{"id":15134,"date":"2016-06-17T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2016-06-17T00:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=15134"},"modified":"2016-06-10T19:42:43","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T19:42:43","slug":"carys-favorite-mech-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/17\/carys-favorite-mech-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Cary’s Favorite Mech Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KIRBYROBOT\"<\/a>A new Kirby game was released on 3DS recently, called Kirby: Planet Robobot.\u00a0 In this game, Kirby can pilot a robot mech to smash enemies and solve puzzles.\u00a0 So that got me to thinking about other mech games that I like, so here\u2019s a blog about them!<\/span><\/p>\n

OK, once you see my list, you may say, \u201cHey Cary, these aren\u2019t TRUE mech games!\u201d\u00a0 Yeah, I know.\u00a0 They\u2019re more like \u2018games that you can ride around in a mech sometimes.\u2019\u00a0 But that would\u2019ve been too long of a title.\u00a0 I do know what a TRUE mech game is.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen and played many.\u00a0 I remember back in the 90s, there was a computer game that some of my family was into and even my dad tried it for a little bit called Mechwarrior.\u00a0 But personally I thought it was more of a fancy tank simulator.\u00a0 Years later when I was writing for The Dallas Morning News, I actually reviewed the original Armored Core game on the PSOne.\u00a0 I consider that to be a TRUE mech game.\u00a0 I guess you could even say that Xenogears is a mech game even though it\u2019s an RPG, as all the characters have giant mechs they can climb in to battle.\u00a0 But all the games on this list are ones I actually LIKE, so you\u2019ll just have to deal with my weirdness.\u00a0 Oh, and this list isn\u2019t in any particular order.\u00a0 So let\u2019s begin!<\/span><\/p>\n

Mega Man X (SNES)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

While I think the Mega Man X games are missing a lot of the charm the original series had, I think the very first MMX game was exactly what the series needed at the time.\u00a0 Mega Man already had six games on the NES and while they were all fun, they were getting to be kind of same-y.\u00a0 When they made the jump to 16-bit, the series really needed something that would stand out more, and I think they succeeded.\u00a0 One of the things you could do in Mega Man X was hop inside rideable mechs and tromp around and wallop enemies.\u00a0 It was loads of fun and very cool at the time.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad they kept the mechs in the X sequels.\u00a0 I especially liked it in X4 when you could take one of the mechs in to beat one of the bosses!<\/span><\/p>\n

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In this DQ spinoff game, you play as a heroic Slime in a 2-D top-down viewed adventure.\u00a0 One of the things you can do in this game is have giant mech battles.\u00a0 Actually the game calls them \u2018tanks,\u2019 but some of them look like giant mechs, so I put it on the list.\u00a0 When in these battles, you still control your slime in top-down fashion as you pick up objects and load them into cannons, and you can even exit your mech and sabotage the opponent\u2019s vehicle!\u00a0 It\u2019s so much fun, and my favorite Dragon Quest game.\u00a0 I\u2019m sad we never go the 3DS sequel.\u00a0 In that game, you had similar battles, but they were on pirate ships!<\/span><\/p>\n

