"Super Robot Taisen, Gundam version"

Former SD Gundam titles were kinda unfamiliar to me, but after playing this title I found that they probably deserve to be given more than a few looks. While the game certainly has its flaws, most players who are familiarized with the classic "Super Robot Taisen" series may find a worthy opponent in this product. It's not just a clone of those titles, as it contains details that surpass such series.

Most players may think that they are already familiarized with this type of classic strategic gameplay, but containing elements such as joining three different robots in a single unit (allowing them to strike in unison) or the possibility to train your units before each of the levels, you may find some more interesting functions in here. Functions like the ones which enable you to capture enemy units or upgrading the Gundam depending on your current pieces, among many others. Not all of those are nice, with the player sometimes having the unfortunate possibility of seeing one of his destroyed units disappearing forever, upon its destruction in the middle of a battle.

Since there isn't usually a minimum amount of units you can take to battles (well, apart from the ones required by the storyline), you may eventually find yourself with lots of weak units that aren't much of a threat to your foes, or even with no units at all. Such unpredictability may appeal to some fans, but other people may find it to turn the game into an experience way more complex to be actually enjoyable.

The battle areas are the ones usually found in this type of title, with some of the details specified above making perhaps an interesting appearance. The pilots also usually have the classic special powers to use, with their usage being an important requirement, in order to further succeed in the harder battles you will find later in the game.

Between battles, you will usually see an menu with a lot of different possibilities, which usually allows you to prepare your strategy in the battle you'll find later, apart from purchasing new types of robots, upgrading your current ones, destroy a robot to create new pieces out of them, change the pilots and their current robots, saving (a thing you can also perform in the middle of the battles) or loading a game, among other unimportant options.

Along with all these features, comes also a story based in the ones of several Gundam series, with them being adapted in order to better fit this game. You'll be able to see (or even control) Gundams from several series, from older ones up to the recent Seed version. The stories probably don't go very deep into their actual series, but in case you are attempting to purchase this game, you probably already know about those, no?!

As for replay value, since the game contains several paths for you to chose between, I would have to rate this area as just fair. OK, the game won't last you for several months, but you will not get fed up of it in one week, either. There are also some interesting options for a fan to unlock, but as they are shown in the main menu, further referring to them would probably just spoil it too much. However, I can state that it allows you to learn more about some of things featured in this game.

Taken to next point, graphics, I would best describe them as interesting, with the player being able to see everything in the way they ever wanted. However, such quality largely resembles the one found in some of the lately released GBA products, making us wonder if the artists couldn't have done much better than this. The movie seen before the main menu is nice and short, but that's probably all there is to say about it.

The sound is no good, with previously released games (either in this console or in the former GBA) featuring higher quality and nicer musics (and sounds) than the ones you will be able to hear in this product.

So, who should get this game? Gundam fans may find it to be quite enjoyable, as will those people who want to acquire an hard strategy game. Knowledge of the Japanese language isn't fully needed, but having it turns out being better, as you will be able to understand the game's entire story.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/15/06