Way before I was into Pokémon and Digimon, I had a Zoids action figure. I don’t remember the name, but it must have been something like Zaber Fang when I did some research. So when Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed popped into our inbox, I did not hesitate to pick up this piece of nostalgia. Surely the series evolved, and they added a lot of Zoids I never heard of, but the basis was still there – mecha-animals and dinos battling it out.
Zoids!
Zoids (ゾイド, Zoido) is a science fiction media franchise created by Tomy that feature giant robots (or “mecha”) called “Zoids.” A Zoid is essentially a large mechanical animal, with designs being based on animals, including dinosaurs, insects, arachnids, and mythological creatures. The franchise started with a model-kit-based toy line and includes five main anime TV series (Chaotic Century, New Century, Fuzors, Genesis, and Wild) as well as several video games and manga products. Tomy is no small player in the toys business:
Takara-Tomy has manufactured a broad range of products based on its own properties which include, from the Tomy side: Tomica, Plarail, Zoids, Idaten Jump, Nohohon Zoku and Tomy branded baby care products, and, from the Takara side: Space Pets, Choro-Q (also known as Penny Racers), Transformers, B-Daman, Koeda-chan (also known as Treena) and Microman. The merged Takara-Tomy also produces and/or sells a wide variety of toy and game brands under license, such as Thomas & Friends, Disney, Pokémon, Naruto, The Game of Life (also known as Jinsei Game), Rockman (a.k.a. Mega Man), Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Kirarin Revolution, Sugarbunnies and Animal Crossing. Tomy’s rights to these licenses vary by region. One of the first examples of product synergy for the merged company was the combining of Takara’s Jinsei Game (Game of Life) license and Tomy’s Pokémon license to produce a Pokémon Jinsei Game.
Blast Unleashed
But, you did not come here to read about Tomy (although it’s interesting). You wanted a review on Zoids! In Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed, players will let loose the wild mecha power and animal instincts of Zoids in breathtaking, head-to-head battles against friends or in a new single-player Zoids story that follows the war between Arashi’s Team Freedom and the power-hungry Team Dark Metal.
“We are thrilled to be part of the charge, bringing this newest iteration of the legendary Zoids franchise to the West,” said Terry Malham, CEO of Outright Games. “This is an intergenerational brand that resonates with kids and adults alike, and we can’t wait for everyone to dive into the action and play together later this year.”
This brand new video game is based on the smash hit ‘Zoids Wild’ anime series, the latest iteration of the 35+ year global franchise that spans model kits, comics, TV, and video games. With faithful anime graphics and intuitive 3D combat, Zoids Wild Blast Unleashed is the ultimate mecha showdown (until there comes a Gundam game to the Switch, of course).
Options, zoid-tions everywhere!
So what does this game offer? You can opt to head and compete in 1vs1 mecha battles or enter the Zoids universe and play a large cast of Zoids characters with faithful visuals. And of course, there is the option of 2-player action – time to test your skills against other players! I spent most of my time with Zoid in the singleplayer mode since it’s the most diverse. Join the war between factions and discover a new Zoids sub-species. The singleplayer mode follows a standard anime-eseque battle mode we all know from Dragon Ball & Naruto. Each story is a chapter in which you are welcomed by a cutscene and a certain character with a Zoid.
As I mentioned before, you can switch between Arashi’s Team Freedom and the bad guys’ Team Dark Metal. Since most of my favorite Zoids (Dinosaurs, reptiles, and insects) are in the camp of Dark Metal, I choose to branch out in that path first. The starting mission is pretty easy, but the difficulty ramps up pretty quickly. And if you are pondering to buy this game purely for the multiplayer – sorry to disappoint; you’ll have to play through the singleplayer to unlock most of the Zoids.
Gotta collect them all.
Each Zoid has its own traits and battle style, and you can distinguish a clear style difference between Dark Metal and Freedom. Dark Metals fighting style feels a bit rushed over time, in which they prefer the power of brains, with Freedom the other way around. You can compare it with Team Rocket and Ash from Pokemon. One treats their Zoid as friend and companion; the others treat their Zoids as means to get to what they want. The difference between the two teams is clearly explained through the cutscenes. Combine this with a not hard to master battle system, and you got a game aimed at kids between 10-12 years old, and it works (I enjoyed myself as well).
The graphics look decent, although they look a bit stiff over time. Reaction time and overall performance on both handheld and the docked mode were good. Zoids can be played with Joy-Cons and Pro Controller, and I did not notice any difference/benefit on either play. Sure, the story is not Dragonball or Naruto deep, but it will be a nice tie-in with the anime, certainly since Zoids Wild gained a new season this year (although I’m not sure if it’s available in Europe at the time of writing).
Conclusion
So, to conclude, what do you get when buying Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed? Epic 1vs1 mecha battles with Zoids! Every one of your favorite Zoids is there, and you can even discover new ones in the story mode. If you want to bash your brothers/sisters/friends head in, jump into the 2-player action, and due to its easy controls, everyone can play Zoids. It’s probably a good starting point for someone into Mecha, but still testing the waters. Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed offers a good amount of gameplay, and it’s doable for even the younger gamers.
