Tech Romancer/Kikaioh

Arcades   Is It Worth It?

I fear this page takes a bit of loading time, so i will write my resumé in between the pix to shorten ur time ;)

   

Actually I dont know why (even on Dreamcast) this game was quite a loser. Some good articles on japanese gamezines, but thats about it.
It sure belongs to the top fighter games out there. And heres why...

Totally awesome 3-D grafic engine with smooth zooming effects. Never seen one single clipping error or slow down no matter what. Grafically this game rox supreme. Fascinating lighting effects even projected on the surroundings. Very good cut-scenes during the fights (eg special moves or unblockables feature the character manning the mech...see above).

The HUD features all the infos u need on a single blink. Armour level, weapons avaliable, damage report, power-meter, time and so on. And believe me u will need every info there is!!! Game features 5 buttons: Punch, Kick, Jump, Defend and Weapon-change. With these 5 buttons u let loose a whole arsenal of destruction on ur enemy and surroundings.

U read correctly...ur surroundings. U can destroy EVERYTHING there is and if ur lucky u find some goodies in buildings, skyscrapers, antennas, rocks, crates, aso. Upgrades give u many different powerups like additional weapons, speed, defense up, offense up, stuns, armour, health aso...

Look above u see the cut-scene for a special grappling event. If u grapple an enemy this way (not easy!) both players need to rumble their sticks and smash the buttons. Loser gets stunned for some secs...get ur combos or specials going! Great grafix! Blocks, rushes, grapples, counters, comboattacks, specials and special sideway slide-away-attacks give u some fighting-techniques to work on.

Dont think this is another 3-D looking fighter only featuring 2-D fighting (like Street Fighter Ex)! IT IS 3-D! You may run where u want. Arena is not bordered by invisible walls or something like that. Only thing ur bound to is the distance to ur enemy on smallest zoom.

After u win a fight ur enemy goes up in an atomic bomb-explosion...very well animated. Below u see another cut-scene threw into the middle of the fight when making a special move. Generally all moves are very easy to let go. U will learn basic moves in a sec. Advanced fighting will consume some time.

U chose one of eight fighting machines, for some there are more than one pilot to chose from, or different mech-modes to chose from. Every mech has different weapons and different special wepons. Also every mech shows large differences in fighting style (not like Street Fighter where differences between some characters are academic).

For example WISE DUCK cant jump. Not an inch. Therefore he drops mines. Be careful not to attack-jump into it. Do a lot of damage!
DIANA 17 is the fastest of all mechs (also jumps very high and far), but cant withstand lots of damage. All mechs are very well balanced and u cant go into the game telling THIS is the best mech and be sure to win all fights. Great balance!

Next thing to care about is ur armor. HUD shows u ur current armor in %. U lose armor if special hits are not blocked. If u lost all armor u still stand but every blocked hit will fill up ur damage-meter and every unblocked hit will do devastating damage.

Every cut-scene and character drawing is very detailed and fits perfectly into the mech-anime ambiente of this fighter. There are 4 (as much as i have seen them) special enemies u cant play but are thrown into the fight against u (i think) randomly by the AI.

Game features 2 modes. Arcade and Story. Story mode features VERY WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!! done introscenes of ur mech and character. A big WOW!!!
After finishing the game (if u manage) again there are extro-scenes to watch. GREAT!

Sound is not a big hitter here, but fx are nicely done. Especially during cut-scenes.
Though this game has that many features it is not confusing. U will need to get into the game a few secs, but ull manage easily.

CUT SCENE...yeah baby!

Special finishes will show the screen explode with colors and grafical gimmics.

THIS GAME IS GREAT! Everyone saying otherwise has no idea of gaming. And every magazine that wrote otherwise didnt play more than 5 minutes. I read tests that give this game a 50% rating. LOL...idiots! What game did u test? Tekken 1?

This game is not for beginners though its easy to handle. U wont find any moves u need to learn for aeons (see Garou or Samurai Shodown IV...play against a player who really can play them...and be amazed what ur character can do if u learn and learn and learn) but u wont stand a single tiny micro chance against an experienced Tech Romancer player. What i mean is there are some fighters that u can win by simple button smashing (eg Virtua Fighter or Bloody Roar) even vs experienced players. NOT! this one. Again...GREAT!

The crew:

Players: 2
Developer: Capcom
System: Sony ZN-2
Rating: