Translations & Patches

Assault Suits Valken v1.00 by Aeon Genesis

Description

This is the Japanese version of Cybernator.

Reviwed By MO of Super Famicom Central (R.I.P.)
Historical Fact: Prequel to the Mega Drive Assault Suit Leynos / Art Work done by Satoshi Urushihara

The Story
In the future Earth's natural resources have begun to dwindle. There is a massive war taking place all over the earth for control of Fossil Fuels, 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 destruction. The Federation assign "Jake" and his team of expert Assault Suit pilots from the United Pacific States Marine Corp to foil the Axis plans for domination.

Assault Suits Valken is a fast paced Action Platform Shooter using similar game mechanics to Akumajō Dracula (Castlevania IV) and Contra Spirits. You do need to think and plan in this game as strategy is a key part in defeating your enemies.

You operate a 50ft tall Robot with a plethora of weapons such as Laser Cannon, Flame Thrower, Missile Launcher and a Trusty shield thrown in for good measure. The Robot's abilities are excellent, very quick, agile and great booster function for high/long jumps when needed!! The shield is a vital function for the Robot as you can prevent damage from enemy attacks at all angles enabling you to plan on your next move. Your Robot also has the ability to power slide, this action can be very useful in times of extreme attacks for that quick getaway.

There are a total of 7 levels, some levels can be more difficult than others for example, level 1 is the easiest as it sets the bar for the player but level 2+ gradually increases in difficulty. The Bosses look amazing, fantastic sprites and animation used, some Bosses are very tough to defeat and requires skill and patience.

The Graphics in Assault Suits Valken are excellent, great attention to detail especially in the back-drops. The sound and music really do some justice for the game adding to the enjoyment. The music score was later released onto CD in Japan.

This is certainly the best Port as the SNES version suffers from censorship and changes; (A suicide seen on the end level is cut!). The Super Famicom version features dialog accompanied by an anime portrait of the speaker, but these portraits were removed on the Snes version. The ending differs on both versions as well.

Availability
A fairly rare title and it hardly appears on Ebay. Expect to pay £20 for (MIB), £13 (CIB) and £6 for a loose cart.

Ratings
Graphics: 91%
Sound: 83%
Playability: 90%
Lastability: 85%
Fun Factor: 90%
Total: 91%

Final Thoughts
This is an all round excellent game which at the time Konami knew its potential hence their reason acquiring the rights from Masaya to publish it onto the US market under their banner. I thought nothing could come close to my favorite Action shooter (Contra Spirits) but I have to say that Assault Suits Valken is in the same league but more challenging. Having a Robot makes a real change from the standard protagonist character with a gun, it gives depth into the game but above all it's different and a break from the norm. Assault Suits Valken is a fantastic game and worthy of a "Top Shelf" title, totally recommended!!

Credits / Staff List / スタッフ

プロデュース
土田俊郎

プログラム
鈴木英夫
大矢哲也
樋口幸弘
川野幸広

グラフィックス
中井覚
只隈圭介
斉藤隆秀

キャラクターデザイン
うるし原智志

音楽・効果音
オーバス

アシスト
　佐藤光
岩崎秀雄
　林田淳

スーパーバイザー
渋谷実夫

制作
NCS Corp.

References

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ROM Information

Country USA
Internal CRC 6759
CRC32 ACA397E8
MD5 E92A796D08D2FEB222277F16D110A6C8
SHA-1 ACC2B4C01E97B72A83FBB3F4DB1BB2E4535AD864
SHA-256 28CBBB0FCD0F3811B2FCCEB162B8D87CC2B4E2578B73872A4C0DEAAF7AA41F27
ROM Speed 120ns (FastROM)
ROM Size 8 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal
SRAM Size 0 Kb
Internal Title CYBERNATOR           
Common Filenames
Cybernator - With Sound Test (U).sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
Cybernator (USA) (Beta).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)

Country USA
Internal CRC 7550
CRC32 4DFA05B3
MD5 8376C1BFAC08F6FBBF99F26ABAEE6DA0
SHA-1 F629DEEA9D7CF6903BA8A4B81DA96624C0B056AB
SHA-256 AD31B94CE928ECFF605E2B89082154671691509E95D38370ED381437F2C36698
ROM Speed 120ns (FastROM)
ROM Size 8 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal
SRAM Size 0 Kb
Internal Title CYBERNATOR           
Common Filenames
Cybernator (U).sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
Cybernator (USA).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)
Cybernator (NTSC)(Eng)(1.0).sfc (Zapatabase 2011-01-30)

Country Japan
Internal CRC 0EDB
CRC32 A5F63557
MD5 9F4F827317F507B0AC4702245F161687
SHA-1 2AB3E78615D83FCE96986A759CFE3EE1FE9CCB07
SHA-256 749B591FE5060E07AE5435DA1B4C95F9DAE83FC2D719233D25E6A308623CB0DF
ROM Speed 120ns (FastROM)
ROM Size 8 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal
SRAM Size 0 Kb
Internal Title VALKEN               
Common Filenames
Assault Suits Valken (J).sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
Juusou Kihei Valken (Japan).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)
Assault Suits Valken (Japan).sfc (No-Intro 2011-xx-xx)
Assault Suits Valken (NTSC)(Jap)(1.0).sfc (Zapatabase 2011-01-30)

Country Europe
Internal CRC 0573
CRC32 F493414B
MD5 38AEB2459240FDE2AFFCC5C498721985
SHA-1 31030745ABB1D407859A2184398C08868EAE9658
SHA-256 5D42CEF66C529939B6038F4ECAF1AEB06ACDA2DABBF7BCF4E7203F3CB6B43F7A
ROM Speed 120ns (FastROM)
ROM Size 8 Mb
ROM Bank LoROM
ROM Type Normal
SRAM Size 0 Kb
Internal Title CYBERNATOR           
Common Filenames
Cybernator (E) [!].sfc (GoodSNES v0.999.5)
Cybernator (Europe).sfc (No-Intro 2011-12-24)
Cybernator (PAL)(Eng)(1.0).sfc (Zapatabase 2011-01-30)