Tech Romancer (超鋼戦紀キカイオー, Chōkō Senki Kikaiōh?, "Chronicle of Super Steel Warrior Kikaioh") is a 1998 3D fighting arcade game by Capcom that draws heavily from the various sub-genres of Mecha anime. It has been ported to the Dreamcast console. The player controls a giant robot which is used to fight another robot in one-on-one combat. Studio Nue (the animation studio responsible for the mechanical designs for many anime series including The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Gunbuster, and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory) designed the robots in this game.
The setting of Tech Romancer takes place in a far future of Earth, where advanced technology have made things calm and decent for the citizens of Japan and the rest of the world. However, the peace doesn't last long as an evil alien tyrant named Goldibus invades the planet with its loyal followers and seeks to conquer the world while enslaving the human race with an emotionless iron fist. An unlikely group of heroes band together to fight against the threat of Goldibus with their own unique mecha robots and all of them won't rest until Goldibus is defeated and the world is safe from the imminent danger.
The game is primarily played in two modes: Story Mode, and Hero Challenge Mode. The Dreamcast version also had minigames that could be played on the VMU for points.
Battles take place mostly on a flat 3D plain, with buildings and other terrain features scattered around. Destroying the terrain (by attacking or walking through them) releases power-ups, which include three weapons (vary between each character/mecha), armor or life powerups, and the Hero Mode powerup, which increases the power of your mecha's attacks, and may also unlock additional abilities or moves.
Each mecha has at least two super attacks, as well as a Final Attack, which is usable when the opponent is down to the last 50% of their second lifebar. This attack, when activated and successfully connected, automatically destroys the opponent, winning the battle.
Each mecha has its own pilot, and some mecha have alternate pilots, with stories that are different from their counterparts.
Saori - Dr. Tatsumi's daughter, and Junpei's would-be girlfriend. Suffers a lot of misunderstandings in Pollin's storyline. Has a choker with an heart on it, like another Go Nagai's character, Cutie Honey
Chueng-Meng - A crewman on Natako's ship in Dixen's storyline. She's very close to Natako and worries about him a lot.
Raeed - One of Halma's Classmates. Although he's not as skilled a pilot as Halma, he still looks after her when she's in trouble.
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