SDCC 2015: We Throw Down With Tiny Robots In ‘Little Battlers Experience’

Robot battles are awesome, aren’t they? It’s too bad we haven’t seen too many awesome games using the concept in recent years. While games like Virtual On and Custom Robo hold a special place in our hearts, there’s definitely a void that was left by the lack of new content when it comes to this genre. Thankfully, Level-5 is taking the controls and leading charge with Little Battlers Experience, a long running anime and game series that is finally seeing its Western debut on the 3DS this year. Playable at Comic-Con in the Nintendo Lounge, we took the chance to get into a 3-on-3 skirmish with our fellow con-goers.

With a variety of robots to choose from, each cardboard battler has a variety of special attacks, ranged fire and melee skills at their disposal. In addition to general stat differences like speed and attack power, each must be considered when trying to match up the perfect robot with your play style.

Once we hit the field, our teams clashed with the goal of knocking out the opposing team first. This wasn’t as easy as it sounded, since each robot has a limit to how much they can attack before they have to cool down. Try spamming your best skills, and you’ll be left behind as a sitting duck with no way to defend yourself. However, if you manage your skills well while landing flurries of attacks, you’ll gain access to a super attack, that does huge damage to the unlucky opponents who find themselves in your way.

What helps is that movement is exactly what we would expect like something from robot gaming’s past, relying on locking on, circle strafing, and boosting around the field while avoiding damage. The team dynamic made this Vs. mode more interesting as well, since the winning team would usually coordinate their attacks to either defend partners in trouble, or gang up on an isolated foe to rack up those KOs. Attacking wildly would usually lead to a loss, so working together definitely had its advantages.

After walking away with victory in hand, I couldn’t wait to try more. If you’re a fan of games like Virtual On, then LBX is looking like it will definitely scratch that mech battle itch. With an expert team like Level-5 behind it, would we expect anything less? All I know is with the awesome looking robot design and fluid game play, this title is high on my radar.

Little Battlers Experience will release for the 3DS on August 21st.