One of my objectives is to have each entry in my SRPG recreation desk result in a put up, even when it’s a remake or port. Sometimes I’ll simply hyperlink to the principle put up if all I have to say is “The Saturn version has slightly different graphics and one bonus map”, but when it’s a extra intensive remake I’ll make a separate put up or mini-post for it.

This put up will cowl 4 Super Robot Taisen video games that I handed over or that can happen later this 12 months. As traditional I’m principally copying issues that I wrote a few years in the past once I performed the video games, however I didn’t write a lot for any of those video games so I added some further notes.

Super Robot Taisen 2G (Gather), Game Boy 6/30/1995

Here’s what I wrote about this recreation a few years in the past:

After 4, the SRW franchise entered a interval of uncertainty and confusion, primarily brought on by the console wars on the time. The state of affairs was very akin to what SRW goes via now [That is, in the transition from PS2 to the next gen consoles]. There had been numerous remakes, unique character video games, video games for established transportable techniques, and false begins because the collection felt round for a brand new course.

The subsequent recreation after 4 was a remake of two for Game Boy, which got here solely three months after 4’s launch. Despite being a remake, it incorporates numerous new issues. V Gundam and G Gundam each premiere on this recreation — G Gundam ended three months earlier than the discharge of 2G, so these collection actually had been on the reducing fringe of mecha anime on the time. In phrases of gameplay, the system is mainly the 4 system, minus the equippable objects. This recreation additionally has the primary occasion of the Full Upgrade Bonus system (the place upgrading all of a items stats to full will allow you to add an extra improve bonus)

The story presents itself because the “true chronicle” of the 2nd SRW (the NES recreation being the official federation model). However, it doesn’t slot in with the established continuity as a result of Tetsuya and Ryuune each seem on this recreation. The story writing is way more superior than the NES model; extra like 4.

The recreation isn’t particularly good, although, and it seems to be like I didn’t take any actual notes once I performed it 15 years in the past.

Super Robot Taisen 4S (Scramble), Playstation, 1/16/1996

Five months after 2G, the following remake got here out. This is notable as the primary recreation for a disc system, and the primary recreation for what would ultimately grow to be Banpresto’s dominant console for SRW. 4S is actually a straight remake of 4; there are a few new phases and a few bug fixes, however general it’s the identical recreation.

Probably essentially the most notable factor about it’s the introduction of voices. This is the primary SRW recreation to have any form of voice performing — nonetheless, it’s just for the heroes. Supposedly a few of the voice clips recorded for 4S are nonetheless utilized in video games right now [That is, in 2008]. (Shiozawa Kaneto died after F/FF got here out so it’s good he was in a position to contribute his voice to those older video games).

At the time once I was writing these outdated posts, I didn’t have a pc that was able to working a PSX emulator and I didn’t need to import this recreation so I didn’t play it — just a few days in the past I did play a little bit of the primary stage; the graphics are equivalent to the Super Famicom.

I ponder if that is the model of the sport you’ll need to play if language weren’t a problem — the load instances are clearly worse than SFC nevertheless it does have the voicing.

Shin was after this, which I posted about earlier.

Super Robot Taisen F and F Final, Saturn 12/25/1997(F), 4/13/1998(FF) PSX 12/10/1998(F), 4/15/1999(FF)

The subsequent step after Shin was to modify platforms over to the Sega Saturn; apparently Banpresto was making an attempt to strike some type of merger or take care of Sega. The ensuing recreation had a quite tumultuous historical past. According to Wikipedia, it was initially supposed to be a sequel to Shin. But Sega wished them to make use of their established chronology, in order that they determined to remake 4 as an alternative. The letter F might be interpreted to face for “Fifth” or “Final”. However, the manufacturing took so lengthy that the sport needed to be cut up into two. Finally, no matter negotiations had been occurring between Sega and Bandai broke down, and thus the sport was later ported to the Playstation. (This was a comparatively inactive time for SRW — in two and a half years, F/FF was the one recreation that got here out.)

It actually wasn’t a lot a “remake” of 4 as a very new recreation that used the 4 originals and really broad plot outlines. 4 collection had been eliminated, all outdated Super Robot exhibits (Grendizer, Raideen, Daimos, Zambot 3). The new additions had been Evangelion, Ideon, Gunbuster, Gundam Wing, and G Gundam. (Wing and G had after all appeared earlier than, though Wing simply in cameo. Endless Waltz is in FF, however solely within the Wing Zero Custom and Tallgeese III.) For Evangelion, there was even some scripting accomplished by Hideaki Anno (the scene the place Bright slaps Shinji).

Systemwise, the sport is just like Shin, though the “healing = xp” factor is introduced in from Masou Kishin. In addition, the map objects are gone and also you now get objects from defeating enemies. One main improvement is the splitting of “luck” into one seishin that doubles XP and one which doubles cash. Finally, the “love” system was added on this recreation the place you’ll be able to have two items close to one another (e.g. Sayaka and Kouji) for his or her stats to extend. This was not within the handbook or technique guides, although, and there’s no show of the change on the display, so the impact can solely be seen by testing and comparability.

The graphics are again the old-style SD graphics. Compared to Shin, they’re form of a step backwards to the outdated “sliding sprites” mannequin, they usually’re manner behind the instances, as could also be anticipated from a port that comes out a 12 months later than the unique recreation. The portraits are worse than Shin in that they typically solely present the face, not the top, and it may be laborious to inform even what an individual is meant to appear to be (Gato’s portrait, as an example, doesn’t present his hair in any respect). However, they do incorporate the a number of portraits displaying feelings that was launched in Masou Kishin. (Speaking of MK, the MK characters get their very own themes on this recreation, carried over from MK:LoE.)

[I did not write stage-by-stage updates for this game because I did a walkthrough for GameFAQs, for each game.]

Overall, it’s a good recreation. The story is a step up from what’s been in earlier SRW within the improvement of the characters and the quantity of dialogue — nonetheless, the dialogue continues to be principally oriented in the direction of explaining the following battle; there’s little of the character interplay (notably of minor characters) that develops in later SRWs. The issue stage is pretty excessive, though I don’t suppose it’s as laborious as 4. The fundamental drawback with the sport is its size. The cut up into two elements resulted in numerous unecessary padding; I feel the sport might have been decreased by 25-30 phases and nonetheless stored basically the identical story. Also given you could’t skip battle animations, taking part in the sport turns into very tedious. The closing stage can also be form of dumb; ending it with Zezenan may need felt extra fulfilling.

Super Robot Taisen Complete Box, launched 6/10/1999

This recreation is far later than the place I’m now, nevertheless it is smart to place it right here in order that I can check with the put up later. This was a remake of Super Robot Taisen 2, 3, and EX. It was accomplished by reusing the belongings from 4S and F/FF, and standardizing the gameplay of all three titles to that of F and FF. The greatest modifications had been made to 2 due to how completely different 2 was from the later video games; the plot is identical however the maps are considerably completely different.

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The subsequent SRW recreation was in 1999 so it will likely be some time earlier than we see it once more.