A Living Tribute to the Classics: An Exploration of Super Robot Wars 30

Author: Jonathan Kaharl

Super Robot Wars is an institution. First released in 1991, it’s a franchise with a ridiculous number of entries – almost all of them built around a very similar concept:

“All of your favorite giant robot anime - the characters and the mecha- exist within the same universe. They are now fighting. Enjoy.”

The story around this differs from entry to entry, combining threats and narrative beats from every show, which are featured alongside original characters tailor-made for everything to revolve around. This has somehow managed to get the series over ninety installments over thirty years, and only recently has the West seen an official release with a full translation that wasn't an Original Generation entry.

Enter Super Robot Wars 30, translated by Robin Light-Williams and edited by Andrew Dice of Recettear fame, now available on consoles and Steam for English-speaking audiences. Not only has one of these games been localized, despite the quagmire of licensing and copyright law, it's probably the single most important one in the whole franchise.

This entry is the big 30th anniversary celebration, marking the first, non-mobile appearances for Majestic Prince, SSSS.Gridman, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, Knight's and Magic, Brave Police J-Decker, ULTRAMAN, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection, Mobile Suit Gundam: Narrative, Sakura Wars, and the GaoGaiGar and Betterman sequel novel, complete with original animation made exclusively for this game. Even the expansion adds in updated versions of old robot stand-bys, such as a new version of the Scopedog from Armored Troops VOTOMS and an upgraded Dancougar.

Of course, this all comes packed with old favorites, including the major three tentpoles of SRW. Amuro and Char of Mobile Suit Gundam fame get major story roles, set ten years after the One Year War and a few after the infamous colony drops. The Getter Robo Armageddon squad have to come together and have to remember their fighting spirit – with an expanded twist when their Devolution versions appear in the expansion. Lastly, Mazinger Z: Infinity has been adapted to have the legendary Koji Kabuto come out of retirement to face down Dr. Hell and his forces once again.

Not enough? Both Combattler V and Voltes V, two of the granddaddies of super robots, are present alongside the cast of Zeta and Victory Gundam. Daba Myroad of Heavy Metal L-Gaim gets pointers from the cast of Code Geass on leading a revolution. The girls of Magic Knight Rayearth and Ernie's squad of silhouette knights from Knight's and Magic have to face down an inter-dimensional invasion. An idiot cowboy from Mars has hopped in from GUN X SWORD to take his revenge and eat repulsive food. In fact, he’s somehow one of the most important characters in the story.

… we could go on for a while.

The narrative beats all converge on a secret EFF ace-in-the-hole - the Dreisstrager. Led by the newly graduated Captain Mitsuba Greyvalley, the ship acts as the center of an attempt to make a corps of the best pilots and mechs in the universe to face the countless threats at Earth's doorstep. Complicating matters are a mysterious group with AI-piloted mechs testing the crew, plus the mystery of Edge and Az Sainklaus, enigmatic drifters who somehow gain access to the series’ signature Huckebein. While averting countless disasters and invasions, Mitsuba and her allies must get to the bottom of all these mysteries and uncover an even larger threat than any of them could have possibly imagined.

As a game, the Super Robot Wars games are simplistic turn-based SRPGs. You move your units on a map, attack, use spirit commands for various bonuses, and wail on whatever machine or monster crosses your path. Doing so gives you access to long animations of a variety of super moves – fan favorites from the shows included alongside original animations. The Huckebein 30 gets a lot of great moments, in particular, this goes around, with its final unlocked attack being a real show stopper. SRW30 adds a multitude of structural changes – like being able to select missions from a list and do side missions on the map for parts - but the core experience is still accounted for.

SRW30’s attention to detail only elevates the experience. Every move, sound effect, and piece of music comes from the source, and what's new is made to blend in with the style of a mecha show. The end result is a vast mixture of styles that come together to perfectly recreate the flavors of each series in an explosion of over-the-top super robot fireworks.

