Game:

Biomotor Unitron (1999)

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Kikou Seiki Unitron, or "Biomotor Unitron 2" is the Japan-only sequel to Biomotor Unitron. It was originally intended to be released outside of Japan, but SNK was experiencing financial difficulties at the time and it was never picked back up. It takes place about 400 years after the first game where Unitrons have become more advanced, monsters more vicious, and a mysterious light and bitter rival starts the story once more.

Biomotor Unitron 2, on the surface, looks like more of the same, and that's because it is. However, there are several adjustments and minor tweaks to the overall package which make it considerably more intricate than the first game. The first thing I should point out would have to be the story. While the story was relatively thin in the original game, this game took a lot more pride with its dialogue. How much so? The introduction is a good 20-30 MINUTES long and basically gives you the whole history on the Unitrons, the set-up for the new plot (where a lineage of great Justice-Filled Unitron Pilots from within Twaymer bloodline is ruined thanks to a rebellious Reziena Twaymer, a mysterious and mostly silent girl named Satera Sortpas arrives on the scene, and they explain how years later, two more Twaymer siblings, Jess and Nina, were born and seek to do good-- they're the main pilots), how you are found, how you meet your engineer partners, how you come across pet dragons, and how you begin your journey. Even more interestingly is that there are twelve characters to choose from; six males and six females (A male pilot can choose from five female engineers and a female pilot can choose from five male engineers) and two pet dragons depending on the main character you choose. While the pilot protagonists don't really speak, each Engineer, male or female, have distinct personalities and alterations to the game script, which I found quite impressive. I personally like the female engineers Lumia (In the video) and Faru.

Other differences are in the graphics department. Character artwork is bigger, better, and more varied. The dungeons also have far more interesting layouts and now include various obstacles, traps, and mysteries in which you can interact with or discover. The Unitrons and monsters themselves have a much more serious look to them, and they are quite detailed to boot. The special effects have mostly minimal improvements, but they were adequate in the original game. One of the few disappointing aspects of the game is in the sound department; not only does the song use many themes from the original, but it took some of them and made them even more repetitive! Most fights aren't that long, but I still found it annoying.

The gameplay has mostly been improved and has some significant changes. While the town itself functions very similar to the original game. The dungeons, the way items are made, the addition of a pet, the ability system, and several other things are different. As stated before, dungeons now have traps, mysterious things such as artifacts that boost stats or monuments with cryptic messages. There are also warp points that you can use to transfer between dungeons or rooms in an area and the locations are a lot more interesting. You no longer carry items in bundles; you have a set carrying limit for all items combined. You can feed your pet dragon different materials and observe it to boost your default parameters. Your Unitron also learns moves from leveling up now and your engineers not only develop parts for you (in which they can do more than develop arms now), but they follow and support you everywhere in a mobile HQ (just known as the Carrier). Items have more evolutionary phases which makes finding them all trickier. Back to the way engineers "support you", when I say support, I mean support; they can sometimes restore some of your EP on top of your actions or assist you with support fire from a 20mm Vulcan to deal extra damage to the enemy. Engineers level up as you do, which is a tad generic, but oh well. You'll also meet NPCs in dungeons who advance the story, impart interesting information, or even act as secret shops. Good stuff.

About the one thing I really dislike about this game is constantly going through several menus just to use restorative items. In the original, it was relatively quick and painless, but in this game, you have to go to your hangar, then go into your possessions, then choose the item, then watch an animation of the item taking effect for no reason, then back out of everything manually. Seems like too much work just to use a simple "Repair 1". These videos go through the introduction and show some gameplay. Enjoy.