«©NCSX»
Renton Thurston and his grandpa Axel are outside in
the evening air when they spy an LFO (Light Finding
Operation) mech with red trim. As it sails
gracefully through the sky on a reflection board,
the 14-year old Renton Thurston stares at it with awe.
A few seconds later, the LFO loses its graceful
demeanor and sputters awkwardly as it proceeds to
crash. The ensuing blast wave blows Renton and Axel
off their feet and onto their backs. A hatch opens
on the LFO and a young girl emerges from the mech
which is none the worse for wear. She addresses the
two Thurstons, asking for help in repairing her
mech. Renton ogles the girl and hisses, "Kawaii..."
Starting Point
The game proper begins indoors where Renton stands at the top of some
stairs and the LFO stands in repose on the left side of the screen. It's
massive and dwarfs the lad. He rushes over to the mech and assesses that it's a
Nirvash type Zero and talks to himself in excited
tones. Soon afterwards, Eureka enters the room and
engages Renton in short conversation. When Renton is
near something that he can investigate, a square
icon command that shows Renton peering through a
magnifying glass spins up above him and he may
investigate the LFO and the bottom of the stairs. If
he goes near Eureka, a chat icon spins out and he
may start a conversation. Interaction scenarios show
the portraits of the characters as they talk and
their dialogue appears in boxes below them. Renton
learns a little more about Eureka during their talk
and gets bashful at times. It's clear that he's
attracted to the green-haired girl.
First Conflict
Later on, there's a crash outdoors and Renton runs outside to see
Eureka bowing in front of some burning wreckage.
An attack is en route from a pair of Kraft Light
Finders (KLF). Running back inside, audible beeps may be heard when they're
joined by Renton's grandfather who takes out a
purple thing-a-mabob with three handles on top. It's
a device known as the Amita Drive. To fend off the
imminent KLF attack, Eureka hops into the Nirvash and starts it
up. At this point, it's possible to save your
progress to memory card.
In the next sequence, the first mission begins where Eureka pilots
the Nirvash as it streams through the skies. The
controls are as follows:
L-Analog / Movement
X-Button / Thrust Forward
O-Button / Boomerang Attack
L1-Trigger / Lean towards the right by
sliding to the left side of the screen
R1-Trigger / Lean towards the left by sliding
to the right side of the screen
A radar on the lower left portion of the screen keeps track of your
position and enemy targets. Aim the Nirvash towards the
blue circle on the radar and when it's in sight,
move the targeting scope over the enemy mech. When
the scope flashes red, press the "O" button to launch a
boomerang attack. Each KLF LFO takes exactly four
hits before it spins out of control and is
destroyed. If you miss or fail to launch an attack
during a close encounter, the enemy mech will shoot
at you with rifle fire. There are two military mechs
that have to be destroyed and once they're gone,
bonuses are handed out for enemy, tricks, time,
item, and AP.
The Amita Drive
After Eureka destroys the two mechs, the scene shifts to gramps
telling Renton about the Amita Drive and instructing
him to bring it to Eureka. While riding to his
destination, Renton loses his bike when he plunges
off a cliff. Another save point prompts the player
to store his progress.
In the next scene, a flashback of Renton as a child in black and
white screenshots is shown. Back to the present, a cut scene shows him
in a field about to ref when a military blue mech approaches him.
Another mini-game starts up where he rides his ref
board but there's no surfing here - the player has
to watch the button cues as they scroll from right to left
on the bottom of the screen and pass a square
trigger chamber. When a O enters it, press the O
button. When triangle enters, press the TRIANGLE
button and so on and so forth until a Collection
Memories is unlocked and the task accomplished.
Despite successful navigation and getting all the cues correct, the
next scene follows the script of the animation to a
tee and has Renton falling through the heavens after
losing his board. The goal is to move Renton as he
falls so that he lands on top of Eureka's LFO which is
gently gliding below him to break his fall. Another
Collection Memories is unlocked after this scene is
completed.
Renton is overly grateful and gives Eureka a big hug. She seems a
bit uncomfortable with the show of affection as her
purple eyes bug out of their sockets. He then tells
her about the Amita Drive and installs it but Eureka
faints and the cockpit of the LFO is awash in red
light. A beeping siren sounds off indicating danger.
A massive explosion known as the Seven Swell is
triggered and military men observe it from their
ship. Its a huge localized explosion that shoots a
column of thick power into the heavens. The Nirvash
type Zero becomes more powerful than ever once it is
fitted with the Amita Drive and its potential is
unlocked..
Holland, Leader of Gekko State
Back at grandpa's junkyard/repair shop, a new character appears -
Holland, the leader of Gekko State. The next
mini-game that appears requires that Renton follow
what Eureka does. For example, she will raise her
right arm and you must press the O button and hold
it to raise Renton's arm as well. When she lowers
her arm, release the O button to mimic her but when
she raises it again, press the O button again
quickly to follow her movements. After mimicking for
a few seconds, the white bar on the top of the
screen fills up and another Collection Memories is
unlocked. Another miniature mission accomplished.
Gramps joins the crowd and Renton has to talk to all three people
to trigger the next event. Much of the game proceeds
to the next stage only when characters are spoken to
in sequence before events start to move the game
along. After speaking to all three people, another
attack event is triggered where Eureka and her LFO is seen
streaking through the ground level upwards while a
yellow trail emanates behind her board.
Second Strike
Three more LFO mechs from the military attack and they converge on the Nirvash all at once in a concerted
effort. To defend
against KLF strikes, watch the four sides of the
screen for indicators that you have to press the
four face buttons to match. If you're not quick
enough to block/dodge the attack, a big red X
appears on the side of the screen that you missed and
the Nirvash
will take gunfire from the enemy attack. If you're
quick enough to avoid the attacks, a green "Clear" box appears on that
side of the screen. When attacking enemies, you can fire off as
many boomerang attacks in sequence as you wish as
long as you lock on in time. Blast after blast
works.
Soon afterwards, Renton is inducted into the crew of Gekko State
and he boards their ship - a green and white craft
known as the Gekko-Go. Once aboard, the crew casts a
wary eye towards him as they group together and
appraise their newest member. One gals tweaks
his cheeks apart like grandmothers are apt to do to protestations from Renton.
Holland soon appears with a roll-a-bed while dressed in his
drawers and Eureka walks Renton to his room.
NCS Game Notes
» In the intro to the game, Renton rides a ref board
and later relaxes on a field when the camera focuses
on Eureka who has walked up behind him. Fast cut
sequences ensue off where the crew members of the
Gekko-Go are introduced. Afterwards, an LFO is
seen speeding through the skies when it's joined by more LFOs and a battle
ensues against blue-armored KLF mechs.
» The cut scenes and static graphics have been taken directly from the
animation and the game follows the events of the
source material in detail. The event scenes provide
an excellent recap for fans of the
series. After each key scene, the game prompts
the player to save progress which is very helpful.
» To reflect the drudgery of Renton's early days on
the Gekko-Go, there's a mini-game where he has to
wash the floor by rapidly pressing the "O" button.
There are 8 tiles to clean and he has to scrub them
with the mop until they sparkle. A bucket of water
is available to rinse the mop when it gets dirty.
» In the Options Menu, two selections appear:
1) Album / View 250 Event Graphics or 8 Movies that must be unlocked
2) Free / Collection Memories and Free Battle - must be unlocked
» Eureka Seven features full voice acting which
accompanies the dialogue in the game. The catchy
music from the animation series is also intact.
» Reffing is an activity where participants mount
boards and ride Trappar waves which permeate the
world like ley lines.
|
