Hello everyone! Last time I wrote that the strategy of Mobile Suit Undam Seed Destiny: Generation of C.E. was born as a promotional product for the second season of the Undam Seed Destiny anime. Surprisingly, the game turned out to be of high quality, and she managed to avoid the problems inherent in such projects.
Now I would like to talk about two other games in this franchise. The first is called Mobile Suit Undam Seed, which was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2003 a few months before the end of the first season. That is, this project also advertised the anime of the same name.
But the second game is called Mobile Suit Undam Seed: Never Ending Tomorrow. Its peculiarity is that it was supposed to incorporate the best from previous M.S. games. Undam Encounters Space and M.S. Undam: Journey to Jabiru, which I also talked about in previous articles.
Mobile Suit Undam Seed
So, I’ll start, perhaps, with the game of 2003. The first thing that catches your eye is the similarity with the gameplay on arcade machines. In missions on the surface of the planet, the player needs to move from left to right, stopping to destroy enemy units that are advancing both from the sides and from the horizon of the location.
When fighting in space, movement changes slightly. The player’s armor will now fly straight ahead and enemies will spawn at a distance. At the same time, some space battles take place on the surface of an allied ship, which makes it impossible to escape anywhere. Only small movements to the side or up will be available.
Before the start of the mission, the player can choose one of four types of Undam:
With beam rifle;
With beam rifle and shield;
With a shoulder machine gun and a two-handed cannon;
With a sword and an energy boomerang.
After all, it’s easier to shoot enemies from afar than to wait for them to fly up for hand-to-hand combat.
During the battle, it is imperative to monitor three indicators. The blue scale in the upper left of the screen is both the energy of super moves and the health scale. Gingham can deal damage in a circle both in melee combat with his foot and when firing from his rifle. After each such reception or missed strike, the scale will decrease.
But there is one caveat. Under the scale are cells showing how much armor the Undam has left. And if one of them is still painted over, and the blue bar is completely depleted, then the player’s armor will still be alive.
The third indicator is the number of SP points in the upper right part of the screen. They are awarded for killing enemies, and when the number reaches the limit, the pilot switches to Seed mode. The rate of fire of guns increases, the armor becomes faster, and some of the lost cells in the armor are restored. Yes, if the player’s armor is destroyed, the game will not end. You will be prompted to continue from the last moment, in exchange for resetting the score counter.
Graphically, the game is very good. All models are worked out, and in the dialogues they show 2-D images of the main characters with animated faces. They even got confused with the display of Undam variations before flying on a mission. Depending on what type of armor the player has chosen, a video will play with the installation of the corresponding weapons. Plus, just like in the anime, if the Gundi’s armor is reduced to zero during combat, the armor becomes colorless.
They tried to lengthen it by increasing the number of enemies and adding a fighting game mode where you can clash on open armor. The original stories were not added to avoid confusion for those who go to watch the first season. So this game quickly burns out with its brilliance and is only suitable for a brief introduction to the current events. That is, she perfectly played the role of an advertising product.
Mobile Suit Undam Seed: Never Ending Tomorrow
Now it’s time to talk about the 2004 game. If Journey to Jabiru was only ground combat, and Encounters Space focused only on space battles, then Never Ending Tomorrow decided to do both.
The plot based on the first season is now fully completed. The player can complete 15 missions as Kira Yamato, 11 alternate chapters as Assurant Zara, and four survival modes against hundreds of armors. The missions of the pilots have been preserved, but again reworked. If earlier the character had several plot stories, now only one. The result was 22 missions between 22 pilots.
A new support system has also been added to the game. Now, before the start of the battle, you need to choose one of 26 partners with special moves, divided into the following groups:
Greens replenish either health or armor energy;
Yellow ones increase the characteristics of the armor (strength, speed, attack power);
Reds deal damage to the enemy;
Blue ones reduce the characteristics of enemy armor;
Purple ones give invulnerability and are the strongest.
After each battle, partners gain experience. After leveling them up, new special moves are unlocked as a reward, which can then be selected from a separate menu. Important note: during the battle, power-ups are activated depending on the specified serial number. If you have a green type at number 1, and a red type at number 2, then the second will be available for use only after activating the first.
They made a lot of sense here compared to the simple interfaces from the last two games. One shows 2D mode and the other shows 3D. The center of the screen was littered with two target designators. The hefty octagon shows the approximate shooting area, but the middle octagon that appears in it is true guidance.
