"Phase 1... PROCEED!"
"Target Damaged!"
The Announcer
Also known as Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness, this is a Fighting Game made by Capcom in 1995 for arcade, Sega Saturn and PlayStation. The game is Capcom's attempt to create a Street Fighter clone using the Mini Mechas from Armored Warriors now turned into Humongous Mechas and using four buttons instead of the usual six. Officially, Cyberbots is a spin-off of Armored Warriors, bringing back and reusing mecha character designs from the previous game while introducing a new cast of pilot characters to control the mechas.
The story takes place in the end of the 21st century, where the Earth begins to become overpopulated, leading to many people living in space colonies. The primary army of Earth, "Earth Corps", has been conducting experiments; their work, along with the actions of the playable characters, will determine the future of Earth.
In the game, the player has to choose a pilot and one of the available mechas, called Variant Armors, and then duke it out against other pilots and mechas. The parts of these VAs can be Mix And Matched to affect the general playstyle through pre-set character variations in the character select screen. Each pre-set character variation has their own different parts and movesets that create their own unique playstyle. In fact, during the battle, the players can lose their parts, along with their special moves and attacks, but also pick them back up. The customization is based on the customizing concept seen in Armored Warriors, but different due to having pre-set variations of the characters available rather than freely picking up other parts like in the previous game.
Initially playable characters:
- Jin Saotome, a Hot-Blooded pilot whose father died a year before, and who wants to honor his memory by becoming the best VA pilot in the galaxy. He looks up to Gawaine. Pilots the BX-02 Blodia.
- Santana Laurence, an egotistic loner who sometimes works as a mercenary. Good friends with Gawaine. Pilots the RF-004 Reptos.
- Mary Miyabi, a captain of the Earth Corps. Pilots the FZ-900J Killer Bee.
- Gawaine Murdock, a Retired Badass out of retirement after learning that the Earth Corps was causing trouble. He was also Mary's superior, and is a friend of the Saotome family. He pilots the GP-N1 Guldin.
- Arieta, a young girl with psychic powers. Subjected to horrific experiments by the Earth Corps, she escaped after two of her friends were killed by said experiments. Pilots the FZ-100 Fordy.
- Bao and Mao, a pair of siblings who were captured by the Earth Corps, but managed to escape. They don't want to be part of the conflict, anyway. "Pilots" of the GP-V4 Vise, pre-programmed for automatic self-defense.
Selectable in the console versions:
- Chiyomaru Kagura and Tessan Hagure, The Captain and Number Two of La Résistance, former members of the Earth Corps who now are fighting them. They pilot the P-10033 Gaits.
- Princess Devilotte de Death Satan IX, a spoiled Space Pirate brat with two lackeys, Dave and Xavier, who wants to steal other VAs and add them to her collection. They're unrelated to the main conflict. She has a crush on Gawaine. She pilots the S-008 Super-8.
- SHADE, an Earth Corps' Super-Soldier who was bribed with promises of perfection, and who was ultimately Brainwashed. He pilots the UVA-02 Helion.
Other characters include:
- Final Weapon's Brain G.O.D., the Big Bad of the game. Pilots the X-0 Warlock.
- Ken Saotome, Jin's father who was also a friend of SHADE and Gawaine, and was killed a year before the conflict.
- Emperor Death Satan, the king of Heldorado and the Milky Way Express, and Devilotte's father. He owns a Warlock VA of his own, but more importantly, he's the owner of Zero Gouki/Akuma.
The series remained in obscurity until Devilotte was featured in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo in 1996. Jin also made the cut for Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes and Tech Romancer in 1998, with Devilotte and her lackeys making the cut as a selectable Assist Character in the former, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Finally, Blodia was featured in Namco × Capcom as a mecha for Sylphie, and Devilotte appears as a Solo Unit in Project × Zone, the game's Spiritual Successor. It's now available as a downloadable game in the PlayStation Network, under Japanese Imports. And the game makes its return as one of many available classic Capcom arcade games to play in the Capcom Arcade Stadium
bundle for the Nintendo Switch and it released on February 18, 2021, later available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam. It is also available as part of the Capcom Fighting Collection, released June 24, 2022 for all the same platforms as Arcade Stadium.
