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However, given more than 20 video games in the hit robot franchise, just which games should mecha fans get first? Interestingly, their top choices may be all about nostalgia, personalization, or sheer over-the-top robot action.
Updated December 18, 2021 by Rhenn Taguiam:Fans of Gundamcan finally rejoice as the hit mecha franchise recently teased a wide variety of offerings for fans in 2022. These include a nine-episode miniseries named Iron-Blooded Orphans: Special Edition, a film depiction of an episode from the first anime called Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island, and the first original anime from the franchise after seven years in the form of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury.
On top of these viewable media are upcoming games, such as Gundam Evolution and Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt, all slated for 2022 launches. With all these upcoming content, it seems timely for fans to reexplore more Gundam games to meet their mecha itch.
15 Gundam Evolution
Platforms: PC (Upcoming TBA)
Albeit an upcoming title for the PC, there’s enough Gundam Evolution gameplay to show just what a breakthrough title this could become for the franchise. Unlike other games, Gundam Evolution gives players a taste of what it’s like for a Gundam game to become a hero shooter. Set in gigantic battlefields, Gundam Evolution will have players become some of the most iconic Gundams in the franchise and conduct team battles across various modes.
Perhaps what’s truly awesome about Gundam Evolution is its foray into FPS Gundam gameplay - something unseen in the franchise so far. Players will get to wield various Gundam weapons and gadgets like maces, swords, and grenades. Not only that, the game also allows Gundams to enter MA (Mobile Armor) mode, giving them more mobility that other FPS titles don’t get to offer.
14 Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt
Platforms: Android, iOS (Upcoming 2022)
While its details are largely unknown at this point, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt is a welcome addition to the Iron-Blooded Orphans anime series released back in 2015. Bandai Namco will be releasing the game in the Iron-Blooded Orphans G app they created for the franchise’s 40th Anniversary. Moreover, Urdr-Hunt apparently takes place in between the two seasons of Iron-Blooded Orphans.
Story-wise, the synopsis so far sets the game after Tekkadan’s interference in the armed conflict between Gjallarhorn and Arbrau. However, their adventures catch the attention of Wistaro Afam, a young man who wants to change the status quo of his homeland. Not much is known about the game so far, except new Gundams such as Gundam Marchosias and Gundam Hajiroboshi.
13 Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link
Platforms: PS3
Despite its history as a PS3 game, Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link remains a delight to play for Gundam fans, especially those fond of the Universal Century. In Side Story: Missing Link, players get to see that both the Federation and Zeon created regimens of pilot washouts (Slave Wraiths for the former, the Marchosias for the latter) to conduct deadly missions using advanced mobile suits. However, a conspiracy will force both sides to work together and stop a sinister plot involving MS development.
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In terms of gameplay, Side Story: Missing Link has the best offerings of a Gundam game at a time. Missions will have players deploy squads of three Mobile Suits at a time, equipped with unique weapons they can switch to at any given moment. The game also boasts both ground and space battles, paving the way for intense zero-gravity and 3D-maneuvering battles in space whenever necessary.
12 Mobile Suit Gundam Side Stories (PS3)
Platforms: PS3
Albeit boasting the same mechanics and gameplay system as Missing Link, Mobile Suit Gundam Side Stories offers a more robust experience in terms of story. The game not only contains the base Missing Link story but also six other side stories that happened during the One Year War of the Universal Century. Not only that, but these stories already got featured in much older games, meaning Side Stories essentially offers a remake of these classic tales.
Stories included in Side Stories are The Blue Destiny, Space, To The End Of A Flash, Rise From The Ash, Zeonic Front, Lost War Chronicles, and the latter part of Cross Dimension 0079. Thanks to these stories, players and fans can have a more concrete view of what’s happened to the Universal Century timeline during the One Year War without having to grab much older games.
11 SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays
Platforms: PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Acting as a true crossover title, SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays offers a wide selection of SD Gundams to fight with across 13 Gundam series. However, instead of boasting its own storyline, the game instead abridges the stories of these series into a game that tries to highlight the best elements of Gundam Wing all the way to Iron-Blooded Orphans.
