I absolutely love this game more than many people in my life will ever know. Yes it has a lot of flaws but in my opinion that just made the game more unique to me. Years ago I picked the game up for like $13 not expecting to become so invested in one of the most niche games I’ll ever come across. It has that same feeling as cartoons or anime that were made to sell toys with an incentive on collecting all of them which is pretty charming to me. Unfortunately it didn’t ever become as popular as it was aiming for, nonetheless it has left a significant mark on me. This isn’t a game that I would recommend for anyone freely, but I think everyone should at least see once in case it really strikes a chord with the specific people it was aiming for.
Right off the bat the art direction is captivating. It really does have the style of a Saturday morning anime with all these vibrant colors, intriguing designs, and distinct characters. It has such a strong presentation that it damn well makes me feel like a kid again when I get back to it. The voice acting, holy shit is it bad but honestly that is part of the charm to me. The in-game models and textures are also really simple too but it’s not something that I think clashes with what it’s going for.
As for the game itself, it’s another one where it’s just really easy to pick up and play. Most of the Gotcha Borgs are understandable the second that you put them in your squad and control them. Some of the borgs can feel clunky or janky when controlling them, but it’s something you can adapt to if you would like. There’s so many borgs that you’re bound to find one that controls the way you want it too. Even with the slight awkwardness of their movements at first, they can feel amazing once you learn how to utilize their abilities efficient to start doing combos on your enemies. A lot of the borgs are a bit too similar too each other although there’s also a decent amount of variety that you’ll be interested in seeing how these borgs behave, fight, and move when you come across one that you’ve never seen before. That also helps combat with how repetitive the game is. Within an hour or two it’s noticeable that the game has the same objective for every battle. All you pretty much have to do is use your team of Gotcha Borgs to win every battle. I wish there was a mechanic that let you swap out your borgs mid battle to add a bit more strategy and variety to the game instead of letting them die just so you could get to the one you want. The battles I feel like are carried enough by the vast amount of Gotcha Borgs that you’ll be able to have a few memorable ones even with how easy the game is. Not to mention the fact that you have a chance of collecting more Gotcha Borgs reels you in so that you can try to collect them and experiment with them once you do. It helps combat the games repetitiveness, although for most people I’d recommend playing it in short bursts.
The story itself is also pretty straightforward. There’s not much depth to it but honestly I don’t think it needed it. It’s simple enough in a way that isn’t bothersome. Planet Mega Borg was destroyed by the Death Force, the Gotcha Borgs escaped to Earth and get help from their human friends, and your job is to go kick Galactic Emperor’s ass before he destroys Earth too. That’s the gist of it. The characters themselves, despite their god awful voice acting, all feel distinct enough with their personalities that you may find some of them to be likable. They lack complexity, including Orochi, Sho, and Kou even though they’re given more important roles, but they also aren’t devoid of little interesting traits. Their interactions can be decently intriguing too, except I wish that everyone else interacted with their Gotcha Borgs more. G-Red and the Galactic Emperor are the only ones that talk, which just leaves a lot of room for more dynamic relationships between the Gotcha Borgs and humans that they unfortunately don’t capitalize on. The story had a lot of potential to be much more, but what we have serves it’s purpose well enough.
Gotcha Force is a very specific kind of game that when exposed to the right people, will really resonate with them. There’s a lot of issues, and realistically I’d say that most will think the game is just decent or good. This is a game too unique and rare to see that you can’t pass it up if you have the chance to play it at least once to develop your own opinion on it. A lot of fun can be had with the game if you were to invest a decent amount of your time to it. Which isn’t a lot either, the game is fairly short. There was so much potential for Gotcha Force; I really wish Capcom could bring it back or acknowledge it because it’s a very special game. What we got though is something that I still believe is wonderful and unforgettable.
Right off the bat the art direction is captivating. It really does have the style of a Saturday morning anime with all these vibrant colors, intriguing designs, and distinct characters. It has such a strong presentation that it damn well makes me feel like a kid again when I get back to it. The voice acting, holy shit is it bad but honestly that is part of the charm to me. The in-game models and textures are also really simple too but it’s not something that I think clashes with what it’s going for.
As for the game itself, it’s another one where it’s just really easy to pick up and play. Most of the Gotcha Borgs are understandable the second that you put them in your squad and control them. Some of the borgs can feel clunky or janky when controlling them, but it’s something you can adapt to if you would like. There’s so many borgs that you’re bound to find one that controls the way you want it too. Even with the slight awkwardness of their movements at first, they can feel amazing once you learn how to utilize their abilities efficient to start doing combos on your enemies. A lot of the borgs are a bit too similar too each other although there’s also a decent amount of variety that you’ll be interested in seeing how these borgs behave, fight, and move when you come across one that you’ve never seen before. That also helps combat with how repetitive the game is. Within an hour or two it’s noticeable that the game has the same objective for every battle. All you pretty much have to do is use your team of Gotcha Borgs to win every battle. I wish there was a mechanic that let you swap out your borgs mid battle to add a bit more strategy and variety to the game instead of letting them die just so you could get to the one you want. The battles I feel like are carried enough by the vast amount of Gotcha Borgs that you’ll be able to have a few memorable ones even with how easy the game is. Not to mention the fact that you have a chance of collecting more Gotcha Borgs reels you in so that you can try to collect them and experiment with them once you do. It helps combat the games repetitiveness, although for most people I’d recommend playing it in short bursts.
The story itself is also pretty straightforward. There’s not much depth to it but honestly I don’t think it needed it. It’s simple enough in a way that isn’t bothersome. Planet Mega Borg was destroyed by the Death Force, the Gotcha Borgs escaped to Earth and get help from their human friends, and your job is to go kick Galactic Emperor’s ass before he destroys Earth too. That’s the gist of it. The characters themselves, despite their god awful voice acting, all feel distinct enough with their personalities that you may find some of them to be likable. They lack complexity, including Orochi, Sho, and Kou even though they’re given more important roles, but they also aren’t devoid of little interesting traits. Their interactions can be decently intriguing too, except I wish that everyone else interacted with their Gotcha Borgs more. G-Red and the Galactic Emperor are the only ones that talk, which just leaves a lot of room for more dynamic relationships between the Gotcha Borgs and humans that they unfortunately don’t capitalize on. The story had a lot of potential to be much more, but what we have serves it’s purpose well enough.
Gotcha Force is a very specific kind of game that when exposed to the right people, will really resonate with them. There’s a lot of issues, and realistically I’d say that most will think the game is just decent or good. This is a game too unique and rare to see that you can’t pass it up if you have the chance to play it at least once to develop your own opinion on it. A lot of fun can be had with the game if you were to invest a decent amount of your time to it. Which isn’t a lot either, the game is fairly short. There was so much potential for Gotcha Force; I really wish Capcom could bring it back or acknowledge it because it’s a very special game. What we got though is something that I still believe is wonderful and unforgettable.