Super Robot Wars: Over-the-Top Mecha Goodness

David Clermont
Jul 20, 2017 · 4 min read
How could you not look away from this awesomeness? Image is reserved by their original owners.

The series, Super Robot Wars has been a rather niche blip on the radar of gamers in the states. Boasting a variety of stories, mecha designs, and somewhat easy to grasp Tactical RPG gameplay, Super Robot Wars, or popularly referred to as SRW, has been more or less recognized for its over-the-top scenes that would make any mecha fan breathless.

That being said, the last rodeo that Super Robot Wars had in the West was a spinoff called Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier (try saying that fast) for the Nintendo DS. Endless Frontier played rather differently from its TRPG predecessors, as it introduced more of a timing/combo oriented gameplay akin to Namco X Capcom’s gameplay, which became the main combat method for Project X (Cross) Zone. Needless to say, Endless Frontier did not catch on well enough to warrant having its sequel, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier EXCEED being brought over to the West, and even deadlocking fan translations out of hopes of the game being localized (which never happened and needs to be picked back up). Despite that, Super Robot Wars has been a very prominent series in Japan ever since its conception, and grew in popularity to warrant having English translations in their newest games.

See the similarity below?
Super Robot Type-X/Banpreios — it’s pretty massive when you look at its specs.

The Super Robot Wars series has been around since the heyday of the Super Nintendo/Famicom and Sega Genesis days. Banpresto, Around that time, Gundam, Mazinger Z, and Getter Robo were the most prominent mecha titles to appear within their earlier games. Fast Forward to the PS2 era, Banpresto branched out their series, this time including their own original mecha designs to give themselves an identity outside of their usual dream teams of popular and published mechas such as Gaogaigar, RX-78–2 Gundam, EVA-01, etc. That original series became the “OG Saga” of Super Robot Wars. In fact, the logo for Banpresto happens to be one of their original robots, Super Robot Type-X or Banpreios. But the OG Saga became the definitive image of Banpresto with a multitude of original mechas they created into their roster, as well as the unique array pilots that maneuver these massive suits.

So what makes this game series so enticing? Well there are two parts to this answer.

One is the over-the-top action that goes on within the games themselves. RPGs tend to resort to flash as a means of visually engaging the player as if they are controlling extremely powerful characters. In Super Robot Wars, the flashiness is dialed up to a volume of one-hundred, cranked out on adrenaline and passion, with a heap of badassery. Every major suit within the series does not feel dull from design to action, and watching them unload massive armaments, create miniature black holes, or beat them senseless with martial arts does not get old. The pilots add onto that excitement with how much energy they pour into each moment to sell you the action on a golden platter. There are a plethora of special attacks like that on Youtube, but for the sake of not ending up in the vortex, I’ll show you one involving the main protagonist suit, Granteed, of the most recent entry of the OG Saga, The Moon Dwellers. Or perhaps I need to show you something from the past OG Saga games, OG Saga Gaiden with the suit, Shinka Ialdabaoth (and yes you did see someone get punched through a mountain).

The other is the faithfulness of their crossover games. While taking liberties with their own stories, and including their own original characters into the mix, Banpresto has a knack for ensuring that the characters from series such as Gundam, Mazinger, Getter Robo, etc. is accurate to their source material. The characters, however, interact in unique ways because of how they were introduced, creating some interesting interplay between certain characters that either never met in the same universe/timeline or alternate realities. With the most recent crossover being Super Robot Wars V, Space Battle Ship Yamato 2199 becomes the base franchise that holds more weight, with all the characters interacting with the originals and characters from other well known/niche franchises. Mecha fans, both new and old would definitely appreciate Super Robot Wars V because of how much of a love letter it is for the mecha genre in its entirety, all while chiming in with their take on a dream crossover.

I have not played any of the older Super Robot Wars games, yet I became a fan on just its presentation alone. The story the older SRW games have been unofficially translated thanks to its dedicated community. However, if you are interested in jumping into the SRW series, both The Moon Dwellers and V (both are Playstation 4/Vita exclusive) are translated in English in Asian copies of the game, where you can find for a reasonable price on Play-Asia compared to other venues of obtaining the game. This is a series NOT to ignore. If you like Tactical RPGs, Mecha, and or over-the-top action, then Super Robot Wars is a series you’ll feel right at home with.

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David Clermont

Written by

23, A writer for fun. For professional inquires, davidcharles.clermont@gmail.com

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