Review: Assault Suit Valken Declassified

destructoid.com:

I’m not sure I ever made it past the second mission in Cybernator as a kid, but it left an impact all the same. Released in Japan in 1992 as Assault Suit Valken for Super Famicom, it was the second in the Assault Suit series after Assault Suit Leynos. Aside from being about mecha, the two games seemed to have different approaches to design. While Leynos was a rather straightforward side-scroller, Assault Suit Valken had a more tangibly weighty and methodical approach. There was an odd sense of realism to its fantastic sci-fi themes.

However, its release as Cybernator by Konami on the SNES was somewhat compromised. The translation wasn’t the best, character portraits were removed, and the ending was censored. Rainmaker Productions seeks to rectify that with Assault Suit Valken Declassified. They’ve enlisted the legendary port-house M2 to transfer the title to modern consoles while Rainmaker themselves pack it with additional features. The result is the best way to experience the product, but there are some reservations.

Assault Suit Valken: Declassified (Switch) Developer: NCS Corporation, M2 Publisher: Rainmaker Productions Released: March 30, 2023 MSRP: $24.99

Assault Suit Valken depicts a future war between two sides vying for control over the Earth’s exhausted resources and territory on the moon. You’re set in the stompy boots of a Valken mecha, and it’s up to you to do your part as a faceless soldier. There’s a real war-is-hell angle to everything, which makes it somewhat unique compared to other action games of the time.

What really made Assault Suit Valken stand apart, however, was the level of detail that went into it. A lot was done to maximize the feeling of stompiness. Your mecha moves slowly, grinding along