It's hard to believe, but 2006 marks the 20th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam video games. The even longer-running anime launched in 1979 and has spawned a planet's worth of spin offs from follow-ups to the original storyline and beyond, 'super-deformed' Gundams and even a decent live-action offering that had some pretty cool computer generated effects. The games have been even more varied, offering just about every genre popular in Japan over the last twenty years. However, US gamers have only gotten a small handful of Gundam games since 1999, some better overall than others.

From the great (Side Gundam Story 0079 and Federation vs. Zeon) to the not so great (Encounters in Space), fans have seen a nicely spread out yet tiny history that doesn't necessarily follow a perfect timeline, but places players at certain points in different Gundam universes. Bandai's newest game, MS Saga: A New Dawn, blows all this history into cosmic dust by dispensing with the accumulated elements fans are used to by using Mobile Suits as customizable mechs in what appears to be an entry-level RPG. I say "appears to be" because the game cleverly uses familiar RPG conventions and simple anime-styled 3D graphics as covers for its challenging gameplay and innovative take on the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise.

The game starts with a big bang, as 90% of the Earth's population is wiped out by a massive energy pulse, which the survivors name The Great Fall. In the aftermath things are slowly getting back to some sort of normalcy, with the remaining humans forming settlements scattered across the ruined planet. However, it's soon discovered that the computer system that caused the Fall could be utilized to create feared Mobile Suits to ravage what's left of the planet. The game's lead character, a young lad named Tristan, sets out with his friend Fritz initially to track down and take revenge on the Suits that destroyed the orphanage they called home, leaving them as the only survivors.

As they travel the globe, they come across a deeper plot to take over the Earth by a powerful lunatic and his randomly generated army of battle-ready MS units. Naturally, the pair meet and team up with a small party of Mobile-Suited like-minded adventurers. There are plot twists galore, a few surprises and plenty of great battles in store for those who pick up the game. The awesome thing is that the game drops much of the previous Gundam history into bite-sized nuggets found in books throughout the game, and told by one particularly talkative NPC. It turns out that the majority of people fear Mobile Suits; they're not even allowed in towns because townspeople freak when they see them, expecting to be attacked. Given that all of their troubles are caused by enemy mechs wreaking havoc, it's hard to blame the assorted villagers for their fear and hatred.

Initially, Tristan and Fritz discover a Mobile Suit in a cave, then immediately have to defeat an enemy MS that shows up to capture them. After defeating the mech, Fritz rewires it and hops in as your first companion. If you're a longtime fan, get used to using the dreaded Zeon suits right off the bat. The game's 36 customizable suits span the well known Gundam universe, so eventually there are over 260 parts to create your own party of up to six Mobile Suits. In the first major 'dungeon', the boys come across an unconscious young girl who they rescue from a tough boss. Shortly after, the girl (named Aeon) recovers she joins the group in a borrowed Mobile Suit. Despite her seemingly frail form, Aeon becomes quite a powerful party member and, yes, she's key to the plot (if you didn't already suspect it).

You meet up with a few other interesting folks as you play, and the game isn't shy about piling on the well-worn axioms. There's the mysterious masked military man who helps the team from time to time, the scantily dressed tomboy loudmouth who forces you into a fight then says you can join her after you beat her senseless, and the wandering burly adventurer who you rescue from certain doom before a boss fight. You also meet up with a strong-willed female military commander in a powerful mech, the happy-go lucky pirate with the black market and first flying ship your party uses later in the game and a few other colorful types who may be friend or foe depending on the plot twists.

On the battlefield, MS Saga is actually a fairly difficult game throughout, thanks to a solid battle system that requires a decent amount of player strategy in key areas. The game eschews the recent RPG trap of button-tapping rhythm mini-game combat for straightforward turn-based goodness. The fun part comes from not only the pre-battle customization feature, but from the Charge, Boost and Defend commands. The game displays your foes' upcoming actions onscreen, enabling you to plan your assorted attacks and defenses. Similar to Phantasy Star II through IV, MS Saga is very defense-oriented. When defending you receive 50% less damage from any attack or sometimes block it entirely if your suit has certain options equipped. Under your suit's HP and TP display is an energy bar that builds up when defending or charging.

Some weapons or boost attacks require a certain amount of energy, so you can use standard attacks while the other two members charge up or just spend a few turns defending until your team maxes out its energy. As you level up, each member learns different boost skills, some of which require a particular weapons loadout to use effectively. There are also techniques (the game's magic) that do everything from repair damaged suits to unleashing damage upon every enemy onscreen. In a great touch, leveling up only gives your characters new skills; you can only change the HP of each MS by buying upgrades, which top out at some point for each suit. This makes creating and switching suits a key gameplay factor as things get progressively harder. You'll also gain ECAP units that can be used as keys to create new suits, or special items that boost your stats or help deflect certain types of damage, as mentioned above.

