Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat

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Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Extreme Entertainment Group
Developer: Malibu Interactive
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT)
Licensor: FASA Corporation
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-09 T-22066 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 1994 SUBsub EU ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub PT 199x
Non-Sega versions <img alt="Super NES" src="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/c/cd/Logo-sfc.png/16px-Logo-sfc.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" srcset="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/c/cd/Logo-sfc.png/24px-Logo-sfc.png 1.5x, https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cd/Logo-sfc.png 2x" />

Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat is a top-down action game released for the Sega Mega Drive exclusively in North America. It belongs to the MechWarrior universe.

A Sega Mega-CD version was planned to ship alongside the Mega Drive version in Q1 1994, but the Mega Drive game was delayed and the Mega-CD conversion cancelled.

Story

In the year 3050, a war rages on between the Clans and the armies of the Inner Sphere, with both factions piloting large, humanoid-shaped armored combat vehicles called BattleMechs. The Clans are on the verge of victory and close to achieving their goal of reuniting the galaxy under the once peaceful and prosperous hegemony of the Star League. However, their advance is halted by the death of their leader, the IlKhan, which causes the fragile alliance to splinter as a power struggle erupts. The Inner Sphere seizes upon this lull in hostilities to strengthen their defenses.

In response, the Clans have decided to deploy their greatest weapon, the "Madcat" Heavy OmniMech, capable of standing against an entire Inner Sphere army by itself. Clan Wolf selects its most cunning and ruthless MechWarrior to pilot the Madcat and defeat the armies of the Inner Sphere.

Gameplay

Radar

The game is an isometric action game where players control a seven-story, 60-ton BattleMech called the Madcat. There are five missions, each preceded by briefing detailing the strategic objectives, which typically involve locating and destroying particular targets in an area. The player can pause the game with  START  and bring up a radar map of the area with , view the status of the mech and the number of enemies that have been destroyed with , or check the mission objectives with . Resistance is encountered in the form of minor enemies such as soldiers and tanks as well as enemy mechs.

The Madcat moves in any direction using the D-Pad. It fires its main gun with . The main gun can be continuously fired by holding . While firing, the player can rotate the turret in any direction independently of the mech with the D-Pad. The mech can shoot while walking by moving in a direction first and then firing; the player can rotate the turret with the D-Pad to aim the guns while the mech continues walking in the same direction. When the Madcat engages an enemy mech, it locks on and tracks the target with its turret regardless of which direction it is walking. The mech is equipped with two additional classes of weapons: heavy ordnance, which is fired with , and tactical weapons, which are fired with . For each of the three categories of weapons, there are three different weapons that can be chosen by the player before each mission.

The Madcat has a damage and temperature meter. It fills with red when the mech takes damage and fills with yellow when the mech heats up (from environmental hazards such as lava or fire). The meter can be reduced by finding coolant pick-ups. The mech is destroyed if the meter fills from either damage or heat, costing the player a life. It respawns in place (without needing to restart the mission) as long as the player has extra lives left. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but there is a password system for continuing. Enemy mechs use a similar damage meter.

The game also features a two-player mode where one player controls the bottom half of the mech to navigate it around the map while the second player controls the gun turret.

Weapons

Weapon selection

The player chooses the Madcat's weapon load-out at the beginning of each mission. Weapons cannot be changed until the next mission. The Madcat starts each mission with full ammunition for all weapons.

Heavy Ordnance

Fired with . These weapons do the most damage but have the least ammo, making them suited for tougher enemies.

Charged weapons explode if the charge is held for too long, which makes the weapon unavailable until the next mission or until the mech is destroyed.

	Particle Projection Cannon
	Fires a ball of charged nuclear particles for heavy damage. This is a charged weapon; it is more powerful if it is charged for longer. This weapon holds 10 rounds.
	Gauss Rifle
	Fires a hypervelocity shell in an arc. When the shell hits the ground or a target, it explodes and covers the impact area in a series of smaller explosions. The shell can be fired over walls and other obstacles. This is a charged weapon; it travels farther if it is charged for longer. This weapon holds 20 rounds.
	Arrow VI Missiles
	Fires a "smart" missile that automatically seeks the nearest and most dangerous enemy to hit for moderate damage. Missiles can travel over walls and other obstacles. This weapon holds 10 rounds.

