Buried Treasure: Tech Romancer (Dreamcast)

I love Capcom. As much as they tend to milk thier successful franchises for every penny, (see Mega Man, Street Fighter, and Resident evil) they make solid games. When they do break from the norm, it’s always a welcome sight (I.e. Viewtful Joe, Rival Schools) even if it dosen’t always work out.

Tech Romancer is one of these games. Capcom took a risk here, and resulted in one of the most underrated fighting games ever. It’s a mech combat fighter. There is less of an emphasis on combos, and more focus on your mech’s special weapons and abilities. The fighters are sort of clunky, but that’s okay, becuase they are giant Mecha and not trained martial artists or mutant superheroes. Even the life bars are different, being placed vertically on the side of the screen and are used to measure damage. Each of the game’s mechs is based on a famous japanese anime, such as Gundamn or Voltron. Towards the end of the second round, you can preform a “final move”, which is akin to a Mortal Kombat fatality, excpet only for mechs. The Dreamcast VMU can be used to unlock minigames and earn points for the game’s hidden features. If you still have your Dreamcast, do yourself a favor and seek this game out.