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Over at Play-Asia they’re doing another of their bargains, with the classic Dreamcast arcade port of Choukou Senki Kikaioh (or Tech Romancer as it was known abroad). This particular version also features the online matchmaking service, though whether that works these days is anybody’s guess. Kikaioh was, in many ways, a spiritual successor to Cyberbots (as it also featured Jin Saotome’s Blodia as an unlockable). However, what made the game quite interesting was how it hired Shoji Kawamori to pen a fictional pantheon of mecha designs, spanning both the real and super spectrum (the above picture is a sketch he did of the titular Kikaioh if you’re wondering). In any case, the game also features a lovely unlockable anime opening (shown below). Make sure you also have an arcade stick for this, as you’ll really need it.
Update: Play-Asia have sold out their copies for this – which was pretty quick!
I have the us version and still play a few versus matches with friends. The game really is enjoyable with lots of unique character and fighting styles.
The Japanese opening is actually in the US version but needs to be unlocked through the… Techno-drome or something I think? I remember recording it through a capture card years ago, though a lot of the other unlockables I never managed to get.
That’s interesting as the movie wasn’t available in the UK release of Tech Romancer.
Hi Everyone,
Long time lurker first time poster, anyways…
This game as well as Virtual On Oratorio Tangram were the main reasons I got a Dreamcast.
This game was really cool in the love they put into it for each character’s story, level design, pre fight intro screen (looked like the splash page for their own anime), and especailly the robot design. Can’t believe the amount of work they put into this game. Too bad it wasn’t more known.