Unlike other action-packed Gundam titles, Cross Rays is a strategy RPG. In turn, units have various stats, and even pilots offer unique buffs to their assigned Gundams. With gameplay more alike to a turn-based RPG, fans who appreciate the strategy aspect of a Gundam series’ combat will love playing through Cross Rays.
10 Super Robot Wars
Platforms: Varied
Any mecha fan who loves Gundam will inevitably stumble upon the massive Super Robot Wars franchise. This tactical RPG from Bandai Namco is perhaps the biggest crossover of machines yet. Entries from the series will almost always feature a crossover story that features popular mecha franchises across manga, anime, and video games. Each installment will almost always have the player pilot a game-exclusive machine as they become involved in the affairs of not just Gundam characters but other robot franchises as well.
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Moreover, its straightforward nature as a turn-based RPG makes it quite attractive to players. Essentially, players control a platoon of robots from various franchises in a grid-based map. To add to the awesome, some machines carry over unique properties from their franchises, such as transformation!
9 Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds Of The Battlefield
Platform: Arcade
Any Gundam fan would like to wonder just how skilled pilots like Amuro Ray handle their machines in fast-paced combat. Thankfully, fans who make their way to Japan can get into an arcade machine and experience this for themselves. With a special Panoramic Optical Display system, players can get a first-person view of the battlefield as though they’re actually piloting their MS. In turn, the machines come with headset jacks, foot pedals, and hand control sticks that simulate the environment inside an MS cockpit.
To make players feel more special, the game features pilot cards that store their data. This means players can resume play at any time or even interplay with nearby machines or friends playing in other places at the same time. Additionally, players can rank up as pilots and use in-game points to collect popular machines and Mobile Suits.
8 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny
Platform: PS Vita
Players can experience the full breadth of the massive Gundam SEED sub-franchise courtesy of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny for the PS Vita. This handheld game retells events spanning the entire Cosmic Era (CE) timeline, from the original SEED and SEED Destiny series to spinoffs. In turn, players can take CE-exclusive pilots and MS into a full-length Story Mode, expansive Free Mission modes, and the multiplayer VS Missions mode.
Unlike watching the series, Battle Destiny will have players create their own character. Moreover, their pilots will eventually become a part of the Alliance or ZAFT, or even the Three Ships Alliance. Given how certain MS and missions become exclusive to one faction, the game easily has replay value.
7 Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn
Platforms: PS3, PS Vita
Unlike other Gundam titles, Dynasty Warriors GundamReborn adds a Musou twist to the acclaimed mecha franchise. As popularized by Koei’s Warriors series, Gundam Reborn is a vast improvement over the Gundam-ized hack-and-slash formula of the Dynasty Warriors Gundam series. Essentially, nothing feels better than taking control of a favorite Gundam and annihilating a swath of Mobile Suits in combat.
Rebornalso lets players relive scenarios in Official Mode or have unique crossovers in Ultimate Mode. Moreover, the Burst System gives access to special “modes” for MS and Pilots in various series, such as SEED Mode (SEED) or Trans-Am (Gundam 00). The game’s advanced customization options also let players tinker with specific MS and weapon settings, like having their own machine. In turn, players can relive their dreams of defeating enemies as a heroic MS or become a villainous machine that seeks their rival’s destruction.
6 SD Gundam G Generation Genesis
Platforms: PS Vita, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Fans of Gundam will appreciate SD Gundam G Generation Genesis for its tactical RPG feel. Moreover, mecha fans who played a Super Robot Wars game will feel right at home with Genesis. This time around, Genesis takes players across 17 shows, films, games, and spinoffs from within the Universal Century timeline of the franchise. In turn, players have a whopping 68 stages, each split into memorable scenarios from the media, that potentially tours them throughout the Universal Century.
