Now that Titanfall is presumably eating up everyone’s time on PC and Xbox One, we kick off our fifty-fifth show with what may be our shortest Top 5 yet, about the weirdest mechs we could think of. There’s also some talk about Dark Souls II and (naturally) Titanfall, some getting grossed out at Chris’ obscene texting (and also at the Shaq-Fu sequel), and then a look at what you’d do if you could turn any TV show into a game.
Question of the Week
What’s your favorite mech/mecha/giant robot?
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My favourite Mechs are the ones in Red Faction Geurilla. Mainly because they’re the easiest way to destroy EDF buildings without constantly dying. Man the mechanics in that game were so good!
As mentioned, Lucky Star Head Cha-La: http://youtu.be/G6AcH-jch1M
I need this in my car.
I gotta say piloting metal gear rex in mgs4 was the most exciting mech I’ve ever used.
I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for Gundams, particularly from when Gundam Wing was on Toonami. Although that interest mostly manifested as a teenage enjoyment of slash fics about the pilots.
Robo-47 from War of the Monsters, a 50s wind up toy-retro style designed juggernaut with rockets and hammer claws, what’s not to like?
Jehuty from “Zone of the Enders 2”. Unlike the vast majority of other mechs, Jehuty is an extremely fast and agile Mech that can zip around the battlefield gracefully and it’s a joy to control. It also helps that she (yes, she) is extremely versatile, with a varied weaponry that ranges from blades, homing lasers, rockets, and a massive, giant cannon that can obliterate everything on it’s path.
The design itself is pretty kickass too, even if it’s one of those mechs that has the cockpit be somewhat phallus shaped and placed in the crotch area.
The mechs from Trenched/Iron Brigade. Really nails the WW1 on giant robots aesthetic. Plus, the gameplay is great.
QOTW: Definitely Platinum Robo from the Wonderful 101, the giant robot constructed from buildings and the earth’s super computer defense system, complete with the Platinum Games logo on it’s head, was such a completely crazy way to end out that game. You played Punch-Out with it, flew out into space to fight hundreds and hundreds of other giant enemy robots, and then you realize that platinum robo is now your default unit, and all the robots you just defeated are being taken over, and you now have an army of 100 giant robots that you can use to make an even bigger fist made of giant robots.
My favorite giant robot would have to be the King of Braves: GaoGaiGar. Think a robotic man named Guy, merging with a robotic lion to create GaiGar. Only to then fuse with a stealth bomber and a bullet train to create GaoGaiGar. It’s so crazy that it becomes fantastic in its own right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZRSvbcePtU
QOTW: Metal Gear Rex, hands down. That thing was huge, bad-ass and a hell of a boss fight in the original MGS. Plus, controlling it in the fight against Liquid-Ocelot in MGS4 was one of the highlights of that game for me. All hail Kojima.
Finally a QOTW I can get behind, ahhh so many to choose.
Qotw:
A few favorites of mine are Mechagodzilla II, Symbiotic Titan, Megas XLR
but my favorite will always be The Original Megazord and some individual zords from the power rangers series, anything dinosaur.
QotW:
The Warhawk(aka Masakari) in pretty much any of the Mechwarrior games.
It’s the one with the 4 Particle Projector Cannons on it’s arms.
I also went headstrong into dark souls, triedto fightthe zombies,was killed repeatedly, but I thought I just had to level up, after I got past them I just quit really as I didnt know where to go, and everything kept killing me like a giant rat, though I wish I had gotten to fight that dragon that was spitting fire at me on a bridge.
Armored Core. Specifically Project Phantasma. Sadly the series has kind of gone down the tube until recently
The Timber Wolf Mech from Mechwarrior 2, not just because it was on the game’s front cover, but also because you could just fire missiles from that thing if you set it up correctly and turned on the unlimited ammo cheat from the options menu.
Yes Timber Wolf is the shit, I learned it as (MAD CAT) and have been corrected by many a nerd “NO it’s a Timber Wolf, NA NA BOO BOO…”. I still like calling it a MAD CAT if not just for pissing off Battletech Nerds. LOVE ME SOME MECHWARRIOR & Especially Mech Commander.
It might not be a Mech but it is a kinda giant robot, the Box Guards from DX:HR are really fuckin’ cool. And if we are allowed outside of videogames, the Iron Giant is king.
Thanks for reading my comment, didn’t think you actually would. I think that an explanation of my name is in order. It’s a reference to the Talkradar episode where y’all read the 700 words you can’t say in Mortal Kombat. “Gangbang Genocide” was one (or two) of them.
Brettbot!!!!! of course : )
A robot elephant shooting a ball at you
I haven’t listened to the episode yet but I assume Chris must have mentioned Metal Wolf Chaos somewhere in there. Here is random youtube video showcasing the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dTkwAgLEFQ
QOTW: There are so many mechs to choose from, but I like Unit 02 from Evangelion and Tallgeese from Gundam Wing. I can definitely tell you my least favorite mechs, and they would have to be the AWGS from Xenosaga Episode I. Most underwhelming mechs ever! If I remember correctly, they had pretty bad defense and HP compared to your party members, and had crappy speed and their attack power was often weaker than your stronger characters.
Iron Giant…the thought of being inside Vin Diesel…
Robotech: Battlecry. Simply the best experience when it comes to mechs (and gamecube). I remember playing that game way too much during during my younger years. Oh sweet memories.
