CYBATTLER AND THE EXTREMES OF DIFFICULTY
Jaleco is no stranger on Arcade Archives, and this game is one of their obscure masterpieces.
This time we will check the mecha shmup Cybattler.
The orbital showdown.
The first thing to know about Cybattler is the controls. While almost all shmups lock the player facing right (or up in vertical scrollers), Cybattler breaks that concept in a similar way to Capcom's Forgotten Worlds by allowing the player to aim on multiple directions. This game allows you to aim in the basic 8 directions. As long as the player's not holding the fire or beam sword button the game grants you enough control of the situation, tackling a very important aspect of any game: Control. This is well exploited by the game as you'll be facing enemies from all directions right out the start, and not just that, you can decide if you want to take'em down with your shots or your beam sword. While it feels optional using the beam sword, the enemies will give you twice the amount of points more than they were shot by your beam weapons (Ex. a 500 robot gives you 1000), this justifies the learning and mastering of its use. This is almost a must in Mission 1 as your Beam Launcher needs to charge in order to fire a fast, spread volley. If the Beam Launcher gauge is depleted you'll be firing a simple stream of bullets requiring you to stop firing in order to recharge again.
Hi-Speed Lunar Pursuit
The second aspect of Cybattler is that each mission has different weapons. While Mission 1 had the vulcan-like Beam Launcher, Mission 2 will send you with the Beam Gatling Gun. This one is more of a Mega Buster-like weapon that requires you to fill the gauge in order to fire a powerful shot, in this case is a triple laser. On this stage/mission is where you can equip the Blanche with an Option Pod to provide you extra firepower. On Mission 3, you'll still be carrying the Gatling Gun but this time it will fire a slightly large bullet since your shots will be backed up with the Missile Pods, firing two missiles along with your bullets. In this level, your Option Pod will be gone, but you'll be granted a Mega-Bazooka Launcher which fires a strong bullet and can be charged for a spread shot. But here's the catch; you'll be locked in vertical position all the time as long as you're carrying it. Learning the use of your weapons is another forced requirement in this game, along with calculating when you need to charge your weapon or use your sword since your life will be the most valuable thing in this game. Like E.D.F. you are not given spare lives if your energy hits zero and to make things worse, the life item is only available on the first mission, right after that, clear a stage is Do-or-Die. This puts the survival condition in a simple, but cruel way: Die once and is go straight into the Continue screen, and to put more dilemma, continuing will send you back to the second half of the stage. This can be troublesome for solo players since the game ramps up the difficulty, especially in boss battles, being Sikamas II one of the worst with its tricky attack patterns and that tail-whip. Boss fights are gonna be a game of speed as they will be requiring fast reacting like dodging Grifforn's claws and the maniacal attacks from Hell Golem Gamma. If you don't have a second player, it is very likely that you're not gonna see beyond Mission 3.
Golem 2 Brownie
< < They got Mage 2?! > >
*"Mission Failed" from Ace Combat 7 plays*
Bosses are no longer the usual shmup boss waiting for your shots. The "Blast'em to death" fun ends right at mission 2, when the difficulty curve will require memorization and predictability from the player. Grifforn is OK on the concept of being challenging, as it requires to predict and calculate where it will fire its capture claws, but its just the beginning of the sudden spike in difficulty climbs up with Sikamas II and Gigas. If you can't figure out what to do with Gigas and his bullet blocking frontal attacks, then you'll be suffering for a long time, and forget about defeating Hell Golem Gamma, its impossible. I mean, a boss that sprays you with spikes that slow you down and damage you when they explode, as if getting damaged by being stabbed wasn't enough, and combined with its scythe's boomerang attack, is simply insurmountable for a single player mode because if you die, you'll start all the way back to Hell Golem Beta. If you've made it all the way to Mission 5, then Mission 6 will be the end of your run.