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Granted, fans can easily complain that the two scenarios are too short to explain the nuanced plot points of other titles. However, Genesis makes up for its fast-paced story with strategy and tactical prowess. Given its RPG nature, players can assign pilots to various MS and level them up individually. Moreover, players can acquire MS through tier-based leveling, fusion, exchanges, and point collection.
5 Gundam Versus
Platforms: PS4
Serving as the fifth generation to the fast-paced Gundam VS series, Gundam Versus for the PS4 and PlayStation Network boasts better graphics and more destructible environments for its team-based format. As with other VS games, Versus relies on a point-based system where each team’s MS has a point value depending on their strength and potency. In turn, the team that gets to deplete the enemy’s points the fastest will win the match.
Thankfully, Versus has all the mechanisms to provide a fast-paced combat experience for Gundam lovers. It has Boost Step, Boost Dash, and Boost Dive techniques that enable the game’s 180+ MS units to zig-zag across the battlefield. Anyone who wants a new take on Gundam battles will appreciate the spontaneity of Gundam Versus.
4 Gundam Breaker Mobile
Platforms: Android, iOS
What better way for Gundam fans to personalize their MS experience by having a Gunpla to truly call theirs? Thanks to Gundam Breaker Mobile, fans don’t need to spend on a Gunpla to assemble at home. In fact, with the mobile game, players can collect parts to build their dream Gunpla and use it in battle.
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Being the mobile iteration of the Gundam Breaker franchise, Breaker Mobile has the staple elements of the franchise. These include a Story Mode that increases in difficulty, as well as Gunpla exclusive to the series. Thanks to a versatile gacha element and extensive customization, Breaker Mobile has an extensive way of helping players personalize their arsenal of Gunpla.
3 Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2
Platforms: PS4, PS5
Players who want to feel like full-fledged MS Pilots will appreciate the tactical feel of Battle Operation 2. Similar to its predecessor, Battle Operation 2 takes place in the more realistic sci-fi timeline of the series, also known as the Universal Century (UC). However, players this time are employed by the Private Military Union instead of Battle Operation 1’s EFF and Zeon.
Unlike other Gundam titles, Battle Operation 2 doesn’t have a story. Instead, it will have a pair of 1-to-6-man teams engage in battles across various scenarios on the ground and in space. As an added twist, players can use their customized pilots and get out of their MS. In turn, these pilots can engage in tasks such as capturing points, using vehicles, interacting with bombs, or even stealing enemy MS.
Given its setting, only UC-set MS can be used in the game and they’re split into rock-paper-scissors classifications. Moreover, damage to an MS will affect certain aspects of its gameplay, such as radar and mobility.
2 New Gundam Breaker
Platforms: PS4, PC
Players who love the sheer level of customization in Gundam Breaker Mobile might want to take their adventures to the PC. And thankfully, New Gundam Breaker for the PS4 and the PC adds another layer of strategy into the mix. This time around, the 3-versus-3 team battle system incorporates multiple objectives to spice up the multiplayer aspect of the game.
Moreover, where New Gundam Breaker impresses is with its revamped customization system. Now, Inner Frames exist that come with expected roles and abilities of the Gunpla to be built in them. Moreover, players can now grab parts from fallen enemies to replace their Gunpla’s broken parts. This system gives a form of “real-time customization battle” that adds a new dimension in combat.
1 Gundam Extreme Versus Maxiboost ON
Platforms: PS3, PS4, Arcade
Players who just want to get in an MS and get into some good ol’ Gundam busting should try Gundam Extreme Versus Maxiboost ON. As the recent entry in the Gundam VS series, Maxiboost ON relies on a point-based battle system. Essentially, players form teams that have point values. In turn, the first team to deplete the rival team’s points wins the match.
What’s interesting here is that all MS have a simple series of controls - jumping, searching, and a dedicated button for melee and ranged attacks. In turn, players need to choose their battles tactically to make the most out of their Mobile Suits. Thanks to its integrated multiplayer component, Maxiboos ON is easily a blast to play with its easy-to-understand mechanics and accessible fast-paced gameplay.
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