Mekton is a mecha game franchise published by R. Talsorian Games starting with a board game in 1984, and then several editions of the first mecha role-playing game in North America, the most recent being Mekton Zeta (ã¡ã¯ãÂÂã³ Z).
The first edition of Mekton is a board wargame simulating combat between giant robots, drawing on Japanese animation for inspiration. "Mekton", the name of the giant robots, is a nod to "mecha".
Mekton advanced from a wargame to a role-playing game by adding basic role-playing rules that cover character and robot construction and combat, plus historical background for the world of Algol and an introductory scenario. The rules for giant robot construction are detailed, while the rules of character creation for the pilots who control the robots are sparse.
Mekton II is a complete revision of the original Mekton rules, including expanded character generation and political info on Algol. This version is compatible with the cyberpunk role-playing game published by R. Talsorian, Cyberpunk 2020.
Mike Pondsmith became interested in the Mobile Suit Gundam anime and decided to design a board wargame that would combine the mecha genre with the Imperial Star game system that he had designed for his own amusement. Pondsmith, with Mike Jones, designed the wargame Mekton, and self-published the "white box edition" in 1984; the boxed set included a 32-page book, a large color map, two cardstock counter sheets, and dice.
Mekton sold well, and the following year, Pondsmith founded R. Talsorian Games to publish further products. One of the first was a role-playing version of Mekton, released as a 100-page rulebook that included counters and two maps.
Pondsmith revised and expanded the role-playing elements, and changed the combat and skill resolution system to R. Talsorian's newly created Interlock System; this second edition was released in 1987 as Mekton II, a 96-page book with art by Ben Dunn.
The third edition of the role-playing game, also using the Interlock System, was released as Mekton Zeta in 1994, with cover art by Yuji Maida. A supplement of advanced rules called Mekton Zeta Plus followed in 1995. R. Talsorian published a reprint of that game as the ANimechaniX-branded Mekton Zeta in 2000.
A prototype of a video game based on Mekton was developed by Silicon Graphics using Coryphaeus Software's Activation Engine for the IRIX operating system. It was presented at the 1995 SIGGRAPH and bundled on CD-ROMs with other IRIX tech demos.
In Issue 42 of Abyss, Dave Nalle thought Mekton the role-playing game was "considerably more compact and practical as a game than many of the other entries, and it has a surprisingly high amount of emphasis on role-playing over tactics, despite the fact that the characters are robots, though there are some (very sparse) rules covering human controllers." Nalle noted that if the book ended with only the robot creation and combat rules, it would be a good game. But, "the remaining two-thirds of the book concentrate on the role-playing aspects of the setting and on the characters who pilot the Mekton warriors." Nalle did not like the random aspects of character creation, commenting that it was "a very negative factor in such a game, encouraging players not to think." Nalle concluded, "Mekton is not a perfect game [but it] captures much of the atmosphere and technology of its setting and provides the kind of easily learned, playable presentation of this genre which other better known games fall short of."
In Issue 72 of Space Gamer, Allen Varney commented that "its slick appearance and novel topic will sucker any Japanese-robot fan who can't wait for one of the other robot games due out soon. Pass the word."
Phil Frances reviewed Mekton for White Dwarf #87, and stated that "In all, a most worthwhile effort â not as slick as FASA's Mechwarrior or Battletech, but admirably simple and flexible."
In Issue 79 of Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer, David Jacobs commented that "Even if you've seen all of the Japanese animation featuring giant robots, I strongly suggest that you at least give it a once-over, because these guys and gals at R. Talsorian Games know how to put together a good game. This reviewer strongly suggests that Mekton is a must for any game shelf."
David Kling reviewed Mekton: The Game of Japanese Robot Combat for Different Worlds magazine and stated that "Basically, Mekton is a decent game. It's got some flimsy rules, but they can be developed by any adept gamemaster."
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan thought that this game "has more in common with tactical military simulations than RPGs." Swan liked designing the robots, calling the process "fun and simple, easily the most enjoyable part of the game." However, Swan found the character generation rules "the game's weakest feature, apparently included for the sole purpose of generating pilots for the robots ... [the pilots] are essentially irrelevant to the focus of the game." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "It's possible to design a campaign setting from the information provided ... but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble, because it's merely a way to kill time until the next robotic showdown."
In Issue 25 of the Australian games magazine Australian Realms, Mike Bell reviewed Mekton Zeta, and thought that it "really captures the popular appeal of the Manga/Anime genre in both presentation and game play." Bell found the book well-organized, and thought "the overall presentation of the product is crisp and clean; a far cry from the second edition." Bell liked the updated combat system, as well as the compatibility with Cyberpunk 2020. Bell concluded, "Mekton Zeta is a vast improvment on previous editions, and is an essential buy for any roleplayer who enjoys space opare in the highly dramatic anime vein. 'Pilots to your Mektons!'",rev name=arm />