Cyberbots
Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness is an arcade game produced by
Capcom in
1994 where the pilots fight each other using mechs. The mecha in this game are a mix of the mecha parts used in the scrolling fighter
Armored Warriors. It was ported to the
Sega Saturn and the
Sony PlayStation.
In the game the player first chooses the pilot and then the
mech (Valiant/Variant Armor or VA for short) they'll use to fight. The mechs determine the gameplay of the game, but the pilot is what determines the storyline the player will see. Near the end of the 21st century Earth begins to become over populated leading to many people living in man made space colonies. The primary army of Earth, "Earth Force", has been conducting experiments and their work, along with the actions of the playable characters will determine the future of Earth.
The premise in
Cyberbots is similar to its predecessor
Armored Warriors, albeit it features only a maximum of two playable characters on screen as opposed to three. Cyberbots is a very innovative game, attributed to its amount of selectable options, parts, and mecha that permit the player to format their play style to their preference. Similar to the
Armored Core series, different legs (which affect movement abilities), arms (which affect reach and melee capabilities) and weapons can be mixed and matched between the selectable robots available to the player.
Gameplay in Cyberbots is similar to other
Capcom-created
fighting games, with a medium-sized command list of executing various attacks available to each individual robot. Battles are a duel-formatted affair with players and the computer fighting against one another to proceed to the next battle.
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Jin Saotome:Gender: Male:Age: 21:Jin's father (Ken Saotome) belonged to a unit that was killed in an accident one year before the start of Cyberbots. To honor his memory he seeks to become the best VA pilot alive and wants to prove his worth through the VA battle circuit. He begins to question his father's death after meeting Shade for the first time. Jin's mood goes from calm to rage within seconds but he remains a good guy. He is also friends with Gawaine Murdock. Jin has guest appearances in the
Marvel vs Capcom series and
Tech Romancer as a playable character.
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Santana Laurence:Gender: Male:Age: 26:Santana is a self centered loner who makes a living scrounging up parts for VA's and sometimes working as a mercenary. In the past he was the leader of the proud Mars Revolution. Santana knows Shade and Gawaine. He's likely just an old friend of Gawaine, but he fought Shade on Mars during the revolution. He's also a bit of a narcissist and a womanizer.
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Mary Miyabe:Gender: Female:Age: 26:She is the only female Captain of Earth Force . When a prisoner escapes she is sent to retrieve him/her and bring them back immediately. While pursuing the prisoner she finds out more about the dealings of Earth Force and turns against them after meeting Arieta, Bao and Mao. She was trained by retired solider, Gawaine Murdock. Aside for a softside for children she is the prototypical soldier.
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Gawaine Murdock:Gender: Male:Age: 64:Gawaine was a captain of Earth Force who retired at age 63 after the deaths of his men in a training accident. He lives in seclusion from everyone while trying to live out his final days in peace and quiet. He returns after Earth Force begins making trouble. He was Mary's captain when she was still lieutenant, a close friend of the Saotome family and good friend to Shade in the past.
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Arieta:Gender: Female:Age: 14:Earth Force is kidnapping children and using them for experiments. Arieta escapes after seeing her friends die in the labs. She doesn't know exactly what Earth Force is trying to do, her only concern is escaping the torture that she had to endure. She doesn't have any friends to turn to for help so she runs without knowing where to go. She's a naturally kind hearted person who seems to win over anyone she meets, except for Shade and Devilotte.
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Bao and Mao:Gender: (Bao) Male; (Mao), Female:Age: (Bao) 14; (Mao) 12:They are siblings that have been caught by Earth Force. They manage to escape and find a VA that's programmed for self defense. So even though they have no piloting experience, the VA still operates fine. Bao is very protective over his little sister. He doesn't know about he Earth Force's dealings and he doesn't care. He just wants to get away from everything safely with his sister.
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Devilotte:Gender: Female:Age: Approximately 15 :Devilotte is the daughter of some dangerous Pirate King/Queen, making her the princess. She and her two lackeys basically fly around space looking for people with VA's so she can beat them up and steal parts from them. It doesn't look like she's involved with either side of the dispute in the Earth Force events. She's just a spoiled brat that's looking for something to do. She pilots the Super-8. A mech that was designed for underwater use. It looks like an octopus. Devilotte has a crush on Gawaine and is constantly blushing when he's around. Devilotte appears in
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo as a hidden character, and is a Helper in
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.
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Ken Saotome:Gender: Male:Age: mid-forties at death :Ken, Shade and Gawaine belonged to the same unit in Earth Force and the three were close. Ken is killed by Shade one year before the start of
Cyberbots. Gawaine wasn't there when it happened and it was believed to be an accident. He looks like a taller, bulkier version of Jin, except he wears green instead of white.
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Shade:Gender: Male:Age: ???:Earth Force began something similar to a 'super soldier' experiment. They needed someone who was strong and young. Shade ended up being their candidate. They promised that he would be the perfect soldier but they needed to see if they had complete control over him, so they made him kill everyone in his unit. Earth Force writes the incident off as an accident. Shade's now a cyborg and an attack dog for Earth Force. His memories are a little scrambled and he's trying to remember who he was. Jin's last name is the first thing that starts to jar his memory. In the end he dies saving Earth.
*The Sega Saturn version of the game also featured
Zero Gouki, a mecha version of
Akuma.