The game just wouldn't be the same if you couldn't see the Great Mazinger use Thunder Break and rip the ground around it apart, or the Getter crew distill the energy of life itself into a powerful, masculine yell. Why simply count a damage number when you can watch the Majestic Prince crew team up for a big attack while bickering with each other? Moves even get extra animations if they make a kill shot for the extra flashy stuff, like the Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex smashing a machine apart with a blunt mace and standing over the smoldering wreckage - like a demon surveying its work.

The core that brings it all together is the story, seemingly written by a crew of mecha otaku who live and breathe the genre. No detail is too minor not to include, from fandom memes (like the Gundam Narrative cast often adding “but, even so!” into their dialog) to that one weird dude from GUN X SWORD who loves the ocean giving you a part that gives sea combat bonuses. The set-up of each game is a new continuity where pieces of every franchise included are used to create a cohesive whole, taking into account how elements that would contradict each other would work together.

Examples of the team’s depth of knowledge are peppered throughout the script.  The vast number of humanoid alien races get a possible explanation in the form of a major twist in Majestic Prince. Those goofy old guys, Combattler V homages from GUN X SWORD are now the guys who took down the Dinosaur Empire, the first Getter Robo villains. Heck, they even turned around a deceased member having the reference name of Chizuru to make the Combattler V pilot the one named after them. Even Britannia occupying Japan takes into account that Mazinger Z's Koji Kabuto and Kamille from Zeta were helping the Black Knights out during the whole mess for reasons related to their own adventures.

All of this is important, because it grounds the events we see with deep world-building, and allows the writers to not let it get in the way of character moments. Now that we can believe in this world and those living in it, we can enjoy seeing how everyone reacts to each other. Lelouch and Char talk about political philosophy with Daba and McGillis. The Gridman and ULTRAMAN casts try to keep secret identities because tokusatsu tradition demands it. Van of GUN X SWORD manages to see through the masks and personas various schemers and tragic villains put on and shows a sign of respect to them. The King of the Braves and the pilot of the Great Mazinger spar over their fierce rivalry over who is the true great hero of humanity.

All of these moments, despite how absurd they are, especially with the limited stock art the developers had on hand, feel authentic. The work is put in to introduce nearly every major concept, often giving a series its own little corner, then reveals the wider tapestry. Things get further complicated with the constantly elevated stakes of the story, not to mention how the vast array of antagonists start bumping into each other. If you thought the mind control finale of Gundam Victory was already a pretty out-there concept, you should see the weirdos they decided should crash that party here.

It's similar to Bleach: The 3rd Phantom in how these games value authenticity and fan service. However, Super Robot Wars is dealing with a mess that has more moving parts, which makes the end result all the more impressive – especially the original elements. Mitsuba Greyvalley is a fantastic central character to follow – a girl forced into a position she has the ability to handle, but without the confidence and experience. The relationship between her and your chosen drifter, the supportive Az or roguish Edge, makes for a strong emotional core as the reveals start coming out left and right. You can believe all the legends would follow this woman and befriend your given Sainklauz; that they would come together for this shared desire for a better world.

The humor never comes at the cost of the authenticity of the setting or the sincerity of the emotions on display. The game has its meta moments, but for the sake of expanding on ideas brought up by a few series chosen (the isekai adventure Knight's and Magic are the most often used). It never feels ashamed of how silly it is - even with the cheese-tacular GaoGaiGar dialogue - and always reminds you what you are seeing matters. These people, no matter how goofy, no matter how exaggerated, can experience loss and sorrow, and some carry clear trauma from their experiences. Yet, they push on ahead to a better tomorrow - their machines the things dreams are made of… or so the series likes to push.

Super Robot Wars 30 is an amazing, engrossing game because it truly believes every overblown word it speaks. It is a work of powerful sincerity, even managing to get a newbie like myself invested. I came to this game only really knowing Code Geass, GUN X SWORD, Gridman, and Sakura Wars. My to-watch list is now much, much longer than it was before.