GENRE
	Turn-Based Strategy
	DEVELOPER
	Codo Games
	PUBLISHER
	Namco
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Imagine living on a post-apocalyptic Earth ruled by an elusive race of aliens who abduct humans away from society on their 30th birthdays. Where do these Arelians take the 30 year olds, what do they do to them, and how can they be stopped? All the answers can be found in Namco and Codo Game's sci-fi strategy/tactical GBA title Rebelstar: Tactical Command. Rebelstar is chock-full of gun-toting insects, hulking green thugs, cute (but evil) gray aliens, and an entire cast of Capcom knock-offs that are sure to either keep your mind numb for hours or hook you into a world sci-fi warfare, depending on your love for the genre and your attention span.

visuals

For the GBA's capabilities, the graphics are decent, if a bit bland. During the majority of the game, play environments include forests, human-like cities, and two types of alien bases. These four environments are repeated with the same tilesets throughout the game, making things a bit monotonous.

Character-wise, the TBS genre isn't known for giving each combatant a sense of individuality on the battlefield, and Rebelstar is no exception. All playable characters and enemies look practically identical. However, it was a nice surprise to see character sprites change when different weapons were equipped, such as grenades or stun guns.

After completing a mission in the single player mode, the gamer is rewarded with a plot advancement via a dialogue between sliding 2D panels of animé-styled characters. These panels are static and occasionally flip to different emotional expressions depending on the conversation. While the characters themselves aren't very deep or original, they're easy to like and their visual design makes them endearing.

In between the action and story, Rebelstar's menu interfaces are standard. Blue screens of text overlay nicely drawn backdrops of alien bases or armory rooms, and nothing is so intrusive so as to get in the way of playing the game.

audio

For the first 15-20 minutes of playing, Rebelstar's music seems pretty fun. Menu screens and player turns are filled with cheesy synth music that's a cross of X-Files and 70s sci-fi flicks. Meanwhile, an enemy's turn uses music that stylistically follows suit, but with a darker sense of tension. The problem is these same songs will follow you throughout the entire game! Fortunately, sound can be turned off altogether, but it's fun to flip the sound back on just in time to hear the dying yelp of a character.

gameplay

Rebelstar is typical turn-based strategy, similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. No matter your experience with the genre, there is a mandatory training session in the single player mode that ties into the story, so the learning curve is gentle if a bit too spelled out.

On the battlefield the gamer is given an average of five playable characters to control. Each charater has a set amount of AP (action points) that can be used to move, attack, change weapons or turn around. During each mission the squad is equipped, deployed and directed to achieve an objective correlating to the chapter, such as destroying all enemies in a given area, destroying certain objects in the environment, and even some light stealth to save other characters. Squad members gain experience points, AP, health and defense with each successful kill, and the experience points can be allocated to whatever area the gamer wants to level up for a particular character.

While there was an obvious attempt to provide mission variety, most of them turn out to be the same kill or be killed situation. The player's squad can be quickly eliminated, which makes it difficult to focus on a chapter's primary objective until all enemies are cleared around the perimeter. One reason characters are so easily eliminated is because no one character can heal himself; rather a different, specialized character has to carry out the action once nearby.

Rebelstar boasts "true line of sight in 8 directions," yet it seems this claim is only true for the characters in the game and not the player. Because of the three-quarters overhead view, an enemy alien and human could be facing each other, but if the alien is standing next to the wall of a building, it's possible only the wall and human character will be visible on screen, with an alien hidden between the two. The game character may see the enemy, but wihout any indication that the character is in immediate danger. This design flaw caused many a good guy to needlessly fall in battle.

Another issue with Rebelstar is its loading times. Loading battles, saving a game, taking a turn, or even looking at a character's range of movement took so much cumulative time to load that an hour can pass before finishing a mission--and that's using only 20 of the allotted 40 turns. Further, those 40 turns are just the player's, who must also sit through each enemy turn as well. Even story progression is hindered when the loading of a mission will completely interrupt a conversation between characters.

That being said, if you haven't the time for story mode, Namco has included a skirmish mode. This mode allows for a single player to battle the computer with no commitment to a story or saving. This quick-play mode is quite useful for an TBS fan on the bus or at a wedding.

multiplayer

Multiplayer is by far the best mode in Rebelstar. Only one GBA (and one cart!) is needed, and it's passed back and forth between two players for their corresponding turns. Each player gets to equip and deploy a squad, and then take turns shooting at each other. What really makes the two player mode worth playing is that players are given the chance to play as any of the four races in the game and given access to all the levels and artillery throughout the game! This is a great all-access mode that can satisfy fans of the genre who also want to turn their friends on to it.

overall

While I'm not a big fan of the TBS genre, I looked forward to Rebelstar because of its apocalyptic storyline, cute anime characters, and the opportunity to blow up little gray aliens. Unfortunately, the game's pace (particularly the frequent loading times) kept me from ever feeling thoroughly entertained. It's best if only TBS fanatics seek this one out, and anyone else who's interested should try it out in a two-player battle.

6/10