Side note: Would riding a mech/dragon count? (blood dragon)
I have given this answer for some many QOTW. Megas! from Megas XLR. It is a giant blue robot with lady mud flaps, flame pain job, and a red muscle car for a head. Too bad there wasn’t a game about it. Game only mech: Metal Gear GANDER from MGS on the Game Boy Color.
I have given this answer for some many QOTW. Megas! from Megas XLR. It is a giant blue robot with lady mud flaps, flame pain job, and a red muscle car for a head. Too bad there wasn’t a game about it. Game only mech: Metal Gear GANDER from MGS on the Game Boy Color.
Those mech scenarios in F.E.A.R. 2 were pretty off the chain, and were probably the only bright spots in an otherwise mediocre sequel.
QOTW: mecha-Hawk from Pilotwings 64…. I spent days killing him over and over and over and over ….
QOTW: My favorite Mecca? The Islamic city.
Them robots from Star Hawk.
Question of the Week
Gotta go with the ShadowHawk from the Battletech universe, I was the only kid in my town that even bought those cards because I was a big MechWarrior fan, since it’s got LRMs, autocannons and jump jets. See the other guy far away, lock in or barrage with the rockets, get up close, possibly using jump jets of course, and riddle them with bullets with the autocannon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRqOD3iEyM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdsxzwZz8WU
My favorite game mecha are the Assault Suits Leynos and Valken from the Japanese games by the same name (aka Target Earth and Cybernator in the US). They are in the same series more or less, but one came out on Genesis and the other a few years later on SNES. And recently they made some kickarse models of them.
http://www.mrdandy.com/debris-blog/2011/6/21/assault-suits-leynos-and-valken.html
Target Earth / Leynos was such a tough game on the Genesis, and mastering it was probably the greatest satisfaction of my life. Seriously. The game looks crude, but when you play it, it just somehow FEELS like piloting a robot that’s a vehicle, not an alter ego. Jumping, boostering, and numerous weapons with very different effects.
Runners up for me include
Hyperdyne Sidearms from ###C-A-P-C-O-M###
The jumping ‘Dom’ mecha in Space Harrier
PS, I could have sworn TechRomancer was released in the US. I know I saw it on a Toys R Us shelf once.
Please use this sound clip for VGA #56
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuMKWuVwWno
Chris took Virtual on, with it’s lightning fast zippy anime mechs,
Traviclysm took the VF-1s of Robotech (they seriously need to get their $#!+ together and bring out a game featuring the New Generation Alpha’s & Betas. With a real multiplayer mode.)
Battletech Pods! Last time I played was at YoumaCon. Just the feel of playing that in a packed game room, waiting with strangers after signing up, watching the game in play.
My favorite would either have to be Weltall-2 or Xenogears from well…Xenogears. Both are pretty awesome mechs with one being pretty godlike. Go go System Id.
Fuckin Grimm taking gurren laggan. It’s ridiculous as fuck and I love it but so be it. Let’s go with the mechs from an anime by the same guys kill la kill. Maybe not even full mechs but I still love em. They have the stupidest fuckin design but it’s so stupid that you just kind of got to like it. Everyone of them that use these mechs are butt ass naked and you can’t take it seriously at all. I mean just look at it. http://i.imgur.com/xKoO8Lz.png
Question of the Week:
Seven Force from Gunstar Heroes is kind of amazing. It isn’t a conventional mecha, but it DOES have a humanoid form, and a panther-like form, and a bird form, and it turns into a GUN!!! Just a giant floating handgun. Seven forms on one awesome mecha. Damn.
QOTW: Favourite classic giant robot is ultraman, simply for nostalgia, as I used to watch old episodes with my Grandfather on his Betamax (he had no idea what was going on), while favourite modern giant robot is the remote-controlled giant dinosaur from Bulletstorm, which was the best moment of that game.
My favourite giant robot has to be the steampunk-esque machine that Dormouse and March Hare are seen piloting for abooouuuuut ten seconds in Alice Madness Returns.
“It’s battle-time, missy!” shouts Dormouse to Alice as you shit your pants wondering how Alice could possibly beat something like that… right before a huge steel pot falls and hits the robot on the ‘head’, causing its arms to fall off and killing Dormouse and March Hare. But it’s a cool looking machine and it’s driven by two steampunky mechanised fluffy (and absolutely mental) animals.
Second place goes to Metal Gear, I guess. Pick any one I don’t care.
Holy shit! I know I’m late to comment, but I finally got an opportunity to listen just now, and I have to say thank you for talking about Tech Romancer. Insanely enough, I played an arcade version of it years ago in a bowling alley in the middle of some buttfuck nowhere town in Arkansas. It was really fucking fun and I never knew what it was called because the label was kind of hard to read. As soon as I heard Mikel describe the Bolon character as a little girl in a mech that looked like a giant wrecking ball with buildings making up parts of it I knew what it was. I’m really surprised that I ever heard it mentioned again. It had really awesome ideas in it, and I really wish I could play it again. Thanks to you, I now know what it’s called!
..if I remember correctly I really liked the mech from that that had the rockets constantly floating over it’s shoulder…
Also, fav mechs are Eva unit 2 and Caanti as far as any mechs go. As far as video game mechs, I’ll go with ZoE’s Jehuty also as well as the ARS Sam Gideon wears in Vanquish. (Does that count?)