Just as the name says, Tech Romancer truly screams "Japanese" and how much they have enjoyed their giant robots throughout the years. Shoji Kawamori, mostly known for his mechanical designs on the animated Macross series (known in the states as Robotech) and other hits such as Ghost in the Shell and the Vision of Escaflowne, brought his expert mecha knowledge to create some familiar, but not copyright breaking, metal beasts. For instance, those of you who have followed the Robotech series in the states will recognize the Rafaga, a robot whose special abilities include the power to change into 3 different forms, one being a plane; obviously a salute to Kawamori's own designs of the classic veritech. Or there is the more Metal Gear Rex-ish Heavy Armor Wiseduck, a metal monstrosity who can't even jump due to it's heavy artillery load. No matter how much, or how little, anime you have seen throughout out the years makes no difference. You will always be able to pick out at least one robot who reminds you of those days when you would get up early on Saturday morning, turn on the TV, and try not to spill your bowl of Trix on your mom's favorite couch. The game may be Japanese in origin, but the nostalgia is universal.

Following suit with the great character designs and concepts, Capcom actually decided to give this title a little more life at home than it had in the arcades. To start, all of the graphics were given a much needed smoothing over. Not that the graphics boost is all that of a big deal since it was a rare sight in most arcades, but it is greatly appreciated nonetheless. The game runs smoothly with all of the included beauty of firing missiles, exploding buildings, and the incredible line of destruction your mech leaves when your enemy knocks you across the city. The only bout of slowdown I noticed came when I fought the end boss. But, the best news of all came when I found out that I finally had another game that abused my wonderful Godzilla VMU. By selecting the Tatsumi Techno Dome from the opening options allows you to access a collection of earnable mini games and extra characters. You can earn new versions of existing mechs or buy new ones like Bloodia from Cyberbots fame. The only catch is that you have to have the dreaded 128 bits free on your VMU to play the games. Once again, coolness comes at a cost.

The game may look easy with a simple 4 button layout but I soon discovered the wonderful amount of depth Tech Romancer had to offer. The basic setup is two attack buttons, a guard button, and a jump. However directional commands and button combinations will open up a world of moves that breaks free of the traditional fireball or dragon punch motion. Most attacks consist of one or two buttons, with two directional commands preceding such as forward, back, Y+B. There is even a handy guard rush that allows you to get in a major hit while charging through a storm of missiles. I found myself marveling at many of the destructive ballets that occurred during my fights with the computer whose AI was tough, but not impossible. Although, my controller almost found its way into my TV set a few times on the last boss, Goldibus. Not only is he a classic cheeseball boss, you have to beat him four times instead of the regular two. It seems the older I get the cheesier game bosses become. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to chalk it up to the old Capcom charm. Of course, I'll always forgive a game that has as much depth as Tech Romancer while still having balanced gameplay at the same time.

The last thing I wanted to mention was the story mode. This is where Tech Romancer's Japanese roots come shining through. Not only does each character have an in depth story line that is played out in anime style stills (commercial break eye catches included), but the game's original voice acting was kept in Japanese for that authentic giant robot show feel. Keep it up Capcom, I'd like to see more games subbed than dubbed. Besides, if all they had to do was subtitle the games, it would mean we would see more Capcom games come stateside a whole lot sooner. I'd hope more people would appreciate Strider 2 in it's original form, so let's keep our fingers crossed in the future.

In all, Tech Romancer is quite a treat for the eyes and ears. Plenty of smooth animation and loud crashes to take you back to that "happy place" we use to call Saturday morning. I'd recommend fighter fans, even those who hate block buttons, to check out Tech Romancer for its overall appeal. Tech Romancer is one of the few fighting games that has a little bit of something for everyone. Now, if I could only get that opening theme music out of my head.