Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes

"Awesome! Dude! Cool! What? It's over?"

When I heard of this game I was mildly interested; then I watched Gundam Wing on cartoon network. A month's worth of internet time and about $70 later, I have the entire series subtitled, a bit of the other Gundam series, a bunch of comic books, and a plethora of info. (My Psychiatrist says my mental illness makes me obsess on one thing at a time and retain every piece of information I read about it...) Then I remember this game, read some reviews, some FAQs, and say, ''What the heck, I'll buy it.'' Arrived on Wednesday, beat it Thursday night. And that's only because I had a recital to go to on Wednesday.

Graphics: 10

What can I say? These are some of the sweetest graphics on the Dreamcast. From my GM's Beam Cannon shooting across the sky, to the Gouf's chain whip, to the buildings charred by my rocket launcher, this simply rocks.

Sound: 8
Everything in the game is completely voice-acted, with little text. The voice actors are all pretty nice (except for Bob and Anita, who just bother me.) and Mike simply rocks. The sound effects are straight out of the Anime, and sound terrific. However, the music is forgettable, and once you get into combat, machine gun shots and beam saber slashes drown out all the music. Plus, some of the VAing during battles is a bit repetitive. ''This is Fang 3. Enemy Destroyed. I did it!'' Also, hearing ''This is Oasis. Sonar Sweep complete. Continuing Search'' every five minutes gets really annoying...

Control: 7
I personally don't have a problem with the control; I actually quite like it. It only looses points because for the average gamer, it seems like it would take quite some time to learn. It even took me an hour or two. I had to replay the first and second missions 4 or 5 times before I got the hang of the controls! (Then again, my controller initially de-calibrated when I started playing, and wasn't sure if it was actually supposed to be like that...^_^') Most people seem to dislike the close range combat system, but I think it's ok. Just tap the A button for a horizontal attack, tap the A button and up for an overhead attack, hold down and A for a low attack, etc.

Gameplay: 10
This is where the game really shines. You start out with a mission briefing, explaining the objective, which is usually more complicated than it sounds. Then you select and equip your Mobile Suit (giant robot.) You can initially select from the RGM-79 GM and the RGC-80 GM Cannon. The GM is you average Joe Suit, quick and light with a machine gun or rocket launcher, some grenades, a beam saber, and a pair of head vulcans (the type of gun mounted on jet fighters, kiddies). The GM Cannon is like that, but with heavier armor, a bit slower no grenades, and a powerful cannon on its right shoulder. After mission 4, you get to use the RX-77D Guncannon. This is a very unique suit. It was also one of the three original Federation Mobile suits used in the RX Project. Nonetheless, it carrier a pair of machine guns, a pair of cannons on its shoulders (which are much more powerful than the RGC's cannon) and super-heavy armor. This suit is useless in close-range combat, but is awesome otherwise. (you also get a special suit for the last mission.) Enough about the suits; you get to pick your Mobile Suit's weapon and shield, as well as pick the MS for your team mates. Once you've equipped your suits, you can check your email (a kinda gimmicky feature, but it works well.) You can get plot info, information on the mission, or some stuff just for fun (like when Mike talks about Jacklynne's radio show.) Then, you can finally start the mission. When in the mission, you move your mech around to shoot the bejesus out of enemy mobile suits and other weapons. However, you usually have a specific objective; destroying anti-aircraft guns, eliminating a specific target, searching a specific area, protecting something, whatever. Anyway, once in the battle, you're also in command of Fang 2, Fang 3 (both mobile suits) and Oasis (a hover truck whose only purpose is to continually run SP. Search to help find the enemy). You can tell them to move to a specific location, attack an enemy, look for an enemy, or protect something. Now, your mobile suit has four (or three in the case of the Guncannon) weapons. It's primary weapon (Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers, Beam Cannons, whatever) its special weapon (grenades, cannons), the sub-weapon (vulcans) and the melee weapon (Beam sabers.) When you encounter an enemy, you can press B to lock onto it. Then, your mech will automatically turn to look at the enemy. It makes aiming easier, and activates the beam saber automatically when in close range. Basically, you look for the enemy or target, and execute some beautiful combat maneuvers while commanding your allies. However, you have to modify your targets for the enemy. Zakus are basically the standard enemies, but Goufs are powerful in close range, so you might want to stay away from them. DOMs slide around at high speeds making them difficult to hit with ranged weapons. Also, standing still and firing will often get you killed very quickly.

Story: 9
The story's good, the characters are fairly cool. I'll leave it at that.

Lasting Appeal: 6
I'm a guy who can play the same game a gazillion times in periods of time (play one game, play another, play another, go back to the first game, etc.) this game is way too short. Nine missions? Yeah, right...even though you get some extra options after you beat the game, there still isn't enough to keep certain gamers playing too long. The extra options aren't too great either, you get to see your records, and unlock more armor, better boosters, the b-spray gun, the p-beam rifle, and the beam cannon, and some pictures inside the cockpit. It would have been cool to be able to unlock enemy mobile suits (I wanted to play as the Gouf...) or special missions. However, depending on your actions during certain missions, cut scenes and briefings sometimes change. I think the ending might change too, depending on how well you do.

Overall: 8
This game is good for fans of Gundam and non-fans alike. Just be warned: This is not Gundam Wing, it is nothing like Gundam wing, and if you're expecting this to be Gundam Wing, don't buy it. End of story. If you're not expecting this to be Gundam Wing, cool. You'll have a great time. While it lasts.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/08/00, Updated 12/08/00