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Gundam Battle Assault 2 (Psx)
Technically, this game should be considered as the first of the Battle Assault series since the original Battle Assault was originally titled Gundam Battle Master 2. But enough of that… let’s see how this 2D Gundam fighting game stacks up? Is it something to look in to? Or is this merely a Gundam-ized rehash of Street Fighter?
Game play:
Street Mode (Main Game): The biggest theme in Battle Assault 2’s Street mode is that there are three storylines: UC’s OYW in 0079, FC’s 13th Gundam Fight, and AC’s Eve Wars in 195. There seem to be some extremely noticeable details that doesn’t quite follow Gundam canon, like the Endless Waltz Gundams showing up to fight in the Eve Wars instead of the original Okawara versions and the fact that Domon’s Shining Gundam is nowhere to be found. Really only minor issues here.
So on to the game play. Initially, you were only able to select from 5 units to play in Street Mode. As in any fighting game, you battle through stages against a predetermined set of opponents to unlock new MS to use in versus mode and time attack. However, after completing the game on hard difficulty for all 5 Street Mode Gundams, you could unlock an additional 3 units for Street Mode and thus bring the total to 8 units. Simple stuff really, but fun.
Versus Mode: A must have in all fighting games; this versus mode is no different from any other 2D fighting game. Battle a friend or the CPU in a fight to the death! Initially there were 16 units to choose from, but after playing Street Mode and the Time Attack modes you could later unlock more units to use.
Time Attack: There are two Time Attack modes in BA2; A and B. Both versions are simply undetermined sets of fights that involve beating the clock. Choose your unit from the available list like in versus mode, and start some wrecking. The faster you beat down your opponent, the better your ranking/score. After about 10 fights or so, your ranking/score will be shown on the famous “scrolling list of best times/scores.” This mode also allows you to unlock any MS that you didn’t unlock in Street Mode, namely the Mobile Armours.
Graphics:
Battle Assault 2 is a 2D fighting game, which isn’t a bad thing. It keeps basic feel of a standard fighting game, and doesn’t have to be too flashy with any 3D graphics or special effects. Attack images are kept relatively simple like the basic fireballs, flaming hands, and large blasts for ultimate attacks. In come cases, damage can be seen on some of the units, with armour and parts being knocked off or appearing damaged. Otherwise, nothing special about the graphics.
Miscellaneous:
No miscellaneous items…
In Conclusion…
For a 2D fighter, BA2 does well. It’s not insanely exciting since it follows the standard for all fighting games, but it isn’t that bad. As much as people want to call it a Street Fighter knockoff, I like to think of it as homage to all 2D fighters, only with Gundams fighting. Still, a great game with my recommendation.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars.