Steambot Chronicles (PS2)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This game is so awesome and sadly, hardly anyone has heard of it.\u00a0 The game is set in an alternate 1900\u2019s universe around the time of the Industrial Revolution.\u00a0 But instead of people driving around in Model T\u2019s, they ride in primitive bipedal mechs.\u00a0 Like Model T\u2019s, just with legs instead of wheels.\u00a0 There is so much you can do in this 3-D adventure.\u00a0 You can follow the story and make some choices here and there.\u00a0 You can customize your mech and even enter it in battles.\u00a0 Earn money with odd jobs and you can even play music on a street corner for pocket change or play pool!\u00a0 With money you can rent several apartments in different cities and decorate them with all sorts of furniture. \u00a0It\u2019s almost like Japan\u2019s answer to Grand Theft Auto!\u00a0 There were a couple of spinoff games on the PSP (one based on the battles and a Blokus game), and both came out over here.\u00a0 There was going to be a PS3 sequel (in Japan the games are called Bumpy Trot), but the maker of Steambot Chronicles, Irem, sadly went out of business.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Tail Concerto (PSOne)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This was such a charming cartoony 3-D adventure on the original PlayStation, and another one that nobody\u2019s heard of.\u00a0 In the game you play as Waffle, an anthropomorphic police dog who lives in a world full of other cats and dogs.\u00a0 His world is made up of floating islands, and he pilots a comical mech that allows you to capture naughty kittens and battle a likeable cat pirate gang. The cutscenes are fully animated and it\u2019s almost like an interactive cutesy anime.\u00a0 I wish they\u2019d make more games like this now.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s really cool is that Tail Concerto actually got a sequel, and it was even brought to the US!\u00a0 The game is called Solatorobo, and it\u2019s on the DS.\u00a0 You don\u2019t play as Waffle, but a new character instead.\u00a0 But you still pilot a mech.\u00a0 The game itself is a little darker than Tail Concerto, but characters from the first game do show up in side missions sometimes.\u00a0 Sadly, I think both games are pretty rare and hard to find.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I still have \u2018em!<\/span><\/p>\n

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PSOne)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved the Mega Man Legends games back in the day, but I\u2019m afraid to play them again because I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve aged as well.\u00a0 One of the reoccurring villains in those games got her own spinoff title because she was so likable.\u00a0 You might even remember seeing Tron Bonne and her loyal cute little Servebots in other games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Project X Zone, or even referenced in titles like Dead Rising.\u00a0 In Tron\u2019s own game, you piloted her mech in action stages and even puzzle levels!\u00a0 It was such a weird mash-up of game genres but I loved it!\u00a0 I\u2019m still sad we never got Mega Man Legends 3 on the 3DS because I would\u2019ve loved to see more antics of the Bonne family!<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Fantasy 6 (SNES)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

FF6 is one of my top five favorite games of all time.\u00a0 One of the cool things about this game is that at the beginning, you pilot mechs called Magitek Armor.\u00a0 They are ridable robots infused with magic and I thought they were so cool in the game.\u00a0 You use them to unfairly storm a snowy mining town.\u00a0 But sadly, you only use Magitek Armor two other times in the game and for only very briefly.\u00a0 I wish you could use them more, but even so, they really helped separate this game from other titles in the series.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This game was recently released, and is very similar to past main Kirby 2-D platformers like Kirby Triple Deluxe and Kirby\u2019s Return to Dream Land.\u00a0 Except in this one, you can pilot a rideable mech around that can scan and absorb abilities just like Kirby!\u00a0 While this feature is just an extension of the Hypernova ability from Triple Deluxe, and the Super Abilities from Return to Dream Land, the mech still makes for some fun gameplay and puzzle solving.\u00a0 Similar to the hidden keychains you could find in Triple Deluxe, here you can find sticker decals that you can place on your mech arms for a bit of customization.\u00a0 The stickers make references to past Kirby games, too!\u00a0 In the story, robots have taken over Kirby\u2019s homeworld, and he sets out to stop them.\u00a0 Usually in past Kirby titles, the stages are very organic.\u00a0 Green plains, sandy beaches, etc.\u00a0 But in Planet Robobot, since it\u2019s being taken over by machines, the plains areas are filled with metal and pipes, the ocean stage doesn\u2019t have sand and islands, but oil rigs instead.\u00a0 So the game has a slightly grittier feel to it.\u00a0 Sure there are still silly stages like a giant casino and an ice cream factory, but it\u2019s definitely a different look from previous titles!<\/span><\/p>\n

And those are my favorite mech games!\u00a0 At least the ones I can think of, anyway!\u00a0 In the comments section, let me know what your favorite mech games are!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new Kirby game was released on 3DS recently, called Kirby: Planet Robobot.\u00a0 In this game, Kirby can pilot a robot mech to smash enemies and solve puzzles.\u00a0 So that got me to thinking about other mech games that I like, so here\u2019s a blog about them! OK, once you see my list, you may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15136,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15134\/revisions\/15136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}