A flaccid robot-building RPG that narrowly avoids the scrap heap.
Biomotor Unitron is one in a line of many NEOGEO POCKET COLOR titles to discover a new house on Swap. It is nice to see video games misplaced to time make their option to the first transportable console available on the market, however that is to not say that we’re hanging gold with each new expertise unearthed. Enter Biomotor Unitron, a barebones RPG about outfitting a robotic and climbing the match ranks to change into grasp of your area. Absent any actual story, the sport fumbles with repetitive dungeons, rote fight, and a blisteringly excessive encounter price. No matter steel components had been thrown collectively to create this sport, it ended up extra Frankenstein’s monster than Michaelangelo’s David.
After beginning a brand new sport, you select between a male or feminine protagonist, with the opposite changing into your companion, who’s stationed in your workshop to assist with growing new components or outfitting your machine. The titular unitron is what you’re taking into battle, and it really adjustments look and colour primarily based on its elemental affinity and tools. The menu-based exploration on the town takes you to considered one of 4 areas, every with a number of characters to work together with, however most present little in the best way of information or significant dialogue.
The fundamental gameplay loop of grinding out ranges and cash to improve your unitron after which compete within the subsequent match gives some leisure, however the feeling is fleeting. The 4 dungeons exterior the principle city are boring, cumbersome to discover, and maze-like of their building. Exploration is made all of the extra tedious by an encounter price that may put the primary two Breath of Fireplace video games to disgrace. About one in 4 treasure chests you open finally ends up being empty, whereas most others award solely cash which you can spend within the store to purchase new components, supplies for crafting, or fight objects like FixIt potions. The enemy designs aren’t all that engaging both, and since it’s important to begin each dungeon on the primary ground (out of seven), trudging by way of the early flooring as you get stronger is much an excessive amount of of a chore.
Battles themselves play out as customary turn-based affairs, very similar to within the Pokémon video games. Elemental varieties like Fireplace and Water have strengths and weaknesses, however there isn’t any indication in fight if you happen to’ve hit an enemy’s sturdy or weak level. That is much less of a problem within the 4 dungeons since every of them facilities on a single component; deliver a fireplace kind assault to the wood-themed dungeon and also you’re golden. The dearth of transparency is extra of an issue within the tournaments the place you battle different unitrons. It isn’t defined anyplace, however the colour of a unitron does denote its elemental affinity. Nonetheless, including some textual content throughout fight to point the effectiveness of assaults would have been extremely welcome. One other problem is that you simply mainly have solely two assaults (you possibly can earn two additional ones finally), one for every arm, which makes among the later sport fights and the ultimate dungeon notably irritating.
On the plus aspect, the best way that you simply buy fundamental weapons and improve them on the workshop is form of neat. After selecting a particular armament, like a bow, a cannon, or a rapier, you possibly can then ask your companion that will help you craft an improve by including a fabric like metal, gold, or platinum after which boosting your possibilities of success with a Device merchandise. That mentioned, with out the rewind function, failure is immensely punishing in that you simply lose the fabric and power if the method would not yield a brand new weapon. Late-game supplies will be exceedingly uncommon or costly, which makes the random likelihood hooked up to crafting a needlessly punitive function.
Except you are making an attempt to play or gather all the NEOGEO releases coming to Swap, it is onerous for me to suggest Biomotor Unitron. Video games that got here earlier than it, like Quintet’s Robotrek, have taken an analogous premise and created a way more properly rounded expertise. Biomotor is solely mired in repetitive gameplay that simply is not paid off by any pleasing story or character moments. Whereas it is not damaged or unplayable, it is mediocre and irritating in equal measure. Greatest to steer clear from these outdated robotic wars or at the least look ahead to a steep low cost.
