Heero Yuy saves the day…
The story to the game is quite simple; it is only a 2D fighter after all. Heero Yuy must once again take up arms against a pointless war. This time the war is for the revival of The Principality of Zeon which is how they get away with mixing together two very separate and distinct universes.
In the beginning you must chose the mobile suit that Heero Pilots out of 12 suits (some need unlocking before use) you then get brief text blurb stories between each fight (before and after) that shape the flimsy story. After the final fight you’re left without a sense of accomplishment other then the unlocked mech (unless you unlocked them all already) and the ability to save your completion time.
The gameplay for GBA is probably its best feature aside from fanfare. It’s not perfect but it looks and responds quite well. Every character has a set of health bars, energy bars and amo amounts. You lose all your health, you die. You lose all your energy, you overheat and risk high damage to your mobile suit. You use all your ammo, you lose the ability to fire your gun or guns. There isn’t a “this character is stronger then this one” system of checks and balances so the fights tend to be fair in VS mode but in story they do more damage and can be a tad on the side of cheap AI which no good 2D fighting game can be without. The fights themselves are combo based. There is a normal attack system of high kick, low kick, high punch, low punch that when pressed with other buttons or directions in a sequence does special moves known as combos. These combos do more damage then basic attacks and super combos (which have a limit of 3 per round) do even more damage (unless you miss). The parts of the fight that set it apart from most other 2D fighters are the ability to “strafe” which is basically a “sidestep” that avoids enemy attacks but uses some of your energy bar. And the ability to fly. All the mechs in the game are able to use the “jump jets” on their mechs to hover, dash and fly until their energy runs out. There is also a “mode on” ability which basically enables controlled flight for as long as your energy lasts.
The real fun comes in the VS mode. You and a friend can choose from 19 Mobile Suits. most need unlocking before you can use them(there is also 1 secret Mobile Suit you can only unlock using a code and it doesn’t save to a Memory card). Each of the mechs are piloted by each of their respectable pilot characters from the anime series (only 1 re-used not counting the secret mechs reused character). Once you choose your character, you are then able to choose the stage and finally fight to the death! Now, correct me if I’m wrong; but isn’t that what 2D fighters are all about?
There was an interesting blend of anime and what seems like true-to-life 2D cut outs for visuals. The backgrounds are completely in anime (except moving parts, they were life-like cut outs…). The pilot character art is done in anime as well. The mechs on the other hand are life-like cut outs, they don’t look bad. As a matter of fact, they look awesome; but they don’t look anime either. The coolest part is that when an area of a mobile suit takes a large amount of damage; the area of the suit becomes “battle damaged”. In other words they loose paint, parts or shape as well as having visible electrical discharges.
The few cut scenes you get are very bland and don’t serve much purpose. They look alright but not top notch.
The in-game sound is interesting. The music is all strait Gundam series rips and a few remixed versions of Gundam series rips. The sound effects are he typical Gundam series rips (I wouldn’t expect anything less from BanDai). And finally, the voice over work is all one guy who is always echoing. It seems very arcadey.
The replay value is pretty high if you are into the Gundam series or if you are a 2D fighter buff but it’s not a game anyone can enjoy. It’s a tad slow-moving and the voice over guy gets quite annoying after a while of hearing him. The Story mode replay however, is very low. Once all the suits are unlocked it’s doubtful you’ll play it again as it is quite dull.
As for weather to rent or buy Gundam Battle Assault… I’d say if you are interested in Gundam and/or 2D fighters give it at least a rent. You never know, you might like it and you might not. If you like it buy it, if you don’t you never have to play it again.