Developer: Winky Soft Pubisher: Zamuse Released: Oct 29, 1993 Genre: Shooter
For as much as I lament the inability of the various Macross series to come to the US it is an even bigger shame that the game’s suffer the same fate. I have to preface this first by saying there are just as many bad Macross games as the Gundam series. How they consistently make terrible shooters with this license will forever baffle me. But then again I can say the same thing about Star Fox. That being said some extremely cool titles have flown under the radar and Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie is one of them. In my opinion Scrambled Valkyrie is one of the best shooters for the SNES and an essential import purchase.
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie offers a choice of three characters: HIkaru, Maximilian, and Millia. Each has their own weapon load outs and specialties. Each ship has three separate weapons that can be powered up three times but degrades if you take a hit. The weapons are further dependent on the form your VF1 is currently in. Hikaru’s weapons are very similar to the Vic Viper’s, offering familiarity to shooter veterans. Millia has the strongest weapons but they only fire forward which is limiting. Maximilian is the fastest but has less health than the others. His weapons also don’t shine until they reach maximum power. Mastering their individual quirks leads to a slightly different experience when playing the game, offering some replay incentive.
There are no additional weapon power-ups but there is one cool weapon available, the Minmay cannon. Any time you remain idle the Minmay cannon creates an aura around your ship. Enemies that come in contact with it will become reprogrammed and fight on your side. Surprisingly the vast majority of the enemies you come across can be turned, from the small cannon fodder to the larger battle mechs. Although you don’t have direct control of their actions they are invincible and will follow a set pattern. Using certain enemies is almost game breaking as they are incredibly powerful. I’ve taken out some bosses in seconds with particular mechs. As a bonus they follow you to each new stage, only disappearing if you die or switch. It’s a big risk to use it but the Minmay cannon is usually worth it and an incredible addition to the game.
The controls are simple and only use two buttons to the game’s detriment somewhat. Switching forms plays a heavy role in the game and slowly cycling through each is frustrating. The way the game incorporates the various VF1 forms adds an element of strategy that I like. The fighter mode is the smallest and fastest, allowing you to easily dodge bullets. Gerwalk is a nice middle ground. Battroid mode has the heaviest firepower but is slow depending on the character and makes you a large target. Many situations almost necessitate certain forms such as the black holes of stage one or the fast paced and narrow tunnels of stage four. This aspect permeates the entire game and helps it rise above your generic shooters.
Scrambled Valkyrie covers a lot of ground despite its medium length. The pace is slower like R-Type outside of stage four; it even features an assault on a massive capital ship like that game. The slower pace does not diminish the game’s intensity however. The initial asteroid field filled with space debris, black holes and corpses is fairly impressive and the game continues to ramp up from there. You’ll eventually invade an enemy base, fly around the rings of Saturn and even navigate the insides of the UN Spacey. Each stage is pretty long and the game does an excellent job of keeping the variety high right up until each boss. Another cool touch, with a few exceptions each level has completely unique enemies.
Shooters that feature a life bar aren’t too common and are usually easier than their counterparts. Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie is anything but. The game is brutal; you have a single life and limited continues to get through this beast. Extra credits are very rare and death tosses you back to the beginning of the level. The stages are very long outside of the fourth which makes it soul crushing to retrace your steps. Despite comprising only seven levels you will definitely have to put in the work to ever see the end.
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie is one of the best looking SNES games of all time in my opinion. I would even go so far as to say it is one of the most visually stunning shooters from that era. Lavish amounts of detail covers every part of the game. The space graveyard of the first level is filled with tons of debris while the cloud filled moon of stage six has layers of scrolling as far as the eye can see. The game uses a mix of traditional hand drawn sprites and pre-rendered elements. That combination avoids the low resolution look of titles like Doom Trooper’s and is far cleaner. It also tosses a ton of sprites on screen with almost no slowdown which is a feat in itself.
Special effects are at a minimum because they aren’t necessary, although what is here looks spectacular. The game makes heavy use of transparency effects for black holes, water, and explosions. There are lots of subtle effects such as the way the exploding Zentraedi ship pushes you upwards in stage 1. I’ve been spoiled by the redbook audio soundtrack of Macross 2036 so the remixes here sound less than impressive. It is still good but damn it’s my own fault for playing that game first.
In Closing
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie is one of the Super Nintendo’s best shooters. I’ll go further than that. This is one of the best games for the system period. This is one of the best shooters from that era and is worth tracking down even today.
