In 1991, Japanese arcade giant Banpresto piled together three of their licenses for a simple Game Boy strategy RPG. The game, titled
Super Robot Wars, featured characters from the Go Nagai classics
Mazinger Z and
Getter Robo, as well as Yoshiyuki Tomino's
Mobile Suit Gundam. While lacking an actual story and quality graphics, the game became a major hit and Banpresto has been making them for every major console (and some of the less major, halo thar Wonderswan) since, refining the gameplay, graphics, and storyline each time. New series are added with each incarnation as well, with some of them staying long after their first appearence (Gundam Wing) and in some cases even getting a "sequel" story of sorts.
So, this is like Fire Emblem or something?
Sort of. The SRW games work more or less the same from incarnation to incarnation. Stages open with a title screen and go to dialouge between characters setting up the current stage, whether it's idle chatter interrupted by an enemy attack, stratgey planning between the major figures in the game, or even a brief vacation sequence (rare is the SRW lacking a trip to the beach). When the enemy attacks, you're taking to a deployment screen where you choose the units and pilots to sortie against the attacking forces. Using
Stat-altering abilities, terrain, and good ol' fashioned fisticuffs, you must defeat the enemy and achieve an objective or two (some of them hard to read, cause, you know, the games are all in Japanese). Afterwards you've got more dialogue in the aftermath, and then an Intermission Screen which allows you to tune up units, switch pilots around, equip items, and in some games buy abilities for your pilots and play puzzle-based mini-missions for items and profit.
And all that's in Japanese? Holy shit.
It's not as daunting as it sounds. Many FAQs are available online to help, the menus in both combat and Intermissions rarely change much from game to game, and a few of them even have translation patches either out or in the works. Plus there's the matter of Atlus releasing the Original Generation GBA games recently, both of them being fantastic and worth your hard earned funbucks.
Welcome to the new thread, everyone! I plan on updating the OP with OG2 related goodness very soon. In the mean time, here are the upcoming SRW games we know of:
Super Robot Wars XO - Xbox 360 - November 20th
Super Robot Wars OGs - Playstation 2 - January 2007
Super Robot Wars DS - Nintendo DS - TBA 2007
Get to postin'!
Posts
Sort of regreting it.
I fucking hate Alfimi.
XO is indeed a nightmare, and the fact that it contains some of the most obscure mecha series ever is also a rather large reason for it to stay over there.
DS...I don't know. It could be OG3, but I don't see why they wouldn't call it that if it was.
Also, the thread title should be like.. "Super Robot Wars - We Are So Screwed."
[spoiler:d5d8d359a5]Revolving Bunker and Howling Launcher X when you get Alteisen Reise and Rein Weissritter.[/spoiler:d5d8d359a5]
I'm on Earth route, Episode 14? 13? It's the one where [spoiler:82d3fad7bd]you have to prevent all those damn fast mechs from getting into the entire massive base. Then a bunch of Barrellions spawn behind you about six spaces from the base and you've got all of a turn and a half to kill them off.
Granted, when the Barrelions show up, the Hagane and Co. wreck shop too, but still.
Bastards.[/spoiler:82d3fad7bd]
Kai's at Gunfight +3. I think at Gunfight +4 he gets the extra point to max range, so that's when all hell will break loose.
Also, I managed to crank up a Mega Beam Rifle to full power (4800 attack, whoop whoop!) and it's a large source of Bullet becoming a god and slaying all in his path.
I really like how they've rebalanced the old weapons from OG1 that were useless and actually make them useful again. That's a really nice touch.
It's also nice how it's cheaper to upgrade weapons in general, which means I can have a lot more diversity in what I equip, which means more stylish and distinct mechs all around.
If you let him solo the first wave of enemies, you get to keep it, and it is a very nice melee weapon.
...WHAT!? AWW.
It helps that he's awesome. Best tank in the game.
Yes, better than Kyosuke.
Well yeah. The guy has Guts. Literally.
Okay guys. It's official.
DyGenGuard. The Daizengar joke is officially dead for the US version.
They go right into it after the scenario it appears.
Seriously? Fuck you, 4chan.
I mean, I have to wear down the Grungust, and there's shitloads of other enemies, too..
on my first try I took my sweet time cause the Battlemastery was just showing as ??? and when I finally got it it was like "Wear the Rivale down to 40% by turn 8" and well...way too late.
Is the old "die and restart a mission with your boosted stuff" trick still in?
It's a drawback.
Can't offer advice with Wodan yet -- not quite that far.
