Friday, March 27, 2002
It was still around midnight in the United States when something unexpected appeared across YouTube and the ZAGE Forum.
A new ZAGE upload.
That by itself was enough to attract attention, but the title immediately made people stop scrolling.
NEW ZEPS 4 GAME TRAILER — MARCH RELEASES
And beneath it was an even more surprising line.
Release Date: March 29, 2002.
Only two days away.
ZAGE had already released twelve ZEPS 4 games during February, followed by Trails in the Sky the 3rd and Medal of Honor 2 for ZEPS 3 earlier in March. Because of that, most players had assumed the company was simply letting its newest console breathe for the rest of the month.
Apparently not.
Within minutes, the upload started spreading through the forum. People still awake opened it immediately, while others sent the link to friends with short messages telling them to wake up.
The trailer itself did not begin with gameplay.
Instead, the screen faded into a comfortable studio-like living room where Zaboru Renkonan was sitting casually on a large sofa. He wasn't wearing a suit, jacket, or anything remotely formal. Just dark pants and a casual T-shirt with a sentence printed across the chest.
YOU KNOW THE USUAL?
Zaboru looked different from his more polished public appearances too. His long dark-brown hair remained around the same length as usual, but a slight beard had started growing along his jaw. Combined with the relaxed clothes and the fact that everyone already knew his wife had recently given birth to twins, the entire image gave him a much more mature appearance.
Still handsome.
Still muscular.
Just slightly more like a father relaxing at home than the president of ZAGE.
He leaned back against the sofa with a cold carbonated drink in one hand and a thick chocolate sandwich in the other. For several seconds, he simply looked at the camera while chewing.
Then he grinned.
"So… our ZEPS 3 games were cool, right?"
He took another bite before continuing. "I mean, come on. Trails in the Sky the 3rd and Medal of Honor 2? Pretty damn good stuff if I say so myself."
Zaboru took a drink, swallowed, then pointed the can toward the camera. "But I know some of you are probably a little disappointed. Especially you insane people who somehow already finished most of the twelve ZEPS 4 games we released in February. Seriously, some of you need sleep."
He paused.
"Actually, I shouldn't be the one saying that."
A small laugh could be heard from somewhere behind the camera.
Zaboru ignored it. "Anyway, you wanted more ZEPS 4 games, right? Then March came and we gave you two ZEPS 3 games instead."
He shrugged casually. "Good games. But still ZEPS 3."
Zaboru took another drink and let out a small burp before looking toward the can as if mildly surprised by himself. "Excuse me."
Then, without explanation, Mario walked into frame.
Not someone wearing a mascot suit.
A fully animated 3D Mario, rendered directly into the scene as though he had simply walked into Zaboru's living room.
Mario was carrying an onigiri.
Zaboru looked toward him. "Oh, thanks."
Mario handed it over proudly.
Before Zaboru could take a bite, Pikachu hopped onto the sofa and climbed onto his knee. "Pika!"
Zaboru scratched beneath Pikachu's chin. "Hello to you too."
A blue blur crossed the screen a moment later and Sonic appeared beside him, leaning against the back of the sofa with his arms crossed. Zaboru glanced toward him. "Don't steal my drink."
Sonic gave him an innocent look.
Behind them, Crash Bandicoot wandered into frame and immediately started doing some ridiculous dance for no obvious reason whatsoever.
Zaboru watched him for a second.
"…Yeah, okay."
Then something soft landed directly on top of his head.
Kirby.
Zaboru's eyes moved upward even though he obviously couldn't properly see him. "Kirby?"
Kirby noticed the remaining chocolate sandwich.
Zaboru noticed Kirby noticing it.
"No."
Kirby inhaled.
The sandwich disappeared from Zaboru's hand.
Zaboru stared at his now-empty fingers before slowly sighing. "I forgive you because you are Kirby."
Kirby made a satisfied sound while Sonic started laughing beside him. Even Pikachu seemed amused.
Zaboru looked back at the camera with the expression of a man who had already accepted that the advertisement was no longer under his control.
