Soukou Kihei Votoms

Votoms is an action game based on the ’80s anime series of the same name. The player assumes the role of Chirico Cuvie and fights using mecha known as “Armored Troopers.”

The game also covers the entire original TV series narrative as well as its multitudinous OVA-based progeny (bar Mellowlink, though there are a few missions on Sunsa that have you take out ATs just on foot, which was a nice nod). You even get a Blue Knight side-story mission, which is incredible considering how niche the original manga was.

There’s so much this game gets right, from how the ATs handle, to hitting the beats of the original anime’s narrative. The only real downside to the whole thing is that the environments can be quite spartan and simplistic. They’re also overused in some sections. Obviously, the priority was to model all the various ATs and other enemies you face. So the heavy task of creating richer and more involved environments fell by the wayside.

Overall, even if you know nothing about VOTOMS, let alone mecha gaming, you’ll appreciate the wonderful job Yuke’s have done of creating a consistent handling ruleset for the ATs in this game. The sheer visceral thrill of speeding through a dangerous troupe of equally lethal enemy ATs whilst literally dancing around them is quite wonderful indeed.