SD Gundam is a very strange spin-off of the Gundam series. For those who might not know, the SD stands for Super Deformed, and that’s how we get these adorable miniature mobile suits. While the spin-off was popular in Japan across anime, model kits, and video games, western fans in previous years had to import the games, many of which were RPGs. Well, that’s until now, with the release of SD Gundam Battle Alliance.
A new entry in the series that acts as a retelling of historical Gundam events and an action-centric Gundam adventure with multiplayer offerings.
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE OVERVIEW
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE combines different narratives that allow players to relive famous scenes and battles from the venerable animated series. SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE NOW AVAILABLE ON PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, and STEAM. Pre-orders for the digital versions are now active and include different levels of rewards such as unlockable missions, new playable units, and other exclusive content as they become available.
In SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE, players must join forces to correct a distorted world, overcoming the divisions in time known as “historical intervals” to restore the proper timeline of each Gundam series. Each mission features single and multiplayer action, allowing up to three players to work together to progress through the game. SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE also features a progression system where players must develop, enhance and enhance their mobile suits through blueprints obtained during their missions.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance Story
SD Gundam Battle Alliance is set in the G: Universe, where events are disrupted, and it’s up to you to correct history. Once again, story missions will make players experience some of the more iconic battles, but this time, they are altered so that new enemies change the course of the fight. Here, the narrative attempts to correct this phenomenon.
The story is a significant highlight of the adventure. You’ll mostly interact with Sakura, Juno, and the mascot, Haro, who provide details about each mission. What’s nice is that they also take time to explain the events so new players can understand the significance of it all, and seasoned fans can indulge in the nostalgia. As the Commander, you can often choose responses, but I don’t feel they change much of the narrative.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance Launch Trailer
SD Gundam Battle Alliance Missions
Missions are unlocked by playing with objectives ranging from defending a base to destroying the enemy. The story leads you through these while offering optional objectives to search for resources. While the environments are vast and fun to navigate, you’ll return to them often. However, the narrator seems to understand this and briefly explains that the reason is that you are back in combat to experience the natural history. It works, and the events vary enough to make return visits attractive.
During missions, events called “Breaks” will replace a character with one that does not belong. This creates fantastic encounters as you witness battles you’ve never seen before. It’s a battle of the greats, and struggles are not something you can overcome. Fortunately, there are multiple difficulty levels, but there is a high level of challenge here if you set the difficulty to your skill level.
While grunt enemies can be mowed through relatively quickly in small groups, the missions love to have them gang up on you. Further, some enemies will hang out on a ledge and shoot. However, it’s the boss fights that will test your skills. The battle system utilizes almost every button on the controller as you chain together melee attacks.
Combos are rewarded with higher damage output, but you must be aware the stamina meter drains as you attack or use your booster. Secondary weapons come with a cool down, but they allow you to execute ranged shots and even throw bombs for group damage. There’s also a special that each unit can unleash that has a longer cool down, which I just saved for the boss.
The strategy elements of the series are found in these boss encounters since you have to read attacks to know when to guard. This brings us to one of the most hindering aspects of gameplay, the camera. This thing seems to have a mind of its own, and although you can move it manually, it’s always pointed in the wrong direction, or a building blocks your view as you are locked onto an enemy. It makes reading enemy attacks exceptionally difficult. It’s possible to heal during a fight, but these are limited, and you must avoid damage while you consume them.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance Gameplay
Through the gameplay, players acquire crews that unlock new suits and pilots for mobile phones. In addition, each playable character can be customized using points earned in quests. Additional customization includes increasing stats and equipping buffs like auto-guard or speed boosts. Combat in the early moments of gameplay is relatively slow, but this gets better with time. Customization can also be found in skills, and players can create a well-rounded crew in a single-player environment.
Multiplayer is also an option; the online gameplay allows two friends to join you. In addition, there are options to create a room, search for a room, and go to a quick match. Although I couldn’t play through the online mode for this review, I did play the multiplayer mode. I can tell it’s a lot more chaotic than single-player, given that your friends can split and conquer objectives that offer a different layer of strategy.
After playing the game on other consoles during demos, I will say that the Switch version lacks some of the graphic flair found in the different versions. Moreover, while the option to play with your friends is there, it is easier to do on other platforms in terms of communication. The environments are a bit monotonous but serve more as mission fields. However, the sound and music design are great, and story missions often include some of the most epic moments in the Gundam series.
Conclusion
SD Gundam Battle Alliance is an entertaining crash course in the Gundam series. It’s approachable no matter your level of fandom, as it offers remixed historical battles with the added context of the actual matchups. There’s much to unlock and enjoy across each mission, but the repetition can weigh on the experience. Regardless, this is an addictive action game that mobile suit fans everywhere will enjoy. Visited our site BGN for more news and guides on various games.