SUPER ROBOT WARS (SERIES)

(Redirected from Super Robot Wars)

is a series of strategy role-playing video games produced by the Japanese gaming company Banpresto, a division of Bandai, for various video game consoles and video game handheld consoles.
The game's main feature is the use of mecha units from multiple anime and manga titles, mixing them together in a battle simulation and adding a complex plot involving some of their respective storylines, characters, and backgrounds. Another feature is a simple menu interface that can be understood by the gamer, even if he or she does not know how to read Japanese.
The very first game was released for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1991. The first anime mecha series featured on the game (and the ones usually present in all the series' games) are '''Mazinger Z''', '''Getter Robo''', and the earliest incarnations of the '''Mobile Suit Gundam''' series. The first two, both creations of famous Japanese manga artist, 'Go Nagai', and his production company Dynamic Productions, are representatives of the 'super robot' type of units, while Gundam, realized by Yoshiyuki Tomino, represents the 'Real Robot' type of units.
As more games were released, more characters, units and storylines were added to these games, both from existing mecha series and/or original units designed by Banpresto exclusively for the games. As the number of series involved in the games increased, the stories have become increasingly complex.
Some series that have been featured, including '''Neon Genesis Evangelion''' and Gundam are well-known worldwide, whereas others, such as '''Heavy Metal L-Gaim''' and ''Raideen'', are virtually unknown.
Because much of the appeal of any Super Robot Wars game resides in the player's knowledge of and familiarity with the various series involved, the games are most successful and have their biggest fanbase in Japan. There is, however, a small but loyal fanbase for the games internationally. It was widely believed that the series would never see release outside of Japan, largely due to potentially complicated rights and licensing issues (a problem that also affects series such as '''Jump Superstars'''). Because of this, fan translations of some of the games have been made.
On March 3, 2006, Atlus USA released two 'Original Generation' titles for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in North America, thus making them the first games in the series to see release outside of the Asian market.[1] Because the Original Generation lineup uses original robots and not robots from anime series, these games do not have the licensing problems that other games might have.

Contents

Basics

Units, Weapons and tactics

Influence

Super Robot Wars Titles

Continuities

Series Included In The Franchise

Games In English

Trivia

See also

External links

Basics

Most games in the Super Robot Wars series follow the same basic premise: the player begins by selecting a Banpresto original character and a Banpresto original machine (though in some games, the characters have default machines), and the game begins in proper. From there, the original character is drawn into the events of the constituent anime for the game, all while an overarching storyline and enemy force, always connected in some way to the original character, ties them all together. Typically, some of the anime featured also has its plot intertwined with others. For example, '''Super Robot Wars Alpha''' combines the White Fang plot of '''Gundam Wing''' with Paptimus Scirocco's rebellion from '''Zeta Gundam''', resulting in the two enemy forces working together. Notably, Banpresto tends to wait until three years after a series has finished airing on Japanese television networks, to include it in the game, so as to avoid spoilers, but there are exceptions.
All the games follow a basic structure: when a stage begins, the character gets some introductory dialogue between the characters. After this finishes, the battle begins. To complete the battle, the player orders their units to attack the enemy, taking careful considerations into what weapons to use, what Spirit Commands to cast, and on what terrain to attack from. Many games also feature skill points (''Battle Masteries'' in the English localizations), optional goals that are more challenging to achieve that affect the game's overall difficulty. After the player accomplishes the stage's goal, more dialogue between characters closes out the stage before the player is taken to the intermission menu. From there, they can upgrade units, install optional parts, change or upgrade pilots' stats and skills, save, and perform other maintenance actions before continuing on with the game.



