Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (2024)

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Shinkansen Retrogamer

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8 min read

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Oct 27, 2020

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Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (3)

Today we will review Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness, made by Capcom which was released in 1995… and guess what? This is the game where Jin Saotome and Devilotte de Deathsatan IX originated (details later)!

“Phase 1… PROCEED!”

Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (4)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (5)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (6)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (7)

The game only saw limited distribution in arcades outside Japan, and Capcom managed to bring Jin Saotome in Marvel vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

The premise in Cyberbots is similar to Armored Warriors, albeit it features a maximum of two playable characters on screen as opposed to three. 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.

In the game the player first chooses the pilot and then the mecha (Valiant/Variant Armor or VA for short) they’ll use to fight. The mechas 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.

Near the end of the 21st century Earth begins to become overpopulated 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.

“Target Damaged”

Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (8)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (9)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (10)

Note: All information is taken from both English and Japanese language Wikipedia.

“Phase 2… PROCEED”

  • Jin Saotome (21 years old; voiced by DBZ star Tōru Furuya, later replaced by Yuji Ueda in MvC and MvC2): Jin’s father (Ken Saotome) was killed in an accident one year before. 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 appears in the Marvel vs. Capcom series and Tech Romancer as a playable character. He also makes a cameo in Hawkeye’s ending in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as a member of his West Coast Avengers. His main mech is BX-02 Blodia. Blodia appears in PTX-40A’s ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. He is 175 cm tall and weighs 72 kg.
  • Santana Laurence (29 years old; voiced by Akagi Takenori — deceased 14 November 2022): 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. Santana also has a cameo appearance in PTX-40A’s ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. He is 195 cm tall and weighs 97 kg.
  • Gawaine Murdock (64 years old; voiced by Tesshō Genda): 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. Gawaine was Mary’s captain when she was still lieutenant, a close friend of the Saotome family and good friend to SHADE in the past before SHADE was turned into a cyborg. He pilots the GP-N1 Guldin. He is 180 cm tall and weighs 84 kg.
  • Mary Miyabi (26 years old; voiced by Urara Takano): 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 soldier, Gawaine Murdock. Aside for a soft side for children she is the typical soldier. She pilots the RF-004 Reptos. She is 176 cm tall and weighs 58 kg. Her measurements are 86–58–89.
  • Arieta (17 years old; voiced by Purin-Jigglypuff): Earth Force kidnapped children and used them for experiments. Arieta escaped after seeing her friends die in their 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. Without any friends to turn to for help so she runs without knowing where to go. A naturally kind-hearted person, she seems to win over anyone she meets, except for SHADE and Devilotte. She is 164 cm tall and weighs 46 kg. Her measurements are 80–54–82.
  • Bao (14 years old; 160 cm tall and weighs 52 kg, green hair; voiced by Inuyasha) and Mao (11 years old; 148 cm tall and weighs 32 kg, measurements are 70–53–76, pink hair; voiced by the original Felicia): They are siblings that have been caught by Earth Force. They escape and find a VA that’s programmed for self-defense. Even though they have no piloting experience, the VA still operates fine due to the programming and sheer luck. Bao is very protective of his little sister. He doesn’t know about the Earth Force’s dealings and he doesn’t care. He just wants to get away from everything safely with his sister. Their ending is surprisingly funny.

Console exclusive

  • Princess Devilotte de Deathsatan IX (13 years old; voiced by Etsuko Kozakura + role reprisal in PxZ): Devilotte is the daughter of a dangerous and reputed pirate king. She and her two lackeys (Dave the scientist and Xavier the wizard) fly around space looking for people with VAs to steal them and add to her collection. She is not involved with either side of the dispute in the Earth Force events. She pilots the S-008 Super-8, a mecha in the shape of an octopus that was designed for underwater use. Devilotte has a crush on Gawaine. Devilotte appears in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo as a hidden character, an assist character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes a cameo in Doronjo’s ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, and a Solo Unit in Project X Zone. She was also released as a playable character for the Puzzle Fighter mobile game in 2018. She is 158 ​​cm tall and weighs 40 kg. Her measurements are 88–52–89 (expected 74–56–80).
  • Chiyomaru Kagura (17 years old, 168 cm tall and weighs 60 kg; voiced by FALCON… PUNCH!!!) and Tessan Hagure (38 years old, 214 cm tall and 147 kg; voiced by Banjō Ginga): Chiyomaru Kagura is the head of the resistance fleet while Tessan Hagure is his guardian. The resistance forces’ mission is to find and destroy the doomsday weapon created by the Weapon’s Brain: G.O.D. The two once part with the Earth Forces until they left to form the resistance forces to oppose the Earth Force’s experiments. Chiyomaru pilots the P-10033 Gaits.
  • SHADE (age unknown; voiced by Shōzō Iizuka) 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 is now a cyborg and an attack dog for Earth Force. His memories are a little scrambled and he is trying to remember who he was. Jin’s last name is the first thing that starts to refresh his memory. In the end, he dies saving Earth, doing one last favor for his old friend. He pilots the UVA-02 Helion. He is 235 cm tall and weighs 508 kg.

Non-playable characters

  • Ken Saotome: Ken, Shade, and Gawaine belonged to the same unit in Earth Force and the three were close. Ken was 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 looked like a taller, bulkier version of Jin, except he wore green instead of white.
  • Final Weapon’s Brain: G.O.D. (Ganglions of Omniscient Disrupter): G.O.D. is a massive brain that plans to destroy humanity. It mainly controls the mech X-0 WARLOCK, like Azrael before it, but in other storyline paths controls the RF-027 JACKAL and the FZ-900J KILLER BEE as well. The brain seems able to dominate Arieta temporarily. Ultimately, it is destroyed.
  • Emperor Death Satan: Emperor Death Satan is the king of Heldorado and the Milky Way Express, and Devilotte’s father. More importantly, apart from owning a WARLOCK VA, he is also the owner of Z-AKUMA (Z-GOUKI in Japan), an extremely powerful mech based on the Street Fighter villain. His face is hidden behind a huge suit of armor, and his voice booms audibly, implying that he may not be human.

Although we don’t get to see the game in the arcades back in the day, it was playable in MAME until Nintendo tossed lawsuits against the ROM sites and resulting in either the Nintendo ROMs being removed or having the sites shut down permanently (in the case of EmuParadise, the site has taken down ROM downloads, for fear of being sued by Nintendo). I wish Capcom could release this game on the Switch and/or PS4 as part of the Arcade Archives (Update: This game is now a part of Capcom Fighting Collection).

“Target Destroyed”

Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (11)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (2024)

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