"Anyway. Where was I?"
He snapped his fingers.
"Right."
His grin returned.
"Who said we weren't releasing any ZEPS 4 games this month?"
Then Zaboru deliberately turned his head toward the camera and exaggerated the movement of his lips.
The words were extremely obvious.
MICROSOFT XBOX!?
But the actual audio was replaced by a loud censor.
BEEEEEEP!
Zaboru immediately laughed. "Hah!"
Mario joined him, Sonic shook his head with a grin, Pikachu chirped excitedly, Crash stopped dancing long enough to point toward the camera, and Kirby remained comfortably seated on Zaboru's head as if none of this concerned him.
"You know ZAGE doesn't really play by the rules anyway." He pointed toward the words printed on his shirt. "You know the usual."
Zaboru leaned forward slightly, resting his arms against his knees. "So here it is. Two more games for ZEPS 4 before March is over. Nothing complicated. Just two games we think you're going to have a lot of fun with."
He raised the onigiri Mario had given him.
"Enjoy."
Then, almost as an afterthought, he pointed toward the viewer.
"And You're very cool."
The screen instantly cut to black.
A guitar riff exploded through the speakers.
Then came Zaboru's voice.
"Karamitsuku yami wo kirisaite…
Moeagaru kodou no you ni…"
The music immediately established the tone: loud Japanese rock, fast drums, sharp guitar, and Zaboru singing with far more intensity than he had shown while sitting on the sofa five seconds earlier.
Red brushstrokes tore across the black screen.
A stylized Japanese castle appeared beneath a storm-filled sky, followed by cavalry charging through a battlefield. Flags whipped violently in the wind while soldiers rushed toward one another in numbers far larger than anything the older hardware could comfortably display.
Then lightning struck.
The camera cut straight into gameplay.
A tall samurai with slicked-back hair calmly drew his katana as dozens of enemy soldiers surrounded him. Blue-white electricity crawled along the blade.
KATAKURA KOJURO
The player dashed forward.
One slash struck the first group. A second attack launched several soldiers away. Kojuro immediately followed with a rapid sequence of cuts before driving the katana into the ground and releasing a burst of lightning through the enemies surrounding him.
The scene changed before the attack even finished.
A man in blue landed in the middle of another battlefield.
Six swords.
Three held between the fingers of each hand like claws.
DATE MASAMUNE
He rushed forward almost immediately, moving far more aggressively than Kojuro. His attacks were wider, faster, and considerably more reckless, turning entire groups of soldiers into targets for long combinations. At one point he crossed all six blades, charged forward, then spun directly through an enemy formation while the camera pulled back to show dozens of soldiers being thrown aside.
"LET'S PARTY!"
The trailer cut again.
Heavy footsteps.
Metal.
A huge silhouette moving through smoke.
HONDA TADAKATSU
For several seconds, viewers could be forgiven for thinking ZAGE had accidentally inserted a mecha into a Sengoku-era.
Tadakatsu's enormous armored body charged directly through infantry while wielding a massive lance. Ordinary soldiers bounced away from him almost uselessly. He swung once and cleared the space in front of him, then activated some form of mechanical boost and launched himself forward with enough force to smash through an entire defensive line.
No attempt was made to explain why a historical warrior looked like a giant war machine.
The trailer simply continued.
The next fighter looked much younger.
Yellow clothing.
Bare fists.
Light footwork.
TOKUGAWA IEYASU
Instead of using a sword, Ieyasu moved almost like a boxer. He slipped around attacks, stepped inside an enemy's guard, and answered with a rapid sequence of punches. A heavy final strike sent a commander flying backward through several soldiers.
The footage continued moving between characters after that. Spears swept through formations. Swords clashed against named officers. Horses charged through open fields. One character fought with movements so exaggerated that the camera struggled to remain centered on him, while another performed a special attack that sent a wave of fire across the ground.
The battlefields themselves were equally important.
