SD Gundam Battle Alliance review

SD Gundam Battle Alliance offers an enormous cross-section of Mobile Suits culled from Gundam history, placing them in engaging fictionalized and canonical battles. If you’re not an ardent fan of the property yet, Artdink’s effort might just convert you.

Mecha has a lengthy history in Japan, dating back to Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s 1956 manga Tetsujin 28-go. But early works tended to be lighthearted and even occasionally flirted with camp as robots repeatedly pummeled giant aliens. In 1979, the tonality shifted when directed Yoshiyuki Tomino unveiled Mobile Suit Gundam. Far removed from the blithe battles of earlier works, Gundam imagined a pair of fractured nations at war. Battles were waged by pilots in massive, mechanized suits that wielded awe-inspiring weaponry like beam sabers and cannons outfitted with hard-hitting projectiles.

Undoubtedly, Tomino’s militarized interpretation of conflict struck a chord with fans. After a trio of compilation films were released and Bandai unveiled their plastic Gunpla model kits, the property proliferated, spawning 50 series, 15 films, and 80 games in the ensuing years. Tsukishima, Tokyo-based Artdink developed six of those adaptations for the PlayStation 2, PSP, and PS Vita. But in 2012, their Gundam output stalled after the release of Gundam Seed Battle Destiny, a surprisingly adept effort that was met with commercial success.

The Vastness of the G:Universe

With the release of SD Gundam Battle Alliance, the developer demonstrates a strong showing following a decade-long hiatus from the property. The game is a commemorative crossover, bringing together super deformed Mobile Suits from the original series all the way up to Iron-Blooded Orphans. Naturally, uniting all these different works requires some expositional ingenuity. To bring together a roster of 65 playables, recreations of memorable battles, dialog from the anime, and a whole heap of fan-service from 43 years of Gundam, Battle Alliance imagines a multitude of timelines entangled in a simulation that has recorded and archived Mobile Suit history. Unfortunately, the data has been corrupted and that’s where you come in.

As a pilot in the One Year War, you find yourself plucked from the middle of an operation, and now caught in this enigmatic database. Alongside you are Juno Astarte, your operations officer, and a remarkably high-spirited AI known as Sakura, who serves as your guide in the VR-like G: Universe. For those seeking to get into the intense action, the interactions are skippable. But bypassing the conversation might be a mistake.

Tackling Revisionist History with Guns

The ’fish out of water’ set-up allows Sakura to explain many of the details of the various Gundam timelines, which she does with all the excitement and enthusiasm of a model-building, season-binging authority. While you and Juno are often dumbfounded about what’s going on, Sakura provides the essential context, often breaking the fourth wall in the process. Keeping up with Gundam is a full-time job and having a sentient fangirl like Sakura around makes it a whole lot easier.

Structurally, Battle Alliance is organized by chapters that recreate memorable moments from the source material. But inevitably, some kind of historical gaffe takes place, such as a villain appearing from another timeline/series. These are referred to as “Break Missions” and completion of these not only restores the integrity of the meta-simulation, but also unlocks “True Missions” which are closer to canonical Gundam events. In execution, razing fake history is a lot of fun since it means suiting up and kicking ass with up to two CPU-controlled allies.

A Tiny but Mighty MS

Playable Gundam offer a similar, yet distinctive playstyle. Each is outfitted with a melee combo, a spinning attack, and a way to launch enemies skyward for an aerial juggle. Three buttons are mapped for special moves- typically ranged attacks regulated by a cooldown meter. Factor in a bit of flight, guarding, dashes, SPA Specials, and advantages for attacking from behind or precisely timed inputs, and Battle Alliance provides a wealth of Mobile Suit functionality. Pleasingly, control is generally fun, responsive, and immediately accessible. That said, mechanics like Chain Breakers (pushing foes back in exchange for a portion of your energy meter) recall fighting game systems. So, there’s definitely nuance for the seasoned players.

Eliminating the various grunts or defending against assaults is almost always absorbing. There’s a delightful sense of scale in Battle Alliance, whether you’re fighting in rocky canyons, skyrise-filled urban landscapes, or remote outposts, there’s almost enough space to support ranged or melee encounters. Sure, the game’s lock-on system can be a bit finicky and the game’s camera infrequently becomes confounded in crowded areas. But the game reveals who has an adversary’s attention at any given time, which helps counteract these imperfections.

Gundam it!

That said, boss battles can be aggravating. These habitually punctuate missions, pitting you against uncompromising adversaries with teeming health bars. Their attacks compel players to counter with perfect blocks and precisely timed dodges while identifying Monster Hunter-esque opportunities for retaliation. The large amount of damage these elevated enemies dish out can be countered with the application of a health pack or via an AI partner. But sporadically, your savior will be the target of boss aggression, pushing players toward a game over scenario.

Unlocking new Mobile Suits is always an immediate delight, with excitement accompanying the discovery of a new set of weapon systems. You’ll get to assign any currency you’re earned to tweak the stats on your suit, favoring stats like health or weapon range. Although you can freely re-spec your Gundam, any currency applied to a suit stays with the unit. As such, you’ll be replaying missions to improve your regiment, which will be a sticking point for some. The upside is that plugins earned after a successful mission can be installed, removed, swapped across units, or sold, alleviating some of the grinding.

Conclusion

Visually, SD Gundam Battle Alliance makes an adept showing on Switch. Although the game could use more environments for battles, these venues are attractive. While the models themselves are the Super Formed variety, there’s an indulging amount of detail devoted to the Mobile Suits. As such, it would have been great to have a photo component, to stage, capture, share, (and optionally virtually panel line?) some of your Gundam. When it comes to performance, Battle Alliance consistently stayed above thirty frames-per-second while maintaining some respectable draw distances.

Despite a few small (and ultimately forgivable) issues with boss encounters and coercing players into grinding, SD Gundam Battle Alliance is an accomplishment. As an action game with light role-playing elements, it’s just good enough to recommend for those unacquainted with the world of Gundam. With Sakura as your chaperone don’t be surprised if Gunpla starts competing with gaming for your recreational time and income. For those acquainted with the source material, Battle Alliance feels like scrumptious fan-service, served up in SD form.

SD Gundam Battle Alliance was played on
Switch with review code provided by the publisher.