General opinion:
"This game is great!"

By Roger Post

What do you get when you cross mechs, transformable jets, millions of high speed heat seeking missile clusters, and an annoying pop singer named Min-mei? Why Macross (a.k.a. Robotech) of course! Fans of the anime know the basic plot, about how giant robotic jets fight against the Zentradi, alien invaders from another planet. The main fighter jets, the Valkyries, can transform into three modes of attack: the standard jet, the half-jet half robot (pointless in my opinion) which is really just a jet with legs and arms sticking out, and the full robot mode. While this makes for an average anime series, it sure sets the stage up for a great shooter.

Macross was assembled by Zamuse, who I haven't seen in the shooter biz too often. I believe this game wasn't released in the U.S., so this may be a Japanese based company, though I do remember seeing this name on some other shmups. Macross keeps the theme of the transformable jets throughout the game, which each of the three forms having a different mode of attack. Another factor in modes is speed: the jet is the fastest/most agile, the 1/2 mode is slower, and the robot is the slowest. There are also three pilots to choose from. Hikaru has three strong front weapons, Max (my choice) has a homing weapon and a "drag and drop" weapon, and Millia has the weakest selection of firepower. Each weapon only gets powered up when in that particular mode, so you have to spread the bonuses out evenly.

Scrambled Valkyrie has some excellent and very detailed graphics for an early SNES game. The colors are very vibrant, and many of the system's mode-7 effects are used in this game. MSV plays a little like R-Type though-the pace of the overall game is slow. I like my shooters in 4th gear, not 1st, and even enemy patterns can be so few and far between that the game gets boring. Bosses are interesting and varied, ranging from fellow robotic creations to organic blobs of pulsating stuff. Music is a little above average, and perfectly suited for the theme of the game. Every time you get a weapons increase, a robotic voice shouts "MAX POWER". Macross is not for the weak-you only have one man to make it past the level with, and only 8 continues! Every hit causes you to lose a weapon power too.....this game has no mercy. But overall, despite the several drawbacks, the graphical treat and pure shmuposity make Macross a winner in my book.


- Roger

SCORE: 7/10

General opinion:
"This game rules!"

By Aurang

I must say right off the bat, this game is on my top 10 list. Macross SV is one of the few truly "complete" Shmups available for the SNES. In other words it's a complete package. Music, Graphics, Sound Effects, Gameplay, and atmosphere, Macross SV has it all.

Based on the classic 1982 Japanese Animation series "Macross", Macross SV lives up to any and all expectations I had for a Macross game. Hell it even exceeds them in some respects. You should be able to get Macross in the UK and US in it's dubbed form "Robotech: Macross" just about anywhere that rents a good amount of Anime. The Japanese version is loads better than the US/UK dubbed version. Kind of like Starblazers vs. Super Space Battleship Yamato. Macross incorporated a great Music with a wartime love story, I have yet to see any Anime come close to being as good as Macross. But enough about the show! You came here to read about Macross Scrambled Valkyrie!

Gameplay: 7/10
Macross shines in some area's, but this is the area where it lacks the "most" It can seem a wee bit slow at times, but hey the enemies are well designed and challenging, especially the bosses. Let me warn you it can get awful hard at times. The weapons system is inventive in some ways, due to the performance aspects of the various configurations your VF-1 class variable fighter has. You have 3 characters to choose from, each with a different set of 3 weapons systems, each weapon system can only be fired in a certain mode, so rest assured, you cant just stay in fighter mode the entire time. Beginners would be wise to choose Max, he has a good balance between the firepower in his VF-1's configurations. The levels are very well laid out, in fact, I think they surpass Rtype 3's in sheer beauty.

Graphics 10/10
No other game on the SNES ever even came close to looking as good as Macross. Macross fully utilized all the options the SNES had to offer. I'm not going to waist time trying to explain how good it looks. I'll let the screenies do the talking...hell I'm not even going to use any captions. Please note that these screenshots where taken on Snes9x Dos with all the graphics options turned on. They don't call it the Super NES for nothing :-)

Music 9/10
Wonderful stuff, I absolutely love the music in SV. It's so good I might even convert the .spc files I have to .wav, then to .mp3 and upload them on Aural 6. Right off the bat from level one, Macross SV has a kick ass soundtrack. Besides being kick ass it's soundtrack fills that niche between J-pop and the original Anime's music. But you can rest assured it isn't a bunch of ambient recycled whale song techno music.

Sound Effects...who cares?
You've got a blam-O type sound, a laser sound, geez, who really gives a flying @$%# about what kind of sound effects you've got in a Shmup! Hmm...better stop myself before I go off on a rant...a rather LONG rant at that.

Overall 9/10
Lets recap, excellent music + the best graphics known to man on the SNES + and solid gameplay = FUN FUN FUN. If I still had my SNES, I'd buy this game in a New York minute for $50. Some of Macross SV visuals where downright groundbreaking. Most weren't even attempted again on any Shmup. Unfortunately you'll need a mighty fast computer to experience this game at it's fullest. But hey, its still worth a download, even if you cant access the advanced features through Snes9x. If anybody wants the ROM image, just E-mail me, I'm not stingy about such things as rom begging. I say, if it's a great game, they why keep the greatness to yourself? Err...please don't quote me on that :-p Disco Stu fails once again at making a great quote.

- Aurang -

SCORE: 9/10