Super Robot Wars 30 Review : Should You Attend this Mecha Crossover Bash ?
30 years later and this Massive Mecha Crossover is still going strong 30 years. It ’ s not every day that a serial or franchise not only hits such a milestone but besides manages to stay healthy and relevant during that time. sure, Mario and Mega Man are examples of series that have managed to accomplish such a feat. But when you consider you have others like Bomberman ( which has struggled with its identity ) or Blaster Master ( which has been making a fantastic rejoinder ) that haven ’ t fared about ampere well, it ’ sulfur easy to see the many pitfalls a series can have over the years. But, if the Super Robot Wars franchise is more akin to Mario and Mega Man, why is Super Robot Wars 30 possibly the first time you ’ re hearing about it ? Well, let ’ s answer that interview as we dive into the absolutely massive 30-year celebration of one of gaming ’ mho greatest concealed franchises .
The Beginnings of a Super Robot Soul
1991’s Super Robot Wars. The game that started this beloved franchise The Super Robot Wars ( or SRW ) franchise got its beginning on the humble Game Boy way bet on in 1991. A lot has changed from the original bet on. specially, when you consider that game had you playing as sentient versions of mechs from the Getter Robo, Mazinger Z, and Gundam series. however, some things have stayed the lapp. The first is the Strategy RPG nature of the serial. While the second is that it ’ second retained its crisis crossing over roots and expanded them. The original game contained mechs and enemies from 10 different series from those three franchises. By the clock time we get to Super Robot Wars 30, there are units and characters from over 25 unlike games and zanzibar copal in this most recent title. Heck, if you consider the franchise as a unharmed, it has the Guinness World Record for “ the most intellectual property licenses used in a role-playing videogame series ”. What started as a elementary licensed strategy bet on has become a gallant legend able to stand in the pantheon of pop-culture… If you live in Japan .
Mazinger Z’s Rocket Punch from SRW 1. While the series has seen very few releases internationally until recently, fans have helped to the Super Robot Spirit shining brightly with fan translations such as this one from Aeon Genesis credibly the biggest reason you ’ ve never hear of the series is that it ’ sulfur been chiefly japanese alone due to the license issues. Think about it. Imagine how difficult it was for Masahiro Sakurai and his team to get the licenses to every single quality and sung in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A game that everyone knew would sell well and was worth taking a gamble on. now, imagine that same process for a game that features respective anime or series you ’ ve credibly never heard of. even if the license costs were reasonable, I ’ five hundred think that latter point is why Bandai Namco has never tried to bring the series to the West. Well, that is until 2016 .
Latooni from The Moon Dwellers. The first time many of us had seen her again since Original Generation 2 was released on the GBA by Atlus in the West. In 2016, Bandai Namco decided to release Super Robot Wars : original genesis : The Moon Dwellers in the Asia region in English. While getting into the original Generation serial is a bit beyond the oscilloscope of this review. The authoritative thing here is that it was enough of a success that the future year the Asia region received the first title with accredited series in it : Super Robot Wars V. From there we ’ ve gotten each newfangled Super Robot Wars game early than DD which is a mobile-only championship. Hey Poor Player even reviewed Super Robot Wars T in 2019 and included it on our clear 25 Games of 2019 list that year while Super Robot Wars X made our list in 2018. This brings us to 2021 and Super Robot Wars 30. The first licensed SRW to be released worldwide. As a winnow, I never thought I ’ d have seen the day. But, as a critic, it made me all the more curious. Could Super Robot Wars 30 raise to be adenine much of a achiever in the West as it was in Japan ? Let ’ s start answering that question with a expression at what many people know Super Robot Wars for. Its graphics .
Flashy and Dynamic as any Anime
Kallen from Code Geass showing just why the people would often import the SRW games just to play them. These attack animations are gorgeous. Despite the language barrier, Super Robot Wars has had two things that have been universal to fans all over the earth. The first of these is the attack animations which each mech uses. Most mechs have at least two attacks you can choose from. With many of the main mechs having six or more. These range from elementary attacks such as Gridman ’ s “ Melee ” to GaoGaiGo ’ s “ Hell and Heaven ”. Some of my personal favorites would be the Ikaruga ’ s “ high Mobility Attack ” and the Victory Gundam ’ s “ Wings of Light ” . Some of these attacks besides have an extra little scenery play if you manage to down an enemy with the attack. That said, we do need to bring up one thing that has been contentious among SRW fans : reusing attacks from former games .
While Van’s attack animations are reused, they did remember to include the closeup of his hat bell and the chime when he downs an enemy. Too bad we still have the awkward localization of “CHESTO!”. One of the things B.B. Studio ( the developers ) do is reuse animations for units that are returning from a late game. For example, both GUN×SWORD and Magic Knight Rayearth return from Super Robot Wars T. As such, their attack animations are reused. however, they are touched up a morsel. For case, Van ’ s iconic hat bell will appear when defeating an enemy with certain attacks. personally, this doesn ’ thymine bug me like it would in the Neptunia franchise. certain, it ’ s a cost-cutting measurement, but it does make some sense. The dispute between the two franchises is how they reuse assets. Using an existing asset to supplement things while you create new content is o. Yes, we shouldn ’ metric ton see the like animations for three games in a row as we did for Brave Express Mightgaine for the VTX trilogy. however, if the amount of newly contentedness I ’ megabyte getting outweighs the recycle subject I ’ meter very well with it. particularly when the reused capacity is good. It ’ s a example other budget-conscious developers should take to heart. now, before we move on there is one more thing we should touch on and that ’ s the raw dynamic cut-ins that are used before each fire.
