Riobot Anubis by Sentinel – Available From HobbyLink Japan
By Cacophanus from Mecha Damashii
The latest of Sentinel’s toys from the Zone of the Enders games is their Riobot Anubis. This is a companion toy to the already released Riobot Jehuty and both are exceptional in terms of their detailing and articulation. For all intents and purposes these are the ultimate toys of these designs.
Now as people may already know, I don’t hold the Zone of the Enders games in high regard. While they are not overtly bad they have lots of underlying mechanical issues that ultimately ruin the games.
Of all the games, Anubis Special Edition is probably the best and a definite improvement over the initial release. The recent HD remaster was thoroughly terrible, though. It was admittedly patched on PS3 courtesy of HexaDrive but the best versions of the second game are still on the PS2.
As for the Anubis itself, it’s a preposterously powerful orbital frame and takes the role of the Zakarl to Jehuty’s Layzner. If you don’t think Layzner and the Zone of the Enders games have a lot in common, then you haven’t been paying attention.
Anubis first appeared very briefly at the end of the first game as a terrifying boss fight, as you simply couldn’t harm him. In the second game its role is far more integral, which is likely why the Japanese version of the game was named after him.
While I don’t really rate the games much, I do think that Yoji Shinkawa’s mecha designs in the series are groundbreaking. In that regard, I’ve already sourced all the Revoltechs of these designs and now the Riobots, too.
Sentinel’s Riobot range is generally excellent and a foil to Bandai’s Robot Damashii toys. Often more expensive than the latter they make up for this with exemplary detailing as well as a general increase in size and gimmicks.
Like the Riobot Jehuty before it, this version of Anubis doesn’t disappoint.
Keep an eye out for the full review coming soon!
kajnrig
A subpar review of the game followed by a subpar review of the toy, in both cases scarcely saying anything at all about the actual item being reviewed. Two swings, two misses.
Nice pics, though, which I suppose is all the saying you need.
Draklor92
Truly, a dismal review of both game and toy. Such a shame really. ZOE:Anubis is one of the best videogames I’ve played, and I played a lot of them. Definitely up there among mecha related videogames. Never has an action game handled the way ZOE handles, and both soundtrack and art direction is not only unique, but truly fantastic. Oh well.