Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness

Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness, released in Japan as simply Cyberbots (Japanese: サイバーボッツ), is a fighting game developed and published by Capcom in 1995. It is a spin-off of the beat'em up game Armored Warriors. Cyberbots was ported to the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation. The game only saw limited distribution in arcades outside Japan. With the exception of the untranslated PlayStation Network release, none of the console ports were released overseas.

Gameplay

The premise in Cyberbots is similar to Armored Warriors, albeit it features only a maximum of two playable characters on screen as opposed to three. Cyberbots is a very innovative game, attributed to its amount of selectable options, parts, and mecha that permit the player to format their play style to their preference. Similar to the Armored Core series, different legs (which affect movement abilities), arms (which affect reach and melee capabilities) and weapons can be mixed and matched between the selectable robots available to the player. Gameplay in Cyberbots is similar to other Capcom-created fighting games, with a medium-sized command list of executing various attacks available to each individual robot. Battles are a duel-formatted affair with players and the computer fighting against one another to proceed to the next battle.

Plot

In the game the player first chooses the pilot and then the mecha (Valiant/Variant Armor or VA for short) they'll use to fight. The mechas determine the gameplay of the game, but the pilot is what determines the storyline the player will see. Near the end of the 21st century Earth begins to become over populated leading to many people living in man made space colonies. The primary army of Earth, "Earth Force", has been conducting experiments and their work, along with the actions of the playable characters will determine the future of Earth.

Characters

Playable characters

• Jin Saotome - Jin's father (Ken Saotome) was killed in an accident one year before. To honor his memory he seeks to become the best VA pilot alive and wants to prove his worth through the VA battle circuit. He begins to question his father's death after meeting SHADE for the first time. Jin's mood goes from calm to rage within seconds, but he remains a good guy. He is also friends with Gawaine Murdock. Jin appears in the Marvel vs. Capcom series and Tech Romancer as a playable character. His main mech is BX-02 Blodia. Blodia appears in PTX-40A's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
• Santana Laurence - Santana is a self-centered loner who makes a living scrounging up parts for VA's and sometimes working as a mercenary. In the past he was the leader of the proud Mars Revolution. Santana knows SHADE and Gawaine. He's likely just an old friend of Gawaine, but he fought SHADE on Mars during the revolution. He's also a bit of a narcissist and a womanizer. Santana also has a cameo appearance in PTX-40A's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
• Mary Miyabi - She is the only female Captain of Earth Force. When a prisoner escapes she is sent to retrieve him/her and bring them back immediately. While pursuing the prisoner she finds out more about the dealings of Earth Force and turns against them after meeting Arieta, Bao and Mao. She was trained by retired soldier, Gawaine Murdock. Aside for a soft side for children she is the typical soldier. She pilots the RF-004 Reptos.
• Gawaine Murdock - Gawaine was a captain of Earth Force who retired at age 63 after the deaths of his men in a training accident. He lives in seclusion from everyone while trying to live out his final days in peace and quiet. He returns after Earth Force begins making trouble. Gawaine was Mary's captain when she was still lieutenant, a close friend of the Saotome family and good friend to SHADE in the past before SHADE was turned into a cyborg. He pilots the GP-N1 Guldin.
• Arieta - Earth Force kidnapped children and used them for experiments. Arieta escaped after seeing her friends die in their labs. She doesn't know exactly what Earth Force is trying to do, her only concern is escaping the torture that she had to endure. Without any friends to turn to for help so she runs without knowing where to go. A naturally kind hearted person, she seems to win over anyone she meets, except for SHADE and Devilotte.
• Bao and Mao - They are siblings that have been caught by Earth Force. They escape and find a VA that's programmed for self-defense. Even though they have no piloting experience, the VA still operates fine due to the programming and sheer luck. Bao is very protective of his little sister. He doesn't know about the Earth Force's dealings and he doesn't care. He just wants to get away from everything safely with his sister.
• Chiyomaru Kagura and Tessan Hagure - Chiyomaru Kagura is the head of the resistance fleet while Tessan Hagure is his guardian. The resistance forces' mission is to find and destroy the doomsday weapon created by the Weapon's Brain: G.O.D. The two once part with the Earth Forces until they left to form a resistance forces to oppose the Earth Force's experiments. Chiyomaru pilots the P-10033 Gaits.
• Princess Devilotte de Deathsatan IX - Devilotte is the daughter of a dangerous and reputed pirate king. She and her two lackeys (Dave the scientist and Xavier the wizard) fly around space looking for people with VAs to steal them and add to her collection. She is not involved with either side of the dispute in the Earth Force events. She pilots the S-008 Super-8, a mecha in the shape of an octopus that was designed for underwater use. Devilotte has a crush on Gawaine. Devilotte appears in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo as a hidden character, an assist character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes a cameo in Doronjo's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, and a Solo Unit in Project X Zone.
• SHADE - Earth Force began something similar to a 'super soldier' experiment. They needed someone who was strong and young. SHADE ended up being their candidate. They promised that he would be the perfect soldier but they needed to see if they had complete control over him, so they made him kill everyone in his unit. Earth Force writes the incident off as an accident. Shade is now a cyborg and an attack dog for Earth Force. His memories are a little scrambled and he is trying to remember who he was. Jin's last name is the first thing that starts to refresh his memory. In the end he dies saving Earth, doing one last favor for his old friend. He pilots the UVA-02 Helion.

Non-playable characters

• Ken Saotome - Ken, Shade and Gawaine belonged to the same unit in Earth Force and the three were close. Ken was killed by Shade one year before the start of Cyberbots. Gawaine wasn't there when it happened and it was believed to be an accident. He looked like a taller, bulkier version of Jin, except he wore green instead of white.
• Final Weapon's Brain - G.O.D.(Ganglions of Omniscient Disrupter) - G.O.D. is a massive brain that plans to destroy humanity. It mainly controls the mech X-0 WARLOCK, like Azrael before it, but in other storyline paths controls the RF-027 JACKAL and the FZ-900J KILLER BEE as well. The brain seems able to dominate Arieta temporarily. Ultimately, it is destroyed.
• Emperor Death Satan - Emperor Death Satan is the king of Heldorado and the Milky Way Express, and Devilotte's father. More importantly, apart from owning a WARLOCK VA, he is also the owner of Z-AKUMA, an extremely powerful mech based on the Street Fighter villain. His face is hidden behind a huge suit of armor, and his voice booms audibly, implying that he may not be human.

Reception

Reviewing the arcade version, a Next Generation critic summarized that the game "lacks the charm, craze - and gameplay - for which [Capcom] is known." He particularly criticized the game concept and limited number of combo moves, and added that "when the bots do attack, it looks like a bad disco contest."^[1]

In 2012, GamesRadar included Cyberbots among the little-known classic fighting games that deserve HD remakes.^[2]

See also

• List of fighting games

References

External links

• Cyberbots at the Killer List of Videogames