It's no secret that I like Capcom's fighting games; I've been a big fan of the Street Fighter series for many years now. So a friend of mine told me that Capcom made a fighting game with big hulking robots, and I was interested.
Tech Romancer is not, in fact, Street Fighter with robots. It does have super attacks, as well as "normal" and "special" moves for each robot. However, these are the only real similarities to the Street Fighter series.
First off, the control system is completely different. There are only four active buttons: Two attacks, one jump button and one block button. Furthermore, the quarter-circle motion (a.k.a. the "fireball" or "Hadoken") is not used to execute the special and super moves. Most moves are accomplished by holding the joystick forward or back, or quickly moving from forward to back and vice versa. This new system makes the game very easy to pick up, even if it is a totally new fighting system. I played Tech Romancer with someone who had never played before, after having played myself for several weeks, and the new player beat me easily.
Another big difference is that Tech Romancer is totally 3D. Even though it plays mostly like a 2D fighter, players are free to go anywhere in the stage, to dodge attacks or break buildings to get at items. The graphics are colorful and effective, and the attack animations are quite vivid.
Sound is also quite expressive. The attack sounds basically sound like lasers and missles should sound (though I can't say I have any first-hand experience with lasers and missiles). The voice acting seems to be good, though it's hard to tell since it's in Japanese. Even though Tech Romancer is based on anime, where Japanese with English subtitles is superior to English dubbing, I still would have preferred Capcom to have given me a choice to hear the voices in English.
What really sets Tech Romancer apart, however, is its story mode. In single player mode, you can choose from Hero Challenge Mode, which is a typical "beat all the other fighters and win", and Story Mode, in which each fighter has a unique story that progresses as you win battles. Not only does each fighter get his/her/its own story, but the stories are also interactive, occasionally giving you a choice which determines how the story progresses. It's an innovative mode that hasn't been done before (or at least not done well), and it really sets Tech Romancer apart.
All in all, Tech Romancer is an excellent fighting game which s really a breath of fresh air in the fighting genre. It's easy for a new player to pick it up, and this ease does make the fun wear thin after a bit, but this is really a worthwhile game to check out. You may be pleasantly surprised.
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