The long-running Macross series has received a handful of movies, dozens of video games, multiple anime series, and every other type of media you can imagine. The series’ latest entry, which is now available for PlayStation 4 and 5, brings together five characters from different anime series into a time-traveling space adventure. While I can’t say I followed much of the plot as a newcomer, there’s no doubt that the vibes of Macross -Shooting Insight- were immaculate as I controlled cool mecha and destroyed giant bosses while idols sang catch songs.
If you are a hardcore fan of the series, then seeing the five fan-favorite characters (from Macross Plus, 7, Zero, Frontier, and Delta) feature in a new original story is probably a real treat. As a Macross newbie, I found myself lost, but thankfully, even if you don’t know what’s going on, you’ve got a really well-polished bullet hell shooter to enjoy at its core. There are five characters, each with different stats and attack types, to choose from and a 10-stage story mode for each to go through.
The gameplay is where Macross -Shooting Insight- really shines, as it is constantly switching things up. While the game starts as a vertical shooter, levels will then transition to horizontal segments and even dual-stick shooter levels, where you have full 360-degree control over where you’re firing. This could go totally wrong if these weren’t all fun to play, but thankfully, I never felt bummed when the game shifted gameplay as I had a great time in each different variation. There are also some cinematic camera moments as well, where the game really takes advantage of its 3D gameplay. It’s all extremely polished, besides the overly busy user interface sometimes hiding enemies behind screen elements telling you which song is playing.
Naturally, the game gets very hard if you up the difficulty as this is a bullet hell shooter. There are options to make it easier, such as two easy difficulties and an auto-recovery mode that disables the leaderboard, so you can make your way through the difficulties and really get a lot of value out of the game. That’s good since the story isn’t very long, as it takes about an hour or so to go through 10 stages as long as you’re not failing repeatedly, like my very ill-thought-out attempt at very hard mode.
Beyond the aforementioned high-score grind, there is also a nice variety of different ways to play. Besides the main story mode, there’s an arcade mode, a boss rush, and the ability to play through selected areas to hone your skills. There are also battle simulations called Ace Battle that have you battling against other pilots in one-on-one dogfights. I found the latter to be a real blast, although you’ll have to unlock more opponents over time rather than being able to do them all from the get-go.
Macross -Shooting Insight- Review: Final Verdict
Whether you’re a Macross veteran or someone who has always wanted to check out the series, Macross -Shooting Insight- features a ton of shoot ’em up fun. Thanks to the constantly changing gameplay, stages always keep players on their toes. With plenty of difficulty options and five different characters with their own story modes, it features great variety and replayability as long as you’re looking to embrace a bullet hell game with idols singing over it (which you should).
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Highly replayable
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Range of difficulty options
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Varied gameplay
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New fans will likely be lost with the story
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UI can hide enemies
Disclosure: The publisher provided a PlayStation 5 copy for our Macross -Shooting Insight- review. Reviewed on version 1.000.000.
