Macross Plus (Arcade) review "Defeat the evil AI Sharon Apple and save the galaxy"

Based on the excellent Anime series of the same name, Macross Plus incorporates two of the main cast into their respective ships plus a third female character whom you can choose from. As it is, neither character excels on much against the other, seemingly just a matter of having up to two players with a third choice in between.

The difficulty can be unforgiving. You must learn the pattern of various types of enemies otherwise you will die quite a lot. The boss battles can be as unforgiving even with the patterns learned.


There are different endings on this game. If you beat it twice on a same sitting you can get something added to said ending. It is curious that we get a saucy bath scene with the female character regardless of how many times you beat it with her however.


The soundtrack does not reflect the one used in the Anime but it does have some nice tracks within it, which makes it feel like a Macross related title overall. The tracks repeat themselves in later stages as you make progress. Seemingly, this is the thing where Macross Plus excels the most. My personal favorite is the one playing on stages 5 & 7, which is also used on the title theme. Quite soothing and calm.


Gameplay is kind of basic of any shooter of its kind. You got your shot and smart bomb buttons, but you also have the ability to shift your Valkyrie fighter through its various modes, each suiting the kind of attack you may do on enemies. You can also hold down the shooting button to charge up an attack with a barrage of missiles which home into enemies, something that is direly needed when so many foes clutter the screen.


At the end of it all you face the SDF-1 controlled by the evil AI Sharon Apple. Beating it as with any other boss is quite rather difficult, but doable.


Macross Plus is indeed a gem which deserves mention, even though it didn't had much recognition in the States. You don't exactly need to watch the Anime to play this game, as it is very loosely based on it anyway, but it is quite enjoyable to play even with its high difficulty. The music alone makes it a blast to enjoy just as well. If you are a diehard Macross fan, Macross Plus does not disappoint.


A good quarter muncher overall.

Community review by CptRetroBlue (November 03, 2018) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.