Super Robot Wars

[Demetori]

Has anyone played/playing any of the Super Robot Wars games?
If you have, what versions have you played and did you enjoy them?

I've only played the Alpha series as they are the only ones that interested me, this is because of the way the battle-system works and the depth of the story. Super Robot Wars Alpha was a great introduction game to the Alpha series. The Skill Point system being one of my favorite aspects. Another thing is that with each addition to the Alpha series, the games got better and better!

Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 was the most refined and well executed of the Alpha series and probably of all the Super Robot Wars games. The series as it is now seems lost and it's been losing its fan base since the releases following Alpha 3.

... yup, I like Super Robot Wars. Let it be noted, I've never watched even half of the robot Anime's that this game has in it, but I couldn't care less; great story and I love the sprite work!

[ED-057]

I have SRWF and F kanketsuhen for Saturn. I spent an extreme amount of time playing those in 2001-2004 (proving once and for all the bullet-proof reliability of the Saturn's CD-ROM drive).

I also have SRW4 for Playstation. I forget why I got that one, but I didn't play it much. The music was terrible by comparison. (I think it is just a port of the SFC version with some voice clips added)

I played some others in emulation like SRWA (GBA) SRW64 (N64) and SRW alpha (PS1). I only got to round 40 or so on that last one and the emulator kept freezing up.

On a semi-related note, I also wrote this SRW-inspired game:
http://msxdev.msxblue.com/?p=663
http://www.mobygames.com/game/msx/mecha ... t-oldskool

[ZacharyB]

The SRW theme might be cool with shmups. I'd been entertaining the thought of an "SSW" or Super Shmup Wars. Instead of cinematic attacks, you would choose a power-up and enter a shmup stage or a boss battle.

[Demetori]

I have SRWF and F kanketsuhen for Saturn. I spent an extreme amount of time playing those in 2001-2004 (proving once and for all the bullet-proof reliability of the Saturn's CD-ROM drive).

I also have SRW4 for Playstation. I forget why I got that one, but I didn't play it much. The music was terrible by comparison. (I think it is just a port of the SFC version with some voice clips added)

I played some others in emulation like SRWA (GBA) SRW64 (N64) and SRW alpha (PS1). I only got to round 40 or so on that last one and the emulator kept freezing up.

On a semi-related note, I also wrote this SRW-inspired game:
http://msxdev.msxblue.com/?p=663
http://www.mobygames.com/game/msx/mecha ... t-oldskool

That's quite interesting, will have to give it a go!

Like I said, I only own the Alpha series and enjoyed those the most. They can be very long games, do you like the length of these games? And what do you think about the upgrading system and the difficulty?

I don't find SRW games hard. I don't spend upgrade points, I usually just use the module upgrades and that's about it. I also tend to stick with the Super Robots than Real Robots. Most of them have an Alert skill which is cheap and voids the real point of using the Real Robots for their evasion and weak attack.

And on a quick note, my Saturn's CD-ROM is still working perfectly. I take the Saturn apart once a year and clean the internals, which seems to have helped a lot.

The SRW theme might be cool with shmups. I'd been entertaining the thought of an "SSW" or Super Shmup Wars. Instead of cinematic attacks, you would choose a power-up and enter a shmup stage or a boss battle.

I really don't see why this wouldn't work. I mean, I don't think it would sell in great numbers but it would be a welcome addition to the plentiful games in that spectrum. It could have the possibility of becoming a run-away success.

This isn't exaclty SRW specific, but just basing a shmup game off the Macross universe would be a good starting point.

[ED-057]

That's quite interesting, will have to give it a go!

The original version was rushed and I think it is pretty easy. The Plus version should be more fun. Both are only 5 rounds. IIRC, playing as "team kamidoa" is the most difficult route because I forgot to give them a new unit for the last round.

Like I said, I only own the Alpha series and enjoyed those the most. They can be very long games, do you like the length of these games? And what do you think about the upgrading system and the difficulty?

I don't find SRW games hard. I don't spend upgrade points, I usually just use the module upgrades and that's about it. I also tend to stick with the Super Robots than Real Robots. Most of them have an Alert skill which is cheap and voids the real point of using the Real Robots for their evasion and weak attack.