The other path is awesome. Arado gets some great character development and the introduction of the Rapiecage and the Machinery Children is very intense and difficult, thanks mainly to them having [spoiler:5d88728b75]the new and improved GEIM System.[/spoiler:5d88728b75]
Of course nothing, nothing beats the Earth path later on. Best damn route ever.
I accidentally peeked too far into a FAQ and found that supposedly there's some tough enemies that you can destroy in Mission 15 for some absurdly good items, including a Shishioh Blade and a Mark of the Hero.
[spoiler:360120e98c]Holy Jesus THREE MASSIVE INSPECTORS with 100k+ HP apiece with MASSIVE STATS and one-shotting everyone on my team and oh-jesus they make R-Gun Rivale look like a slug and there's THREE OF THEM.[/spoiler:360120e98c]
FUCK THAT.
Remember kids, FAQs lie. They lie hard.
I suppose I could go back and pick the other route, but eventually I'll have to fight Wodan.
Not looking forward to that encounter with Wodan, based on what you're describing as well as the growing absurdity that I've been encountering in the mission bosses.
Mission 16's Battle Mastery is plain absurd. Whoever thought escorting a Tausendfussler through 18 Huckebein Ms AND a mega-boss and thinking that it won't get a scratch is a masochist.
I haven't had to pray to the RNG gods this much since Fire Emblem.
The obsession with Battle Mastery is maddening.
And yet I try again. :P
The [spoiler:902e277c80]Einst Regissar[/spoiler:902e277c80]
Kind of hard to deal over 35,000 damage to someone who regenerates most of that in one turn..
[spoiler:dd07f7f187]Izu route. Damn you and your HP(L) regen, Wodan Ymir![/spoiler:dd07f7f187]
This is like.. the biggest lesson EVER in Spirit Conservation. Just when I thought I was in the green, I have to bring the fucker's HP down to 40%, which seems just downright impossible at this point. Goddamn.
Hey, if you win the battle mastery but decide to redo the mission, you lose it regardless of getting it?
He's immune to Breaks. However, you CAN use Chaff on him, which greatly helps. I should really equip the Spirit taker/blaster this time around. His strongest attack requires 130 and he starts below 130. HMM!
Pro Tip: Buy SP Regeneration for everyone. The game is nigh unbeatable otherwise. Also, E-Save for Ryusei and whoever you assign as R-Gun's pilot. The R-Gun's new combo with SRX is vital to success. 8260 base damage.
Yeah, Beat Wodan after trying my hardest to conserve my SP. He wasn't so hard afterwards. Now I'm in the next mission, in the middle of a battle royale between [spoiler:e3f898e412]The Einst and Shadow-Mirrors. Now I have to take down that little Einst girl.[/spoiler:e3f898e412]
Really?
Golly gee, I guess so!
Also, loli.
But it sounds like I'm in for a world of hurt.
Well, at least I'll have some idea of what I'm doing this time around.
Also, isn't that last picture the princess from OG1?
God I'm waiting so hard for this game.
I'm really impressed with the music too, I never thought anything could replace the synth Super Famicom stuff as my favorites (though those still have the best general map themes) but these OG GBA games are unstoppable in every way.
Yep.
[spoiler:df2576f3f1]In OG2 she and Latooni pilot the highly agile Fairlion units, complete with Jammers to give them missile immunity and the deadly Royal Heartbreaker combination attack.[/spoiler:df2576f3f1]
I managed to do a marathon session and get through episodes 16-18 reasonably well.
I have seen the light. Getting the Battle Mastery in Mission 16 was a lot easier once I embraced the absolute monster that is Arado with that Boosted Hammer -- with some creative charging early on, I managed to get him right in the middle of the enemy Huckebein reinforcements, and he one-shotted damn near all of them.
Nothing like escorting a battleship when there's nothing left to threaten it.
He bumped up to 96 PP just from that battle alone.
Also, "Ratsel" is a god among men.
So, after that trifecta of scene-jumping fun, everybody's reunited and I have only $187,000 to spread among 33 different pilots. Somehow along the way Bullet was granted a mother-effin' Shishioh Blade, I got the Boosted Hammer, and there's a whole list of other goodies to play with. I have absolutely no idea what the hell to do with all these different combinations and so, so little cash.
It's only going to get worse as things progress, I just know it -- too many pilots for me to keep up with. Even OG1 only had, what, 30 tops by the very end of the game?
And I love it all. It's so brilliant.
The Grungust in that image is Bullet's Type 3 from the OVA.
The best part is that much like Sanger's Type 3 relying on its Zankantou for its strongest attacks, Bullet's uses a Shishioh Blade.
So awesome.