As a developer, From Software are known for their mechanical expertise but they also have several teams at work on other genres too. One such group birthed a selection of Xbox games that were functionally quite woeful but visually rather accomplished. The two Otogi games helmed by this team were consequently, and somewhat mistakenly, elevated by the Western press as being somehow noteworthy. At the time I was personally thankful that this same team wasn’t undermining the work of the Armored Core series, which already had a hard enough time as it did abroad in terms of the press.

Then Metal Wolf Chaos was announced and it was apparent that the Otogi production was supposedly behind this, well at least on paper. In reality, many of the Armored Core team were apparently “getting involved” in the game’s creation and the final result is something truly surprising and quite functionally invigorating.

I remember the release of the original Armored Core 3 on the PlayStation 2 quite vividly. Living in Japan at the time, most shops offered midnight sales on the day of release. However, From Software had cut a deal with a number of convenience store chains meaning that you could buy the game pretty much anywhere. Still, in the middle of nowhere I queued at midnight. That’s right, queued. There were at least thirty people in the line as well, it seemed that even in the remote Japanese countryside people really quite wanted some of that Armored Core 3.

In any case, the original game was sublimely good (check out our review if you don’t believe us) so the thought of a handy portable version would be suitably brilliant, right? Well, unfortunately no. Armored Core 3 Portable is rife with a number of severe issues that render the original game virtually unplayable in parts and mostly frustrating in others.

Not that long ago, Banpresto funded the development of a rather insane Gundam arcade game called Senjo no Kizuna. The player would literally sit inside a panoramic cockpit and pilot a mobile suit. In addition, each of the hugely expensive cabinets would be connected via an online network to other such machines across Japan. Upon its release, Banpresto soon realised they’d cornered a new part of the arcade gaming market. As queues lengthened to play the game, the main draw wasn’t just the amazing cockpit but also its online capability.

It wasn’t long until other publishers like Sega decided to get in on the act. Learning from Banpresto’s example, Border Break was birthed along with a new arcade board called the Ring Edge. Sega also didn’t miss a trick either, instead of having a theatrically huge cockpit they instead opted for a smaller and more standardised cabinet, whilst also upping the potency of the board that would run the game (as Senjo no Kizuna’s was suitably basic in a graphical sense, which is why its PSP port was even feasible). However, to classify Border Break as a mere herd following cash-in would be a great injustice. To be perfectly frank, Border Break is probably one of the most refreshing mecha games seen this decade.

Gundam games tend to get a pretty bad reputation outside of Japan, though this is admittedly due to surreal and awful choices on the part of Western publishers really. The fact of the matter is that Gundam has quite a long and proud tradition in Japan of producing quality entries to the mecha gaming pantheon. So much so that collaborations with companies like Capcom have birthed wildly popular arcade offspring as well as further console based ports.

Considering Capcom’s solid arcade versus history, it should come as no surprise that they have been making very solid Gundam themed arcade versus games for nigh-on ten years. Normally specialising on one series and/or timeframe of the Gundam mythos, Capcom kept their approach very focused. It wasn’t until quite recently when they literally threw pretty much every Gundam into the ring within one game. Naturally, the subsequent versus depth that followed on from such a decision has pushed these games up a notch in terms of their functional prowess.

Macross is by no means an anime series to be taken functionally for granted. Dealing with the three disparate modes of each variable fighter has meant that the developer has to somehow craft three separate games that can all interact instantly with one another. Purely from a logistical standpoint, implementing a functionally coherent Macross game is an immense task.

This is often why many of these games aren’t very good. Either down to real world budgetary constraints or lack of time, trying to tackle the raft of very genuine issues has meant that the final game has suffered. Yet some get lucky and are allowed to tackle parts of the problem and simplify other aspects to make the overall package gel more convincingly. SEGA AM2 and From Software managed to do just that in their attempts and now Artdink have joined their ranks.

