A good little Gundam game, but it needs work.
+Campaign Mode is rather involving and portrays 'grunt' combat well
+Controls portray combat from the series well
+Co-Op Arcade Mode
-Not a lot of replay outside Campaign Mode
-Controls are a little stiff
-The arcade engine this game is based off is a little underwhelming
With the US release of Gundam Wing in 2001 and the resulting explosion of the franchise's popularity on television with G-Gundam, Gundam 0080, Gundam 0083 and the 08th MS Team, it was only a matter of time before a Gundam game was brought over to the States for the American gamers to play. And we got quite a few of them at once, one of the first being Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon.
Luckily, the one's actually a pretty solid game.
First released as an arcade game in Japan, this is actually a port of that game. Or, rather, an expansion in the spirit of those Street Fighter II spinoffs. It's a long story, but this is actually the second game featuring the same engine. Thankfully, there's more than just an arcade mode, though.
This game not only includes a traditional arcade mode (where the player selects a side between Federation and Zeon, selects a mech and then fights their way along), but a vs mode and even a campaign mode. While neither the arcade mode nor vs modes are anything to write home about, the campaign mode is really something to behold for a Gundam game.
Campaign mode starts out with the player choosing to fight for either the Earth Federation or the Republic of Zeon – and then the game throws the player into the One Year War. From there, the player will be able to choose missions from a world map or space map and engage against the enemy. During time between missions, damaged mobile suits will slowly be repaired, and doing good in new missions will earn the player more units to use.
Missions often vary between 'hold out against the enemy' or 'destroy this number of enemies,' but other missions will often come along – such as escort missions or even missions taken straight from the original TV show. These missions will have difficulties between easy and very hard (as listed by the game), and most missions are pretty easy to figure out. In fact, most players should be able to make it through all but the very hard missions without breaking a sweat…
…but those very hard missions are where things turn a little broken.
During those very hard missions (though some may be ranked 'normal' as well), often times a player actually re-enacts missions straight from the original 1979 series. While this doesn't sound that bad, problems arise when named characters come into the fray. Admittedly, the average Zaku or GM are pretty easy to kill. But once a name shows up above that mech's life bar, such as Amuro Ray and his Gundam or Char Asnable and his Zaku, that machine becomes a monster that can possibly take your suit out in one hit while tanking more damage than God himself should be able to absorb. I wish I was joking. Luckily, these missions are few and far between until the end of the campaign mode.
When it comes down to how this game plays, it's a pretty solid game. Mobile Suits may have the same controls, but their weapon loadout settings and how they move are all drastically different between them. This makes for a fun change of pace all while keeping the mobile suits playable for everyone. However, the controls (though customizable completely) are more than a little jerky and aren't always responsive. Boosting in combat (double-tapping in a direction or using the boost button) is also a little uncontrollable at times, but experience only helps the player improve in their play.
While the controls aren't nearly as good as they should be, they're still pretty solid. 6.5 out of 10.
Unfortunately, the visuals aren't that great for this game. Because it's based off the arcade game, the models of the mobile suits and the environments are pretty lackluster for a PS2 game released in 2001. After all, the game ran perfectly on the Dreamcast as well when it was ported well. However, it still looks pretty good, even if the visuals are a little muddy.
Still solid, but nothing to write home about, the visuals score a 6.5 as well.
The audio, meanwhile, is actually pretty solid. By taking music from the classic television show, the developers wind up creating a really solid feel for the Gundam universe. Combine this with the fact that the entire dub cast for the TV show returns to voice their characters and you've got a pretty good audio presentation. The only real flaw is that there's no sub selection, but only a nitpicker would really complain about that.
Surprisingly solid, though the music loops a little much, the audio gets a 6.5.
Thanks to the campaign mode in this game, the replay value has pretty much skyrocketed as well. Playing through at least 100 missions as both the Federation and Zeon sides creates for quite a lot of replay – not to mention the fact that there's an EX mode on top of that once you beat both sides.
While there're not a lot of levels, there's still a very solid amount of things to play through here and bring back people time and again. A 7, easily.
Finally, I really do like this game, despite the flaws in controls. It's a solid little game that you and a friend can play through several times, or that you can play through on your own for dozens of hours. While there are better Gundam games out there, there aren't a lot better out in the US right now – and even though it's a little outdated, this game's worth the cash.
Gameplay: 6.5
Visuals: 6.5
Audio: 6.5
Replay Value: 7
Personal Tilt: 7
Final Score: 6.5