming VF fighters in real millitary application.

I decided to buy a hacked PS2 and this game this X'mas during my trip to HK.

Finally, there is a game that worth me to buy a PS2.

[SpaceCowboy]

Graham, trust me, u DONT want to play BattleCry....

Nah even if it's terrible, I still want to try it just for the sake of comparison against VF-X2, and the Macross PS2 game.

Graham

Heck, stateside you can even pick it up for about $10 for any of the three consoles. It's definately worth $10. I didn't find it that bad. The game was a little unbalanced, some levels being super easy, and some being insanely hard.

SpaceCowboy

[jwinges]

You can get the battlecry limited set for $10 and that includes a robocrap t-shirt and spiffy dog tags.

[Duymon]

Heh heh I've been playing the game since last Thursday when it came out

Paid 5980 yen pre tax and got a free poster, woo ;p

I agree with Graham on almost all the points.

Graphics , music, sound, and feel are all right but the controls tend to be a tad clunky.

One huge complaint is that the game is so FLIPPIN SHORT. I finished both campaigns in one sitting.

HOwever, there are still two more VF's that I need to unlock

Here's my current VF list. I got them all from both campaigns and by getting S ranking in EVERY stage. I gotta say the hardest stages for S ranking are P-06, A-07 and A-08 (A-08 is so fecking long)

Vf-1a

VF-1j

VF-1s

VF-1d

VT-1

VE-1

VF-4

VF-1a Hikaru

VF-1a Kakizaki

Vf-1a Max (TV)

VF-1j Hikaru

vf-1s Hikaru

Vf-1s Max

Vf-1s Roy

I'm assuming that the last two vf's cards, which reside between the 1s and 1j's, are Max and Miria's 1j's. I haven't figured out how to get them. However, it's kinda lame that the only real different VF is the VF-4. And you can't even save your score for any stage that you use thee VF-4 on anyhow.

You get different cinemas and dialogues if you use certain characters in their episodes. For example in Pineapple Salad you should use Max's VF-1a and for the final DYRL battle re-enactment you should use Hikaru's VF-1s.

For a real laugh, play Kakizaki's VF-1a in ARMD episode 07 in Free mode.

As for strategies...

Transform like flippin heck. Use the gun when you got the red reticle in Battroid mode. When they go out of range switch to gerwalk, fire a few missles, then switch to fighter and close the gap. Switch to Battroid rinse and repeat.

Use your Chaff! In fighter or Gerwalk press right or left then QUICKLY press the other direction. Doing this releases chaff/flares AND moves your fighter slightly to the right or left to avoid missiles.

Limit Missile usage. Regults normally take 3 missiles, Fighter pods take 1, Glaugs take 6+. Limiting missile usage cuts down on missed missiles and raises Hit percentage. Also, don't bother shooting missiles at short range. Due to Kawamorian Physics macross missiles have to make super random cool looking trails so they never hit stuff that's like dead ahead.

Those head lasers are THERE FOR A REASON. Head lasers, in Battroid mode, auto-target missiles that are actually a threat to you. Press the sub weapon button and fire away. When there are no missiles around the head lasers go for your current locked target and have longer range and better accuracy than the gunpod. Using both at once = quicker kills. Also, headlaser is Infinite and has no cool down. Only a pain in the ass to use when you got the GBP armor on since you gotta switch between having missile defense and Missile offense

Save the Big missiles for big targets. Using them on small fry gets you in some tight spots. Also in the last stages, GO ahead and use the torpedos freely. Makes killing the kabillion baddies real easy when one RMS takes out 9-10 of them at a time

[UN Spacy]

I'm assuming that the last two vf's cards, which reside between the 1s and 1j's, are Max and Miria's 1j's.

Aren't those last two spots for the YF-19 and YF-21? I was watching the latest preview video and noticed there were 18 slots for Valkyries.

Sorry to go so into depth (maybe the Macross Plus' Valkyries are only for free mode ONLY).

8th slot = YF-19

9th slot = YF-21

10th slot = VF-0 Phoenix

11th slot = SV-51

12th slot = Max's Paint VF-1A

Once again.....this is all from the latest preview video (the one that's 3:05 in length). Maybe they changed things from the final release.

[Murphy]

i have only got one S and that was on the first level...but i hope the yf-19,21 vf-0 and sv-51 do make an appearence but so far what duymon says there looks like there arent enough slots on freeplay mode to support these planes.

