Poll: best 16-Bit style mech game?

[CIT]

I agree, is has a great arcade feel. It's not the only one on the list that can sports that though, and when it comes to challenge, Target Earth has more.

It does. It's just a bit rough in terms of presentation, feeling more 8bit really. I still need to spend some quality time with the PS4 remake; if Dracue could maintain the quality of Gunhound EX I'm pretty sure it'll deliver.

You could convince me anything about Valken. I can't beat the second stage for some reason.

Just to be sure: You're playing the SFC version right? Not the botched PS2 rerelease that got rid of the strafe function for some reason (which especially makes the zero-g segments a pain in the ass).

[Sumez]

Technically I'm playing the PAL SNES version, as that's the one I have.
I do have the PS2 version, but I never opened it.

[Turrican]

Technically I'm playing the PAL SNES version, as that's the one I have.
I do have the PS2 version, but I never opened it.

You could always resort to Napalm?

[Immryr]

Technically I'm playing the PAL SNES version, as that's the one I have.
I do have the PS2 version, but I never opened it.

are you holding the lock button in the zero gravity stages, like stage two? cause if you're not, you will have really big problems.

[TransatlanticFoe]

L to lock
R to block
These are the keys to doing well at Valken (I've done most of my play on PAL Cybernator)

[Mischief Maker]

I think part of the problem with this thread is how wide a net "mech" casts.

It can range from power armor to assault suits to Godzilla-esque stompers to Zone of the Enders-style flying ballerinas, each with its own different gameplay style.

[FinalBaton]

What are the differences between Valken and it's localisation Cybernator? gameplay-wise? story-wise?

I like getting physical, official copies of games. So if I go with Cybernator, am I getting a very inferior version compared to Valken, due to the dropped/altered content?
Or is it not that big of a deal?

[Turrican]

I think part of the problem with this thread is how wide a net "mech" casts.

It can range from power armor to assault suits to Godzilla-esque stompers to Zone of the Enders-style flying ballerinas, each with its own different gameplay style.

Disagree, around here there's much consistency - it's a given, seeing that many games are actually in the same series or metaseries.
We're talking of bipedal equivalent to tanks used in military operations, in space. The only one that sticks out of the rest and fits the Orbital Frame kin would be the one-of-a-kind Ex-Ranza. Well, maybe that explains why it's not getting much votes: I thought its fanbase to be stronger around these parts. How can be dismissed a solar-powered mech with a bike

Another Amiga title that would've fit the theme is The Killing Game Show / Fatal Rewind. I'd suspect though it would get even less votes than Walker...

What are the differences between Valken and it's localisation Cybernator? gameplay-wise? story-wise?

I like getting physical, official copies of games. So if I go with Cybernator, am I getting a very inferior version compared to Valken, due to the dropped/altered content?
Or is it not that big of a deal?

Not that big of deal, imo. You get no Urushihara mugshots, and some

Spoiler

suicide-related

censorship in the final sequence. The main bulk of the experience is intact, for once.

[BIL]

You could convince me anything about Valken. I can't beat the second stage for some reason.

You're almost certainly not fisting enough. ;3



Check out my replay and acquire the robo-jutsu techniques others foolishly neglect. ¦3

[Obiwanshinobi]

Who on here has even played split-screen Metal Warriors 2 player? One match I saw recorded on YouTube looked like nothing else in this "genre" to me.
More ambitious a game than those few who care to remember it seem to give it credit for. Like the original Grand Theft Auto. As such, not very "arcade" indeed, but then I don't think every video game should pretend it is "arcade".

[Turrican]

Wow, CIT, Night Slave looks like the real deal. If I knew about it, I would have included it.

[TransatlanticFoe]

What are the differences between Valken and it's localisation Cybernator? gameplay-wise? story-wise?

I like getting physical, official copies of games. So if I go with Cybernator, am I getting a very inferior version compared to Valken, due to the dropped/altered content?
Or is it not that big of a deal?