Phase 2... PROCEED
- The Aloner: Santana became a lone wolf after the Mars revolt and makes a living as a scavenger and mercenary. His ending implies he's starting to abandon this lifestyle, having seemingly adopted Arieta.
- Anti-Gravity Clothing: Jin's Scarf of Asskicking seems to constantly defy gravity.
- Ash Face: Devilotte, Dave, and Xavier's faces are covered in soot when they are defeated.
- Apologetic Attacker: Arieta constantly apologizes to her opponents just before she's hijacked by G.O.D.
- Beginner's Luck: Bao and Mao have no knowledge about piloting VA at all. Luckily, their chosen Fordy just happens to be pre-programmed for automatic self-defense.
- Berserk Button: Don't mention Jin's dead father.
- Big Bad: Weapon's Brain: G.O.D., the entity behind all the conflict.
- Big Brother Instinct: Bao's entire character revolves around trying to protect his little sister.
- Bookends: In Jin's Single Player Gauntlet, SHADE is both his first and final enemy.
- Brain Monster: G.O.D. is this combined with Brain in a Jar and Body Horror. Their appearance is a horrific amalgamation of several human-like heads and faces combined into a fleshy, brain-like being floating in a jar full of liquids.
- The Captain: Mary Miyabi serves as a captain for the Earth Corps military. Chiyomaru used to be one before he defected.
- Colony Drop: In Jin's and Gawaine's story, the final battle takes place on a satellite weapon as it is sent falling into Earth's atmosphere and Gawaine sacrifices himself to keep the satellite from hitting the planet.
- Cute Is Evil: Devilotte is very cute looking, and is an antagonist.
- Cute Little Fangs: Devilotte has these.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: SHADE ended up Brainwashed and Crazy as a direct result of him being duped into becoming a cyborg.
- Defector from Decadence: Chiyomaru and Tessan were former members of the Earth Corp who defected and formed La Résistance after they learned about Earth Corp's misdeeds. Mary also does a Mook–Face Turn once she learns about what her bosses are really doing.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Devilotte genuinely loves her father and seems to care for her two lackeys.
- Evil All Along: Earth Corps turns out to have been subjecting innocents to lethal experiments and only caring about the results. Finding out is enough for at least three members to Resign in Protest.
- The Evil Princess: Princess Devilotte, daughter of the space pirate Emperor Death Satan.
- Expy:
- Devilotte bears more than a passing resemblance to Doronjo: both are blonde comedic mecha villains constantly accompanied by two male lackeys. This was lampshaded in Doronjo's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. For bonus points, Super 8 looks like Agmiss, the stage 2 boss from Armored Warriors.
- Jin bears a striking resemblance to Kakugo from Apocalypse Zero.
- Santana design and personality is heavily based on Muhammad Avdol from Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders, to the point he even does Avdol's famous "Yes I am!" pose in official illustrations.
- Falling into the Cockpit: Bao and Mao managed to escape the Earth Corps by sheer luck when they happened upon their Variant Armor, who has a good enough AI that they manage to pilot it despite not even knowing how.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Arieta has to fight while completely naked inside the glass dome of her Variant Armor.
- Good All Along: Mary was Just Following Orders. But from the wrong people. After realizing this, she does a Mook–Face Turn.
- Guest Fighter: The Saturn version had Zero Akuma, a mech that both looked and fought like the eponymous Street Fighter.
- Heel–Face Turn: SHADE does this in his own story mode and in Jin's ending.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gawaine and SHADE both perform sacrifices during specific endings.
- He's Just Hiding: Gawaine, after his Heroic Sacrifice in his ending.
- Hot-Blooded: Jin has a very passionate and headstrong personality, throwing himself into mech fights to avenge his father's death.
