MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
Post Reply
User avatar
Ghegs
Posts: 5052
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:18 am
Location: Finland
Contact:

MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Ghegs »

http://www.interq.or.jp/saturn/takuhama/mb.html

It's from Astro Port. It's a mech game that seems to resemble Gigantic Army a whole lot. Day one for me.

Seems you have a main weapon with unlimited ammo and can bring along two additional weapons with limited ammo, this time.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.

My videos
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by BIL »

Didn't even need to click the link to know this gon be my mahfuckin jam. Image
User avatar
Udderdude
Posts: 6266
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:55 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Udderdude »

Yay for giant robot stompy things.
User avatar
Ed Oscuro
Posts: 18654
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:13 pm
Location: uoıʇɐɹnƃıɟuoɔ ɯǝʇsʎs

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Ed Oscuro »

UNLIMITED BULLETS
limited waifus hogging the comms

let's gooo

BTW what's the small screenie from? Gigantic Army?
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by BIL »

I definitely recognise that spider tank from GA's second stage, though it was slightly less menacingly articulated back then - I suspect Astro Port will portray them as variant models, ala Nazca with the Metal Slug's trilogy's evolving roster of enemy hardware. IIRC, Astro Port have a little shared universe going on, starting with the conventional STG Armed Seven. I think Steel Strider revamped certain GA machinery too, though it's been an ungodly length of time since I played that one.
User avatar
Ghegs
Posts: 5052
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:18 am
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Ghegs »

Steam page has appeared, as well as a promo video and some gameplay footage of the first stage and part of the second.

So many references to Astro Port's earlier works...
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.

My videos
xxx1993

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by xxx1993 »

It appears to take place during the events of Armed 7.
User avatar
Durandal
Posts: 1530
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:01 pm

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Durandal »

Giant robots?
Giant giant robots?
Suitably weightful controls?
Bullets everywhere?
Pilebunkers?
Average background music?

Yeah, it's time for a GIGANTIC ARMY 2.
Xyga wrote:
chum wrote:the thing is that we actually go way back and have known each other on multiple websites, first clashing in a Naruto forum.
Liar. I've known you only from latexmachomen.com and pantysniffers.org forums.
User avatar
BulletMagnet
Posts: 13888
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:05 am
Location: Wherever.
Contact:

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by BulletMagnet »

Ghegs wrote:Steam page has appeared
There's a demo up there too, if you want to try it out.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18989
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by BIL »

Durandal wrote:Average background music?
As long as there's still a BGM slider so I can bust out the Shin Contra and G-Darius OSTs in Foobar with "next track" hotkeyed to [select] I'm all good Image

(Gigantic Army st3 w/"Dada" AMAZIN Image)
User avatar
Ghegs
Posts: 5052
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:18 am
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Ghegs »

BulletMagnet wrote:
Ghegs wrote:Steam page has appeared
There's a demo up there too, if you want to try it out.
Now how did I miss that, thanks for the heads-up.

Certainly feels like Gigantic Army 2 in every way, much more so than Steel Strider was. The controls feel exactly the same, except now there's a dedicated button for locking shooting direction (much appreciated) and dash gets its own button as well, though double-tapping a direction still works too. I wish there'd be an option to disable double-tapping and just use the button. The way dashing works is changed a bit, too.

Probably the most crucial change is how you can carry three weapons into battle this time, one with infinite ammo and two more powerful ones with limited, but even their ammunition can be restocked from pick-ups in the field, so plenty of options are available. I like how the first boss had several parts to him that could be destroyed separately, hopefully that's something other bosses will share as well.

Also a fifth difficulty beyond Insane, called Ultra. I gave it a quick go and while in the first stage I didn't feel much difference (maybe the boss had additional attacks?), but on the second stage I got blasted away pretty quickly, a couple of blasts at short range and my life was already at 20%. But even then Ultra didn't feel like that huge a difference compared to previous Astro Port titles, where the jump from Normal to Insane has usually been quite drastic.

