Retro Review: Gundam: Federation versus Zeon (PS2)

I have to keep reminding myself that the millennium was two decades ago. I think that's just part of getting older, or maybe just the a desire to escape 2020, but I find my nostalgia bracket creeping forward to that time. That time when anime was big, and expanding, but before certain distasteful trends became mainstream, and before I burnt out. FvZ dates from around that period, part of Bandai's big push to make Gundam a thing in the West. Huge back home, it however ended up as an obscure bargain-bin title in the UK, which I took advantage of. More recently, I reacquired the game, because of been in a Gundam phase lately, and TBH, it was quite influential on me. When it comes to the original Gundam story, it was actually a bit of nuisance to watch back then, as you have a choice between sub-only film versions that are quite long, or dub-only TV episodes you had to import. As a result the game was MUCH more approachable. Things are of course easier now that Bandai does that free YouTube channel, but you took what you could get back then. Incidentally, this isn't the first iteration of the game, either. This is actually the deluxe version with 0G space combat.

The thing about this game is that it's faithful to a fault, but it's based on something no bugger had heard of. So you start off with a serious sounding prologue mirroring the anime, and then run head-first into its cheesey 70's soundscape. The title screen announces itself with a loud "chu!", with this overly loud and baffling noise forming part of the menu interface. You navigate past this, into the game proper, and maybe start to enjoy the music, and then the English language track hits. There's a lot of repeated battle chatter, and your mileage may vary on how irritating it is. No, you can't switch to Japanese, for some level of separation. This is a downer.

 

So, once you've pushed past auditory issues, what's underneath? Well, a 3rd person shooter with a strong arcade feel. Which makes sense, as it was an arcade game originally. Rather than the strategic or simulation style that mecha games tend to be, FvZ has a deliberately simple interface and gameplay. You get one button to jump, one for shooting, one for melee, and one to lock the camera on target, with the shoulder buttons handling lesser used functions. This makes the game extremely easy to get into, and some effort has been made in ensuring mobile suits feel different. The animation and sound effects help, with something like the Dom gliding over the battlefield with a big gun, while a Guntank handles exactly like you'd expect. Something easily overlooked is the absence of hitscan weapons, with projectiles being visibly modelled and even destructible in some cases. This means you aren't sure of a hit even when locked on, it's a skill you have to learn. Game balance comes from a battle gauge bar for each faction, which acts as something like a points limit. You don't necessarily mind when something like a GM detonates, as it will be replaced from the bar without issue, but the loss of a Gelgoog is like loosing the game. Battles can get quite intense, although you do have rely on AI for your squad mates, and I can't decide if its functional, or if I'm just too busy to micro-manage it. I'm also less than keen on the zero gravity Missions. That said two player split screen is also availible, and given the general accessibility of FvZ, this certainly isn't a bad game to introduce a mate to.

It's not an especially deep game, mechanically, but there is progression and unlocks if you want to put in the time. More esoteric weapons like the G-Bull and Elmeth can eventually be used in multiplayer, but the campaign mode had greater appeal to me. Here you get a map screen and some initially repetitive scenarios as you encounter the famous battles of the One Year War. Here the strategy comes from selecting the Missions and trying to keep your mecha in good nick. A Gundam will happily slaughter all it sees, but it's not quickly repaired. There's no shortage of raw content there, and it does get engaging, although you might be disappointed to learn you can't change history as such.

Nerd complaints? Well, there's an unavoidable imbalance of variety between the forces. Zeon put out new designs every 10 minutes, and so has endless choice, but the Federation is much more limited. There has been an attempt to address this by adding in units from my personal fave, 08th MS Team, which is welcome, but there are issues later in the campaign as those can't be used in space. It would have been nice to see a few more GM variants, or at least a machine gun for the regular GM, so you had options. You'll also find the occasional oddity where a MS and its weapons don't sit well with control scheme.

