Kidou Senshi Z-Gundam (Zenpen)

"Even the Titans wouldn’t force this game on the masses"

Even the Titans wouldn't force this game on the masses
Years ago I imported this title to both wet my appetite for a Zeta Gundam title and to build on my small collection of Sega Saturn games. Sadly, this was not the game to purchase to accomplish either.

Gameplay (18/50)
Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam is the most basic of action side-scrolling titles. You control the Gundam Mk II and must progress from one side of the level to the other in a straight line. Along the way you are attacked by Hizacks, Marasais, and all sorts of other Titan mobile suits that you would expect to face. Gameplay thus becomes repetitive and stale after a while, but assuming you play straight through with minimal deaths you can complete the game in less than a hour. Thus you're left with a title that plays like your average NES side-scroller, but is ridiculously short. It really seems like Bandai just did not bother to try and develop compelling gameplay and just relied on the Gundam franchise to sell this title.

Story (7/10)
The game follows the anime, replete with cutscenes and in-game pilot shots similar to the show, up to the battle between Kamiyuh and the Gabtheley, ending with the destruction of the Gundam Mk II.

Challenge (7/10)
One thing you can say, this game is pretty hard. You progress through the stages and get attacked endlessly, with bosses at the end that function as bosses should. The challenge, however, comes from the relentless assault of enemies, not from any puzzles or mazes or such that you need to complete. As mentioned above, the gameplay is very basic and thus you essentially must do the same things every level, you just have to be able to do it more effectively and without taking as many hits as you progress further and further.

Graphics (5/10)
The graphics are about your average Sega Saturn fare. The mobile suits look somewhat stiff and do not have a wide variety of movement animations. Whether this is done for style (they are mobile suits after all) or simply for ease of programming is not abundantly clear, but nonetheless the animations for the mobile suits are decent, but not spectacular. Likewise the backgrounds for each level are largely sparse and generally lack the level of significant detail one would expect from a Sega Saturn title. The anime cutscenes, however, are very nicely done and appear to be slightly remastered versions of the scenes from the original anime and are probably the biggest draw that Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam has.

Sound (5/10)
Sound is fairly standard. Beam sabers sound like beam sabers and laser bolts sound like laser bolts. The music comes straight out of the anime, as does the voice acting, although if you cannot understand Japanese this aspect is probably largely lost.

Replayability (0/10)
There is no reply value of any kind to speak of here. There are ten side-scrolling levels, each featuring roughly the same gameplay (with the only variation really being if you have to walk or if you can fly). Once you beat the game you unlock the anime cutscenes, preempting a need to replay the game in order to see your favorite scenes. There are no other unlockables beyond this find, nor alternate paths through the missions.

Overall (42/100)
I would not recommend this title to even a Gundam fan, although if you like pure-action side-scrollers this might provide a little jaunt for you. However, given the length and lack of gameplay variety, I could not recommend a purchase costing over $20 to anyone.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/07