Photos courtesy of GameSpot.com
Piloting your dreams in Macross
William Harrison, GI contributing editor
As you may not know, I used to want to be a fighter pilot because of an old cartoon I saw called Robotech. Then, I was introduced to the real series called Macross, and my love for all things that flew was renewed even more. I also wanted to take up engineering to make the Varitech fighters I love so much a reality; hell, I may still get that chance one day or somewhere my designs may help someone do what I couldn’t in my lifetime. Anyway, we’re here to talk about a game that never made it to the U.S. because of the man who made Robotech famous and is an out-and-out bad person. Macross M3 is up and its Varitechs, Zintredies and missiles, oh my!
The game takes place during the time Max was starting out up till he meets Meria. From
then on, you can choose either Max or Meria until the point in the story where their daughter is born. Then, you can only choose her as a playable character. Unfortunately, I don’t know if you get to play as anyone else because there is a mission shortly after their daughter joins U.N. Spacy and has a crisis of conscience, which is where my venture ends. I’m not sure if there’s a glitch at this point or a choice that is made that can change that. So, I don’t know how the game ends but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t worth playing.
The controls have improved compared to its previous counterparts of the VF‑X series. The graphics for this Dreamcast title are a lot smoother than the PS1 games, as well, but you would expect that.
The gameplay, however, seems to present not much of a challenge as its VFX counterpart. The learning curve may not seem to be there, but it is in the form of a mission where the difficulty goes from “Oh that’s nice” to “Oh god, why won’t you die?!” I did find it funny that I ran out of missiles only to discover later that they refill over time. Nothing really stands out too much but the graphics and the story that I can figure out is good. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this game because at the time my grasp of the Japanese language was very 
nonexistent.
The last word on this is that it’s a really fun game and presents a good time to be had by all. Well, except for the fact that at least that one stage is a pain. My score for the game would be higher if I was able to finish the game and I may still one day. Until then, if it somehow finds its way to your door, invite it in, have a good time and share a bit of sake with the essence of an old friend.