Overall? FvZ is a functional if shallow game that does exactly what it set out to do. It doesn't have any real depth of mechanics or breadth of appeal, but it is fun and quite accessible. Enjoy in breif doses, ideally with another human.

Remembering: R-Type

Some styles of game I'm fascinated by, even though I'm terrible at them. Your average 2D spaceship shooter, circa the 90's, is the sort of thing I mean. I love watching letsplays of these. While games such as this do have their modern descendants in the bullet hell genre, its a form of game that has basically been extinct since the PS1/3D era, having previously been as common as muck. The reason why I'm terrible at them is due to poor reflexes and a difficulty processing all the info on screen, versus the precision required. Spaceship shooters, regardless of viewpoint, leave little margin for error due to their arcade origins. The reason why I'm fascinated by such things is because of that same difficulty, and because these games were kinda cinematic. The best ones were always distinctive to look at. And amongst the most distinctive was a game I played on the old Sega Master System: a port of 1987's R-Type.

When you got right down to it R-Type had no plot to speak of and some very disjointed visual design. This is not unusual for the genre, but worth mentioning. I mean, narratively it's just "Blast off and strike the evil Bydo Empire!“, and it's a bit of a trope blender. Why do some Bydo look like vehicles, and others angry meat? Why are some levels high tech, and others look like the inside of someone's digestive system? Am I fascinated with this specific game only because of this discordant stream of techno-organic imagery? Does it matter? Is this all superficial? Maybe not, but it did have subtly complex gameplay. The active ingredient is the "Force", a little multi-purpose attack drone that's your first power up. This can attach to the front or back of your ship, acting as a shield, and boosting your firepower. Attached, it can block most bullets, but detached it can help destroy lesser enemies by firing at a different angle or with a spread effect. Meanwhile, you have probably the most destructive weapon in the game immediately, a charge cannon which is devastating to bosses if you time it right. These tools make R-Type a decidedly methodical and unforgiving experience, and one few have dared to copy. As the game gives you more or less everything you need in the first five minutes to master the game, you are expected to master the game. Play its way, and play flawlessly. I never could. Thanks to its level design and approach to difficulty, it's possibly as much a single solution puzzle as a shooter. 

 

R-Type got a fair number of sequels, but these skipped Sega platforms, so I didn't touch base with any until the supposedly last game: R-Type Final. During that gap, the franchise became known as a uniquely hard-core and somewhat creepy example of its genre, a big name that was always remembered despite lengthy gaps between instalments. Final, released in 2003, was very much a nostalgia product, although you could say that about the franchise overall. By this point, it was played in a 2.5D view, with graphics rendered in full 3D, but gameplay being resolutely 2D. To my eyes, this only makes things more challenging, in an unearthly vertigo sorta way. The original R-Type could be oddly disturbing for its time, but Final seems to delight in using camera movements to heighten a sense of unease. I could not complete this one either, a bit of a shame that, given the fricking dozens of ships you could unlock. But then again, perhaps the R-Type franchise was too set in its ways? Being aggressively difficult just because you can, is not necessarily a cool thing in game design these days. Well, unless we're talking Dark Souls, but it's not like you can reasonably complete that in under 30 minutes of play time. 

Did R-type end with Final? Dear me, no. At the time of writing, there's a kickstarter project making Final 2. I'm sure it will please its backers, although it remains unclear if this will be a success on the level of Sonic Mania or Streets of Rage 4. It looks rather a lot like Final, or that remastered release Dimensions, only with better graphics and less creative risk. Irem did however mix things up things up in the 16 year interim with R-Type Tactics, aka R-Type Command. This is a game I want to play, as its a turn-based strategy game, which is one hell of an unexpected detour. It even got a sequel. Sadly, untranslated. Sadly, both on PlayStation Portable. <sigh>

So, should you play R-Type? Or an instalment thereof? Well, probably. I've been somewhat dismissive above, but I can't deny it's strong appeal. Which it obviously has, because I wouldn't be writing about something I suck at if it didn't.