What a complicated little affair this is. 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a horizontally-scrolling shoot ’em up that was originally released on the PlayStation exclusively in Japan in 1999. The game shipped on four CDs, and that might strike a person as odd for a shooter. Why would such a thing need over two gigabytes of space in the SD era? Well, it’s because it includes several thousand video clips that play around the gameplay. Opening themes, intros, outros, ending themes, previews of the next episode, and even some faux commercials are liberally peppered throughout the game with one goal in mind: to recreate the feeling of classic 1970s robot anime shows.
The game developed a bit of a cult following because of this obvious devotion to its subject matter, and that finally resulted in someone doing the not-inconsiderable amount of work to get the game remastered and reissued. This time, the whole world gets to enjoy the adventures of Geppy-X. All of the video has been remastered in gorgeous HD, and a bunch of quality-of-life features have been added to the game to make it easier to play. I suppose that’s the first scenario I can address. If you know this game and want to know if the remaster is doing it justice, worry no more: it’s a great version of the game, and everything has been treated with the appropriate level of care.
If you’re totally new to Geppy-X, whether or not it’s going to be worth your while really depends on what you’re looking for. Pure shoot ’em up enthusiasts are going to find this one wanting. There’s a little bit of sauce here with the ability to shift between three different robot forms and some interesting boss fights, but by and large this is at best a very plain example of the genre. Mechanically speaking, it’s not a total disaster, but it certainly has its share of flaws. It’s a little too slow and rough around the edges, with terrible enemy placements and bullet patterns that lean on the player having a life bar to tank all the cheap hits. One could easily find worse games of this sort out there, but it’s not difficult at all to find better.
No, the people who 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X is going to shine brightest for are not the ones looking for some quality shoot ’em up action. The people this game aims to please are the robot anime enthusiasts, and it does not let them down. It’s actually mind-boggling the extent of the effort put into making this the ultimate homage to classic mecha shows like Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Grendizer, and so on. The animation quality is bang-on, and the way the video footage is used is pitch-perfect. You would almost think that there really was a Geppy-X TV show for how thoroughly this game sells the illusion. There’s really nothing I can compare it to in terms of how far it goes to this end.
With this in mind, the merely serviceable gameplay is easier to forgive. It’s not really the point of the thing, weirdly enough, and it’s not so bad that it drags down the real purpose of 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X. As a game, Geppy-X is unremarkable in a genre swimming with strong competitors. As an experience, there’s really nothing else out there like it. If you like vintage robot anime, you’re going to feel like you’ve found the mother of all treasures. Similarly, those who enjoy exploring the quirkier side of the enormous original PlayStation library won’t walk away from this unhappy. It’s the kind of thing that really could only be made in its time and place. Finally, if you already know about this game and want to own a great remaster of it, here it is.
Ultimately, I think that as much as I can criticize the sloppy shoot ’em up action of 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X, it’s clear what the intention was behind this game. Rather, this is an absurdly faithful love letter to a particular style and genre of entertainment, and in that respect it’s truly a spectacle. I’m glad it was made to begin with, and I’m really happy Bliss Brain has given it a nice remaster and global release. If you come into this with your expectations properly set, it’s very charming and has a lot to offer. It’s not much of a shooter, but it’s not really trying to be.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review Copy Provided by Bliss Brain
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