The super robot types are good for taking out bosses since they generally have the strongest weapons. In many cases there are multiple pilots in one unit also, so there is the benefit of having more seishin at your disposal. But they usually have terrible aim, and the EN will run out quickly, so it's good to have some real robot types around to get rid of weaker enemies before taking on the bosses. In SRWF, all the newtype pilots from the Gundam series have a bonus to both aim and evasion. When combined with units like Gundam F91 who has a powerful, long range beam weapon without a morale requirement then they become very useful indeed.

Probably half of the units and pilots are crap and not worth using. So I think if you only spend money on making the good units better then the game will be fairly easy. I like to level up all of the pilots and use almost all of the units just to make the game more interesting (some like Boss Borot are utterly hopeless though). The last round of SRW64 was pretty tough and needed some careful planning even when using my best units. Of course it is possible to build up money and exp by dying and repeating a stage, but I refrained from doing that In SRWF I saved up a lot of money for the end of the game because it can be used to unlock some new weapons and stat bonuses and stuff.

The games are pretty long and I think it is good. SRWF and SRWF final combined were like 78 rounds. I was always trying to complete every round without letting my units be destroyed, and milking it for all the money and exp I could get. Sometimes I would spend several hours on one round. After all that time, I was not tired of it yet

[Demetori]

That's quite interesting, will have to give it a go!

The original version was rushed and I think it is pretty easy. The Plus version should be more fun. Both are only 5 rounds. IIRC, playing as "team kamidoa" is the most difficult route because I forgot to give them a new unit for the last round.

Like I said, I only own the Alpha series and enjoyed those the most. They can be very long games, do you like the length of these games? And what do you think about the upgrading system and the difficulty?

I don't find SRW games hard. I don't spend upgrade points, I usually just use the module upgrades and that's about it. I also tend to stick with the Super Robots than Real Robots. Most of them have an Alert skill which is cheap and voids the real point of using the Real Robots for their evasion and weak attack.

The super robot types are good for taking out bosses since they generally have the strongest weapons. In many cases there are multiple pilots in one unit also, so there is the benefit of having more seishin at your disposal. But they usually have terrible aim, and the EN will run out quickly, so it's good to have some real robot types around to get rid of weaker enemies before taking on the bosses. In SRWF, all the newtype pilots from the Gundam series have a bonus to both aim and evasion. When combined with units like Gundam F91 who has a powerful, long range beam weapon without a morale requirement then they become very useful indeed.

Probably half of the units and pilots are crap and not worth using. So I think if you only spend money on making the good units better then the game will be fairly easy. I like to level up all of the pilots and use almost all of the units just to make the game more interesting (some like Boss Borot are utterly hopeless though). The last round of SRW64 was pretty tough and needed some careful planning even when using my best units. Of course it is possible to build up money and exp by dying and repeating a stage, but I refrained from doing that In SRWF I saved up a lot of money for the end of the game because it can be used to unlock some new weapons and stat bonuses and stuff.

The games are pretty long and I think it is good. SRWF and SRWF final combined were like 78 rounds. I was always trying to complete every round without letting my units be destroyed, and milking it for all the money and exp I could get. Sometimes I would spend several hours on one round. After all that time, I was not tired of it yet

Ahhh, you're bringing back some bad memories. Boss Borot, for me, always missed, did shit damage and has low HP. He's fucking pointless! Venus A was more useful than him... and she's not one of the better robots.

I found myself pimping out Getter Dragon, he's always been my lucky charm. With some nice upgrades he has decent health, huge damage and nice evasion. I do actually use a couple of Gundams and a couple of VRFs because if you get the right ones, they have very long range and high damage on smaller targets. But yeah, for bosses you usually want to be using super robots for bosses, which I usually do. And it's a nice bonus if you use your home ship properly.

I did actually lose a battle that I was suppose to win in 5 turns, couldn't figure it out for the life me until I realized that you could use the home ship, put all your units in it, since I had units with bad movement range. Chucked on +3 Movement and took them all in to the middle of the fight and won in 2 turns.

Also, is it just me or are J9 waaaaay to powerful?
Their split form has HUGE evasion capabilities and just.. don't even really need to mention their combined form. The damage output is insane and this is not even upgraded yet.

