Voltron should have had a game a decade ago. In fact, he should have had this game a decade ago. The style and gameplay would have suited the times perfectly and I can’t believe that it took the iPhone to bring the Defender of the Universe to video games.

Let me back up a second. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment hooked up with G5 Entertainment to make Voltron: Defender of the Universe, the first ever video game based on the long-running animated series. This is the Lion Force version that took place on the planet Arus with Princess Alluria, Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Lance and the ill-fated Sven (my personal favorite).

The game takes you through multiple missions of an isometric nature where you control the lions and have to accomplish specific goals which generally include getting to a specific place or destroying something.

Then at the end of each ’Act’ of the game a Robeast shows up. So the Lions combine to create Voltron and you have a 2D fighting game to beat the Robeast. In a word - Genius!

Sure the gameplay is not extremely innovative, the controls aren’t fantastic (I’ll get to that) and the fighting is mediocre. But it’s Voltron!

Alright so the graphics on the game are Super Nintendo or maybe PS2 quality but they somehow fit the Voltron theme. Plus you get to watch some scenes right from the animation itself from time-to-time which is cool. They not only used video clips from the series but also sound clips and loosely followed part of the story including (SPOILER) Sven’s being injured and the Princess Alluria having to step in as a lion pilot. (Come on, you knew that already right?!)

The controls are a four-way d-pad on screen combined with three other buttons for missiles, paw swiping and the special power (each lion having their own of course). The control pad sometimes makes the game hard to play if you happen to have a host of enemies on the line and the isometric view makes it hard to judge movement. But really it’s not that major of a problem and the game still comes out ahead.

The Robeast fighting is standard 2D fighting fare except that you can’t move, only attack, duck, block. Not super exciting but again, you’re Voltron and that nostalgic feeling goes a long way.

If you’re not familiar with Voltron you might not find this game all that fantastic. The soul of the game is tied to those days when we would race home from school to catch such cartoons like Transformers, G.I. Joe, Voltron and others. The game will remind some of their childhood, others of more recent years but in the end, it’s still a pretty decent game overall.

Further Screens:

I do like the cel-shaded look of the combat and there is some pretty fine detail in the story mode missions as well. I hope this comes to a console or they make a bigger Voltron game soon.