Growing up in the 80s, we got to enjoy loads of second-hand anime, which was absolutely mind-blowing at the time. I have no doubt that the way many of the series were reorganized and outright butchered for our consumption was a bit criminal, but series like Voltron and Robotech in particular still easily sucked me in, despite their sometimes unusual storylines. It was then a pleasant surprise to see a game arriving using the name Macross (instead of the Americanized Robotech), getting me excited to play a shooter allowing me to use a Veritech fighter capable of changing forms to change up the action as well.

The good news is that stylistically the majority of the visuals and music in the game absolutely help to suck you in. Though the scale is often on the small side as you’re cutting through enemy ships, visually I can’t say I’ve seen anything quite like it, and that counts for something. That unique flavor also extends to the shooting action taking on multiple forms, whether in vertical, horizontal, or even a 360-degree mode. I can’t recall any arcade-style shooter I’ve ever played changing things up so much, and I applaud the audacity of the developers who appear to be determined to essentially throw the kitchen sink at players.

Unfortunately, while the game’s variety is obviously a strength, some of its implementation doesn’t hold up as well. I love that the game absolutely does things its own way, but I’ll admit that there were growing pains getting used to it all. For the first few runs I was honestly just lost at times, digging the fact that it had so much going on, but wishing more care was taken to try to help me keep up. Whether that’s how to most effectively use your missile swarms, objectives and critical knowledge for what you’ll need to do in some shooting modes, or simply getting into the flow of things, it was a consistent challenge. Throw in the fact that at times the gorgeous background art made it hard to differentiate what was going on in the foreground, and it could be frustrating at times as well. Unfortunately, I can’t say that there was much help on the story side either, as the attempt to explain how pilots from numerous Macross series and all sorts of different eras have been brought together to face a common threat. It all seems to be interesting, but most of the dialogue and story beats felt like narrative gobbledygook at the time.

Taking all of that into consideration, this feels like a title with loads of potential, that just needed more time and care to come together more effectively. I really wanted to love this game, but there were just too many obstacles I kept bumping into, especially considering the fact that the Switch is loaded for bear with quality arcade shooters. If you’re a true Macross fan you may choose to muscle through and enjoy it regardless, but for everyone else there are simply better and more consistent games out there in the eShop in this space.