I just played ARMD-1 stage 7 with kakizakis vf-1a lol you see the begining cut sceen as normal but then it goes to game over after you get blasted my miria also you get 0 kills 0 percentage and a fat D i guess it still doent pay to be kakizaki

Edited October 27, 2003 by Murphy

[UN Spacy]

I got the game and slide card today. BUT there's a slight problem....I have to open up the console because the swap disc is stuck inside the tray.

Darn. I should have picked up a flip top case. Now I have to unscrew the console.

[Sam]

Thanks Murphy, I'll try that out tonight.

Also, anybody know a way to do the classic quick decelerate and reverse thrust Gerwalk move.

Graham

Hey,

When you transform into gerwalk hold down the transform button, and it kicks into reverse, its an awesome move to do when being tailed closely!

All rolls are done by tapping quickly left/right, front to back, back to front, in all modes, even battroid. No need to use thrust.

Also, in battroid, thrust moves you up, but to go down again quickly push the left joystick down into the controller, the 'hidden' button of the ps2. that makes you crouch a little and go down quicker.

The missiles are actually bracketted in this game to I believe, just damn hard to see em! Usually targetting in battroid the offending missile carrying units, you will then see the little brackets being 'fired' especially fighting the Quadleauun Raus, zillions of brackets hitting ya!

I really like this game, but I really really want to know from the programmers if there is any hope of unlocking other cool 'different' valks, or maybe an expansion pack or something cuz its way too short...

hope this helps

[Sam]

BTW, slidecard works really well for my aussie ps2, its easy, no need to force anything. mods.com had it for 23us or sumtin on sale. plus shipping..

[Murphy]

I got the game and slide card today. BUT there's a slight problem....I have to open up the console because the swap disc is stuck inside the tray.

Darn. I should have picked up a flip top case. Now I have to unscrew the console.

sorry to hear that UN SPACY i hope you can fix it....keep us updated

[Gokurakumaru]

My copy arrived yesterday and I played it last night. Really really annoying is how I'd describe it initially. I don't know how much trouble everybody else had making auto camera switch off, but it just wouldn't go away for me. I tried switching it off from the in mission menu. I tried switching it off from the main options screen. The option changed sure enough, but in battle the camera was still cutting to all kinds of different views based on whether I'd just fired or just been hit. About stage 6 I gave up because all those camera changes led to some serious confusion and unfair hits. I exited to the menu, switched auto camera on and then back off again, saved my player data, and only after that did it seem to acknowledge it and stop changing views. Yeesh.

Another gripe, and I don't know if this is to do with "easy" piloting style or not, but without holding down L2 to force tracking, the battroid subweapon (the head laser) triggers missiles -- and as a consequence a transformation to fighter mode -- if you hold it down. Other gripes are automatic transformation to fighter mode when struck by missiles in battroid mode. No overloading of button functions, Sega! And no piloting for me! I don't want to fly head on into a Glaug just because I was struck by a volley from it.

Aside from those utterly pitiful inclusions which should never have gotten past playtesting, the rest of the game is rock solid. I played a few hours in total and am up to Burst Point in TV mode, so this will clock up at least enough play time as my other favorite games (all of which are what everyone else seems to consider to be "short" too).

For me the high points are things like Purple group covering the botched Cat's Eye recon, and being the team to retrieve the battle pad Misa and the gang escape in. Hearing the Zentradi speaking Zentradi rather than Japanese in the TV show is nice too. And seeing the anti gravity pods float away from a falling Macross in Booby Trap as you battle in the city is priceless.

Not so great is the way the cutscenes are done. Sega goes to the effort of modeling all the ships and mecha, animating the signature scenes from the series, and then cuts them off at the money shot. Things like the Daedalus attack being cut off while the Macross still has its arm firmly planted in the ship. Things like the main gun firing right at the start being a still shot. Not disastrous but it makes theses scenes feel rushed (and I don't mean in development time, just presentation).

Overall at the midway point I think it's around an 8 to 8.5 out of 10. Top fun but niggling flaws keep it from greatness. Definitely the best Macross game yet and worthy of any fan's coin. And anyone who calls this the same Valk sim as stuff like Digital Mission VF-X needs their head examined.

[ychanus]

Is there a REPLAY mode in the game, so you can watch how you finish the game like in Aero Dancing?

Please let me know.

[Murphy]

Is there a REPLAY mode in the game, so you can watch how you finish the game like in Aero Dancing?

Please let me know.

sorry i dont think there is a replay mode, or at least i havent found one yet but im pretty sure there is none..... it would of been very cool if bandai/sega included this option in the game because i remember watching my replays in ace combat 4

[UN Spacy]

Well. I just finished the TV mode (with a not so great Rank D).

