Over the past, uh, going-on-a-year, I keep pushing this back, I have observed two of my friends discover Super Robot Wars 30. Both are Transformers fans who've participated in my Mecha Hack campaigns, and are by no means strangers to giant robot stompy time, but seeing them embrace the sheer lunacy of the game warms my heart. This inevitably led to me considering playing the game again, but then a generous chrimbo gift got me looking at older games in the franchise with fan translations. This led me towards Super Robot Wars J, which I actually have the original cartridge for, and have historically sunk a lot of time into, but never completed. What was initially a test of new hardware ended up as a fresh attempt to finish it.
Super Robot Wars J is a tactical RPG game for the Gameboy Advance, which on reflection is a very natural place for such a thing. The first game in the series was on the original Gameboy, and the series often scratches the same itch as Pokemon or Advance Wars. Furthermore, the game hits an optimal balance between technical limitations, player expectations, and technical maturity. As this is for a handheld circa 2005, we are talking pixel art and chiptunes, but that’s normal for the platform, and the game is actually very good at those things. Having dabbled in various franchise instalments on various formats, J feels both nostalgic and remarkably well-preserved. True, you don't necessarily want to play this on a HD TV, but if you're playing this on something approximating a handheld, its very at home, and holding up very well in comparison to SRW30. And we're not just talking presentation here, there's a maturity to the gameplay and quality of life features. Basically, if you want a strategy game with branded characters and stock animations, and language is a non-issue, its hard to think of an objective reason to be unhappy here. Although maybe the way certain female characters undulate is one. There is a degree of anime cringe involving the player characters created for the game...
The subjective reasons, of course, involve the character roster. Super Robot Wars games live and die by the various mecha animes they licence, with some becoming so important to the gameplay omitting them is like messing with the Street Fighter cast. J notably does not feature Getter Robo, or the main Gundam continuity. Getter does not seem to have a direct replacement, but Gundam SEED appears in it's parent's place. I don't like SEED, I know a lot of folks do love it, but I find Kira Yamato insufferable and its mecha uninspired. There is a rather sharp contrast between between the SEED's bleak narrative and what else is here. I'm sorry Kira, I know you're a reluctant pilot dealt a bad hand, forced to fight against your people. But you know what? We have a few lads on the same venn diagram already, and all of them are dealing with it better than you are.Tekkaman Blade over there is gonna have to kill actual family members before the end of his plotline, sorry, spoilers, and he’s more pleasant company. You aren't alone, stop being a martyr. Nobody wants you to be fucking Chuck Rambo or anything, but you are bringing me down. I suppose its possible that later missions "fix" this, but I honestly skip out on the SEED cast at the earliest opportunity, taking advantage of how the game offers branching paths.
The other side of that are characters that I got the game for, a group of weirdos perfectly suited to the self-aware lunacy of Super Robot Wars. Yes, Martian Successor Nadesico. It's a documented favourite of mine and for most practical purposes this is the game that anime deserved but never got and/or translated. (Yes, I am aware of the Saturn game, but that's a whole other story.) The sense of fun Nadesico had vibes so well with Super Robot Wars, and as Nadesico wasn't always a comedy, there's little tonal mismatch with most of what's here. Its a very interesting bunch mechanically too. The titular Nadesico has an apocalyptic main gun, but one that’s tricky to use, while each Aestivalis pilot has effectively has four robots in one, later five, powered wirelessly. Those benefit from teamwork or formation mechanics too, with one of my favourite things to being getting the trio of Nadesico's female pilots to break face with coordinated attacks. You'll find that in other places too though, like the cast of Full Metal Panic whom have their own silliness, or the slightly more dour survivors from SPT Layzner. Squad tactics are thing here, with even the super robots getting similar interactions as the game goes on. There's much to get your teeth into. Other highlights include the aforementioned Tekkaman Blade, a dark take on the Henshin Heroes genre, a series first, and the somewhat out of place G Gundam cast. Blade makes quite an entrance, and G Gundam is a nice change of pace, and I find myself liking these characters more here than in their source material. Meanwhile, the Brain Powered characters come in late, and are fine, but don’t quite grab me. Generally a good cast even with SEED being like a pickled onion in a fruit salad.
So, if I clearly like this game why have I not completed it? Even now? Not that I complete many games, but this is the sort of thing I'd like to complete. Well, its a somewhat long-winded game that likes to spend a lot on dialogue, and repeatedly lengthen a battle. There's an awful lot of text dialogue before giant robot stompy time actually commences, and then there’s another plot twist which puts you on the back foot, muttering something along the lines of “Oh, now these dickheads as well.”. Its not a game that lets you settle into a routine easily, your roster is often in flux, and after mission 10 or so I was noticing each one was taking a good 90 minutes to complete. Its more of a time and attention investment than a handheld game should be, and I wish the mission design demonstrated more brevity with respects to character chatter, and restraint with respects to sudden enemy reinforcements. Its not bad in those areas, but I do find the game is needlessly dragging things out at times. This would be an area where SRW30 does better; that game has a much looser narrative granting you more freedom in when and what missions you take on. I also note the occasional imperfection in the fan translation, which is churlish to complain about I know, but a flaw is a flaw. One issue I wish to briefly highlight here is the questionable usage of the term transgender in reference to one Baron Ashura, a recurring antagonist from the Mazinger Z franchise. While I acknowledge that the baron is perhaps not the simplest character to categorise, that's not the term most applicable.
Overall? J is a fine example of the Super Robot Wars series, that does a lot of things well. Functionally its very complete, and the game makes good use of the hardware it was made for. On the downside? You're in for a marathon, not a sprint. And there is Super Robot Wars Y coming out soon. I may just play that instead TBH, this got to be a slog.
But... this also has Bonta-Kun in it…
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