Gundam but with Metroidvania RPG mechanics, living planets, garbled English, and stiff action. Okay, so it’s not much like Gundam at all… One of only two mech RPGs on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Xardion seems like the tip of a lore iceberg. The Japanese-only prequel novelization and game manual must contain the rest. If players can get past not knowing what the cryptic dialogue means, never mind figuring out who is actually talking, they’ll find a special but so-so action-platformer with backtracking and character progression. As a wise man once said: “it is better to be unique but rough than polished but boring.” I contemplated that when the weird physics made me miss my forty-seventeenth jump… Gamer subculture demands I give extra points for Xardion’s obscurity but I don’t have a “you haven’t heard of it so it must be great” score category. Sorry.
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.
