When I first heard that the anime that helped my parents raise me to be the outstanding citizen I am today was being made into a video game for all the major consoles. The first thing that came to mind was, "I hope it doesn't suck!" Like most of the other really cool licensed worlds/universes that have been converted into games that have failed and fell by the wayside for some reason or another, or have turned out to be the butt of gaming jokes worldwide. (Remember the debacle known as Superman for the N64?)

Development team Vicious Cycle managed to stay true to the look and feel of the original anime series. They have everything in the game that made watching the anime (Saturday mornings at 9) such a delight; everything from the twisting side-winding missiles to the completely annoying Lisa Hayes.

The game-play in Battlecry is a joyous event and at times a painful one. An example being when you are in guardian mode the camera never really cooperates with your piloting skills. Of course, this is sadly a common trend among third-person action titles. Moreover, the lack of a manual camera option makes it even more frustrating to control; with that minor nuisance aside Robotech is far from your typical licensed game gone horribly wrong. The manual and automatic targeting system in the game is not quite ground breaking, but, implemented rather nicely. Also the 3-D radar makes it easy to navigate and allows you the freedom to explore each level without worry. But as with the anime, the game's true charm lays within the endless amounts of combat that will take place in each assignment. Furthermore like the anime you can never truly run out of ammunition. Your gun pod's ammunition is monitored by a meter located in the lower left hand side of the screen, as you shoot the meter depletes and as you wait the meter recharges.

In terms of story, Robotech faithfully recreates the Macross saga (for people that don't know the story of Macross, it simply would take too long to explain here! Sorry!) thru the eyes of a soldier you don't see or hear about in the anime series. Making the story familiar enough to follow easily, but fresh and new enough to keep you totally captivated until the very end.

By earning medals (medals are earned during missions) you can unlock different veritech fighter types, weapons, and multi-player battle areas; making it possible to replay the game a number of times with different combinations of weapons or VF types. Unfortunately, at times the level designs seem to be bland, (the cookie cutter buildings in Macross city get old quickly) making it laborious at times to work your way through the levels. But the way Robotech follows the original series undoubtedly makes up for this games minor faults.

Overall, this game accomplishes exactly what TDK and Vicious Cycle set out to do. They recreated the Robotech universe and stayed true to the roots of the American anime and books; while still making the game attractive for the rest of the "gaming community". True fans of the anime (like myself) will get their moneys worth just by watching the opening scene, and hearing the Robotech theme song. Gamers in love with non-stop (I do mean non-stop, how many of these guys do I have to kill?) third person action will also truly enjoy this title. True, this is a giant mech game, however, people wanting a game where you can personally outfit your mech this game is plain and simply is not the title for you. (Get a game like Armored Core 3!). However, if you like shoot 'em up games with some flavor or you are just a plain all out Robotech junkie (me, me, me!) then give this game a try and you won't be disappointed.