For those that played the original Armored Core back in 1997, they may remember with trepidation the final mission their Raven’s mecha had to undertake. For those that don’t, it was a massive level, so big in fact that it had to be split in half and have the player restocked and repaired mid-mission. It also had the trickiest level design in the entire game, with the player having to negotiate floating platforms in a never-ending tower of guaranteed death to those that lacked the necessary AC piloting skills. Then there was Nineball.

Nineball, and its pilot Hustler One, were listed as the top ranking AC and Raven combo and from the various e-mails received from enemy Ravens and greedy corporations, Nineball was a terrifying and truly formidable opponent. In the last mission you faced him, twice. Many who have played Armored Core will know the significance of Nineball and that of defeating the bugger. Thus in Armored Core 2 a new term was introduced into the world setting, given to pilots of exceptional skill and design prowess; Ninebreaker. It is this terminology, this legacy, even, that From Software has built their latest traditional Armored Core game around. The term is also fitting to the fact that this is the ninth iteration in the series.

Back in the mid-80’s Hibiki Godai helmed a new type of game for the NEC PC-8801, it featured a transforming robot that could fire lasers. The game was called Thexder. Considering the technical limitations of the hardware compared to today’s gaming devices, games like Thexder espouse the benefits of focused simplicity when it comes to crafting games. The whole point of the game was to get Thexder from one side of the level to the other, whilst navigating tricky maze-like corridors as well as preserving its energy in order for the player to proceed. Very simple but deeply compelling.

Thexder received numerous ports over the years, released in all manner of countries and a few sequels to boot as well. Yet, despite its global success, not many seem to remember the game even existed at all. To correct such an injustice, Square Enix recently funded the publishing of a Thexder update called Thexder Neo to be released on the PSP. This was done via Game Arts, the original developer of the first game, and Zereo. The game is fundamentally a very well wrought remake though and is for the money is an incredible bargain for any gamer.

To the uninitiated the Super Robot Wars games appear to be a terrifying endeavour. Language barrier aside there is an immense cultural chasm present for anyone that didn’t grow up watching anime in Japan as a child. Half a century of mechanical nuance to be exact. All this has very interesting functional ramifications as Super Robot Wars Z is a turn based strategy game, much like chess in fact. Except it’s chess with close to a thousand possible pieces, almost all of which are unique, with gaming idiosyncrasies borne out of the parent anime series that birthed them. Daunting doesn’t quite cover it really.

Super Robot Wars Z is the final PlayStation 2 game in the series and unlike the Original Generation (or OG) games, Z is very much a continuation of the premise where disparate mecha from various anime series effectively high five for the win. However, despite being a follow on from the engorged excess that was Alpha 3, Z is very much a crafted game; from the pristine battle animations to the deeply layered strategy.

When the PlayStation 3 launched in Japan back in 2006, one of the available games was that of Gundam Target in Sight. Put simply, it was pretty awful. It ran at a hugely inconsistent framerate and was deeply unbalanced in the initial part of the game’s learning curve, often pitting you in sub-standard hardware against well armoured foes that could kill you with one shot. Couple that with the framerate and you rarely saw the shot that actually killed you. Unsurprisingly the game was wholly panned upon release and didn’t exactly do the PlayStation 3 many favours, as it was a platform exclusive.

Now fast forward to the recent Japanese release of the PlayStation 3 Silm and again another exclusive Gundam game has been bundled with it; that of Gundam Senki. However, despite using Target in Sight’s engine as a base it’s a completely new game and much like the PlayStation 2’s Lost War Chronicles (which we’ve also reviewed) this title has a lot more going for it than many may appreciate or initially realise.

Normally, in the history of Armored Core, the subsequent releases within the numerical classification are broader in scope and obviously more polished. Master of Arena had a customisable AI setup called Ranker Mk, Silent Line had an organic learning AI and an enormous amount of parts. Yet all these improvements were off the base release that preceded it. Admittedly, I am selling the earlier games a tad short but compared to For Answer, the improvements were linearly obvious.

This cycle has been broken with the latest version as it’s evolved past its roots to a terrifying degree.