Voltron : Defender of the Universe – Can Voltron Save You?

[gameinfo title=”Game Info” game_name=”Voltron : Defender of the Universe” developers=”Behaviour Interactive” publishers=”THQ” platforms=”PSN | XBLA” genres=”Twin-Stick Shooter” release_date=”Out Now”]

Voltron is finally getting it’s moment to save the universe on this generations consoles via XBLA and PSN. Will the Voltron Force be able to stop Zarkon? Can the evil be purged from the PSN and XBLA universes? Well, let’s just see….

As  Voltron starts up, you’ll get a hit of nostalgia as the iconic theme starts. Cut scenes from the cartoon begin to fill your screen and endorphins fill your head. The story is guided by some of the original cartoon scenes at the end and beginning of every level.  You’ll have your chance to choose your favorite space lion (Black Lion for me) and head out to protect the universe. Each space lion has it’s own stats, like damage, range, agility etc. Although no lions feel very different from the next, except the damage aspect. You’ll hit the ground running with nice HD graphics and quality sound that would please the Voltron Force.

Voltron for the most part is isometric twin stick bullet hell shooter, yup. You’ll traverse three separate planets blowing up baddies, saving groups of civilians, defending bases, escorting fleeing humans and more. As enemies feel the screen you’ll end up circling one way and then the next, always staying on the move. This can be fun and not so fun. With some of the larger enemies with more health you’ll end up with both your sticks placed in a specific direction, for a couple minutes, just circling. The lions also have a melee and jump ability. The jump consists of you pulling a trigger which shows you where your lion will land when you let go. He’ll soar through the air, landing with explosive force and destroying the enemies around him. A cool feature is the ability to pounce on aerial enemies and bring them down with one leap. Something I feel could’ve added much to this game, would be upgrades via  Gradius or R-Type style. Anything would have been great really. There’s one rare upgrade that powers up your main attack your a short time and a special almost screen clearing attack and that’s it. The combat is fun, but could’ve been a blast.

There’s also three top down shmup levels and three “Voltron” levels. Three times throughout your journey you’ll be given the chance to “form” Voltron. My favorite part of the cartoon starts up and you’ll be signaled to move the left stick in specific directions. There is no pass or fail, but with each correct move you’ll be given a heap of points which we know, as gamers, we must have for leaderboards. After Voltron forms fully, the turn-based boss battle begins. You’re given four attacks to choose from and gauge appears and begins to fill up. Stop the gauge in the correct area and the attack is successful, stop it out of the correct area and it fails. The boss attacks next, you’ll told to push a button to defend, do it and you defend, that’s it. Now this mechanic makes more sense in multiplayer where ever player contributes to the attacking and defending. That being said, I still believe the Voltron battles might have fared better, going in a different direction.

Now is the time for this game to shine, multiplayer. Plainly put, this game is short. But the multiplayer makes up for it. It’s plays the same as single, but get some friends, crank up the difficulty and watch the screen fill with chaos. Many times while playing multiplayer I could hear the gasps and laughs of the other players. Players yelled, “This is intense!” as we all fought to survive (you share lives in multiplayer) and pull our own weight. The time I spent playing multiplayer made up for some of the more lacking aspects of the game. Not an incredible game by any means, but the more I play mulitplayer in this game, the more I love it.