Gojulas Giga

Released with much fanfare, both story and otherwise, Giga was rumored to be the final design in the NJR in some circles - going out with a bang, as it were. Thankfully, this proved not to be true...both because a lot of my favorite new designs followed it, and because I find it rather disappointing in comparison to all the hype.

My complaints? A crapload of pieces is good when they're involved in mechanical goodness like the legs, bad when we're talking a bunch of little fins and such that fit poorly and fall off constantly along with the arms. I hear not all Gigas have this problem, but one would think they could keep better quality control on a new flagship design. Its motor is also prebuilt, no doubt for the electronics, but it means you have no involvement in the (rather cool) shifting mechanism, a trend that unfortunately only got worse from there. Finally? The sounds are poorly executed. If King Gojulas and Mugen Liger could both walk normally for a while and then stop to roar, they should have given Giga the same dignity. Endless "rarr, rarr, rarr, rarr" is less than imposing, especially when it's quiet compared to Coffeemaker Liger. We won't speak of the stomping sound effects >_>.

Now that I'm done venting, Giga does have its good points. The biggest? It's one of the only Zoids to have multiple walking stances without requiring the removing of parts, and all the mechanics that went into it are pretty impressive: the legs shift at the hips, the head and neck turn (though you must do that yourself), and the tail has several bendable segments so as to be poseable either straight out or curved. Even if the shift is a bit awkward (the legs take a considerable amount of pressure to snap into place) and the arms are stuck in an endless "BOO :D" pose in ~~Purse~~ Pursuit mode, the fact that they pulled it off and Giga ambles along successfully in both modes makes me happy. Trying new things mechanically was one of the NJR's weaknesses, and Giga takes it on full stop. It doesn't make a good Gojulas and it's not big enough for a true doom stompy, but it's a pioneer and the shifting modes idea is something they should have explored more fully. Reworked Deadborder or Aro Saurer-style design, anyone?

The other thing I dig is the head. Aside from the cockpit popping open constantly (maybe the pilot is driven mad by the sounds?), it goes together beautifully, and it's so full of wonderful chompy teeth. The tongue is silly, so silly...but Giga still looks like it would cause a helluva lot of pain with those jaws and would have no trouble getting them to you, someplace its original and King ancestors fall short on. If it gets ahold of you, it's going to shake and rip you to pieces like a terrier-dino from hell.

Many complain about Giga's lack of conventional ranged weaponry, but as the creators were nice enough to give you adapters for both Blox bits and CP-10, you've got plenty of options to improvise. Unlike most of the fandom, I prefer CP-10 on Giga to Buster Eagle's Cannons, but it's a moot point as my Gojulas claimed the former and my Gairyuuki the latter. Giga will just have to go on yelling "BOO :D", I guess.

Conclusion? I'm glad I didn't pay too much, but I don't utterly hate Giga - I more think it's really overrated. Considering that they can be found for relatively cheap prices these days, though, it's worth getting a Giga just for the shifting mode thing and to judge for yourself. I recommend the Proto or Fuzors coloration over the regular, unless you really dig its unique off-white-with-blue-speckles plastic.

Written November 2006