Are you a fan of niche mech strategy games? Are you a fan of the mech anime genre? Have you ever wanted see how a Gundam would stack up against an Eva? If you answered yes to any of those questions then you might want to check out the Super Robot Wars (Super Robot Taisen in Japan) series. There’s a dedicated fanbase here in the US, but there’s a bit of a barrier to entry into the series. With that said, were the Super Robot Wars worth it?
Quick clarification: for simplicity in the rest of this article, the series will be referred to as SRW/Super Robot Wars, instead of SRT/Super Robot Taisen. I’ll also only be referring to the titles by their letters – V, X, and T.
Table of Contents
Which Super Robots are at war and how many wars have there been?
The SRW franchise has been chugging along since 1991. There’s some buzz about an SRW 30th year game, but details are scarce. 2020 was the first year without an SRW game since the franchise started, but the pandemic is probably to blame for that.
Now is a good time to get into the series, as English versions of several of the most recent titles are available. The huge headache that is licensing and copyright issues in America prevents most the games from coming stateside, but certain Asian copies have English options.
The most recently released main games are OG Moon Dwellers, V, X, and T, in that order. You can find these titles on sites like Play-Asia, and it’s clearly labeled which versions have English subtitles.
Fair warning, if you’re the kind who suffers from FOMO then know that the first print DLC codes have expired. However, you can still obtain these units with the replay pack DLC (which is really just items and cash).
Super Robot Taisen OG: The Moon Dwellers
This game is a remake of 2005’s SRW J, which was available on the Gameboy Advance. The entire game was fan translated, and features some rare series, like Blue Comet SPT Layzner and Brain Powerd (sic). It was also the SRW debut of Full Metal Panic and Tekkaman Blade.
The remake has replaced all of the guest (licensed mecha series) characters with the numerous Banpresto original characters that the franchise has created over the years. There isn’t a shortage of original characters, so it’s not like the game feels like it has a small cast.
What does it do well?
The animations for some of the attacks are top notch. I’m not a huge fan of the ability system but it’s relatively simple.
What could it do better?
I’ve seen comments online lauding the game for being more difficult than other titles. I would argue that it isn’t difficult per se, but it doesn’t have the QoL features that later titles boast. A good example is being able to use spirit commands (seishins, basically spells) at any point like in V, T, or X.
There’s a lot of gobbledygook involving the plots of the previous titles, and it tries to stitch them into some sort of coherent timeline. It’s the biggest mess trying to read the dialogue when there are multiple keywords in almost every sentence referring to so-and-so and such-and-such in games you probably haven’t played referring to storylines that concluded over 20 IRL years ago.
It’s even worse when some of the names for factions, enemies, or other concepts are so ridiculous. What should have been a hyphy scene in an early stage lost all its impact when one of my mechs entered “busker mode”.
Busker mode? So he’s a street performer now? That’ll show those pesky alien invaders, just play Wonderwall at ’em.
Another issue is that the game is absolutely desperate to use all of its original machines, so it throws every possible character and mech at you. In some cases, you’ll receive multiple mechs that are locked to a single character. Thanks for letting me choose, I guess?
There are other mechs that you end up with for seemingly no reason. It might have made sense to have a mass produced Huckebein back in OG1 on the GBA, but all the characters join with their endgame units now. This also means that some of the characters are as good as they’re ever gonna be, which takes some of excitement out of game progression.
Value?
If you’re attached to the Original Generations characters, then this is one of your few chances to see them. These characters are spread out in numerous titles that span multiple console generations. You can emulate some of the games, but it’s the interactions between the originals that you’re probably here for.
There’s replayability with the different game modes, especially EX-Hard, if you want a challenge.
Super Robot Wars V, X, and T
These three games are very similar to each other and came out in the early Spring of 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Each of these games has a different assortment of licensed characters. The gameplay is largely identical in each title, so if you aren’t interested in all three, then pick up the one with your favorite titles.
Some of the series stalwarts (UC Gundam, Getter, Mazinger) are generally in, so here’s a quick rundown of the unique series that are in each one. FYI, this isn’t an exhaustive list:
V:
- Cross Ange
- Star Blazers 2199 (Space Battleship Yamato)
- Gundam Seed
- Gundam 00
- Evangelion Rebuild
- Full Metal Panic
- Nadesico
X:
- Mashin Hero Wataru (fair warning, prepare for him to monopolize the story)
- Code Geass
- Gundam Wing
- Cross Ange
- Gurren Lagann
- Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
- Buddy Complex
- G-Reco
T:
- G Gundam
- Votoms
- GaoGaiGar
- Cowboy Bebop
- Gunbuster
- Magic Knight Rayearth
- Gun Sword
- Space Pirate Captain Harlock
- Nadesico (Akito joins super early, too)
- Expelled from Paradise
What do they do well?
It’s a lot of fun to unlock secret units or routes. If you’re the type of gamer to “plan” your playthrough, then this will be right up your alley. Resources are (relatively) limited, so upgrading key units always feels like a meaningful decision.
What could they do better?
The biggest issue with these ensemble cast games is that you run the risk of being stuck with a bunch of pilots you don’t care about. Keep this in mind
Value?
T is the newest title and definitely has the edge here. The cast is fantastic, I liked the main characters a lot, and there’s a ton of content. You can also recruit Master Asia, Haman, and Char.
I’ll admit that not getting Kamille early in V really annoyed me, and I wasn’t a big fan of the kid pilots that did get the spotlight: Judau & co, Hathaway, and Maito.
X benefits from having Wing and Gurren Lagann, but you’ll probably get sick of the Wataru storyline – I certainly did.
Were the Super Robot Wars worth it?
All three games offer replayability. The stories are self-contained, so you won’t be missing anything by playing them out of order, either. All three are worth playing, but if you’re strapped for cash then I would recommend opting for the newest title (T) or whichever has more of your favorite series. Incidentally, if you’re more of a Gundam fan, you should also consider Cross Rays or Genesis.
I would say that all of the titles were worth it. I’ve been a huge mecha fan since watching Voltron on Toonami back in the 90s, so these games are right up my alley.
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