Main Gun

Fired with , which can be held for rapid-fire. These are the Madcat's primary weapons. They do light damage but fire quickly and have high ammo counts.

	Large Laser
	Shoots laser pellets. This is the strongest main gun but has the smallest ammo supply and a medium firing rate. This weapon holds 100 rounds.
	Machine Gun
	Shoots a rapid spray of bullets. It only does light damage but has the highest rate of fire and holds the most ammo. This weapon holds 350 rounds.
	Auto Cannon
	Shoots large, armor-piercing shells. These shells do medium damage and have a medium firing rate. This weapon holds 150 rounds.

Tactical Weapons

Fired with . These are specialty weapons with different proficiencies.

	"Inferno" Short-Range Missiles
	Shoots a stream of fireballs that start small fires at the point of impact. This weapon does medium damage. Like the Main Guns, this weapon can be rapid-fired and can lock on to enemy mechs and track their movements. This weapon holds 70 rounds.
	"Maelstrom" Long-Range Missiles
	Fires a missile at the ground for medium damage. This weapon holds 40 rounds.
	"Thunder" Time-Delay Mines
	Drops a mine that explodes after a few seconds or when an enemy walks over it. Mines do heavy damage. This weapon holds 50 rounds.

Items

Items are found on the ground or sometimes dropped after destroying a target or an enemy mech.

	Heavy Ordnance Ammunition
	Restocks the ammunition for the Heavy Ordnance weapon.
	Main Gun Ammunition
	Restocks the ammunition for the Main Gun weapon.
	Tactical Weapons Ammunition
	Restocks the ammunition for the Tactical Weapons weapon.
	Coolant
	Completely empties the Madcat's damage and temperature meter.

Missions

	Alshain
	Password: BLLTCH
	Satalice
	Password: STJNNN
	Ridderkerk
	Password: GRBCHV
	Avon
	Password: BBYLND
	Comstar
	Password: BMBRMN

Versions

The game was ported to the Super NES as MechWarrior 3050 in 1995. Unlike the Mega Drive version, this version was released in Europe and Japan as well as North America.

Production credits

• Programming: Michael Case, Mick West
• Art: Noel Hines, Chris Senn
• Malibu Producer: Bernie Whang
• Extreme Producer: David Luehmann
• Associate Producer: Randy Oyler
• Project Manager: Yasushi Kurosawa
• Executive Producer: Denny Thorley
• Game Design: Michael Case, Noel Hines, David Luehmann, Randy Oyler, Denny Thorley, Mick West, Bernie Whang
• MadCat Animation & Cinemas: Noel Hines
• Additional Art: Jayne Shrigley, Jeff Godfrey, Mike Hulme, Bernie Whang
• Sound Effects: Eric Hammond, Brian Howarth, Bernie Whang
• Music: Keith Arem
• Manual & Package Design: Mike Buchman
• Instruction Manual: Brian English
• Special Thanks: Mort Weisman, Jordan Weisman, Sam Lewis, Suzanne Condon, Tacey Miller, Ted Keenan, Marisa Lomask, Terry Lloyd
• Testing: Ezra Bleu, Keith Blumenstock, Alan Deloach, Andre Garcia, Arvee Gorde, Robert Prescott, Jun Caliva, Allen Fernandez, Bill McDonald, Kevin Mulhall, Jason Uyeda

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (US) #0710: "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in (US) #62: "September 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• (US) #0710: "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in (US) #66: "January 1995" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in (RU) #60: "xxxx xxxx" (2002-09-05)
also published in:

• (RU) #61: "xxxx xxxx" (2003-02-07)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (RU) 80 (RU) 80 (US) NTSC-U 83 (US) NTSC-U 73 (RU) 80 (RU) 70 (US) NTSC-U 80 (US) NTSC-U 86 (DE) NTSC-U 74 (FR) NTSC-U 86 (DE) PAL 73 (US) NTSC-U 89 (DE) PAL 73 (UK) NTSC-U 83 (RU) 64 (AU) 94 (RU) 83 (DE) NTSC-U 63 (US) NTSC-U 90

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Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual Poster PCB

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat/Technical information.