Robotech: Invasion - Real World Background

Real World Background

The second Robotech game produced by Vicious Cycle, VC chose to focus on the next most popular section of Robotech, The New Generation, in part due to the choice of mecha available, the famous Cyclone. Instead of the distinctive, but by then overused, cell-shaded style of Battlecry, Invasion has a more normal 3D textured graphic look. As with Robotech: Battlecry, Invasion used a number of the original Robotech voice cast to reprise their old roles for cameos and voice many of the new characters introduced in the game.

Due to lower than expected sales of Robotech: Battlecry on the Nintendo GameCube, due in part to the delayed release of the GameCube version, VC chose to only develop the game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was also decided to release a single version, instead of both a normal and a bonus-packed Collectors Edition like those seen with Robotech: Battlecry. Treated as a budget game, Invasion was deemed a fan-only title by many reviewers who favored other games in the same style released around the same time such as the extremely popular Halo 2. Ultimately sales of Invasion were much lower than Robotech: Battlecry.

The musical score of Invasion was composed by Jesper Kyd, a famed video-game music composer. While this was hyped up by Vicious Cycle and mentioned on the back cover of the game, Kyd's lack of exposure to Robotech meant his score had little links to the original TV score. For this reason many fans of the series consider it to be inferior to Robotech: Battlecry's more familiar modern remixes of the TV series score. Like Battlecry, Invasion's soundtrack was released on audio CD, though available separately and not as part of a Collectors Edition.

Much like Robotech: Battlecry made an official design out of a slight variation in the VF-1R Veritech, Invasion made use of two formerly unofficial designs, the unrealized Devastator and the fan-created Shadow Dancer. Unlike the heavy licensor support the VF-1R received, these designs got little fanfare and slipped back into obscurity.