The only thing I'm slightly worried about is the pacing. I'm generally not a fan of "defend this thing from waves of incoming enemies" -parts and in the demo there's one of those, so probably more in the full game. I just think they kill the momentum. And even in this stage-and-a-half of a demo, there are three short cutscenes mid-game (four if you count the one where your mech is dropped to the battlefield). They are short, and it's not like you have to listen to VA's talking about love can bloom on the battlefield, but I did notice that even after playing the demo just four times on different difficulties, I was already kind of bored of seeing them.

Funny timing, I played through Hardcore Mecha's demo on Switch earlier today and despite that game having more-or-less the same control options and the mech being more agile, I still felt like I was more in control in MECHBLAZE. The controls are a bit more streamlined in the latter, and of course I'm just used to this style thanks to playing Gigantic Army a whole bunch.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.

My videos
User avatar
WarpZone
Posts: 391
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:11 am
Location: USA

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by WarpZone »

This is now available on Steam (there doesn't seem to be a DRM-free option at the moment?). Anyone have thoughts on the full game compared to Gigantic Army?

GA has the finest controls in any Assault Suits-style game that I've played, but after stage 3 I don't think the level design really takes advantage of the possibilities. Mechblaze's demo didn't give me any indication it's more ambitious in this area, but I'm still interested.
User avatar
Ghegs
Posts: 5052
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:18 am
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Ghegs »

Wow. Six months almost to the day since the full game was released, purchased and installed, and only now did I get around to actually starting it for the first time. This is what getting old is.

As per Astro Port standard, Normal difficulty is quite easy, I beat it without dying on my first attempt. I then went through Hard and Easy to unlock some more weapons. Easy is nothing to talk about, and Hard wasn't really hard either, though there was one section I had to try several times - partly because I had chosen the just-unlocked Flamethrower as my main weapon and it just wasn't a good fit for that part, and my other weapons weren't good for it either. The game does save your progress at the start of each stage (even the score) so it can tried as many times as needed, even after turning the game off. The game also fully heals you after each stage unlike Gigantic Army, so it's definitely easier overall at least in that regard.

The dash is so good here. When you activate it, it doesn't stop after a few seconds like in GA but just keeps going, even if you fall to a lower level or jump to a higher one, you just keep dashing. Hit an enemy while dashing? Whack it with the pile driver and continue dashing automatically. It's great, really fun. On Easy and Normal you can just dash through most of the stages and mow enemies down with impunity, but starting on Hard some actual care needs to be taken. The controls are solid overall, and the buttons can be configured to your liking.

I really appreciated is that even between Easy, Normal and Hard there were clear, noticeable differences in how the game played. Easy was lacking parts of at least one stage completely (the aforementioned section where I died repeatedly in Hard, as it happens) and Hard already added new forms to two bosses. It's a fair guess that Insane and Ultra do the same, with TLB only available on Ultra.

The demo had me a bit worried about the "defend this thing from waves of incoming enemies" -parts, but there are only two of them in the whole game, so it's (just barely) acceptable in my book. There are also two short shmup stages, which just basically free movement all over the screen without being able to use the shield. Nice enough to break the pace a bit. There are short cutscenes in every stage and they can't be skipped, but they are short and they didn't happen often enough to annoy me.

There are so many references to other Astro Port titles. And Vulkaiser is a crucial part of the events!

After playing through MECHBLAZE in the first three difficulties, I went and booted up Gigantic Army, and man, it felt rough. I really miss the streamlined dashing and aim-lock with a separate button. Having three weapons available at all times is great and allows for more tactical freedom, and more of the weapons felt actually useful (shotgun is still trash in both games). It's going to be hard to go back to Gigantic Army, if I ever do...
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.

My videos
User avatar
Ghegs
Posts: 5052
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:18 am
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: MECHBLAZE, new from Astro Port

Post by Ghegs »

Coming to Switch on December, 14th. I guess there'a demo on US eShop?
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.

My videos
Post Reply