SD Gundam Battle Alliance is an Action-RPG developed by ARTDINK together with publisher Bandai Namco. Based on the popular fighting robot series, SD Gundam Battle Alliance takes minimalist and cute versions, resembling toys of the iconic Gundams and other “Mobile Suits” who face each other on great battlefields. It’s an adventure underpinned by the series’ many different worlds and wars shown throughout each mission, but it’s almost entirely a title for Gundam fans, who will definitely enjoy the game and its world without paying too much attention to it. to the graphics, stories and game mechanics.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance review
In this SD Gundam Battle Alliance review I will talk a little about what I thought of this latest Gundam title in terms of its various features and mechanics, as well as highlighting its notable flaws that may be ignored by fans of this series but are very noticeable to players new to the franchise.
History mode
SD Gundam Battle Alliance follows the story of the Commander as he is drawn into a wild sci-fi plot, repairing “breaks” at different key moments in Gundam history, all within the same G-Universe. It’s a meta-narrative that never really gets off the ground, instead relying on subplots that revisit key moments in popular variations of the series to do the heavy lifting, albeit with a few tweaks to its outcomes due to the series’ fractured history. .
The G-Universe or G-Universe ends up being a kind of strange museum of Gundam’s best moments, but apart from that, it doesn’t seem that the game’s own narrative contributes something that expands the plot much more. In other words, we will only be reliving some iconic moments for some fans with small variations in the plot that will be solved to leave everything in its normal state as the plot requires.
It’s a bit unfortunate about this game mode, because while the variety in which you can pilot robots is obviously a selling point for fans of the franchise, so is its rich history and convoluted wartime political plotlines. That element feels completely absent due to how jarring the transition between worlds is.
The above is not to say that this is the wrong way to tell a story in a Gundam game, but it seems that it would have been more impactful and entertaining if it had focused on a single point in the entire IP story or raised its own. plot full of political intrigue and flashy robots that characterize most popular iterations of the series.
gameplay and mechanics
The mechanical variety is impressive, with many different mobile suits to try out over the course of the game’s many missions. Most of the best known are here: RX-78-2, Wing Gundam, Barbatos and more, as well as some less popular but great additions like Epyon. Customization options expand the possibilities of each Gundam, which has strengths and weaknesses such as its fuel consumption, melee attack power/range, and HP.
Further customization is also possible by increasing stats using “Capital”, this being an easy way to get missions done quickly, but also a way to rebuild a Gundam’s starting strengths and upgrade them in a way that makes it more fun for the player. This point is quite important as many fans have strong emotional attachments to some specific Mobile Suits in the series, as is my case with the Wing Zero model.
As far as gameplay is concerned, it leaves a lot to be desired since it can be easily reduced to dodging and attacking while using the special abilities of our Mobile Suit repeatedly to reduce the defense bar on some level bosses. SD Gundam Battle Alliance is basically limited to a bunch of filler robots that get pummeled as the player progresses through the map, and then boss fights with more iconic Mobile Suits. The areas visited are interesting at times, but many of them feel generic because the graphics just don’t allow for the kind of detail that would bring these different universes to life.
Other items to mention
The game does not have Spanish or English dubbing, that is, its audio is entirely in Japanese. This is a negative point when playing some missions since during the mission progresses and the action is all you can focus on, the characters start talking to each other making the plot progress and you miss important details if you don’t get to be attentive enough. Fortunately, you can replay missions if you feel like you’ve missed out on something, adding that you can also do it with a team of up to three companions, bots, or real players. It should also be noted that some remixes of the Gundam anime soundtrack are used.
Conclusion…
SD Gundam Battle Alliance feels like the kind of game that will appeal to those who haven’t played a Gundam game in a few years, but it’s not going to move the needle for anyone else. Standard, unexciting combat is combined with some weird meta-narrative decisions that make this feel like a nice twist on some of the series’ most iconic moments.
The RPG elements of the game are also very limited, making other Gundam titles stand out much more in that regard. SD Gundam Battle Alliance is a solid game in the franchise that will appeal to true fans, but definitely not a reason to dive into this IP for those who have never done it before.