Time to use Gotcha Force
- JP release: 27th November 2003
- NA release: 5th December 2003
- EU release: 20th February 2004
- Developer: Capcom
- Publisher: Capcom
- NGC Magazine Score: 69%
- Mods Used: Widescreen Hack
The premise of Gotcha Force is like Custom Robo combined with Transformers. Kids battle each other with tiny robots, although they are alien in origin and come from a destroyed world, trying to protect the Earth from the evil tiny robots. One thing I was surprised about is that this is not based on an anime, especially as it feels like a licensed adaptation of something, a feeling helped by how the game barely explains what is happening.
The game consists of lots of battles that take place in giant versions of everyday locations, mainly parks and rooms and take place in a cut out square bit of land, just like Custom Robo. However, the illusion really doesn’t work at all in this, possibly because of the third person camera, and the arenas just look unfinished, or like the draw distance is nom-existent.
The controls also feel awkward, your melee dash attack seems to go in a random direction and you automatically lock on to enemies. You have a jetpack, but it’s unwieldy and inconsistent. Without the solid movement of Custom Robo, it’s just very basic and grows tiresome over time. You can play as different robots – they kind of act like extra lives, but they don’t change things much.
I was initially confused by the name of the game, as “Gotcha Force”, but as I was about to translate the Japanese box, it suddenly dawned on me: it sounds a bit like Gacha (short for gachapon, Japanese toys from capsule machines) and sure enough, Gachaforce was the Japanese name. The localisation team just went with the closest sounding English word.
Fine
The fighting and the control of the toys is pretty soulless. Aside from choosing between your different Gotcha Borgs, there’s very little in the way of strategy and even less in the way of skill required to come out on top.
Geraint Evans, NGC Magazine #90
Remake or remaster?
A re-release is fine.
Official Ways to get the game
There’s no official way to get Gotcha Force.
Europe
Japan
North America
GameCube Games by Date
2002: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2003: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2004: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2005: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
