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Note:

This is the Mobile Suit Gundam cockpit view game. Not the side-scrolling shooter. Also, if you don't know what Mobile Suit Gundam is, it's a Japanese mecha anime (animation).

Intro:

How many of you Gundam fans were disappointed by the PSX version of the Gundam cockpit game? I certainly was. Much like how I was disappointed with Macross VFX Digital Mission. Well, this mecha cockpit game did not disappoint! If you liked Gun Griffon, then you'll most probably like this game. And if you're a Gundam fan and want to pilot a Mobile Suit, then this game might be the one you're looking for. However, one must be warned that this game is broken into 3 discs all sold separately. The makers wanted to release this like a video mini series. Each one was released separately. The three combine to tell an alternate universe story of Gundam. The gameplay for all three was basically the same with a few minor improvements with each one. The three-pack will come out shortly in Japan however.

The Game:

At the beginning of each stage, you get a short animation showing the mech in polygon (not bad - although you can see the grainyness the mecha looks pretty cool. In fact it looks better than the PSX one) and a short briefing of your mission (in Japanese of course but you should have no trouble figuring out what the targets are) which tells and shows the story. There's animation and some dialogue telling the story at the end of each stage as well.

Like Gun Griffon you get a cockpit view of your mech and then you pilot it to destroy enemy units and complete your mission goal. Much of the controls are much like Gun Griffon so a lot of the territory is familiar. However, unlike Gun Griffon you do not glide around on roller skates. Instead, you have what I call the "dash". Basically, by pushing the control twice in the direction you want, you get a boost for a short period of time from your mecha's backpack thrusters. If you use it too much, the thrusters overheat and become unusable until it cools down which doesn't take to much time but when you're fighting for your life, a thruster overheat is something you do not want! Speed is life in this game. So watch your thruster temp gauge and keep moving cuz if you don't, you'll be a dead duck. the enemy moves FAST and so should you. Oh, and sometimes you have a time limit to complete your mission. Weapons consist of a rifle in the mecha's hand, an internal coaxil machinegun, a light saber, and a few grenades. The most powerful weapon is the light saber which you can pull out by dashing toward your target. (you'll see a pink blade slash your target if you're close enough). The rifle quite useless for knocking out enemy mech because even though you're locked on (press lock-on button to lock onto target) you'll miss occasionally and need to hit 'em a couple of times for a sure kill. Best to use it as a weapon to deplete their shield and administer the coup de grace with the saber. The internal MG is totally weak and useless. Save your grenades for the tough ones. Oh yes, like Gun Griffon, you can jump, look up, look down and whatnot. And you do get a radar screen.

At the end of each stage you get graded on your performance. Based on the letter grade scale - A being excellent and F being failure. If you're on easy mode there no way getting a grade better than C.

For the fans of the Gundam animation show: The first disc starts off with you piloting a GM. Then on the second disc you get an improved GM with a special AI to make your mech move faster. Then finally you get a Gundam on the third disc as well as an out in space dogfight (until then you fight on the ground). Unfortunately you never get to pilot Amuro Rey's mech since this story takes place in an alternate universe. But, after you defeat the last baddie, there's an special extra mode in which you can pit yourself against Amuro Rey! Gundam fans will also hate the fact that you can't kill your enemies with one swipe of the beam/light saber as is usually the case in the show.

Game music and graphics:

Music is pretty cool. But nothing spectacular. Actually you won't notice when fighting because you'll be too busy dodging bullets and knocking out enemy mech! But if you want to listen to the music, the options menu give you a chance to listen to the music. Graphics like I mentioned before, is nice even though it's pretty rough. For some reason it looks good the way it is. Just my opinion though. And once you complete the game (the third disc) it gives you a chance to see each mech in the MS viewer.

Replay value:

Pretty good if you like a sweaty hands game. The second and third discs allow you to use the twin-stick! Also, the better your performance grade the better the ending. I'm not that good of a player so I haven't seen the best ending. I must say that this game is pretty hard!

Overall:

Well, it's eons better than the PSX Gundam game despite the rough graphics.Like I said, if you liked Gun Griffon you might want to try this out. If you don't need the story, I suggest starting from the second disc because it's compatible with the twin stick and allows you to dash backwards (which the first disc doesn't allow you to do). In anycase, it's a fun mech piloting shooting game.

Gripes:

I hated the fact that they split this game into three discs which all are relatively the same gameplay but were sold separately. This makes it a pretty heavy investment. Thus I suggest getting just one disc/part preferably the second or third. I bought all three because I'm a sucker for Gundam based games. But I didn't buy them all new though.

Also I don't like the fact that you have to worry about other things other than the enemy mech and bunkers. I don't want to watch my thruster temp or worry about time running out or worse yet suddenly finding myself outside the fighting border and lose the game (yes, there are borders to each mission map and if you go out of bounds for too long, it's game over)

Scoring: 7 or 8 out of 10

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