Cybernator
Encyclopedia
Cybernator - known in Japan as - is a run and gun game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
. It is the indirect prequel to Target Earth
as part of the Assault Suits series
by NCS Corp
. The game was localized and published overseas by Konami
. A remake of Cybernator was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2
. The original Japanese releases featured artwork done by Satoshi Urushihara
. Cybernator was released on the Virtual Console
in PAL regions on December 7, 2007, and in North America on December 17, 2007.
.
Jake is the game's protagonist. He is a soldier drafted into the Pacific States' Marine Corp and pilots a Federation Assault Suit
. The Suit has a humanoid shape, with arms, legs, torso, and head. It is equipped with a variety of weapons and other special accessories, giving it full land and minor air capabilities.
Jake and his platoon are tasked with destruction of Bildvorg, the most powerful mech of the Axis forces. The various missions in the game lead up to the completion of this objective.
Although Cybernator was released after Target Earth, Cybernator takes place a decade before Target Earth.
In Assault Suit Valken 2, Jake makes a cameo appearance as a 30 year old veteran soldier who assists in battles as an NPC.
Claire Coral/Crea Coral Communications officer on board Versis.
Chuck Jonston/Chack Jonston Captain of Versis.
Francisco Flako/Geltz Enemy commander of Space Fortress Arc Nova. He is a small sized, ruthless man who has no qualms for civilian casualties as he tries to drop the fortress to Earth during the third mission. He pilots a gigantic mobile weapon. In Cybernator's manual he is named "Francisco Flako".
Alex Bedrach/Alef Berdach Enemy ace pilot. He appears during the fourth mission and becomes the nemesis of Jake during the game. He is also the final boss.
Claus Von Meister Barron/Schermalk Enemy supreme commander. A ruthless military dictator that started the war. In the uncensored Japanese version, he commits suicide after Jake's Assault Suit raids the enemy's assembly building.
Kurt/Herman One of Jake's wingmen. He is a cocky but reliable pilot. He was killed by Bedrach during the fourth mission.
Apollo One of Jake's wingmen.
synthesizer (the same synthesizer used to provide the SNES samples
played back on the SPC700
) and released as a CD in Japan.
during its localization
. The Japanese version features written dialog accompanied by a portrait of the speaker, but these portraits were removed during localization. There is also a scene absent in which the president of the enemy forces, whose banner is the EU one's, after realizing that his nation has been defeated, commits suicide
. Also some written dialog is taken out, which shows the soldier rescued in the fourth level being in the robot fought before the final boss.
The instruction manual of the English version is also filled with inconsistent information. For example, the sixth mission takes place in the Alps where Versis tries to fly over the mountains to reach the Allied front lines, but according to the manual, the player's aim is to raid the enemy commander's mountain retreat.
And there is also differences in the Opening as well, for Example The English Version has the Konami intro at the beginning, whereas the original japan release does not.
If player succeeds the side missions, Versis survives and Jake returns to carrier, the war is over and Jake and Claire embrace each other in the Versis' deck.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. It is the indirect prequel to Target Earth
Target Earth (video game)
Target Earth is a video game developed by NCS Corp in 1990 for the Sega Genesis and the Sega Mega Drive. It has since been re-released on the Wii as a Virtual Console product in Japan. Target Earth is the English translation of the original Japanese version, Assault Suit Leynos...
as part of the Assault Suits series
Assault Suits series
The Assault Suits series is a series of futuristic robotic war video games developed by NCS featuring soldiers manning gigantic humanoid machines dubbed Assault Suits. Spanning the course of 15 years and beyond, the games would be cross-distributed, cross-published and developed between the U.S....
by NCS Corp
Masaya (company)
- the software division of NCS - is a Japanese entertainment company, which develops and publish video games.-Video games:* Langrisser* Cho Aniki* Cho Aniki * Mamono Hunter Yohko: Makai Kara no Tenkosei...
. The game was localized and published overseas by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
. A remake of Cybernator was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. The original Japanese releases featured artwork done by Satoshi Urushihara
Satoshi Urushihara
is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator known for his distinctive style of featuresque and beautiful characters. His work is the basis for anime such as Plastic Little and Legend of Lemnear, and appears in the Langrisser and Growlanser series of tactical CRPGs.-Early life:Satoshi Urushihara was...
