''Gundam: The Battle Master'', later known as ''Battle Assault'', is a series of fighting games released for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

. The series features mobile suits from several eras of the

Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

metaverse and some non-traditional fighting game elements. Every entry was developed by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

in co-operation with Japanese developer Natsume,GDRI - Natsume
/ref> 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. The game would also feature its own unique pilots that are exclusive to this game, replacing the regular pilots that are often associated with each mobile suit in the franchise. It includes the following mobile suits from the

Universal Century is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

era: Playable * FA-010S Full Armor Enhanced ZZ Gundam *

MS-06F Zaku II The is a fictional line of manned robots (mecha) from ''Mobile Suit Gundam'', part of the Universal Century fictional universe, where they are the Principality of Zeon's most commonly fielded Mobile Suits. The most widely known model is the ...

* MSM-03C Hygogg * MSN-02 Zeong * MSN-04 Sazabi * NZ-000 Quin Mantha * PMX-003 The O *

RX-78-2 Gundam The is a fictional manned robot (mecha), introduced in 1979 in Yoshiyuki Tomino's and Sunrise (company), Sunrise's anime series ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. In the series, it is a prototype weapon for the Earth Federation when it falls into the hands ...

* RX-78GP02A Gundam Physallis * RX-93 Nu Gundam Bosses (Non-Playable) * MA-08 Big Zam * AMX-002 (AMA-X2) Neue Ziel * Psyco Gundam Mark III * Hydra Gundam

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 is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

'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 is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. The ninth installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise, ''Gundam SEED'' takes place in a future calendar era, in this case the Cosmic Era. In this era, mankind has devel ...

''. The units included all the Gundams from the show sans the Providence, as well as

Rau Le Creuset This is a list of fictional characters featured in the Cosmic Era (CE) timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. These characters appear in the ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' and ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny'' anime television series, as well a ...

's CGUE and the Gundam Astray Red Frame. 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 is an anime television series, a direct sequel to ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' by Sunrise and the overall tenth installment in the '' Gundam'' franchise. It retains most of the staff from ''Gundam SEED'', including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. S ...

''. 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

External links

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