Another monster-raising RPG series, this time with robots! D:
You collect and battle "Medarots", which are robots with interchangeable parts, controlled by medals placed in their backs. A person who uses Medarots is called a Medarotter, and competes against other Medarotters in Medarot battles known as Robottles, with the rule that the loser gives the winner one of the parts they used. *nod*
It had an anime of 52 episodes. XD (Opening)
It also had an english dub called "Medabots", that aired around the same time as Digimon and Yugioh. D: (Opening)
...I got really into this series recently, it's pretty stylish as far as monster-raising series go. XD It turns out it's actually a fairly big series (Medarot (GB) to Medarot 5 (GBC), plus a ton of spinoffs), and the anime is only based on Medarot 2. :O
In the games, you collect new parts by fighting random Medarotters, with different parts being found in different areas. XD Each Medarot requires head, legs, and 2 arm parts (it's just a frame underneath), which give it its HP, stats, and attacks. XD Robottles are 3 vs 3, and in them each part has its own HP and can be attacked/broken. When a part breaks, you're left without its bonuses, and when the head part breaks (usually last), your Medarot is destroyed. D: The goal is to destroy the enemy in the first slot (the leader), before they get yours. XD
The Medals are the part that gain experience and level up, as well as what decides the kind of attacks your Medarot is best at. (Shooting, striking, defending, support, etc.) The more you use a type of attack, the better the Medal becomes at it.
They also change shape when they level up enough. XD Compared to Pokemon, the games also have more focus on characters and story, like Telefang does but moreso. *nod* They're also completely un-serious, so they're pretty entertaining to play. XD Overall, it's a really fun and charming set of games, and it's a shame we nearly missed it entirely. D;
Following the dub, two GBA games were released in english: "Medabots", an anime-styled remake of Medarot 2, and "Medabots AX", a spinoff with action-based 2D battles. D: Though AX was actually based on Medarot G, which used characters from Medarot 5. D: So since we never got Medarot 5, they replaced the characters with the ones from 2... :/
It's also worth noting that the games were developed by Natsume and published by Imagineer, the owners of Rocket Company. XD This makes it a pretty close cousin to Telefang, which was developed by Natsume and published by Smilesoft. XD Each game had two versions released, a Kabuto (Hercules beetle) and Kuwagata (Stag beetle) version. XD The main difference was your starting Medarot, either a Kabuto-type named Metabee, or a Kuwagata-type named Rokushou... Oh japan, you and your beetle fights. XD
There was also a manga series in Comic Bom Bom for each of the main games. XD The Medarot 2 manga was released in english as Medabots. *nod* Our issues of Bom Bom have the Medarot 5 manga. XD
So yeah. XD I really like this series, though I've only really played Medarot 1 and 5 so far. *nod* I have copies of Medarot 1 and Medarot Card Robottle, which is based on the official card game. XD (Pic)
The anime is also pretty good, but the dub changed a lot of stuff and basically killed its charm, so I can't really recommend it. :/ The game and manga translations were based on it too, and no fan translations exist for any part of the series. ;_;
It's really an interesting case, though. XD I'd like to see these games get more attention someday, too...
