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Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo (PS2)
Journey to Jaburo was the first Gundam game to be released on the PS2. It was to be the first time the usually animated mobile suits would appear in 3D for the second generation game consoles released back in 2000 to 2001. It’s quite an old game, and I’ve recently dusted off my copy and brought it back from the dead to write this review (and because I was extremely bored). Being the first always meant that it has its faults, so this game may have had the same issues that currently plague Gundam: Crossfire for the PS3. But how exactly did Journey to Jaburo stack up?
Game play:
Main Game: The setting is the year UC 0079. The OYW has broken out between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. After several months, they have fought to a stalemate with both sides losing half their respective populations. Civilian Amuro Ray, along with some of his friends, is drawn into the conflict as the pilot of the RX-78-2 Gundam, an Earth Federation prototype mobile suit. You fight through the OYW as Amuro, toppling Zeon aces as you and the White Base run into the “Red Comet” Char Aznable several times. The game ends with a cliff-hanger as it cuts off after the end of the Jaburo Raid…
While the OYW story is a bit overused, I’d have to give this game credit for actually having a plot to the game unlike its newer counterpart, Crossfire. The whole story follows the series quite well, and would serve well as an introduction for any blossoming Gundam fan. Fans at this time had only been largely exposed to Gundam Wing, so this would’ve been a fresh new story for them.
In the end, the game play is quite solid despite being extremely repetitive. If you play the game more than once, you’re sure to be able to predict what happens exactly. Missions are simplistic and easy to complete, giving it a very low replay value.
Mission Mode: After completing the main game, you can unlock a special option. No… it isn't a versus mode, but it’s a Mission Mode instead! Not a very bright idea. Play as either a Federation or Zeon soldier to fight in correlating missions to unlock different MS to use on the same missions. Other than creating wider exposure for other OYW related MS, this six-mission option does little to improve the game quality. The missions are, as in the main game, simplistic and repetitive. What’s worse is that it has no plot either. Boring…
Graphics:
While the graphics on Journey to Jaburo are obsolete thanks to the recent release of the PS3 and Crossfire, it had actually been quite advanced for its time. The purpose was to create and render the MS and settings of the OYW in complete 3D, and that was done well. These graphics served their purpose, simple as that.
Miscellaneous:
One of the redeeming qualities of Journey to Jaburo would be its movie viewer. Consisting of digitally remastered clips from the original series and more, the nearly 30 year-old franchise breathes new life as the animation no longer appears “old and dated.” It’s good to see these improvements be made to the cut scenes on the game. Again, they serve their purpose well.
Additional features also include a unit viewer for the various usable MS in the game, as well as a BGM player.
In Conclusion…
Journey to Jaburo is, by today’s standards, obsolete in every way besides the miscellaneous material. But for its time, it was quite revolutionary with its graphics and remastered clips from the shows. It serves its purpose well as an introduction to the genre. Despite having repetitive game play, as well as lacking a versus mode, I’m gonna cut it some slack since it was the first Gundam game for the PS2. Bandai pretty much used it as a test on the market to see what they’d need to improve on, and they did well with the later PS2 games like Zeonic Front, Federation vs. Zeon, Encounters in Space, and Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam. But hey, I’ll also give it an extra point for having a story, unlike the newer Crossfire…
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars.
