Macross or Robotech is an unpublished animeNES-Game. Choujikuu Yousai Macross was the game's full title. It's never specified whether you're controlling a specific member of the cast or an unnamed member of the Robotech Defense Force.
The heart of the Zentraedi battle fleet
Your goal is to fly a lone Veritech fighter into the heart of the Zentraedi battle fleet and destroy their battleships one by one from within. The entire Zentraedi fleet stands between you and the battleships. Familiar mechas from the series can be found everywhere - from the standard Zentraedi Battle Pods to the Officer's Battle Pods and everything in between.
Your Veritech
Your Veritech has the ability to transform into three different forms, just like in the series. Veritech's default battle mode is the one you start each level with. You can switch between Battloid and Gerwalk modes at will. Each mode serves a purpose. Fighter mode is the fastest. Battloid mode, when the Veritech transforms into a robot, is the slowest but gives you the most flexibility in shooting and moving. In this mode you can not only shoot forward, but also backwards. Gerwalk mode, which resembles a fighter with legs and arms sticking out from under, is a good balance between the two. You can't shoot backwards like in Battloid mode, but you can maneuver much faster than in Fighter mode.
fire missiles
No matter what form you're in, you can fire the scatter missiles that made the series famous. However, you don't have an unlimited supply of them. They can be refilled by picking up rocket icons that resemble the RDF logo. Other RDF logo icons restore your shields. You have a "life" bar.
Action
The action in CYM is fast-paced, with explosions flashing across the screen and enemy mechas swarming everywhere. The only problem is that your missions never change, they just get harder. You fly through a fleet of mechas, get into a battle cruiser and try to blow it up in sixty seconds. If you succeed, you do the same thing again. It gets boring pretty quickly.
Sound and graphics
Also, the music doesn't change at all. The music is upbeat, but after a few bars it starts all over again. The only respite you get from it is the stage clear music. The graphics are a bit below average for an early Famicom game. It's easy to tell the different types of mecha apart and the Veritech is nicely detailed, but the backgrounds just keep repeating themselves over and over again. It's similar to your missions and the music. For the most part it's just a room full of explosions, the exterior of a battleship and the interior of said ship.
Conclusion
In summary, Macross is based on a great series and would have been a great game if the designers had put a lot more variety into it. As it is it's just a slightly below average game, overshadowed by later Famicom releases like Gradius, Gradius II and Salamander to name a few. Fortunately, Macross was picked up again. Later games, such as Zamuse's Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie for the Super Famicom, made up for all the shortcomings of the Macross game while still retaining the best things of the earlier game.