Cybattler is a 1993 Mecha-themed action game made by Jaleco for the arcades.
Released in the early 90s, back when giant robots and spaceship shooters in the Vertical Scrolling Shooter format are both in the hype, Cybattler is Jaleco's attempts at spicing up the format a little; instead of a spaceship, you're in control of a giant robot, a Cybattler prototype called the Blanche. Various enemy Cybattlers are causing problems attacking countries across the world, and it's you against multiple rogue Cybattlers out there.
It's worth noting that unlike other vertical-scrolling games of it's kind, where your default equipment are normally firearms, the Blanche's default weapon is instead a Laser Blade, which the game allows you to hack, slash, slice and dice from eight octogonal directions (unlike other similar games where you're only allowed to shoot right ahead). Laser cannons and missile launchers are available, but as backup weapons.
Blanche later appeared as a Guest Fighter DLC in Psyvariar Delta.
Cybattler contains examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: Gigas, the Humongous Mecha boss of stage 4, will repeatedly lash out at Blanche via Extendable Arms, only to lose it's limbs as it takes damage. Once you hack off both of it's appendages Gigas will rely entirely on that Chest Blaster until it's destroyed.
- Asteroid Thicket: The very first stage is set within a Space Base belonging to the enemy forces, right smack in the middle of an asterid field. Where the Blanche will spend much of the stage slicking up enemy mooks as well as stray asteroids which can collide and damage him.
- Battleship Raid: The second stage, "Warship", which have you piloting the Blanche through a Cybattler vessel and slashing your way through it's defenses, damaging it's exterior enough until you forced a way in.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Sikamas, the scorpion-like robot boss of "Non-Aggression Zone" havce a mechanical electrified tail which it uses to perform a Tail Slap on Blanche. It can even form circles around Blanch like a Prehensile Tail.
- Deadly Walls: Levels leading into interiors of spaceships or space stations tends to have narrow walls that the Blanche could crash on contact.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Inevitable since the Blanche's main weapon is a laser sword; several humanoid enemies will split diagonally into half if killed by a slashing attack.
- Laser Blade: The Blanche's default weapon, whivh you use to slice and dice through multiple enemies throughout.
- A Mech by Any Other Name: The mech in this game, for instance? The Cybattler.
- Powered Armor: The titular Cybattler units, which are powered mecha suits worn by human operators. You're controlling one called Blanche, and fending off an invasion whose ranks consists of rogue Cybattlers.
- Power Pincers: Used by Grifforn, the second boss, who can extend them all across the screen to reach the Blanche and even fire them Rocket Punch-style before retracting them.
- Red Is Heroic: The Blanche is coated in red-and-white armour, and the heroic mecha you're piloting for the entirety of the game. None of the mooks or bosses have any red on their armour, to further hammer the point in.
- Sequential Boss: The Hell Golem, who comes in three forms - α, β and τ, showing up in three consecutive areas where it needs to be defeated thrice. You fight it just as it's about to invade earth, too, with it's final τ form fought above the Alps.
- Space Mines: The third level, "Non-Aggression Zone" is set in an outer space minefield.
- Sword and Gun: Laser cannon and laser sword, to be precise.
- A Winner Is You: Unsurprisingly, since this is an old Jaleco title.Congratulations
You completed final mission
And war is over