The new dynamic cut-ins that play at the start of each attack work beautifully like with the Ikaruga’s “High Mobility Attack” here. In the previous SRWs, after an attack, it would good seamlessly transition into the counterattack phase. therefore, let ’ s say Gridman attacks an enemy Kaiju. Providing the enemy survives, quite than cutting to black the foe would then proceed to counterattack. This makes the entire process front more like one continuous action fit. In Super Robot Wars 30 this was changed then that there would be a reduce to black and then the enemy would rush onto the picture and attack your whole. This has been met with desegregate opinions among fans. When this works properly, it does make the action feel more dynamic and matter to. The problem comes from when it doesn ’ t. It ’ s very jarring to see an enemy get hit, then have the cut happen, then have the foe rush onto the view to stand in the lapp position. It just feels… off. This is something that will get better in future games. however, it is something I think B.B. Studio should take another arduous look at. calm, graphics aren ’ thymine everything. A good game needs a commodity soundtrack. thankfully, SRW knows a thing or two approximately that ampere well .
Rocking out to Giant Robot Tunes and Hot-Blooded Fury
Looks like it’s “Time for L-GAIM” Remember how I mentioned there were two things that have been universal to SRW fans ? well, the second is the music. And it ’ s calm amazing. SRW acknowledges that each serial has its own music and therefore melodious identity. As such, the developers have constantly created their own instrumental renditions of themes from each series. For exemplar, when using the L-Gaim, “ L-GAIM -Time for L-GAIM- ” will start bet. indisputable, it ’ s not the actual song with MIQ ’ s fabled vocals, but it calm gets your blood pump and immediately helps you identify the mech ( which you may not be conversant with ) is from that series. Each series has at least one birdcall representing it while some will have multiple. SRW has its own original compositions as well .
With 17 pages of music to sort through sometimes it can be tough to find the one you want. Especially since most of them are in Romaji. many of these are more incidental expense pieces that are made to match the temper. But the stopping point few games have each introduced a theme that tends to play when it ’ second fourth dimension for your team to lay the smackdown on your foes. This time is no different with “ Shisen o Koeru Tsubasa hour angle Wareni ”. Another returning favorite of mine is “ Isshinittai ” which was introduced in Super Robot Wars X. Though, from those titles I think you can see a bit of a problem. Many of the original songs retain their japanese name. To some, this might not be a trouble. however, while I know a short japanese, my primary language is english. thus, it ’ second easier to remember things in English. The reason I bring this up is that it sometimes makes it truly hard to take advantage of one of SRW ’ south best features. Being able to customize which themes play for each attack and each mech .
One of the best parts about SRW is that you can customize the music just about any way you see fit. Let ’ s say you ’ re not a fan of the theme that plays by default for the Mobile Suit Z Gundam units “ Kantaisen ”. Well, you can change that to “ Main Title ” from Mobile Suit Gundam Char ’ s Counterattack or “ GUN×SWORD ” from, well, GUN×SWORD. immediately, let ’ s say you want to use one of the master songs since it fits the mood. then you can save one of the main themes for near the end of the stage when you ’ re ready to take on the foreman. It ’ s truly hard to find said master incidental nibble when you can ’ thymine remember what it was called since it ’ second all in Romanized Japanese. Yes, this is a minor complaint, but I don ’ triiodothyronine see it as a big ask. You ’ re localizing the game, Bandai Namco. Think of your players and merely localize the birdcall titles for your original compositions so we know what they ’ rhenium called. Before we move on, we besides need to touch upon the voice act. Super Robot Wars 30 features a long ton of articulation acting. Though it ’ s chiefly for its attack animations. You see, the dialogue that occurs during the conflict scenes is all voice. however, the text in the non-combat segments international relations and security network ’ metric ton. normally this doesn ’ t bother me, but this meter it kind of does .
Seriously, I want to watch Gundam NT just to hear more of Zoltan’s VA. I just wish we would hear more of him and the others during the regular dialogue as well. The reason being is that there were times in the former games where they would use a few voice lines because they were impactful. These were normally saved for major report notes or climatic battles. however, this time I don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate hark back that always happening. It does make some scenes ring a spot hollow since you feel like there should be some voice acting there. Again, it ’ s a minor matter, but it does bug me. besides, please note that the voice act is all in japanese for this game. While that normally would be an issue for me, Super Robot Wars, is one of the few series where I ’ thousand subject with only having the japanese voice racetrack. chiefly because while I ’ d love to see a dub of this, the costs for it would be astronomic. still, the japanese VAs are excellent, and many ( if not all ) of your favorite VA ’ s reprise their roles. With the audio covered, let ’ s dig into what the gameplay of Super Robot Wars 30 is all about on the future page.
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