[Cthulhu]

I played all 3 Alphas and whatever the PS2 compilation of the WonderSwan games was. I really enjoyed them. And I'm also really tired so I'm not going to say much more...

[Zeether]

I tried SRW3 and was a bit bored by it...isn't there a translation patch out for Alpha Gaiden? I might get it...

It really sucks that we haven't gotten the 2nd OG game on DS or the OGs for PS2 (thanks to Sony's dub policy)

[BulletMagnet]

The only one I've spent much time with is OG Saga on the DS, and while I liked a lot about it the need for grinding to survive certain battles (thanks to how limited your defensive options are compared to your offensive ones) turned me off quite a bit. Haven't played enough of the "main" games to say much about those.

[Ganelon]

Like I said, I only own the Alpha series and enjoyed those the most. They can be very long games, do you like the length of these games? And what do you think about the upgrading system and the difficulty?

I don't find SRW games hard. I don't spend upgrade points, I usually just use the module upgrades and that's about it. I also tend to stick with the Super Robots than Real Robots. Most of them have an Alert skill which is cheap and voids the real point of using the Real Robots for their evasion and weak attack.

I really liked SRW's length back in the 90s when I had time to play them. Nowadays, they're too long for me to approach beating, let alone the fact that you're now expected to run through the game multiple times to get all the special new game+ stuff. Upgrading units/pilots is the best way I can think of a use for money so I still prefer it that way.

The difficulty varies from game to game and is normally pretty fair for me; no death penalty makes the game playable for any audience. Real robots are definitely gimped in most versions because evasion just doesn't cut it as you progress further into the game. What I don't like about 32-bit era SRW games (including my favorite Neo Super Robot Wars) is that the loading times are awful. Experts often leave the battle scenes off but I can't stand missing the animations in them.

I played all 3 Alphas and whatever the PS2 compilation of the WonderSwan games was. I really enjoyed them. And I'm also really tired so I'm not going to say much more...

SRW Impact was actually a compilation of all 3 parts of SRW Compact 2. SRW Compact 1 (with a WS and WSC version) and SRW Compact 3 were never ported. Speaking of being tired, Impact's very long pace (can't imagine how it would be if it actually compiled all the Compacts together) makes for a very tiring game.

The only one I've spent much time with is OG Saga on the DS, and while I liked a lot about it the need for grinding to survive certain battles (thanks to how limited your defensive options are compared to your offensive ones) turned me off quite a bit. Haven't played enough of the "main" games to say much about those.

Ha, those OG Saga games are definitely oddballs of the group. I like them but it does get to be a chore to have to focus on timing in every battle. Speaking of spinoffs, there was also Super Robot Shooting but it's not a shmup and not very fun either.

[Zeether]

There's also Super Robot Pinball by the Pokemon Pinball guys (Jupiter). It looks good.

[BulletMagnet]

Ha, those OG Saga games are definitely oddballs of the group. I like them but it does get to be a chore to have to focus on timing in every battle.

The timing aspects aren't what bother me (I am, after all, a big Shadow Hearts fan), but rather the fact that no matter how good said timing is, it only matters on offense, so in certain boss battles as soon as it's the enemy's turn your whole party will be dead in one round if you haven't leveled up enough. I can't for the life of me understand why you have so many options for attack combos and such but only a basic "defend" command on the other end (which is basically useless since there's no way to know which character will be attacked any given round) - it basically renders all the cool flashy stuff irrelevant. Heck, even the Mario RPG games at least give you some manner of reducing/avoiding damage, and Shadow Hearts is (mostly) balanced enough that insta-death isn't a concern in the first place. I certainly hope they improved this for the sequel...

[Cthulhu]

SRW Impact was actually a compilation of all 3 parts of SRW Compact 2. SRW Compact 1 (with a WS and WSC version) and SRW Compact 3 were never ported. Speaking of being tired, Impact's very long pace (can't imagine how it would be if it actually compiled all the Compacts together) makes for a very tiring game.

Yeah, Impact, there we go. I didn't realize what games were in it exactly. And yes, it's _very_ long. I don't think I got more than 30% in and it felt like I played it forever.