That went a little quicker than expected......and I only unlocked six of the VF-1's.

It also looks like I'll be purchasing the flip top casing.....you guys were right. Using the slide card will eventually wear out the motor.

Well. I'm about to start the DYRL storyline.

BTW....the 13th TV mission is GREAT!

[Graham]

Started playing through the TV missions for the second time last night. Must be getting a bit better, cus at least now I'm getting a 'B' grade all the time instead of the 'D' grade I got the first time I played through.

Also, have to say initially I was very disappointed with the performance of the GBP-1S Armored Valk. However, last night I tried it in free mode on the Mars Sara Base mission and it rocks. I absolutely wiped out Kamjin, the other two Glaugs and all the Regults in a very short time and got an 'S' grade (my first one), which gave me the card for Hikaru's VF-1J!

Graham

[Graham]

Hmm.....despite them being shown in that downloadable movie, it seems like the chances of the YF-19, YF-21, SV-51 & VF-0 actually being in the game now are pretty slim.

Perhaps they were pulled at the last minute. I'm guessing that if the Macross game sells well, then hopefully Bandai/Sega-AM2 will release a second game, perhaps being based on Macross Plus and/or macross Zero.

Graham

[Duymon]

I don't think they're in game. But when I unlock my last two valks I'll know for sure what they are However, I got no clue on how to do it since I already got S in every stage. Perhaps you have to play through the actual story mode with S or finish certain missions with certain valkyries. Who knows

Somehow I managed to unlock the three VF-1s's but not the two blank cards before them. I already said it before but I think the last two are 1j's. There are only 16 cards but at the moment only 7 actually different valkyries you can fly... 6 of them being based off a VF-1 chassis...

If for some freaky reason the two cards are a 19 or 21 I'll be happy but I ain't holding my breath

Edited October 28, 2003 by Duymon

[Lightning]

so um....which mission do you get the VF-4 in?

[Duymon]

I don't know how I got the VF-4 but I had it when I first opened up Free mode..after beating both campaigns.

[Gokurakumaru]

I finished up TV and ran through the movie last night. The derelict Zentradi ship trap stage was a nice surprise.

You get the VF-4 card at the end of the movie, appropriately enough, since it's the version with Flashback 2012 on the back end of it.

[Apollo Leader]

Hmm.....despite them being shown in that downloadable movie, it seems like the chances of the YF-19, YF-21, SV-51 & VF-0 actually being in the game now are pretty slim.

Perhaps they were pulled at the last minute. I'm guessing that if the Macross game sells well, then hopefully Bandai/Sega-AM2 will release a second game, perhaps being based on Macross Plus and/or macross Zero.

Graham

Perhaps the YF-19, YF-21, SV-51, anf VF-0 are available as part of a download (either to unlock the above VF's or to download the code to the PS2's harddrive)... wasn't there suppose to be an online aspect to the game?

I should have my copy and the means to play it in 2 to 3 more days!!!

[Gokurakumaru]

I'd be surprised since there's no harddrive support in the game. I know everybody here loves the flash new planes to death but I don't consider them not being included as a loss. The VF-0 and SV-51 would make no sense since over 50% of the game is in space, and the YF-19 and YF-21 would be 30 years early. I know they'd just be bonuses, but still. Blech.

[Graham]

Perhaps the YF-19, YF-21, SV-51, anf VF-0 are available as part of a download (either to unlock the above VF's or to download the code to the PS2's harddrive)... wasn't there suppose to be an online aspect to the game?

I should have my copy and the means to play it in 2 to 3 more days!!!

Nope, never heard anything previously about this game having an online aspect.

Graham

[Graham]

BTW....the 13th TV mission is GREAT!

Eh.....what 13th TV mission? I thought there are only 12 TV missions, at least I only get 12 when I play.

Graham

[Graham]

Just wondering has anybody been able to get into the BBS on the official game site.? I've had no luck at all.

I was just thinking that perhaps the Japanese players may have uncovered more secrets and may know more about the situation with the Mac Zero & Mac Plus VFs.

Graham

[Lightning]

u guys know something? if the YF-19 and -21 arent in the game, then the VF-4 is technically the most powerful valk in the game! (what irony....)

[Graham]

A question for those of you that have already unlocked the VF-4. Does it have the two beam guns on the forearms and actually fire twin beams, or do the incorrectly have it firing a gunpod or gunpod ammo from the arms?

Graham

[Lightning]

it would be just as nice if the beams fire independently too...