During battle, the player chooses a unit and takes an action by the commands available (move, attack an enemy unit, use a unit's ability or power, etc). Some units have unique characteristics. For example, units such as the '''MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam''' have the ability to transform from a humanoid mode to a vehicular mode, thus making them unique among other units that cannot transform or fly; or in the case of units such as Getter Robo, they can transform into different robotic forms with new weapons and different defensive attributes.
Battles are carried out in different kinds of terrain scenarios (land, sea, space, etc.) which affect the development of the battles, since some units can move or fight better in one type of terrain, while having a lot of difficulty in others. The effect of terrain is also affected by the statistics of the pilots (for example, most Gundam characters are excellent in space combat, but suffer major handicaps underwater). In addition, terrain also affects certain attacks (for example, like in their series, the Gundams and mobile suits' beam weapons are weakened or unusable underwater. Another example is how attacks that need atmosphere, such as Mazinger Z's Rust Hurricane, are unusable in space).
Later games included more complex combat—for example, allowing ranged weapons to be used after moving—and longer, multi-part missions; and adding tactical features in combat, like support attacks and defense, and simultaneous attack by two or more units. Also, as games were developed for more advanced consoles such as the Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation, and Sega Dreamcast, the games included fully-animated battle sequences, complete with detailed graphics, whether larger 2-D sprites or, in the case of games such as the Dreamcast port of 'Super Robot Wars Alpha' and 'Super Robot Wars GC' for the Nintendo GameCube, 3-D graphics; and voice acting provided by Japanese seiyuu from each anime series. Some have CG mini-movies depicting a certain mecha's dramatic appearance and/or transformation during the battle.
In most of the entries in the series, most missions involve a storyline directly taken from a specific mecha series. This ensures that some of the gamer's actions must follow some steps according to the events of the specific mecha series to accomplish the mission or acquire a new unit. In some cases those events are predetermined and will occur no matter the player's course of action, sometimes one action taken by the gamer will lead to or skip an event. Most games feature at least one path split, in which the team is split roughly in half and each goes to deal with different problems and the player chooses which series of events they wish to follow.
One noteworthy and popular aspect of the Super Robot Wars games is the fact that character death happens only rarely. Players will often have the chance to prevent the death of a "good" character, as depicted in his or her anime series, while some games take this a step further and prevent heroic deaths freely, without any extra effort on the part of the player. Additionally, the player can often convince certain enemies (usually those who are not completely villainous, or who have good intentions) to abandon their evil allies and join the heroic side, whether they do so in their respective series or not. When these two concepts are combined, the player can create a team that would have no chance of existing within the original series.
Many games also feature hidden units and characters that can only be gained through a special sequence of events. These include following one specific series' plot, convincing a certain enemy multiple times, defeating certain enemies with certain characters, and others. Sometimes the bonuses are simply enemy machines captured and handed over to the heroes, while other times, they are special units, such as the IWSP Pack for the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam.
Since 'Super Robot Wars 4', many games also feature a database of every character and unit that appears in the game. The database entries are written in the context of the character/unit's original story, regardless of how it was altered in the game. The player usually only has access to the profiles of units and characters already encountered during gameplay and must play through the game several times in order to complete the database.

Units, Weapons and tactics

Like other strategy games, Super Robot Wars boasts a variety of units which excel at various roles. The units in-game are generally separated into two categories: "super robots" and "real robots." 'Mazinger Z', for example, being an archetypical "super robot", has exceptionally high hit points and armor, which enable it to sustain heavy attacks, and powerful, close-range weapons such as the Rocket Punch and Breast Fire. On the other hand, the RX-78 Gundam, a "real robot", is faster and more agile than Mazinger, but has less armor and hit points, relying instead on dodging the opponent's attacks rather than absorbing damage. As a whole, its weapons have longer range and better accuracy towards opponents than that of Mazinger Z; however, the increased accuracy comes at the cost of doing less damage per hit, requiring it to attack a single enemy more than once in most cases. Furthermore, it requires less energy for its weapons, whereas a unit such as Mazinger Z would lose its energy faster when using its most powerful attacks. There are exceptions to these rules -- for example, despite being classified as a super robot, 'Raideen' is a long-range attacker, with most of its best weapons requiring it to attack from afar; and despite having stats equivalent to that of other real robots, 'Aura Battler Dunbine' is primarily a close range fighter.

