Platform(s): PS5 (version reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC
Genre: 2D shmup, anime game

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross series has lasted through the test of time since 1982, combining the best of anime: mechas, space battles, hot waifus, and music. Which is why it’s such a prime candidate for video game adaptations that either take effort and dedication to create, or just shoehorned in a simple arcade-style genre like our spotlight game here: Macross -Shooting Insight-. And clearly this could have gone better.

False Diva

Macross -Shooting Insight- is what happens when you combine all the generations of Macross into one Bushiroad-published cashgrab title running on a budget. Slideshow cutscenes and talking heads featuring the current voice actors of the show and remakes? Check. Simple 2D shoot-em-up bits where it flips flops between a side-scrolling vertical/horizontal shooter and twin-stick top-down shooter in an arena filled with space mobs? Check. Bullet hell bosses? Check. Absurd difficulty even for a bullet hell shooter where you have to replay it tons of times or tune it to the easiest difficulty just to get the hang of the sluggishness of the ships you pilot and the ludicrous speeds of your enemies and their barrages? Double check. It’s unforgiving but also purposely hampers you with its controls and pacing, especially when compared with other equally difficult but fairer shmups of its ilk.

It’s not without its merit however: Macross -Shooting Insight- will sate your Macross fandom and lust, as you get to see interactions never thought possible between protagonists and side characters from different generations. The spaceships and mechas are lovingly crafted and the music pops in at the right time when you’re in a powered-up state while going through the bullet hell going-ons. It would have been nice if the original Macross characters in the debut 80s series were in this game, but I’m playing the US version, meaning that Harmony Gold US has license and control over the OG Macross and would rather keep their hybrid show Robotech and its acquisition intact than to let a Macross game use its old characters beyond Japan.

Regardless of that, it’s hard to say if the fanservice is enough to tide people over the fact that this is just a cookie-cutter hybrid shmup with some neat ideas and combinations that just doesn’t excite in the long run. It’s more of a slog to go through the game and its easier difficulty, and then replaying it in its 1-credit arcade form to get a shot at the online leaderboards. Strictly for the diehard shmup fans who just need another cheap-looking notch in their danmaku holster; nothing more.

Final Score: 40/100

Review copy provided by distributor.