Kidou Senshi Gundam: Renpou vs. Zeon DX

"Best. Gundam. Ever."

Gundam: E.F.F. Vs. Zeon DX is the Dreamcast port of Capcom's arcade Gundam game (although it's published by Ban Dai). The game is based off of Sunrise's Gundam anime (duh) and this particular game is centered around the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series. Many Gundam games have ranged from mediocre (G-Saviour) to the down right abysmal (Gundam Gaiden). How does this fare?

Graphics 8/10

The graphics in this game were very good. The suits had a decent polygon count and the textures were very good.

However, some small things are annoying- the size of the battle areas are small and bland, there can only be two-on-two combat (occasionally, there may be a ship either aiding or attacking you, but it's not the main target), and the ruined mobile suits are immediately dissolved and your opponent is revived.

Aesthetically, the game was brilliant, especially with a VGA monitor.

Sound 7/10

This section has it's highs and lows: the voice acting is very good, but the music is really bad. Although there is hardly any dialogue, you are subjected to various mission outlines and some brief instances in battle. What little there is, it remains true to the series.

On the other hand, the music is really unfitting. For some strange reason, whenever I was flung into battle, the music really reminded me of the song that played as Starvin' Marvin flew in a space ship “up so high, above the clouds”. That was really unsettling while seeing my beam rifle pierce a another mobile suit.

Aurally, just take the good with the bad.

Gameplay 8/10

Some of the greatest mech action ever. The game is played in third person and is executed flawlessly. The controls can be a bit clunky at time, but that doesn't really deter from the overall fun. The controls are very simple, you move with either the joy stick or D-Pad and double pump to boost. There is a dedicated button for attacking, which varies from the weapon chosen (like a beam rifle), melee (like a beam saber), and a special attack that the suit came with (like head vulcans).

All is good here.

Import Friendliness 6/10

The reason I gave this game a six is because there is absolutely no English in the game. However, simple knowledge of katakana will go a long way in selecting characters and such.

Remember: a little kana can go a long way :)

Overall 8/10

This is by far the best Gundam game yet (and we have Capcom to thank). Fluid controls and the fact that the Dreamcast is very easy to play imports on make this game very good. Not to mention you also get the original arcade version along with the home version, so you're better off getting this version rather than the PS2 version.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/02, Updated 08/08/02