- Humongous Mecha: Variant Armors like Blodia were originally Mini-Mecha sized in Armored Warriors. Here in Cyberbots, all Variant Armors including Blodia are scaled up in a larger size, towering over plenty of buildings.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Devilotte or Devilot?
- Interrupted Bath: Chiyomaru and Tessan interrupt Devilotte while she's in the middle of a bubble bath while inside her Variant Armor. She isn't embarrassed to talk to Chiyomaru while they watch her via the monitor and even kicks her legs up as he talks to show her disinterest. When he does piss her off, she doesn't hesitate to jump out of the bath and stand naked in front of the camera while telling them off, which makes both Chiyomaru and Tessan blush. (Censor Suds cover up anything indecent).
- La Résistance: Chiyomaru and Tessan used to be part of the Earth Corps before they defected to oppose their methods.
- Laser Blade: Blodia (jumping high attack), Swordsman, Killer Bee and Helion have one. Reptos has a pair of them hidden in its forearms. Aside from VA, Gawaine also carries one around.
- Laughably Evil: Devilotte is a hilariously snotty and bratty princess who doesn't take losing well. She also has a crush on the elder soldier Gawaine.
- Meaningful Name: Many people theorize that Jin Saotome's name is derived from the last name's of Hayato Jin and Professor Saotome of Getter Robo. Jin's hot-bloodedness and crazy fighting style show he has more than a little bit of Ryoma in him, too.
- A Mech by Any Other Name: The Variant Armors, a term for the mechas that was borrowed from Armored Warriors.
- The Mentor: Gawaine becomes a mentor figure to Jin in his pursuit of becoming a stronger pilot.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The Mechas. They aren't called "Variant Armors" for nothing. This is part of the gameplay: every part changes the basic stats of the robots.
- Mook–Face Turn: Captain Mary Miyabi does this in her own story mode, after she discovers how rotten the Earth Corps has become.
- Ms. Fanservice: Arieta is an attractive young girl who due to her being stuck in a People Jars situation, is naked all the time while inside her Variant Armor, with a combination of Godiva Hair, Shoulders-Up Nudity and Scenery Censor being the only things preserving her modesty. The only times she gets to wear some clothing are during Mary's and her own ending where she gets a Modesty Bedsheet and in Santana's ending where she ends up as his assistant after a Time Skip.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Princess Devilotte de Deathsatan IX is an inversion: her father is the one you should run away from.
- New Work, Recycled Graphics: The characters are basically piloting Palette Swaps of the four playable Variant Armors from Armored Warriors, with alterations for different variations of the same class, in addition to arcade mode-only bosses piloting enemy and boss Variant Armors from the previous game. For example, the BX-02 BLODIA's default version is red, comes with a weak gun drone, and has no particular strengths aside from being a Jack of All Stats. One variation gives it tank treads, a Laser Blade, and a rocket launcher while turning it green; and another replaces the legs with hover jets, turns one arm into a Power Fist, and adds a chaingun Shoulder Cannon.
- Non-Indicative Name: Go ahead and count them, Super 8 has only six tentacles.
- Palette Swap: The 12 regular characters respectively use their default colors for Player 1 and alternate colors for Player 2. The four bosses are the other way around in case you've looked at the official artwork for those characters.
- People Jars: Arieta's Variant Armor doubles as this, being a jar filled with liquid where she resides naked, and using her psychic powers to pilot her armor.
- People Puppets: G.O.D. sometimes takes over Arieta's body, forcing her to fight people.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: The Earth Corp kidnaps children and performs cruel experiments in order to fuel the technology needed for G.O.D., a fate Arieta just barely avoided.
- Redemption Equals Death: SHADE in Jin's ending, preventing a Colony Drop to save Jin and atone for killing his father.
- Retired Badass: Gawaine and Santana are both veterans of pat conflicts. Gawaine especially, since by now he's an Old Soldier.