. Cybernator was released on the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in PAL regions on December 7, 2007, and in North America on December 17, 2007.
Storyline
The game takes place in the future, during a time when Earth's fossil fuels have begun to dwindle. There is a massive war taking place all over the earth for control of these resources, as well as for territorial rights on the moon. The two warring governments, the Axis and Federation, have the ability to go into space and create giant space stations and weapons of mass destructionWeapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
.
Jake is the game's protagonist. He is a soldier drafted into the Pacific States' Marine Corp and pilots a Federation Assault Suit
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
. The Suit has a humanoid shape, with arms, legs, torso, and head. It is equipped with a variety of weapons and other special accessories, giving it full land and minor air capabilities.
Jake and his platoon are tasked with destruction of Bildvorg, the most powerful mech of the Axis forces. The various missions in the game lead up to the completion of this objective.
Although Cybernator was released after Target Earth, Cybernator takes place a decade before Target Earth.
In Assault Suit Valken 2, Jake makes a cameo appearance as a 30 year old veteran soldier who assists in battles as an NPC.
Characters
Jake Brain Main character. An AS pilot in the United Pacific States Marine Corps, assigned to carrier Versis' AS Squadron.Claire Coral/Crea Coral Communications officer on board Versis.
Chuck Jonston/Chack Jonston Captain of Versis.
Francisco Flako/Geltz Enemy commander of Space Fortress Arc Nova. He is a small sized, ruthless man who has no qualms for civilian casualties as he tries to drop the fortress to Earth during the third mission. He pilots a gigantic mobile weapon. In Cybernator's manual he is named "Francisco Flako".
Alex Bedrach/Alef Berdach Enemy ace pilot. He appears during the fourth mission and becomes the nemesis of Jake during the game. He is also the final boss.
Claus Von Meister Barron/Schermalk Enemy supreme commander. A ruthless military dictator that started the war. In the uncensored Japanese version, he commits suicide after Jake's Assault Suit raids the enemy's assembly building.
Kurt/Herman One of Jake's wingmen. He is a cocky but reliable pilot. He was killed by Bedrach during the fourth mission.
Apollo One of Jake's wingmen.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Masanao Akahori, and was later rearranged on a ROMplerRompler
A rompler is an electronic musical instrument that plays back samples stored in ROM chips to generate sound. Romplers lack the ability to record such samples and have limited or no capability for generating original waveforms...
synthesizer (the same synthesizer used to provide the SNES samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
played back on the SPC700
SPC700
The Nintendo S-SMP is the audio CPU of the SNES video game console.The SNES contains a sound module called APU which is almost completely separate from the rest of the system: it is clocked at a nominal 24.576 MHz in both NTSC and PAL systems, and can only communicate with the main board via 4...
) and released as a CD in Japan.
Differences between versions
Cybernator was the subject of censorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
during its localization
Internationalization and localization
In computing, internationalization and localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market...
. The Japanese version features written dialog accompanied by a portrait of the speaker, but these portraits were removed during localization. There is also a scene absent in which the president of the enemy forces, whose banner is the EU one's, after realizing that his nation has been defeated, commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Also some written dialog is taken out, which shows the soldier rescued in the fourth level being in the robot fought before the final boss.
The instruction manual of the English version is also filled with inconsistent information. For example, the sixth mission takes place in the Alps where Versis tries to fly over the mountains to reach the Allied front lines, but according to the manual, the player's aim is to raid the enemy commander's mountain retreat.
And there is also differences in the Opening as well, for Example The English Version has the Konami intro at the beginning, whereas the original japan release does not.
Endings
The game has two endings. The bad ending can be acquired if the player were to fail most of the side-missions in the game, such as failing to stop Arc Nova from falling or allowing the enemy space shuttle escapes in the 5th mission. In this ending Versis is critically damaged and most of her crew were killed including Claire, which leaves Jake devastated in the credits.If player succeeds the side missions, Versis survives and Jake returns to carrier, the war is over and Jake and Claire embrace each other in the Versis' deck.
Remake
A remake was released for PlayStation 2 only in Japan and Europe, but the game received poor reviews as it did not have any new features.See also
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External links
- Assault Suits Valken at superfamicom.org
- 重装機兵ヴァルケン / Assault Suits Valken at super-famicom.jp