So...what do we have here?

Japanese Game Box Front

Meet Takuya Murasawa!
Age: 22 Blood Type: AB

The company on the side of the box reads "Mesaiya" (though the logo only seems to say Masiya...maybe it's just me?) and they have published several games including Langrisser games and Power of the Hired (SNES/SFC) under the name Masaya. Very confusing company name...Anyway, this game is very unheard of as far as NCS and is an unknown gem amongst Sega Genesis imports. If you liked Langrisser, then it may please you to know this game is every bit as good...but with ROBOTS! It's pretty awesome for an early strategy game and the cool thing about this game is that once the Genesis tabs are broken (or if you have a Game Genie, that should work too), you can play the game with no problems. Most early Sega Genesis titles don't have the regional lockout, so if you have a Game Genie and that was stopping you from buying, you need not worry about that.

The story deals with futuristic war and even without knowing Japanese, you should be able to play through it and mostly everything should seem straightforward. Your main hero is a young man named Takuya Murasawa (age 22), a skilled VECTOR (Versatile Combat Trooper Of Robot) Pilot who must find the secret plot brewing behind the war that faces him. Along the way, you will meet other skilled pilots that want to learn the reasons for the war as well.

The graphics of the game are pretty decent as far as strategy games go. Don't expect anything that will take your breath away, but I think the graphics blows away the majority of Koei's strategy game series. Maps are 2D top-down with simple sprites that make each unit recognizable from one another. The game has an awesome anime opening with some cool music and the character anime portraits are standard stuff. The battle animations are pretty cool to watch too and if you get tired of watching them, you can turn them off. The title screen music is cool. However, I'm not too pleased with most of the other game music that much. Some aren't so bad, but they are very warlike and not in a rock-n-roll sort of way or anything. I personally find it pretty boring. Some other tunes are very repetitive. The sound effects are decent, though, so it's not a total loss.

The gameplay is pretty good. There are a variety of different maps with obstacles and such. What strategy game would this be if it didn't have the "variables" to consider? You know...terrain effects, advantage points, effective weapons depending on situtation, etc. Enemies will also outnumber you at every turn (I believe Power of the Hired was like this too) and this is made purposely. You should use your mind and not try to overtrain any particular unit. Actually, the game creates the scenario that an equally trained force is better than the power of one. You have several different methods of attack and depending on the circumstances, enemies are given the opportunity to launch a counter-offensive. The game sponsors several pilots (Different pilots have different stat levels and such) and machines. You can also make repairs, configure weapons, and the typical "config" type options like viewing stats, etc, etc. As for the story, I haven't sat down to actually decipher bits and pieces of it, but it doesn't seem groundbreaking. Nothing out of the ordinary or anything. It's a cool strategy game that makes you think, but I'm not fond of the music. It may not bother you, so just ignore me.

- Written by Vyse the determined -