There are no gameplay changes, just some aesthetics and plot side-points:

Scene removed where you confront the enemy leader and he kills himself
No character thumbnails for text dialog, just a name
Some dialog is removed (including a plot point regarding the penultimate boss)
Translation is a bit iffy, and some of the characters get odd names as a result
Post-credits tie-in to Leynos is removed

Also the manual suggests some entirely different plot details to those presented in-game.

[Ruldra]

Who on here has even played split-screen Metal Warriors 2 player? One match I saw recorded on YouTube looked like nothing else in this "genre" to me.
More ambitious a game than those few who care to remember it seem to give it credit for. Like the original Grand Theft Auto. As such, not very "arcade" indeed, but then I don't think every video game should pretend it is "arcade".

I did back in the day, can confirm battles are really fun. Nothing like fighting till near-death, running away and ditching your mech for a new one. "It's round 2 bitch!".

The flying mech (Drache) is OP though, it has way more mobility than all the others and it has a downward attack that's almost an instakill.

[Herr Schatten]

Another Amiga title that would've fit the theme is The Killing Game Show / Fatal Rewind. I'd suspect though it would get even less votes than Walker...

Why would it? It's a vastly superior game, one of the select few from Psygnosis's 16-bit years I can actually stomach. I don't think it qualifies as a 'Mech' game, though, as 'Mech' for me means that we're talking strong bulky robots, while the unit in KGS/FR is lean and agile. Robot? Yes. Mech? Certainly not.

[Turrican]

Why would it? It's a vastly superior game, one of the select few from Psygnosis's 16-bit years I can actually stomach. I don't think it qualifies as a 'Mech' game, though, as 'Mech' for me means that we're talking strong bulky robots, while the unit in KGS/FR is lean and agile. Robot? Yes. Mech? Certainly not.

Well, the blueprint for the MUGs is clearly Robocop's ED-209. I've always considered the MUG as a jump-enabled ED-209, and that qualifies for mech, I'd say. ED-209 aren't far removed from Battletech / Mechwarrior's aesthetics. And not all mechas have to be bulky - the Ex-Ranza looks quite lean too. Ditto for the Metal Frames: MUGs may be far from the standard looking Havoc, but don't feel out of context next to a Spider or a Drache, I'd say.

Spoiler

Robot? Yes. Mech? Certainly not.

Seems the other way around: while they clearly looks mechs to me on screen, this review defines them as "captured criminals, transform[ed] using plastic surgery [...] into armoured weapon-packing cyborg creatures".

btw, I remember having great fun with Walker - it could get into some mouse-frenzy shooting. And I always have a weak spot for mechs facing puny humans. KGS on the other hand is too fantasy inspired in its background settings (ironically, given the Smash TV plot behind it). Basically if you change the main sprite with a gorgon or similar, you'll barely notice. Because of this realism factor I think Walker fits better in the list.

p.s. on Amiga, I remember also this that may qualify (theme-wise at least, but it's a rather crappy title).

[BIL]

I was kinda digging the MD port of TKGS. Nice arcadey concision - lava is rising, race it to the top in your wallclimbing ED209 thingy while fending off swarming baddies and scrambling for keys. Great title too! I love the blunt take on ye olde dependable ultraviolent future TV premise.

The action and general feel turned me off though. Weapons lacked oomph, and zako formations can just kinda waft all over you to drain your HP. I may well have been missing something but my Euroshmup Alert was tingling so I moved on.

[BrianC]

It's more guy in robotic super suit, but Atomic Runner Chelnov is good stuff.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I've thought of Chelnov as more of a superpowers kind of guy, given powers by radioactivity rather the suit (exploitative, to say the least). One thing MD remake sorely lacks is the coin-op version's dramatic opening (present in X68k and - leaked - Saturn ports, I think). Music on MD not so great, either, but otherwise - little is wrong with that version.

[OMFG]

A couple of games that enjoyed were Veigues Tactical Gladiator on the PCE and Mad Stalker on the PCE CD-Rom. I enjoyed VTG because of the added upgrades that you can do on the Mech between levels and the challenge of an instant "Game Over" if your mech bites the dust. As for Mad Stalker, I really like the style of the game.