In addition, some units make use of MAP Weapons, attacks which target several enemies in a selected area, such as ZZ Gundam's High Mega Cannon. While not as strong as other, single-target weapons, they are capable of eliminating several weakened enemies, or softening up a group of enemies for other pilots to take out. Later games also feature weapons that inflict status effects on the enemy machine, from draining their energy to weakening their armor; some weapons, such as those used by Macross 7's enemies, also damage the stats of a pilot.
Later MAP weapon attacks include variations that don't target allied units in the line of fire such as from the Freedom or Justice Gundams, from Gundam SEED, as their computer targeting avoids hitting them.
Some units are treated as "support units", which give health and/or energy to other units. While most of these units are weaker in attack and defense, they tend to be valuable in a lot of battle situations. These resupply units are usually the sidekicks of the title character units. Examples are Aphrodite A and Boss Borot (from 'Mazinger Z'), the Methuss (from 'Z Gundam'), and Ginrei Robo (from the 'Giant Robo Ginrei Specials' OVAs).
Another type of support unique, in 'Super Robot Wars D', 'Super Robot Wars Alpha 3', and 'Super Robot Wars W', is from 'Macross 7'. Using music, the main protagonists' machines can bolster the stats and morale of their allies as well as deal with the enemies they face.
It should also be noted that in 'Super Robot Wars W', 'Mic Sounders the 13th' from The King of Braves GaoGaiGar and The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final also acts as a support unit with music based attacks and healing or morale/stat boosting songs, his list of support songs expands as his character gets more discs later during the events of Final in the game.
However he is solely not just a music support unit as he can also use musical destructive blasts also as shown in the series.
The games also feature carriers, whose main purpose is to transport units and resupply them; in most games, the destruction of your carrier results in an instant game over. Examples of carriers used in the series are White Base from 'Mobile Suit Gundam,' SDF-1 Macross from 'The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' and Daiku Maryuu from 'Gaiking'.
The pilots in the game play a role in determining the usefulness of a machine. Each pilot has abilities in ranged and melee combat, accuracy, critical hit skill, dodging, and defense that increase the effectiveness of a machine offensively and defensively. In addition, the pilots may carry special abilities that allow them to use their machine's sword to intercept missiles and other sword attacks, or use a shield to defend themselves; as well as abilities that increase their strength when their machine is low on hit points. All pilots carry a set of six 'Spirit Commands', similar to magic in traditional role-playing games, which give them the ability to deal double damage, ensure a hit or dodge, drastically lower the amount of damage taken for their next hit, and other beneficial effects. Furthermore, some characters from series such as Gundam and Dunbine have special stats that affect their aim, dodging, and even allow them to use specialized weapons, such as the funnels on the Sazabi or Nu Gundam. One may switch pilots into other machines from their same series, such as placing Zeta Gundam pilot Kamille Bidan into Judau Ashta's ZZ Gundam, or if you so desire, you may place Nu Gundam pilot Amuro Ray back into the RX-78 Gundam. The same applies for pilots from the Mazinger series, and in later games, one may place the Getter Robo team into an older Getter Robo, even after obtaining an upgrade machine.
The enemies featured in the games range from simple A.I.-controlled mechanical minions and units with common pilots to giant beasts and powerful arch-enemies in mobile suits. Classic anime villains, from Char Aznable, the 17 Angels of Evangelion and G Gundam's Master Asia to Dr. Hell and the Great General of Darkness, are a few of the foes encountered throughout the series.

Influence

The Super Robot Wars games eventually would have an influence on the anime industry itself. They sparked a fan interest in old anime mecha shows, some of which were first heard of or seen by anime fans playing the games.
Banpresto also has released a Game Boy Advance version called 'Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation', that reunites the original Banpresto characters and units that had appeared throughout the series. This version of the game has become very popular, creating a fanbase around the storylines and plots involving the original Banpresto characters and mechas.
The 'JAM Project' (Japan Animationsong Makers), consisting of veteran anime theme musicians like Ichiro Mizuki, Hironobu Kageyama, Rica Matsumoto, Eizo Sakamoto, Masaaki Endo, Hiroshi Kitadani, Masami Okui and Yoshiki Fukuyama, has also contributed to many Super Robot Wars game soundtracks, usually providing the opening theme song and the song played over the closing credits. The Super Robot Wars series also spawned a series of concerts and albums called 'Super Robot Spirits', in which veteran vocalists -- some of whom would go on to form the JAM Project -- sing covers of popular mecha anime openings, and in some cases, live versions of songs they themselves originally sang.
But the games' main influence has been in the creation of anime shows influenced by original units and characters that were created for the games. The best examples of this is are 'Getter Robo Armageddon', 'Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo', and the 'Mazinkaiser' OVA released in the United States in 2002.
'Shin Getter Robo' first appeared in Ken Ishikawa's manga for 'Getter Robo Go' then became by its apparition in various Super Robot Wars games (4 and F-Final) until getting the aforementioned OVAs.
Mazinkaiser appeared for the first time in the game, 'Super Robot Wars F-Final', released for the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation in 1998, as an upgrade to Kouji Kabuto's Mazinger Z. Mazinger Z writer and illustrator, Go Nagai, implemented it into his manga as the prototype of the other Mazinger machines.
A 1999 anime called 'Masōkishin Cybuster' loosely adapted the story of the first original design in Super Robot Wars (the anime's titular machine) into a 26-episode series, featuring both characters inspired by the allies of Cybuster's pilot, Masaki Andoh, and original characters created for the anime. There is also a manga series, 'Chokijin RyuKoOh Denki' (超機人 龍虎王伝奇), which provided the background story for RyuKoOh.
In May 2005, Banpresto released an animated OVA series called '', a 3-part non-canonical sequel to the second 'Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation' game. The OVA was followed up by a TV series, titled '', which retells the plot of the first Original Generation game.