- Rich Bitch: Devilotte. Weird enough, as it's revealed in her storyline that all Deathsatan gave Devilotte before her journey is 300 yen.
- Royal Brat: Devilotte is the spoiled daughter of Emperor Death Satan and acts like a selfish brat constantly.
- Self-Plagiarism: The Zero Akuma/Gouki Secret Character towards Akuma. It has his name, his moveset, and his appearance, and both games were developed by Capcom.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl:
- Arieta wears nothing but a collar when piloting her Variant Armor. She normally is seen in a personal mech suit, but it has a glass dome cockpit, which doesn't hide much anyway. She has much bigger problems to worry about than her nudity.
- Devilotte isn't embarrassed to have an audience with Chiyomaru while she's soaking in the bathtub, and even stands nude in front of him at one point.
- Shock and Awe: RF-009 Lightning's spark arm. It's constantly arcing with electricity and is the focus of all its unique attacks.
- Shout-Out:
- Santana's name might be a reference to the famous Latin guitar player Carlos Santana. It may also be a nod towards JoJo's Bizarre Adventure— one of the Pillar Men in Battle Tendency was named Santana, and Santana's design is quite JoJo-esque (imagine a younger Mohammad Avdol).
- The name of the robot version of Akuma, Zero Gouki, is a shout out to EVA 00 from Neon Genesis Evangelion, the designation of which is pronounced "zerogouki" in Japanese.
- Apart from the obvious Frankenstein reference, Dr. Stein (one of Devilotte's cronies) is named after the Helloween song of the same name.
- Jin's father, Ken Saotome (seen on the left)◊, is a direct homage to Kamen Rider Ichigo/Takeshi Hongo, albeit without the mask.
- SNK Boss:
- Devilotte in the Super-8 is a "heinously cheap and difficult midboss" version. Super-8 is insane in zoning and knows how to apply pressure to opponents.
- P-10033 Gaits went from a fodder enemy mook in Armored Warriors to a Pint-Sized Powerhouse in Cyberbots that covers everything in a Lightning Bruiser character. This includes having a projectile that stuns the opponent, a Shoryuken from its shield that can hit enemies who attempt to jump in, a Hurricane Kick that closes the distance greatly, anti-air missiles for hitting from afar, and the ability to teleport to different parts of the screen.
- Just like Gaits, compared to Warlock's original appearance as a reoccurring boss in Armored Warriors, Warlock Took a Level in Badass and became even more powerful here in Cyberbots. Instead of being piloted by Azrael, it's piloted by the weapon G.O.D. and Warlock gains new powerful moves like a full-screen projectile that boomerangs front and back, a Doppleganger Attack that increases its attack range, and an HP draining throw that can heal itself. While Warlock is not very combo-heavy, it sure hits hard.
- SHADE piloting Helion also qualifies due to having lots of long-range zoning options and flight.
- Spider Tank: Three Variant Armor use 4 insectoid legs — Jackal, Cyclone and Talantula.
- Stalker with a Crush: Devilotte has an obsessive crush on Gawaine.
- Terrible Trio: Devilotte, and her lackeys Dave and Xavier.
- This Is a Drill: GP-D2 Cyclone has a drill arm, around which most of its unique specials revolve. BX-07R Riot and FZ-900J Killer Bee can transform into a giant drill. Blodia has knee drills for its running light attack and its downward high jump attack.
- Transforming Mecha: The aforementioned Riot and Killer Bee. The BX-04S Swordsman, GP-V4 Vise, and RF-009 Lightning all turn into a huge spiked wheel for their strong dash attack; the Swordsman also does this for one of its specials. And UVA-02 Helion, which can transform into a helicopter.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Mary, after learning the truth behind Earth Corps.
- Urban Ruins: The Megapolis Stage shows visible damage to surrounding buildings if a character gets knocked back and collides with the buildings in the background.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: The Evil Princess Devilotte has a crush on the heroic Old Soldier Gawaine.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Arieta, Bao and Mao simply want to go back to having normal lives.
"Target Destroyed"
