A Forgotten 90s Mecha Gem - Slave Zero Is A Blast

[@phillipjohnson8903]

I came here after finding out about Slave Zero X. I'm really happy the new designs are in line with what the artist originally wanted for this series. That design by committee shit drove me insane, executives are the bane of creativity.

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

Slave Zero, AKA: What happens when you fuse Neon Genesis Evangelion with Bubblegum Crisis and every bit as awesome as implied.

[@altrovic815]

What is there from Eva besides a giant robot?

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

@@altrovic815 Biomechanioid aesthetic?

[@ironhell813]

Not that forgotten considering someone bought the rights to it to bring it back.

[@crazytiger800]

​@@altrovic815the concept art of the game gave it away. One of the designs for the Slave Zero looks like Eva Unit 02

[@altrovic815]

@@mattmaddogwheaton4724 ...and that's it?

[@Topplethepyramid]

The developers of Slave Zero X also released a free Quake expansion called "Slave Zero X: Episode Enyo", set in the Slave Zero universe. The expansion is even compatible with the Nightdive remaster, and can be downloaded from the menu there.

[@XenoJehuty84]

Hearing Guyver was one of the inspirations for Slave Zero warms my heart. I knew about the Macross and Eva inspiration, but Guyver? my first Anime, wicked boss!! (well the first anime that was not a localized, and heavily censored version, but purely as it was meant to be watched).

[@NebLleb]

Honestly, I think that design-wise, Slave Zero was also inspired by Robotech, specifically The Masters arc (aka. Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross). The enemies Ch'an fights are very inspired by the Southern Cross Army's armour suits with a built in shield and a rifle.

[@XenoJehuty84]

@@NebLleb Given Macross itself was a cited inspiration, they easily could have drawn from that particular part of the franchise.

[@AnotherDoomerWeeb]

Slave Zero & Bungie's Oni were fever dreams from my youth I miss. Back when second hand VHS Tapes & Toonami was the only way I knew how to discover anime and I just wanted more, even if it was lovingly made western imitations

[@Thotanos]

I have been trying to find the name of this game for years. Sometimes the algorithm works just right

[@XenogearsEXE]

Damn, this game looks sick. I wasn't expecting it to be so polished. Sucks that they had to compromise on their original vision for the game, but I agree that what we got was still really cool. Great video, brother.

[@MonsieurMaouji]

Definitely a more dignified piece of Western mecha than "you-know-what"! Also, the upcoming prequel game is giving me Mad Stalker vibes (specifically the PS1 version).

[@Celestial914]

Are you talking about Bayformers

[@MonsieurMaouji]

@@Celestial914 No, it's something Cheese covered earlier.

[@sozaj]

@@MonsieurMaouji what was it?

[@MonsieurMaouji]

@@sozaj gen:Lock season 2

[@user-pc5sc7zi9j]

"before twin-stick controllers were common, shooters had to get real creative with how they will work..." And then there is Armored Core keeping that backwards mindboggling zero-stick control sceme from the original playstation for their first half of installments on the playstation 2.

[@poppyworks]

This is our plot summary for Slave Zero X 👹🤝👩‍💻 👹🤝🤖 👹⚔👿 👹⚔🐦 👹⚔🦅 👹⚔🐎 👹⚔🧟‍♂ 👹⚔🧙‍♂

[@CheeseGX_]

Cant wait!!

[@kingj9664]

@@CheeseGX_ What totally love to see you do a review of it when it comes out

[@boma1983]

Slave zero and Shogo mobile armor division are my mech games back in collage

[@TheArtkaw]

Hearing the original biomechanical Guyver-like origins makes the direction of Slave Zero X make waaaay more sense.

[@AlbertHamik1]

Cool video. I was actually the first person to start routing the game and finding all the mantling tricks (well in the modern day, that is; there was someone a decade back attempting some runs but they never went anywhere beyond that it seems), but it was pmctrilogy who took my findings and actually put it into a complete run (I am a bit embarrassed by my run for this game that I managed to do years back). Prior to Slave Zero, some of the developers who worked on it had done a hybrid third/first person shooter title called Eradicator (released in 1996), which was apparently supposed to be some kid-oriented game earlier in its development before becoming a very over the top and gritty scifi-esque shooter in keeping with mid-late 90s action cheese.

