Developer: Advance Communication Company Publisher: MA-BA Corp Release: 10/23/92 Genre: RPG
For the most part the anime licensed game bubble usually spanned a few genres during the 8 and 16-bit era. You had your generic platformer, side-scrolling beat ‘em up, and if they were a little more ambitious maybe you would get a RPG. Adventure games however would not become more prominent until the Saturn and PlayStation. There were a few however. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor: 98 Shiki Kidou Seyo! is a low profile Genesis import that few are aware of. After finally playing it I can see why. It has its heart in the right place but stumbles in too many areas to be a worthwhile endeavor.
Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor: 98 Shiki Kidou Seyo unlike most licenses does not follow the plot of the Patlabor OVAs. Instead it follows an original character with a new story. As a fresh recruit to the mobile tank police you report for duty on your first day. However a coup d’état takes place within the country with troops occupying the base for some unknown reason. Every member of the tank police has been captured except you and surprisingly Captain Goto, who is seemingly free for no reason. Are the two of you going to team up to free the team? No! You are going it alone!
The fan translation makes the game more accessible. But it is not complete. There are rooms with text that are still in Japanese. Toward the end of the game there is plenty of missing or garbage text you will have to work around. But to be completely honest even if the translation were complete this is not a good game. The game’s premise lacks urgency; even though there is a coup taking place in the country life goes on as usual outside of the base. You and the members of the team you eventually find easily roam free of the base and leave multiple times with no issue. There are a few twists along the way but the game is short and the end is anticlimactic. You probably will not stick around that long.
Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor is a traditional adventure game with a simple interface. The game is very streamlined which avoids the cumbersome nature of most console adventure titles. The list of commands is small and the game does not force you exhaust every option to progress. In fact it will quickly tell you if you are wasting your time. You collect a small number of items for later use and most are self-explanatory. Unlike most adventure titles once you use an item oddly it still stays in your inventory.
If the game were to only consist of its adventure element it would be tepid. Unfortunately there are numerous awful RPG elements that are outright terrible. As you move throughout the base there are random battles for no reason. There is no experience or levels, no weapons or armor to equip and no items to use. They exist to slow the game down and do an exceptional job of it. The encounter rate is through the roof as you fight the same three soldiers. Only one is weak with the other two being abnormally strong. Since you gain nothing but money that is virtually worthless outside of one scenario it is better to run if possible. If anyone on your team dies it is game over which can happen easily. You will have to tolerate this for the entire game unfortunately.
Midway through the game you must navigate a dungeon. This dungeon is massive and hard to navigate as the walls look identical and there is no map. This singular dungeon spans multiple floors and is full of dead ends. Your field of view is literally a few spaces which makes it even worse. The random battles follow you underground and are just as numerous. At least the enemies here are not as strong but still. Once again this is another tedious element that I am sure is supposed to add variety. But in the end it drags the game down.
In Closing
In the end Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor cannot avoid being another in a long line of bad licensed games. This game is a genuine Patlabor “deep cut”, an ambitious but flawed hybrid of adventure and RPG. There are few good things I can say about it. The cast is true to their TV personalities from what little I remember of the TV series 30 years ago. Though it boasts a strong narrative premise and direction from Oshii, its poor pacing, repetitive settings, and punishing mechanics result in a frustrating, grinding experience. They certainly tried but they fail at every turn to create a compelling adventure.