[Kollision]

I have very fond memories of Cybernator.
Definitely the best of its kind I ever played. And I played lots of it back then.

As for 8-bit, my pick would be Metal Storm.

[Squire Grooktook]

I like a lot of the games here, but Gigantic Army blows them all out of the water IMO.

Probably one of the best sidescrollers ever made, mech-based or otherwise.

[Nordicus0114]

Assault Suits Valken

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I like a lot of the games here, but Gigantic Army blows them all out of the water IMO.

Probably one of the best sidescrollers ever made, mech-based or otherwise.

This is my pick. It lacks the strong presentation of Assault Suits Valken but it completely blows all the other games here out of the water in mechanical refinement and challenge.

As for the games in the poll, it's really hard for me to choose between Valken and Ranger-X. The latter game is a little sloppy in places but it's so ambitious and unique that it's hard not to love. I need to play the Leynos remake sometime, too.

[quash]

Voted for Gunhound, though if we extend this question to fighting games then I'd have to give it to Cyberbots, followed by Gundam Wing Endless Duel.

[BrianC]

Music on MD not so great, either

Really? It uses a very nice sound engine and I found the music to be better than the AC music.

It definitely doesn't count since you were right about the powers, though.

I thought of a couple 16-bit mecha games. Battle Clash and Metal Combat. Awesome lightgun shooters for SNES.

[BIL]

Seconding Squire and Sir Ilpalazzo on Gigantic Army. Sublime balance of precision piloting and monstrous destruction, with an uncommonly perfect scoring system. Leynos is nervier, Valken is grander and Ranza is cooler... and Wolf Fang is just outright bloody harder, but GA fuses finesse and carnage like no other heavy metal sidescroller I know of. No esoterica required, just master your vehicle, maintain the fury of your momentum, and pilebunker/beam-cannon cunts in their shit so hard they fuck. Boutique mechaviolence.

[Turrican]

I wonder how many of those five who voted for Gun Hazard did so because I've written the full title, and mistook into voting for the entire FM franchise.

Leynos and Leynos II still without love!

[BIL]

Assault Suits trilogy is slightly tragic case imo (I love and own all of 'em). They're like a perfect mecha sidescroller split into three parts - each has a very specific excellence not found in the others.

Leynos: THE HELLISH BATTLEFIELD. Expansive, mercilessly random killing fields with unknowable dangers lurking on all sides. Even coldly executing an out-maneuvered enemy mech has a sense of vicious blowback, with the risk of shrapnel tearing in your direction. Controls too primitively to really capitalise on its mech-warring ethos, though.

Valken: One of the absolute ultimate Interactive Action Movies. A titanically theatrical yet resolutely substantial romp. Controls perfectly. But where's Leynos's sense of pitiless danger? A relatively "safe" experience that could've used a little more unbridled chaos.

Leynos 2: Superbly developed mechanics; the involved targeting, propulsion and radar systems let the player tear around the screen smiting and foiling attackers with alacrity undreamed of in the prior two games. Extensive customisation a welcome development of Leynos 1's system. However... there's a distinct lack of Valken's masterful direction, creating a slight sense of being all dressed up with nowhere to go (the loop is cool at least).

And then the fourth, final game is a turn-based strategy. Even Gigantic Army, although superb, is decidedly Valken's homage. (also, sheeit! I've still not played the Leynos 1 remake)

[Leandro]

I like a lot of the games here, but Gigantic Army blows them all out of the water IMO.

Probably one of the best sidescrollers ever made, mech-based or otherwise.

I bought this one on Steam a while back but for some reason couldn't get into it. I'll give it another chance sometime.

My vote is for Target Earth, by the way. Loved the difficulty, music, the flow of the levels and the Garegga style explosions. Finished it a couple of times some years ago, it's a super satisfying game to clear. It's just a lovely game all around.

[GSK]

No love for the recent Leynos remake?