[@CheeseGX_]

pmc actually mentioned the original runner (you) who found the initial skips when we were talking about some of them! Really cool to see you around here.

[@AlbertHamik1]

@@CheeseGX_ oyeh pmc linked this video to me, thus here I am. I am a bit of a enthusiast for obscure late 90s, early 00s PC titles within the realm of shooters and stuff though I tend to be more into research today than anything speedrunning.

[@alexanderboone2517]

I stumbled upon this game recently on sale and thought, hey why not. After playing it, im blown away that ive never heard more about it. I have had an absolutely great time playing through it. Fun and to the point.

[@thatanonwholurksmoar7386]

Still have the physical of this game. Really loved this game

[@dmxdxl]

Everytime I try to tell people bout this game I'm always greeted with a "what game?", glad there are people who appreciate this beast there days!!...

[@biofreak2]

Man I remember playing this game back in the day on my Dreamcast! Glad to see you give it some love

[@XenoJehuty84]

Man I need to pop this game back in and play it. Yeah the Dreamcast version is ass but I feel a need to play it. Might need to snag that PC port since Steam and GOG so graciously has it available.

[@theovermatt]

I've played through this game on both the Dreamcast and on PC (you hit the nail on the head on which is the much better version), and I had NO idea about using the mantling system that way. Guess it's time to reinstall it and give it another runthrough. Excellent video as always btw.

[@parsnipmaster1874]

MRCHEESE VIDEO ABOUT A GAME IVE ONLY EVER HEARD ABOUT IN PASSING LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

[@KarnovJr]

I came here after seeing the Slave Zero X trailer. Geez talk about night and day.

[@Gat720Dua]

What happen to Slave Zero almost remind me of Dark Sector.

[@midsnacker]

Slave Zero reminds me of Beast Machines

[@beauoddball1435]

New Mr.Cheese Let’s Goooo I plan on Being a Patron at the end of the week.

[@TsunamiRX]

I remember going to a local Thrift store maybe less than a year ago? only interested in a few things there being any interesting knick-knacks and maybe a cheap game. I saw the game's jewel case looking as good as new and I KNEW I had to buy it by that cover that went hard as diamonds alone! Haven't touched it since I got quite a backlog but from this video? I want to pop that disk in and play now.

[@FeelingShred]

I loved when these original games would ship with Manuals that had conceptual art designs, prototype designs, etc... One that comes to mind was MDK, the entire Manual was basically a design artwork in itself

[@thepeanutgallery6100]

So awesome that they were inspired by Bio Booster Armor Guyver literally my favorite and first anime you really don't hear much about Guyver and I always get excited when I hear someone mention that unfinished masterpiece.

[@Erytronne]

Excellent vid as always And it did its job cuz I wanna play _Slave Zero_ now (and I'll definitely keep an eye out for _X_ cuz I wanna play that too)

[@Elonyx.studios]

If I had more time I would love to try and redesign the Slave Zero to combine its final look with the bio-mechanical body horror the original artists envvisioned.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Too bad the source code was never released so we get next to no moddability.

[@WAMIV]

I tried out the Slave Zero X demo and I am extremely excited to play that, man. Slave Zero on Steam sounds broken unfortunately 😢

[@reimu3627]

Oof the inspirations for what Slave Zero was originally envisioned as sounded like it would’ve been my jam. A damn shame they had to compromise. I definitely like how the final game looks, I’ll give it a shot.

[@Ohmygodiamonfire]

Love it when I come away after watching a video going, "Shit, I'mma pick this game up as soon as I can."

[@uut4eti]

Slave Zero's got that Central Park Media stink, and it stinks good.

[@5hawnEX]

SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVEEEEEE ZEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@SuperLlama42]

>The game's director worked on MechWarrior 2 That's all you needed to say to sell me on it.

[@carlos_cesar]

Vim pelo Andrezitos. (Andrezitos is a Brazilian KZbinr, in his last video he talk about Slave Zero and used this video how a demonstration)

[@Tempestus88]

I remember playing this as a kid. One of the few western mecha pc games we had back then. Have you played "Gun Metal" or "Battle Engine Aquila"?