[Demetori]

If you're looking for games with more focus on defense, the Alpha series has a bit more of that. But as the Alpha games go, the robot's are defined. Super Robot's take hits and deal damage; generally anyway. And Real Robot's are evasive and do some nice damage depending on the foe.

I've not been interested in the OG games at all. The whole point was to battle with some famous robot's, not original ones. For me anyway.
Besides, there's no way in hell all of the robot's in the game could be balanced.. It'd be like trying to balance Street Fighter with a 40 character roster selection. There is undeniably tiers in SRW games.

[professor ganson]

Super Robot Taisen Z is supposed to be one of the more difficult srpgs (provided you are trying to get all skill points on EX-Hard mode):
http://www.tbstactics.com/2010/05/most- ... t-and.html

There's also Super Robot Pinball by the Pokemon Pinball guys (Jupiter). It looks good.

Yeah, I really want to check this out. Hard to find a copy, though.

[Demetori]

I actually just bought Super Robot Taisen Z... I did some researching on what the next best thing to the Alpha games was, this thing tops the cake.. I've been playing this all day, taking my time and reading in to things. Such a graphical improvement over the other games.

I can't fathom if they made another 2.5D battle map / 2D cinematic fights for the PS3 in high-definition... Seeing all that artwork crisp.
But shit, even the PS2 version isn't half bad!

[gundamalpha]

I love SRW series, in fact that's my main priority in gaming.

Completed:
SS - F, FF
GB - 2nd G
PS - Complete box (all 3 games inside), Alpha, Alpha Gaiden (my favorite)
PS2 - Alpha 2 (1 story left), Alpha 3 (1 story left), Z, Impact, MX, OG, OGG
DC - Alpha for DC
PSP - A Portable

Other I have played but not completed:
GB - SRW (the first game)
SNES - Masoukishin
PS - 4th, Shin
Wii - Neo (worthless piece of junk)
NGC - GC
360 - XO
N64 - 64

Would love to play all the GBA ones but can't get them at reasonable price.

[Demetori]

I love SRW series, in fact that's my main priority in gaming.

Completed:
SS - F, FF
GB - 2nd G
PS - Complete box (all 3 games inside), Alpha, Alpha Gaiden (my favorite)
PS2 - Alpha 2 (1 story left), Alpha 3 (1 story left), Z, Impact, MX, OG, OGG
DC - Alpha for DC
PSP - A Portable

Other I have played but not completed:
GB - SRW (the first game)
SNES - Masoukishin
PS - 4th, Shin
Wii - Neo (worthless piece of junk)
NGC - GC
360 - XO
N64 - 64

Would love to play all the GBA ones but can't get them at reasonable price.

What's your favorite so far? I would have said Alpha 3, but I'm REALLY enjoying Z.

EDIT: LOL, You already had it in your post, my bad.

[professor ganson]

Are you guys playing the import titles with or without knowledge of Japanese? I don't know Japanese, but I'd love to play some of the imports. I think I've already picked up one for the DS, which I haven't tried out yet. Aren't there some for the PSP as well?

[Demetori]

Played and playing these with knowledge of Japanese. In fact, I'm playing Z right now at university before I sleep.
Get some extra Kanji study in. The story sections are not to long not to short, so it's a good mix of study and fun.

[gundamalpha]

I really love the settings in Alpha Gaiden, time travel, Turn X vs Double X, and of course the last SRW to feature the Masoukishin series storyline. I forgot there are 3 more on NDS, W (already completed), K (not yet started) and Masoukishin (SNES remake).

I know katakana and kanji, but know nothing of hiragana, so missed out entirely on the story

[Demetori]

I really love the settings in Alpha Gaiden, time travel, Turn X vs Double X, and of course the last SRW to feature the Masoukishin series storyline. I forgot there are 3 more on NDS, W (already completed), K (not yet started) and Masoukishin (SNES remake).

I know katakana and kanji, but know nothing of hiragana, so missed out entirely on the story

If you don't know Japanese, there is a good story translation, more of a synopsis of each section. So you can read it and then play through that section and at least know what is going on. You sort of lose the characteristics of each pilot though. But hey, you get the story.