Assault Suits Valken: Declassified review

The sixteen-bit mecha classic receives the premium M2 treatment. 

1992’s Assault Suits Valken was one of the first games to truly capture the sensation of piloting a hulking mecha. Across a succession of seven stages, the game’s eponymous Assault Suit stormed through environments swarming with enemies and gun turrets. Sure, Pacific States’ Marine Corps pilot Jake Brain was outrageously outnumbered, but he had access to an armory of different weapons and a robotic fist that could wreck adversarial mechs.

But the nuances really sold the feeling of commandeering a four-story tall, bipedal tank. Activating your jump jets allowed you to hoover across short distances, but you could feel the propulsion system strain at the peak of your flight. Your suit was equipped with an armory of different, upgradable weapons, many of which could pockmark the locations. Factor in shielding as well as dashing and the game captured all the capabilities of an action scene in Macross or Gundam.

M2 to the Rescue

Assault Suits Valken’s setting imagines conflict between two factions battling for Earth’s remaining resources and territorial rights on the moon. But save for some succinct text crawls, the game didn’t spend much time on exposition. Instead, the bulk of context was conveyed in the accompanying instruction manual. When Valken was localized, Western audiences received an abridged booklet as well as a script that removed dialog portraits and a scene that alluded to a leader committing suicide. Renamed Cybernator, the title still delivered intense action, even if the storytelling was tragically watered down.

Thirty years on, players in the West can now enjoy the merits of the original game with the Switch-exclusive release of Assault Suits Valken: Declassified. Pleasingly, retro revisionists M2, the developers behind dedicated consoles like the TurboGrafx-16 Mini and Genesis/Mega Drive Minis, as well as the SEGA Ages ports, lend their dedication resulting in a solid revival of this 16-bit classic.

Retranslated, Uncensored, But Still Tough

This dedication to the original release means that Assault Suits Valken remains a product of the 90s. The difficulty remains unflinchingly demanding and is only tempered by the inclusion of save states. Like most games of the era, Valken urged slow mastery. Using a trio of credits, you’d progress through its tests of reflexes and level memorization, gradually surmounting each barrage of threats thrown at you. Staying true to games of the era, each stage mixes up its challenges. Both “Orbital Hideout” and “Gunfire Mountains” have fixed-scrolling sections designed to keep you on your toes.

Although an eased difficulty setting, a rewind ability, or one of M2’s customary remixed modes would have all been welcome, Declassified doesn’t offer these. But the game’s extras aren’t completely lacking. Masanao Akahori’s original soundtrack accompanies the action, and you’ll also find the rearranged version from the 2004 PlayStation 2 port of Assault Suits Valken. The game’s script has been re-localized, improving the original translation’s inelegance and reintegrating all excised elements.

Mech Design That Holds Up

Valken’s backstory was mostly conveyed by the instruction manual. Here, Declassified extends a digital equivalent that’s immune to the smudges and creases, allowing you to study the lore and Satoshi Urushihara’s marvelous artwork without worry. An interview with the designer Satoshi Nakai is especially noteworthy, detailing some of the design decisions that would elevate the game. Equally as significant is the inclusion of a no-death playthrough that reveals how to make it through the game’s ten boss battles unscraped. Valken has some concealed punishments such as hidden timers and the forfeiture of weapons, so having this readily available can be a blessing. Players can also find the inclusion of filters that imitate the look of playing on a CRT, lending a bit of authenticity to a playthrough.

Assault Suits Valken: Declassified’s biggest weakness is the game’s $24.99 cost, which seems a bit lofty when measured against most SNES-era revamps. For the price, we would have loved to have seen the inclusion of additional Assault Suits games. Adding either the PS2 remake or the presence of Assault Suit Leynos/Target Earth would have helped justify the premium price point.

Assault Suits Valken: Declassified was played on
Switch with review code provided by the publisher.