Gundam: Battle Assault

Did You Know?

• Battle Assault 3 Featuring Gundam SEED was released on the PlayStation 2 four months after the GBA installment and was the first in the series with full 3D graphics.
• Battle Assault 3 includes grunt mobile suits like GINNs and unlockable secret characters such as Wing Gundam Zero Custom, Tallgeese III, Burning (God) Gundam, and Master Gundam.

Story

Humanity can no longer thrive on Earth due to global pollution and overpopulation. The International Symbiotic Community creates a new home in outer space by exploring other planets, and colonization begins. Some colonies rebel against the Community's order, leading to mass destruction. Mobile Suits are created for protection, but become precious commodities taken by bounty hunters. A vicious battle between these mercenaries erupts. In A.W. 376, a massive meteor fall devastates Earth, called the Judgment of Flame. Courier Gloria Chanvalley finds a mysterious boy named Pixie near a ruined spaceship. A message instructs her to protect Pixie for a monthly reward. Government forces place a bounty on Gloria, and she fights back with a mobile suit. Pixie hides a grave secret involving the lunar city that triggered the Judgment of Flame.

Playble Original Characters

A soldier belonging to the Nomad Parliament Army is forced to enlist on his 18th birthday. He spends his days in simulated training with a mobile suit equipped for actual combat, never losing a single match. He is apathetic, thinking it is just training and that he cannot match veteran pilots. After he and ten other mobile suits are defeated during training by hero Lloyd Nichols, he realizes his arrogance and begins to respect Lloyd. Lloyd becomes his role model, teaching him about the pride of a warrior. The soldier, named Mercury, is assigned to a combat unit and enjoys a fulfilling military life under superior officer Park West. An incident occurs when test subject Maria Nichols escapes from a top-secret military research facility, stealing the Psycho Gundam Mk-III. A superior officer participating in the pursuit is killed. Mercury pilots the RX-78-2 Gundam; in a sequel he pilots the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam.

Gameplay

Gundam: The Battle Master features gameplay unlike most fighting games. Mobile suit movement is realistically slow. Repeated damage to a specific body part causes that part's armor to break. There is no standard health bar; instead a temperature bar fills as the suit is hit. When full, the suit overheats and is knocked down. After four overheats, the suit is knocked out. Standard punch and kick buttons are complemented by a shoot button, a weapon button, and a thrust button for indefinite flight. Projectiles are unblockable. Special moves are limited, with a rapid-fire shoot and one or two unique moves; all drain a bar below the temperature bar that refills only by connecting melee attacks. Some suits dodge into the background; others erect a beam barrier that blocks projectiles indefinitely unless hit by melee. Bosses are massive, fill nearly half the screen, and cannot be knocked back unless they overheat.

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

In 2004, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault was released for the Game Boy Advance, featuring units exclusively from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. It includes all Gundams from the show except the Providence, plus Rau Le Creuset's CGUE and the Gundam Astray Red Frame. It was released exclusively in the US. Gameplay is similar to its three PlayStation predecessors but faster and more user-friendly. Players can choose manual or automatic special move execution, and adjust one of three parameters (HP, Phase Shift Armor, or Thrust) at the cost of the others. An updated version focusing on SEED Destiny, named Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, was released only in Japan and includes the original game as an unlockable. It adds the initial suits of SEED Destiny but lacks several later units.