[@CommanderBohn]

And then came Slave Zero X and brought with it concepts that were supposed to be in Slave Zero but had to be cut out (along with parts of the story) because executive meddling. Edit: Hoping this will end with a remake of the original Slave Zero in literally every way as it was supposed to be.

[@callahan821]

I got this for Christmas in 1999 with a strategy guide. It was funny because the models in PC were more detailed than the DC version. Overall, I loved the game back in the day.

[@venom1000000]

I enjoyed Slave Zero back in the day, and had a good time with it on the DC....I always thought it would fare tremendously well with a remaster or complete remake on currant consoles.

[@SuperFriendBFG]

Quick Heads up. There's very little available information to go on when talking about this game's development. So it is difficult to say what is more or less correct. However, another video review does state that the SEGA Dreamcast deal is what forced the 9 Month Delay, and a code freeze for the Port's sake. The game was initially only intended for PC, and was forced to delay so they could release a the same time, and due to code freeze, couldn't fix all of its bugs. In that era of 3D Games, that's a potential death sentence. Especially when you run out of marketing budget before the actual launch. Slave Zero has some of the best level design of its era. Imagine how unfathomably hard it is to sell the effect that you're a giant robot inside an even more massive city that still needs to remain usable for things such as cars, and pedestrians that are rendered!!! All of this rendered on 2nd and 3rd generation 3D Graphics Accelerators. The effect falls apart in only a few key areas, but honestly, it's largely really well presented. The mad lad level designers and artists did a masterful job with this game. Honestly, had it gotten a chance at a sequel, I feel like it would have insane franchise potential.

[@TerryVideoZone]

this game looks awesome

[@LarryHazard]

If you like the original designs for Slave Zero maybe you should check out Rengoku and its sequel for psp. They're barely known games but I played 2 and it's amazing, never found anything else like it. The whole design of the game goes perfectly well with the dungeon crawler levels. It has the feel of some obscure ps2 japanese games but the gameplay is really fluid once you learn how it works

[@docbaker3333]

Slave Zero is a game far ahead of it's time If it was released today I'm sure it would be far better received since it's anime influence would be far more accepted but hopefully if X succeeds maybe A remake of the original will soon follow.

[@panuiplease]

This is a game I wish I could unambiguously recommend to people, but even with the nightdive rerelease, the game was constantly crashing for me. Could be related to the fan-patches I installed, not sure. That, and the final boss of this game was a literal nightmare event

[@CheeseGX_]

The final boss is actually impossible to beat with certain weapon combinations, its hilarious

[@phm6834]

The publisher redacting the design of the mecha so much makes me shiver. Jesus, look at this terrible iron giant head on top of generic feeling hitech sci-fi body. What a crime!!!

[@jestress]

Slave Zero for Super Robot Wars

[@drewinator101]

Do you think youll ever do a video on Space Runaway Ideon? it seems right up your alley

[@CheeseGX_]

Ideon would be a great show to cover, but I know doing a video on it would take some time since I'd really wanna do it justice.

[@drewinator101]

@@CheeseGX_ Love that you replied to this! I had the same thought, for now keep doing your thing. I found your channel on a Getter robo binge forever ago and since then always enjoy your content. Much love brother

[@GrimLocke161]

I distinctly remember renting a Dreamcast and Slave Zero from Blockbuster for a good report card gift, and it was a very frustrating experience, but damn if I didn’t love the atmosphere of it. I eventually played it on PC some time later, but got stumped at the final boss and gave up. Someday, I really should finish the PC version, and hopefully that rerelease is (mostly) bug free and my laptop can run it.🙃 And, while that sequel is taking a lot of liberties, hopefully it still turns out to be fun all the same. 🤞

[@ProfDragonite]

Man, I miss the days of the developer that aims for the middle market. Nowadays, you have to either be AAA or staunchly indie to be noticed. It makes me glad when games like Senua's Sacrifice break into the market; they're the modern successors to games like Slave Zero.

[@CheeseGX_]

Evil West and Gungrave Gore also scratched that itch this year big time

[@darksalvationx6024]

I played this in 1999

[@goodall1bay]

Nowdays all games are directed by committee and this why so many of them suck .