Super Robot Wars Titles

Main articles: List of Super Robot Wars games by system

Continuities

Most of the preceding titles are standalone games, whose background stories may involve the plots of the series but no other Super Robot Wars titles. However, there are two main continuities with an overall storyline.
The first series, known as the ''Classic timeline'', is Super Robot Wars 2, 3, EX, F, and F Final (in that order). F and F Final replaced 4 in the continuity, and 2G is not considered to be canonical, because of its non-inclusion in the Complete Box set. The side-story, Masō Kishin, is divided into two parts; part one takes place before Super Robot Wars 2 and part two takes place after Super Robot Wars 4 (it was released before F and F Final).
The second series is the ''Alpha'' series, which consists of Alpha 1, Gaiden, 2, and 3 (in that order). Part 1 of the Masou Kishin side-story also provides relevant information, taking place before Alpha 1.
''Original Generation'' is also a series, with only two entries at the present time. It also spawned 2 animated titles, Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Animation and Super Robot Wars Original Generation: Divine Wars. Both Original Generation games have been compiled, with updated visuals and sound, as Super Robot Wars: Original Generations.
The ''Compact 2'' trilogy for the Wonderswan Color had its own continuity; the three games were compiled, with updated visuals and sound, as Super Robot Wars Impact. It is theorized that Super Robot Wars MX was originally meant as a sequel to Impact, because it was created by the same development team and used most of the same series.

Series Included In The Franchise

Main articles: List of series featured in Super Robot Wars

Games In English

As of now, there are currently two Super Robot Wars games in English, unofficially, and two Original Generation titles officially released by Atlus USA. Below, the translated games are listed by name and translator. Atlus released Original Generation on August 8, 2006, while Original Generation 2's release date was November 14, 2006. It should be noted that the Original Generation series are easier to release outside of Japan, due to a lack of licensing issues. The titles of the games are given as 'Super Robot Taisen', to avoid potential confusion with the British television series, Robot Wars.

★ Super Robot Wars (GB, translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation)

★ Super Robot Wars 3 (SNES, translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation)

★ Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation (GBA, translated by Atlus USA)

★ Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2 (GBA, translated by Atlus USA)

Trivia

★ As many of the seiyuu who feature in the Super Robot Wars have worked in various anime over the course of their careers, many of the games include in jokes concerning their other roles. For example, Amuro Ray from Gundam and Misato Katsuragi from Evangelion flirt often, referring to their seiyuus' roles as Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon, respectively. In another example, Hojo Shingo (the pilot of Goshogun) once did impersonations of Haran Banjo (pilot of Daitarn 3) and Bright Noa (the joke being that all three were voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki).

★ A number of the theme songs to the Super Robot Wars games have been performed by JAM Project, some of whose members have also performed theme songs for the various robot anime represented in the games.

★ Hikaru Midorikawa, the seiyuu of characters like Heero Yuy and Masaki Andoh, is a huge fan of the Super Robot Wars. In fact, he even volunteers to do extra lines for no charge, and has done beta testing for Banpresto's games. He also has a blog on Banpresto's website. [2]

★ It is tradition for a Super Robot Wars game to include a Mazinger series, a Getter series (from Getter Robo) and a Gundam series. Originally, this so-called "Holy Trinity" was made up of Kouji Kabuto from Mazinger Z, Ryouma Nagare from Getter Robo and Amuro Ray from Gundam, but as of July 2007, Kouji is one of the three human characters (the other are also from Mazinger Z, Sayaka Yumi and Boss) who has appeared in every non-original incarnation of the Super Robot Wars.

See also

★ List of Super Robot Wars games by system

★ Another Century's Episode

★ Banpresto Originals

External links

★ Banpresto's official SRW site

★ Atlus' announcement of SRW OG in America

★ Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation from Nintendo.com

★ Super Robot Wars Original Generations official webpage

★ The Gate of Magus : A fansite dedicated to the original characters and mecha of Banpresto

★ Super Robot Wars at Gears Online