If you know anything about the Gundam series, you'd know that Gundam would potentially make for the most awesome video game ever. Let's be clear - I'm talking about the original Mobile Suit Gundam series (or the U.C. universe, for those in the know). I don't know anything about the more recent Gundam series, except that they're terrible.
The original Mobile Suit Gundam anime series almost seems like a video game, if you're watching for it. The protagonist has a learning curb for the mobile suit. Scaling difficulty, bosses like Ramba Ral, the Dom brothers and, of course, Char. They actually made a game based just on Mobile Suit Gundam that I thought was passable. I played it like a motherfucker back in the day.
The actual story mode was somewhat dull. My favorite part of the game was actually the bonus missions, where you got to choose whatever mobile suit you wanted. The problem with the game is that you can never tell how much damage you're doing to the enemy. Doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty debilitating, prevents you from having any sort of strategy towards fighting besides shoot, dodge, shoot. Also, the controls were pretty sluggish.
For some reason, there were quite a few Gundam games for the PS2. There was also a Dreamcast game called Gundam: Side Story, which wasn't very good (surprise). Still, starved for a good Gundam game, I played the living shit out of it. Best thing about the game was that it actually offered a cockpit view of the action, which I thought improved the game over some standard 3rd person crap.
I think a cockpit view would've vastly improved another Gundam game called Zeonic Front (for PS2), which was sort of a Gundam Rainbow Six. It takes a while to get used to the complicated HUD, but once you do the game is serviceable. The problem is that it just doesn't feel like Gundam - I don't know what it feels like, to be honest. Some sort of weird strategy/action combo. I know I ended up ignoring my allies and doing all the work on my own. The AI sucks in the game. Bad AI ruins lots of games, come to think.
The best Gundam game I've ever played is Fed vs. Zeon, for the PS2. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to a real Gundam game. The story mode was decent. But really, what a good Gundam game is going to need, is multiplayer. Fed vs. Zeon has multiplayer! I remember playing with my friend Tom (a fellow Gundam fan). There was a lot to like about Fed vs. Zeon, especially the variety of mobile suits you could use. Another good thing about it was that you could fight in SPACE, finally! The space system was actually much better than the crappy combat in Encounters in Space, another Gundam game for the PS2.
Since the halcyon days of the PS2, there haven't been many playable Gundam games. I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. I was super excited about a Gundam game for the Xbox 360. Forget what it was called, but it was never ported over to the states. Which seems to be the problem with the Gundam series. There doesn't seem to be an attractive enough market in the states for Gundam games.
The problem is that it isn't enough just to release a Gundam game. Someone needs to make, you know, a good Gundam game. Given the source material, it doesn't seem like such a Herculean task.
At this point, though, I'd probably play any Gundam game at this point (excepting the Dynasty Warriors series).
K
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