Last month, UNiT Inc. invited EX into its offices for a sneak preview and hands-on session of MACROSS DIGITAL MISSION VF-X. The version previewed and played was 95% complete, which was further down the line than the demo previewed at the PlayStation Expo the previous month. Only a final text editing needing to be completed before the master CD-ROM was sent to Sony for approval.

The Story

The scenario is quintessentially MACROSS, or at least MACROSS redux: The year is 2047 AD, approximately two years after the Protodeviln War in which the United Nations discovered the Spiritia-enhancing potential of music. In this light, the popular five-member idol group Milky Dolls (yes, Milky Dolls) comes to a colony planet to perform a concert -- only to be captured by a fleet of Zentradi. Your mission is to fight through this massive armada of ships, pods, and fighters to save the idol singers. This game has the music and the mecha we have come to expect in Macross -- only the love triangle is conspicuously missing. (But a 3-D shooter is the wrong genre for that.)
The player is first treated with an exquisitely animated opening sequence storyboarded by Kawamori Shouji and accompanied by Fire Bomber's "Fly Away." The game itself is divided into nine missions, beginning with one in which you pilot a VF-1 Valkyrie against a VF-4 Lightning III as training and culminating with a final protracted duel with the de rigueur "boss" -- a transforming Zentradi fighter. Survive the battle with this never before seen mecha, and you will be at the front seat of a concert by the Milky Dolls with a song written and composed by Iijima Mari, the original Lynn Minmay voice.

The Gameplay

UNiT seems to have taken their cues from the frustrations players had with MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, another 3-D mecha PlayStation game released by Bandai. (Neither this GUNDAM game nor its successor MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM was developed by UNiT.) Even in the space missions, the gameplay of VF-X is smoother and less disorienting than the wildly gyroscopic maneuvers in the PlayStation GUNDAM games.
The field of vision is broader in VF-X's variable fighter cockpit view than in GUNDAM'S mobile suit cockpit view (but the GUNDAM games' cockpits were deliberately made so claustrophobic to be faithful to the anime). Naturally, the home television's two-dimensional screen will never be able to compete with the panoramic visibility afforded by a "real" variable fighter's bubble canopy and multiple monitors, but UNiT took steps to accommodate this discrepancy. In the previous versions, a directional threat indicator arrow indicated if the nearest enemy was off screen in external or cockpit view. But toggling from cockpit to external resulted in loss of the radar screen. The latest version now sports the radar screen in both the external and cockpit view, as well as a larger threat indicator. No one is going to confuse this game with a true simulator, but as a "realistic" 3-D shooter game, this game accommodates the player without removing the challenges.

The Options

The variable fighters at the player's disposal are:

• the original and easy to fly VF-1X Plus Valkyrie
• the space-optimized VF-4G Lightning III
• the overall balanced VF-11B Thunderbolt
• the heavily armored yet stealthy VF-17D Nightmare
• the highly maneuverable VF-19A Excalibur
• the heavily armed and armored VF-22 Sturmvogel II

The Graphics

The graphics have improved significantly, but not dramatically, from those of the versions previewed last year before the half-year delay. To accomplish this though, UNiT seemed to have made compromises. The number of buildings in the new version's city missions have increased to the point that the game conjures flashbacks of favorite city battle scenes from the various MACROSS anime. However, the buildings do not emerge from the vanishing points and then grow in visual size as one approaches. Rather, they sort of pop up about two-thirds of the way from the horizon and then grow in size. This would be less disconcerting if a fog effect was implemented effectively but, frankly the player is too busy trying to survive to notice these discrepancies most of the time. The image of the fighter itself is slightly smaller in the external view to accommodate the addition of the radar screen.
Some of the graphics were rather less impressive than others. The promised "Itano Circus" display of corkscrewing missile plumes never quite achieved the visual spectacle of the animated versions, although the effect is more impressive in actual gameplay than in these screen shots (wait until you see a barrage of missiles loop around buildings to track an enemy pod). Compared to the opening and ending animations, the insert animation sequences between missions underwhelm with their talking-heads images of the various Milky Dolls' faces. All in all, though, the frame rate is smooth and the pervasive sense that you truly are piloting a variable fighter is astonishing.
The final verdict? For the unabashed MACROSS enthusiast, here is an unqualified recommendation. For everyone else, rest assured that this game's playability and sheer fun factor advances beyond the PlayStation GUNDAM games and offers one of the better executed game adaptations of an anime series yet.

MACROSS DIGITAL MISSION VF-X
Sony PlayStation compatible CD-ROM game
Single-player 3-D shooting game
Compatible with analog joystick and memory card (2 blocks)
SLPS-00386
Developer: UNiT Inc.
Released by Bandai Visual
1997, end of February (rescheduled)
¥6800
Copyright © 1997 Big West/Bandai Visual
STAFF:
Production: UNiT [Victory Zone]
Executive Director: Kawamori Shouji (Studio Nue) [Macross, Macross Plus, Escaflowne]
Digital Animation Director: Itano Ichiroh [Macross, Macross Plus, Macross 7]
Mechanical Design: Kawamori Shouji (Studio Nue) [Macross]/Miyatake Kazutaka [Yamato, Macross, Dunbine]
Basic Character Design: Mikimoto Haruhiko [Macross, Aim for the Top!, Macross 7]
Ending Theme Lyrics/Composition: Iijima Mari (Macross: Do You Remember Love, Macross Flash Back 2012)
Animation Character Design: Katsura Ken-ichiroh (Macross 7)
Graphic Design: Sayama Yoshinori (Macross Plus)
Game Design & Director: Yamaguchi Hiroshi (Macross: Do You Remember Love, Evangelion, Bounty Sword)

CAST:
Ai Tsuwabugi: Tomo Sakurai
Reatrice: Kikuko Inoue
Molly: Kotono Mitsuishi
Violetta: Yuka Imai
Fredia: Noriko Namiki