To commemorate the release of Armored Core V today and courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent the Nineball (Armored Core Ver.) kit from the original Armored Core. Our review is also of the kit in its unpainted form. In addition, to help give the kit some context, we’ve also included some video footage of it from the original PSone and PS2 games at the end of the review.

The original Nineball was a very interesting antagonist in the original Armored Core. You spent some of the game hearing about his exploits and that he was the highest ranked Raven around. It wasn’t until you faced him in the heart of the Raven’s Nest that you found out the truth. Nineball was merely a shell AC for a vast AI that controlled the world. So when you faced off against two of them, the AC itself became something of a terror symbol.

Nineball wasn’t just left there though, as it was the primary enemy in Armored Core Master of Arena and in similar fashion was revealed to be yet another shell for the same AI that had survived the first game. You also faced Nineball three times in the final mission and then its ultimate incarnation, that of Nineball Seraph (which is also available in kit form).

In one manner or other, Nineball pervades almost every Armored Core game there is. Whilst he was absent in Armored Core 2, the term “Ninebreaker” was coined as a nickname for top-ranking Ravens. It even appeared in Armored Core 2 Another Age too, as a rather tricky and nimble opponent. The Ninebreaker term would also spawn another Armored Core game that also had a new and updated Nineball (again also available in kit form with an action figure on the way too).

In some ways Nineball defines much of Armored Core’s inherent identity, both functionally and narratively. So this kit is a bit of a big deal and doubly so as this is the first traditional PSone era AC to grace Kotobukiya’s Variable Infinity model kit line (Seraph doesn’t count as that’s a custom built unit).

Kit: Nineball (Armored Core Ver.)
Price: 4,320 yen
Size/Weight: 31.2 x 19.2 x 10.9 cm / 580g

Like with all other Kotobukiya AC kits, the emphasis is still on the quality of the sculpt. In this case, that’s a little odd as the original PSone games barely had enough polygons to render Kawamori’s designs properly. As such, this kit is more in line with Kawamori’s line-art for Nineball than what you see in game (though it also bears a great resemblance to the Nineball model seen in Master of Arena’s opening FMV). As this is also a traditional AC, left arm weapons are pretty much housed laser blades only. This is pretty much the kit’s only gimmick; the laser blade pops out nicely and you attach the beam part accordingly. The grenade launcher also folds out too, athough we didn’t have the kit kneel in the photos it can perform this action just fine. Kotobukiya haven’t cut corners at all though and have included a wonderful pre-painted Nineball emblem on the left shoulder, just like in the games. The articulation isn’t bad either, with poly capped joints throughout.

If you love the original Armored Core games as much as we do, then this is a must have kit. It’s such an iconic design and one that represents one of the finest mecha gaming villains ever.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZwPa5C_LKM]

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