[@megamike70]

12:46 casually glossing over how stuck the player was in this instance, "DOOR STUCK, DOOR STUCK!"

[@hiphopgrind1]

What an absolute blast of a game

[@BlackReaper0]

I really was not expecting movement tech in this game.

[@teneesh3376]

Just a quick note for anyone, dont play the dreamcast port. The controls had to ve compromised just cause if the controller only having one analog stick. It was also before aim assist was really a thing

[@KoyomeeAraragee]

Based videos as always 🙏

[@scarvello]

Ah so is this related to the new slave xero game that’s hitting the Nintendo switch?

[@MauseDays]

and now theres a beat em up called slave zero x. very VERY difficult to be good at ni true 90s style

[@KUROSHURA]

The Dreamcast Version SUCKED. I had it and it was dead. I never knew this game was so good. I saw the SlaveZeroX trailer recently while getting off the Subway and it piqued my interest.

[@garfielflasaga1781]

"FUNNY FELLA LOADING SCREEN"

[@coutiya2007]

Hey sccolade made Redline. One of the games i grew up on. Just as busted and ambitious.

[@Otzchieem]

I actually rented this and finished it. Massively rushed and clearly no more than 13 people built it probably less. Now the game is actually really cool and could have become a franchise with proper budget and talent because there was a lot of cool in the game. It had moments that were awesome but so few and far between but you could see its potential

[@almipopp5152]

Good review! How do you get the game to look so good?

[@sevenheavenhavengaming]

I see! This game is related to that new upcoming Slave Zero X sidescroller hack and slash 2D platformer game. I might check this game out later. I'm curious though. Is this 1999 Slave Zero game a prequel to the new one though? This game had a different development team to the newer game though which makes sense since this older game is over 24 years old now!

[@rga1605]

I wonder if the original vision could've work with more modern graphics, the details could've be quite an advancement

[@behemothahn9266]

Man I loved this game... I think it was on dreamcast?

[@NebLleb]

Yup! It sure is! I was disappointed when I looked up the sequel, Slave Zero X, and it turned out to be a 2D Indie Sidescroller, because we NEED more games like Slave Zero. And hey! If X does well, maybe we'll get a proper sequel with improved gameplay and more explosions.

[@kingj9664]

Wow Ho do there's no need to be disappointed, I mean sure it's not how you wanted to be but you gotta admit the decide scrolling hacking/stuff those look pretty good it's special to designs of the robots. Also indie games are usually way fun or the most modern big name title games

[@NebLleb]

@@kingj9664 Nah, it looks totally generic in the Indie market.

[@kingj9664]

@@NebLleb Sure whatever buddy

[@tylerlund167]

FUNNY FELLA LOADING SCREEN

[@stellanFPS]

I wanna speedrun this game. How did you contact the wr holder?

[@MajorSpam]

Did the Symphogear video get taken down?

[@CheeseGX_]

Yup, going to be redoing it up to the current standards of my channel in 2023

[@diablorojo3887]

I remember playing and don't liking the game, but i play the DQ version... Now thinking about most of the adcampaing of the game is based on being a game for that travesty of video game sega make, this explains the bad reputation slave zero have

[@TheArtkaw]

Also, call anime by its original term - Japanimation 😂

[@Foxstab]

SHOGO: Mobile Armor Division

[@RicardoPower]

is this game related to slave zero x that just came out ?

[@MauseDays]

Yes same universe slave zero X is the prequel to the events of this game I think.

[@lordkanti8260]

I never knew the version i played was a horrible port. Yet it was still so impactful. A testament to how great a concept this game was 🫡 Now that I think about it. Playing this game without the music really made the game feel eerie and every part oppressive.

[@KevinLoder-w6i]

Did you review slave zero x?

[@stizanley3987]

The camera jerks around so much, I can hardly stand to look at the video.

[@jashquickpit2258]

I played the dog crap out of this game on dreamcast 2000-20002 that game and many others

[@GothamiteYT]

the multiplayer looking kinda janky

[@sanafabich2184]

How old are you? Why would you think every sci-fi story during the late 90s featured asian iconography? lol.

[@dianne4286]

pքɾօʍօʂʍ 😋

[@EndlessDream]

The trailers for Slave Zero X bought me here. That game looks sick