This Macross Shooting Insight Review is based on playtime with the Nintendo Switch version. The game is also available on PC(Steam), and PS4/PS5, for €/$ 39,99.
When I first saw the announcement for Macross Shooting Insight, the first thing that sprang to mind was that it might be a rebranded version of the Japanese budget PS1 release Simple 1500: The Shooting. Thankfully, this release has nothing more in common with the 1,500-yen-priced 2.5D shmup than its name. Macross Shooting Insight has much more in common with other contemporary shmup games we’ve seen throughout the last couple of years, with the big exception of its sub-genre blending gameplay.
Macross and its legacy
Let start with the IP at hand here. Macross is a long-running Japanese mecha franchise that began with the 1982 anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross. It blends sci-fi action, transforming fighter jets (Valkyries), and has a strong focus on music as a key narrative element. Over the years, Macross has expanded into multiple sequels, movies, and games, building a complex universe of interstellar war, love triangles, and the power of song. Macross Shooting Insight taps into the Macross universe as a whole. Macross never really landed in European pop-culture but part of it did in the form of Robotech. Macross was a big part of it, as it was a 1985 animated series that combined three unrelated anime (Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada) into one single storyline. Due to licensing issues, Robotech and Macross have remained distinct entities outside Japan, leading to confusion among fans.
A mix of shmup sub-genres
At first glance, this might seem like just another modern bullet-hell shooter developed for contemporary consoles. While the latter is true, Kaminari has attempted to shake things up. Instead of sticking to one specific shmup sub-genre, the game blends multiple styles. This may seem gimmicky at first, but after spending about five hours with the game, it appears the developers have managed to make this ambitious concept work.
The game seamlessly combines vertical, horizontal, twin-stick, and on-rails shooting genres, switching fluidly between stage sections. The gameplay is held together by the attack mechanics, which carry across the changing field of view. The shump-gameplay is snappy and responsive and combining the different attack options is pretty fun to execute and strategize. Well, if you use one of the right Valkyrie, that is.
Ship selection and balance issues
The available Macross craft each have distinct characteristics. While the tag-on missile mechanic works the same for all. For readers that are familiar with the recently rereleased RayCrisis series, the missile system works roughly in the same way. The main attack range from slow but powerful pulse beams to a highly functional spread gun on the YF-19, for example.
This brings up one of the game’s major issues—balance. While I suspect that with enough practice, you could complete the game with any of the ships, but the YF-19 feels far superior due to its speed and hit range. In contrast, most of the other fighters feel almost unplayable, making the difficulty curve frustratingly uneven.
Difficulty and accessibility options
Another challenge is the game’s approach to health recovery. No additional health is supplied during a mission. Instead, some health is restored after completing a mission, based on your performance in the previous stage. With an autosave system that locks in progress after each lengthy stage, this is quite a punishing rundown. Even if you manage to survive level after level, you’ll see life bar dwindle as you progress. I’m not saying that there is no place for difficult games, but Kaminari took a wrong turn in game design here. There is no point of starting the next level with one-third of a live bar, because you took a beating in the previous one.
That said, Macross Shooting Insight offers substantial accessibility features. The “auto recover” option restores health during a stage as long as you don’t take damage. While helpful, this mechanic disrupts the game’s balance jst as much as the lack of life power ups. The level bosses are designed to be challenging but fair, requiring careful maneuvering after a long and dangerous lead-up. However, enabling this feature trivializes these boss encounters to a certain extend. Playing with accessibility features on feels like cheating, while playing without them can be frustratingly difficult.
Story and presentation
Like Super Robot Wars, the game connects different Macross sagas and series through interdimensional shifts, allowing characters from various storylines to appear together. While this premise successfully brings fan-favorite characters into one game, the story itself is little more than an excuse to unite the Macross universe without focusing on any specific series.
The dialogue between missions is dense, often requiring you to click through 20-30 text boxes before returning to the action. This slows down the pacing significantly.
Visually, Macross Shooting Insight resembles other modern 2.5D shmups, but it lacks a distinct identity. The presentation feels somewhat bland, even with the Macross IP attached. Story elements are delivered through static anime-style dialogue sequences. Some animated cutscenes could have enhanced the presentation, making the experience feel more immersive.
While most of the criticism I noted in regards to presentation and story delivery is something Japanese gamers want from these license driven games. Recently released games like Gundam Breakers and Super Robot Wars do the same thing, but for the average gamer this gets stale pretty fast. Adding its balancing issues, uninspired presentation, and reliance on accessibility features to offset its steep difficulty, Macross Shooting Insight struggles to live up to the potential of the Macross franchise. While it has some creative ideas in blending multiple shooting styles, the execution feels uneven. Fans of Macross may find some enjoyment in seeing their favorite ships and characters together, but as a shmup, it shakes things up but doesn’t quite hit the mark.
The Good
- Blends multiple field of view sub genres in one game
- Overal decent gameplay
- Mixes up multiple Macross series to let you access all relevant Valkyries
The Bad
- Balancing issues
- underwhelming presentation
- Mixes multiple Macross series into one storyline which isn't very interesting
