When robots collide

The Super Robot Wars (SRW) franchise is one of the more popular line of strategy video games that combine robots from multiple animes, with some of the gigantic robots taken from cartoons as far back as the seventies. Out of the SRW line of ongoing story lines, the Alpha series were (and still are) the favourites among fans. The final chapter of the Alpha series has finally unfolded with the release of Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 for the PlayStation 2. Did it go quietly into the night without as much as a whimper, or had Banpresto done their wonders upon it again as the SRW team did with the other three Alpha chapters?

Being drawn into a game such as the SRW series had been a turning point for me; I, for one, had not quite been a fan of Super Robots and Gundams and what-have-you due to the limited exposure to animes during my younger days (with the exception to Neon Genesis Climber Mospeada, Daitetsujin 17 and Toushou Daimos). Still, the first SRW game that I owned was Shin SRW on the PS1, minus the SD look that Banpresto opted in the larger part of the Super Robot Wars series. From there on, my journey with the SRW series had been a sweet and bitter one; I remember Super Robot Wars F and Final being the bitter one and the Alpha series being the sweeter counterpart. But in all, I did enjoy the whole SRW games that I got my hands on.

I replayed SRW Alpha 2 before I started out on Alpha 3 to get a feel of the difference between both games. Upon completion of SRW Alpha 2 that I finally was satisfied enough to insert the Alpha 3 game into my PS2 to continue the Alpha saga. The opening sequence knocked the breath out of me; it was done very well overall, even down to the minute details. With much anticipation that this game will surpass Alpha 2 in terms of graphics and animation, I couldn't wait to start the actual gameplay.

There were some changes made to SRW Alpha 3, and the first evidence of this is the BGM for the mechas. Most of the soundtracks have been refined. Take for example, Daimos's BGM for Alpha 3 and compare it with the one on Alpha 2 and you'll note the difference in the tunes itself. But it was quite unnecessary, if you asked me. The one in Alpha 2 already sounded good enough as it is. If there were any changes need to be made, I would prefer that the SRW team paid attention to the graphics and animation.

Graphics-wise, I find it odd that the team did not correctly use a higher-resolution image. Pixelation was evident when a close-up happens during a battle sequence in Alpha 2, but the same problem remained in Alpha 3 without it being addressed by the design team. Don't know what I'm talking about? A very good example that I can give you is Mazinkaiser's Fire Blaster; during the battle animation sequence, a close up of Mazinkaiser would happen. The pixelation is brief, but not brief enough to go unnoticed. The same goes with one of Gundam Deathscythe's move that attacks all enemies at once - the close up is even longer than the one in Mazinkaiser's and you can properly see the ugly pixels.

As for the animation, I don't mind that most of the mechas have the same animated moves being recycled from Alpha 2. I believe in the old adage: if it looks good, don't fix it.

Unfortunately, some of the said animation still suffer from choppy frame-rates in Alpha 3. I recall that it all started since Alpha Gaiden on the PS1, but in the first SRW Alpha game there were none at all. What's up, Banpresto? Up until now, I still think that SRW Alpha on the PS1 had the best battle animation sequence: it was fluid, no loss of animation frames and overall, it looked great. The one great battle animation sequence still stuck in my head was all of Giant Robo's attacks. And the ironic part is, SRW Alpha was the first Super Robot Wars game to feature full mecha animation during battle sequences. If anyone reading this is from Banpresto or knows someone in there, do let them know this issue which had been plaguing the entire SRW Alpha series since SRW Alpha Gaiden. I'd appreciate it if you did as I too want to see the SRW series rise to great new heights, either still in the current game system (PS2, Gamecube, Xbox) or the next-gen gaming machines (PS3, Revolution, Xbox 360).

Placing mechas in teams of two to four is still intact in Alpha 3, which first debuted in Alpha 2. Combination and supporting attacks as well as defence adds a whole new game plan strategy to the Alpha series. The best combination attack by far is the Skull team (Macross). Animation is spot on!

There had been some changes made on the items (Parts) as well as the Ability commands. No complains here from me, but the decision by the design team to drop the ability to regain 10SP (a Skill that can be 'bought' / learned in Alpha 2) after each turn does put a damper on my enthusiasm to use the pilots' Ability like there's no tomorrow :)

I do find Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 to be quite appealing in terms of gameplay and story. If you are new to SRW, getting SRW Alpha 3 to play it should not be much of a problem as it comes with in-game tutorial on the basic stuff. Of course, the situation can be a tad complex if you don't know any Japanese or Mandarin. But if you're persistent like how I was with my first SRW, you'd appreciate the game even more by the time you get the hang of it.

*Spoiler Warning!*




Of course, I still harbour the hope that the SRW team would reuse the Ware Ni Teki Nashi theme once Brooklyn (Brit) regains consciousness. The one currently in place for the Shin-RyuuKoOu (piloted by none other than the cute Kusuha) doesn't portray the right mood for the ultimate God-Machine, in my opinion. I'm hoping for divine intervention as I've yet to get Brit on his feet! -_-"

My fingers are crossed...