70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X Review
Bliss Brain brings back Japanese PlayStation cult classic 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X, a love letter to a bygone era of giant robot anime.
70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X. Credit: Implicit Conversions / Bliss Brain
Originally released only in Japan for the PlayStation, 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X follows three young pilots battling the Cosmic Demon Empire with the combining super robot GEPPY-X. Every mission is framed as an episode of a long-forgotten anime series, complete with opening songs, fake commercials, ending credits, and previews for the next installment. Bliss Brain's restoration of more than 8,000 hand-drawn animation frames from the original Betacam masters makes the whole thing feel less like a remaster than someone uncovering a forgotten anime from an alternate universe.
Once you're back in control, Geppy-X settles into a fairly straightforward horizontal shooter. You switch between three forms of the titular robot built around speed, balance, or raw damage. Each has two modes of fire, upgradable via powerups, and a charged up super-attack. Movement feels stiff, and shooting lacks punch. Hitting enemies never feels like it has real impact. My hitbox felt unpredictable, because I could never figure out exactly how much of the robot actually gets hit. I just wanted every level to be over so I could see the next bit of the anime, the next fake commercial, or rewatch the ending theme.
70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X. Credit: Implicit Conversions / Bliss Brain
“Geppy-X is excessive. Over-the-top. It goes too far. But sometimes that’s exactly what it takes to create something genuine. Every parody, every homage, every seemingly unnecessary detail was created out of a deep love for the entertainment that shaped our childhood. They weren’t included simply as jokes or references; they were our way of preserving the spirit of an era we never wanted to forget.”
70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X. Credit: Implicit Conversions / Bliss Brain
That's what makes 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X so easy to recommend despite the shooter’s mediocrity. The shooter isn't why this game survived as a cult classic for nearly three decades. The overwhelming affection Yamato and his team poured into preserving the memory of a show that never existed is. It feels like a group of developers trying to preserve everything they loved about sitting in front of a TV on Saturday morning as kids.
If this had been nothing more than another retro shooter, I doubt many people would still be talking about it today. Instead, it's one of the most fascinating preservation projects I've played in years. I'm genuinely happy that players outside Japan finally get to spend a few hours with Geppy-X's wonderfully ridiculous television universe, even if the shooter itself never quite lives up to it.
70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X
70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a mediocre shooter wrapped inside one of the most heartfelt celebrations of classic giant robot anime I've ever experienced.