Bonus factors are still present in the game. The most common is the Mission Complete ones, which will depending on how full your life is, it will multiply your 1000 points. You'll be familiarized with getting 2000, 3000 or even 6000 points based on how much HP you had left. But if you can complete a mission with full HP, you'll get the "Perfect" bonus of 8000 points. I've noticed a hidden Special Bonus on Mission 1 where you can get 50000 points after the battle with Sikamas. How you can get it? Well check this out: After defeating Sikamas, a red mobile suit will appear with a group of green ones. If you can take all the green suits down with your sword and have energy around 80%-50%, you'll get the bonus. I don't know if there's more hidden bonuses, but as far as I know that's the only special one in the game.
The multidirectional shmup that will keep you busy.
Until you accomplish your mission or get incinerated on Earth's atmosphere.
In terms of home porting, luck wasn't on Blanche's side. While Exerion and E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force got homeports on home computers and Nintendo consoles, Cybattler was among the unfortunates that got forgotten to time when it had the potential of being a great port or a decent one. Probably it was its downright unfair difficulty one of the factors, but it had the potential to be a rebalanced SNES port. Super E.D.F. is a great example of that. It was until 2021 when Hamster and City Connection ported the game to the PlayStations 4|5 and the Nintendo Switch as part of the Arcade Archives lineup, with the well known features we're used to. But it is the game itself what counts more than the extra modes, and Thank God for the Save State function because you'll be exploiting it in your solo play because you're gonna need to survive 4 stages in a row in order to get 500,000 points and the gold trophy that comes with it, and if you want to complete the game you'll DEFINITELY have to do "Save State Abuse" because there's no room for error during Hell Golem Beta & Gamma's battle.
Jaleco presents a shmup with the action and intensity of a Saturday Morning show!
Despite its cruelty, Jaleco surprised us in both graphics and sound with fast paced sequence that evokes mecha animes like the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise with combat sequences such as deployments in space and weapon checks, but the in-game part has also its portion of intensity and speed as well as the action is fast paced and there's very few moments where it slows down, a solid indicator of how the game combines speed and rhythm, and that's where the music also takes place with some Haim Saban-Shuki Levy styled action tunes, along with a bit of Udi Harpaz in Mission 2 giving a feel of "Saturday Morning" to the game. Stage 3 has a little Pop-Rap mix with the classic rap intro percussion sequence that becomes quite catchy and suitable for the mech action in space. It rarely sounds like a chiptune and aims a bit more to redbook quality, breaking with the sound department of previous shmups like E.D.F.
CY-FACT-ER/TRIVIATTLER
Is this engine powered asteroid possible?
- The Arcade Archives release is the first and only homeport of the game.
- Blanche made an appearance as a DLC character for Psyvariar Delta.
- Asteroids turned in to space stations/battleships are a common science-fiction topic, but if you're asking if something like that might be possible in reality, the answer is a resounding "Yes". By picking the appropiate size based on the intended purpose and carving a large enough cavity inside them will grant a natural station or even a vessel.
- Of course, to carve inside an asteroid will take plenty of time and manpower to do that, but it might be far more accessible and low-cost than building a ship from scratch.
- Interconnecting asteroid-colonies is also possible as well, creating larger colony/habitats for humanity.
At least I've tried my best in this tough mecha-fight.
Cybattler is a box of mixed feelings and thoughts because it blends vertical shmup with basic Run N' Gun controls that gives us an unique arcade shooting experience waiting to provide us fun and challenge on the first three stages despite suffering with the out of control to impossible difficulty if you're playing the game on your own. One thing is challenge and another throw downright unfair moves for the sake of being extremely hard.
Hey Hot Shot! Are you "Tuff-E-Nuff" for Cybattler? City Connection and Hamster brought a challenge for shmup pro's, the ultimate question is can you take the heat and prove you have what it takes? The answer's up to you at this point because for me, Hell Golem Gamma is way beyond my fighting capabilities.
In the Eda Scale, that expression means
"If you're a God-like professional, then go ahead".