Hundreds of soldiers could appear across wider areas, with enemy groups fighting allied units even when the player wasn't directly involved. Castles, fields, mountain passes, villages, and fortified positions appeared across quick cuts, each filled with destructible objects, environmental effects, and large groups of combatants.
At its core, however, the appeal was easy to understand.
Pick an absurdly exaggerated Sengoku warrior.
Enter a battlefield.
Destroy an equally absurd number of enemies.
The montage lasted around a minute and a half before Date Masamune crossed all six swords in front of the screen.
The image went black.
Silence.
Then a child's voice shouted at full volume.
"GOTCHA FORCE, ASSEMBLE!"
Bright music replaced the rock track almost immediately.
The new footage opened inside an ordinary kitchen.
Except the camera was only several centimeters above the floor.
A tiny red-and-white robot jumped onto a chair, fired several shots across the room, then launched itself onto the kitchen counter as another Borg chased after it.
The scale changed everything.
A refrigerator looked like a building.
A dining table became an elevated arena.
A sofa was practically terrain.
Then the title appeared briefly.
GOTCHA FORCE
The trailer quickly introduced the basic idea through gameplay rather than stopping for a long explanation. Players assembled teams from different Gotcha Borgs, with every Borg consuming a certain amount of GF Energy. Stronger units required more energy, forcing players to think about whether they wanted a few powerful Borgs or a larger collection of cheaper ones.
The units themselves were wildly varied.
A ninja Borg dashed between attacks and threw projectiles.
A heavy warrior carried an oversized blade.
A sniper fired from the top of a bookshelf.
A tank rolled underneath furniture before blasting an enemy across the room.
Flying Borgs fought in the air.
A dragon hovered above a backyard before breathing fire toward several smaller units below.
Another sequence showed a giant Borg fighting multiple smaller opponents at once while the player switched to the next member of the team after the current unit was defeated.
Text appeared across the screen.
BUILD YOUR OWN GOTCHA FORCE
The next shots showed multiple teams fighting inside a child's bedroom, followed by two players working together against a larger Death Force unit.
LOCAL CO-OP
Then four player indicators appeared in another battle.
ONLINE PLAY THROUGH ZAGE NETWORK
The footage changed again, this time showing different match objectives rather than simple elimination. One team protected an area while enemies attacked from several directions. Another sequence showed players racing toward a target across a backyard. A third had two teams fighting around an object in the center of a living room.
Then came the collecting side.
Rows of Borg silhouettes appeared across the interface, followed by quick flashes of unlocked units, variations, and team arrangements.
ASSEMBLE YOUR GOTCHA BORGS
DEFEAT THE DEATH FORCE
The next sequence moved so quickly that some viewers would probably rewind it immediately.
A metallic police-themed Borg appeared for only a moment.
Then a toy cowboy-inspired unit.
A transforming mechanical warrior.
A Gundam-type Borg firing across a battlefield.
RoboCop.
Toy Story.
Transformers.
Gundam.
All recognizable, all appearing naturally among the larger Gotcha Force roster without the trailer stopping to explain them.
The footage immediately returned to the original Borgs, ending with G-Red and several allies standing together while an enormous Death Force machine descended in front of them.
G-Red raised one arm.
The screen flashed white.
Then the trailer returned to Zaboru's sofa.
Some time had apparently passed, because his snacks had changed again.
Zaboru was now holding a large shawarma.
Mario had one too.
Sonic was already halfway through his.
Crash was eating with absolutely no dignity.
Pikachu had been given a small portion, while Kirby somehow possessed a shawarma almost the same size as his entire body.
Zaboru looked around at all of them.
Then back at the camera.
He chewed slowly.
Swallowed.
And paused.
"Just buy it, okay?!"
The screen immediately cut away before he could say anything else.
Two title cards appeared one after another.
SENGOKU BASARA
ZEPS 4 — MARCH 29, 2002
Then—
GOTCHA FORCE
ZEPS 4 — MARCH 29, 2002
A final ZAGE logo appeared against black.
The upload ended.
And almost immediately, the gaming community went nuts.
To be continued.
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