Gundam: Battle Assault

Gundam: The Battle Master, later known as Battle Assault, is a series of fighting games released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. The series features mobile suits from several eras of the Gundam metaverse and some non-traditional fighting game elements. Every entry was developed by Bandai in co-operation with Japanese developer Natsume,^[1] who also made the 1996 Shin Kidō Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Duel.

Gundam: The Battle Master[]

Overview[]

Gundam: The Battle Master is the first game in the series, released for the PlayStation in 1997. Even this first game features the large multi-jointed sprites and 2-screen-high stages that the rest of the series would follow on. It includes the following mobile suits from the Universal Century era:

Playable

• FA-010S Full Armor Enhanced ZZ Gundam
• MS-06F Zaku II
• RX-78-2 Gundam
• RX-93 Nu Gundam

Bosses (Non-Playable)

• Psyco Gundam Mark III

Gameplay[]

Gundam: The Battle Master features gameplay unlike most fighting games, let alone the other games within its series:

• Mobile suit movement is realistically slow.
• Repeated damage to a specific body part on an enemy will result in that part's armor breaking.
• There's no standard "health bar". Instead, a mobile suit has a "temperature bar" that would fill up as it gets hit. When the bar is full, the mobile suit overheats and is knocked down. When a mobile suit overheats four times, it is knocked out and loses the fight.
• The standard punch and kick buttons are complemented by a shoot button (for firing beam rifles or machine guns), a weapon button (beam sabers, heat hawks, etc.), and a thrust button that allows the mobile suit to fly indefinitely. This is similar to Endless Duel, as well as games such as Capcom's Cyberbots.
• Projectiles are unblockable.
• Special moves are limited. A mobile suit will have a rapid fire version of the shoot button and one or two unique moves. All special moves drain a bar below the temperature bar that can only be filled by connecting with melee attacks.
• Some mobile suits can dodge into the background to avoid attacks, while others can erect a beam barrier that can block projectiles (which can be held indefinitely unless hit by a melee attack).
• Bosses are massive and fill up nearly half the screen. They can not be knocked back by any attack unless they overheat.

Gundam: The Battle Master 2 and Gundam: Battle Assault[]

Gundam: Battle Assault 2 and The Battle[]

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny[]

In 2004, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault was released for the Game Boy Advance and featured units exclusively from the then-recent localization of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. The units included all the Gundams from the show sans the Providence, as well as Rau Le Creuset's and the . It was released exclusively in the US.

The gameplay for this portable installment is similar to its three PlayStation predecessors, with the difference of being faster and more user-friendly. The player had the option of choosing a manual method for executing special moves or an automatic one (similar to the easy mode of Capcom's Vs. series). The player could also adjust one of three parameters (HP, Phase Shift Armor or Thrust) at the cost of the other.

There was also an updated version of the game focusing on the SEED Destiny sequel series, named simply Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. Unlike the original game, however, it was released only in Japan and included the original game as an unlockable. This version features all the units from the previous plus the initial suits of the SEED Destiny anime (it lacks GOUF Ignited, Murasame, Dom Trooper, Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, Destiny, Legend and Akatsuki).

Battle Assault 3 Featuring Gundam SEED[]

Battle Assault 3 is the fifth game in the series. It was released on the PlayStation 2, four months after the GBA installment. It was the first to feature full 3D graphics and it also focused on units from the Gundam Seed anime, including grunt mobile suits like GINNs. However, the Wing Gundam Zero Custom, Tallgeese III, Burning (God) Gundam and Master Gundam appear as unlockable secret characters. It was only released in the US.

References[]

Trivia[]

• In Battle Assault, Valder Farkill (from the Gundam Wing: G-Unit manga) pilots the Psyco Gundam Mark III while Treize Khushrenada pilots Valder's Hydra Gundam. In Battle Assault 2, Valder pilots the Hydra, Treize the Epyon and pilots the Psyco.
• The Psyco Gundam Mark III is an original unit designed for the first three games. It has similar characteristics to the previous two Psyco Gundams, including their large size and Scattering Mega Particle Cannon. It does not, however, seem able to transform into a form.
• Battle Assault 2 features voice acting for several characters, most notably Amuro, Char, Dozle, and the primary casts of G Gundam and Gundam Wing. This also marks the first time that a side story manga character (Valder Farkill) has been voiced by an American actor before Encounters in Space did the same for characters from the Blue Destiny manga.
• In the first two Gundam: The Battle Master games, the mobile suits were not operated by their respective pilots from the shows, but rather by a bunch of stock stereotypes that fit with the theme of the suits' design (e.g. A soldier for the Gundam, a warrior for Nu Gundam, etc.).^{[citation needed]} In Gundam: Battle Assault, as previously mentioned before, the mobile suits are piloted by their correct pilots with some exceptions.
• In Battle Assault 2 under the options menu in the sound test, voice acting menu, Treize's sound files are incorrectly labeled as "Trowa" and Trowa's incorrectly labeled under "Treize".

External links[]

• Hardcore Gaming 101: Gundam 2D Fighting Games (Part 3 - GBA Series)

See also[]

• Shin Kidō Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Duel
• List of fighting games