Review: Macross -Shooting Insight- (Nintendo Switch)

Macross -Shooting Insight- is a top-down shooter for the Nintendo Switch. It’s based on the long-running Japanese series of games and anime. Set in an alternate version of Earth, the series is known for its sci-fi action set in space. While Shooting Insight provides adequate action, it fails to make much of an impact on its long history.

I have no idea if I’ve played a Macross adventure before. I’ve certainly heard of the series, and have even watched some Robotech (the western animated equivalent) at some point. I love a good shooter, though, and was excited to give Shooting Insight a whirl. 

Macross -Shooting Insight- is the latest outing in the franchise. It brings together characters from across five Macross titles: Macross Plus, Macross 7, Macross Zero, Macross Frontier, and Macross Delta. Five characters are available to choose from. I was disappointed to see that none are female. Perhaps they aren’t allowed to combat in space adventures in this version of Earth? Each of the available flyboys features differing stats across HP, speed, attack, evasion, etc., giving you a somewhat customized experience. They all played similarly to me.

The gameplay concept is simple; you pilot a space jet capable of transforming into a mech unit. In both jet and mech mode, you can shoot lasers and missiles with the primary goal of destroying as many enemies as possible. Each area ends in a boss fight with a stronger enemy. Success provides a summary of your scoring prowess before it’s on to the next level. 

There are a few modes in Shooting Insight, though only Story mode is available at the outset. Once you’ve completed the ten levels on offer, other modes become available. These are Arcade, Ace Battle, Boss Rush, and Area Survey.

Story mode, as expected, presents a narrative to accompany the gameplay. While the anime sprites look cool and there’s some simple Japanese voiceover work evident, the narrative is wordy and boring. There’s no differentiation between speech bubbles for each character, making it look as though one person is speaking. The name above the text should move or be colored differently to denote a conversation. On the plus side, despite the characters being from myriad other outings, the story is unique to the series.

After skipping the dialogue (thankfully this is an option), it’s on to the action. Although your ship transforms into a mech, you have no control over this action. Battles are conducted either in ship or mech mode. There’s little difference between them, though, which is disappointing. Everything works exactly the same. The variety instead comes from the game’s perspectives.

Each level has various parts to it. Most of the time, you play top-down with your ship at the bottom of the screen and enemies heading toward you from the top. Pretty standard. At other times, the action is presented from the side. This helps change things up a little as you now fly from the left with enemies appearing on the right. These battles tend to be more fun, though the background sometimes interferes with the foreground. Is that rock going to hit me? Oh no, it’s behind me, I guess.

A third style consists of a third-person perspective. While it’s rarely used (I think I counted three or four occurrences during my campaign), it adds a unique way to play to help break up the monotony. It’s not as satisfying, though, with limited movement. Despite looking cool, it was my least favorite. What I most enjoyed were simple missions.

Occasionally, you’re presented with a timed challenge to find and defeat four satellites within three minutes. These short missions use mech mode and, for some reason, you can now aim your gunfire with the right-stick. Shooting Insight is at its best when it’s a twin-stick shooter. It’s much more fun controlling your mech in a more open space, concurrently controlling the direction of your weapon. Although these short challenges are over too soon, they occur a few times throughout the game.

On the downside, the variety of enemies is sorely lacking. You’re basically shooting the same type of ship over and over. The boss fights present something different, though even they are forgettable. A giant ship is really the only one that truly stood out to me. It sadly feels very generic.

Even the game modes seem to be forgetting their jobs. The only difference between Story and Arcade is that the Arcade mode plays through the levels in order (no idea why the story mode randomizes things) and autoskips the story scenes. Oh, but in Story mode you can choose to autoskip them, too. Area Survey is also the same as Arcade, simply broken into one-level runs. 

Boss Rush gives you a chance to revisit bosses, while Ace Battle presents a different kind of boss fight in which you take on a rival fighter from the series. They’re tough outings, but it’s something different at least.

Graphically is where Macross -Shooting Insight- stands out. The backdrops to each scene are lovely, providing depth and color within each battle. The transition between scenes is cool, too, as the camera zooms in, rotates, and zooms out again. It looks neat.

Overall, Macross -Shooting Insight- is a top-down shooter with some neat visuals. With some variety within levels in terms of perspective and a few basic modes to tinker with, it presents a decent shooter. It aims to capture the history of the series, though it fails to create something fresh enough to persuade anyone not already a fan.