Initially, the difficulty can be a bit harrowing, as enemies can do plenty of damage, yet leave you with the occasional item, paltry amounts of cash and low experience points. Since random battles are used (save for boss encounters and certain other areas), I'd highly suggest getting to about level 5 before tackling the first major dungeon, The Great Ark. Until you reach Eisengrad and the well-defended G-System above it, you're stuck with your initial Mobile Suits. However, you can equip certain dropped weapons that can help even the odds a bit in your favor. To acquire new Mobile Suits you need at least 50 units of MS data (either purchased or given as a mission reward) and access to any of the five G-Systems scattered across the globe.

An important key is trying to bring over 50 (and up to 99) units of MS data with you, as this creates a more powerful Mobile Suit that costs less to upgrade. A 50-unit suit starts at level zero and it costs a good chunk of change to max it out. Selling off your initial suits is highly recommended, especially given that you can use the parts afterward to customize new suits if you like, or sell them for even more cash. However, once you build your first Guncannon, Gelgoog or Hizack, there's little chance you'll go back to the old suits at all. Equipping each suit is a rewarding experiment, as each one has a different sized grid for you to drop weapon shapes onto, sort of like playing a puzzle game. That massive cannon you get from a boss fight early in the game only fits the Guncannon model MS (for a while), but its massive attack can KO shielded enemies that regular or boost attacks can't touch.

The real treat comes when more than three members are in your party. As you acquire more Mobile Suits, these reserve units can be swapped into battles at any time during your turn. If you customize correctly, sticking backup members with restorative and charge-enhancing equipment, those members can hop into battles in a few short turns with completely maxed out boost levels to make short work of tough enemies. Since you're not penalized for swapping party members out (you can switch and take an action during your turn), this works wonders when members are hit with crippling status effects. Boss battles are intense dances of back and forth character switching, defending, melee and boost attacks, as special weapons are unleashed that shower the screen with effects. You'll definitely feel relieved when each humongous leader gives up the ghost, as the gained experience, cash and gear really helps on the battlefield.

The gameplay gets geometrically tougher in each area and the world map is open, allowing you to run across foes far beyond your party's MS levels. Wandering aimlessly without saving can be hazardous in a big way, as super-tough enemies drop in on you the further away from a new town you get. In addition, dungeons and some over world forts have areas where you need to defeat a set of really hard enemies in order to advance the storyline. If you're under prepared, the initial encounter should let you know pretty much during the first attack what to expect.

Visually, MS Saga: A New Dawn has a clean art style that uses Criterion's Renderware to pump out some nice-looking 'chibi' style Gundams and detailed environments. The color palette is a bit muted (save for the wild costumes worn by the leads), but this lends a nicely familiar feel to the towns. There is bit of old-style Renderware fuzziness when you're in motion that might be distracting to some, but the metal dungeon corridors and assorted machines look very nice indeed. The great cel-shaded intro anime might have made for a better-looking graphics engine, but the 3D at least tries to match it as closely as possible. The world map is more representational than the dungeons, so you get a fairly basic over world with much better looking caves, forts and tunnels. I liked the scale of the Gundams against the hangars, tanks and other human-sized equipment; you don't see every nut and bolt on the machines, but the size difference is nicely emphasized.

One thing I absolutely love about moving around is that you can set your character to run all the time (and movement is quite fast compared to other RPGs). As for the heroes - well, it's the more polarizing part of the visual appeal. Either you'll love the friendly designs or hate them - there's no two ways about it. Tristan's flaming red hair, differently colored eyes and overly stylized clothing screams for some fan with too much time on his or her hands, sewing skills and a quick trip to the optician for some Acuvue lenses to come up with a winning convention costume. In fact, the entire cast looks as if they're fresh out of a new anime series. It's as if The Great Fall destroyed 90% of the population, but zero percent of the malls. Call it a new age Neutron bomb, if you will.

The sound production is solid, if not spectacular, with sporadic voice acting that's not bad at all, although a few more cut scenes would have given the characters a bit more personality around the midpoint. The music is decent rather than memorable, yet there are a few exotic sounding tunes that stick out along with a clever homage here and there. There are a number of in-game cinematics that emulate an anime look; most of these are impressive introductions to new characters and bosses or additions to upcoming tough battle sections, complete with occasional thematic cues from the assorted Gundam TV series. The game more than makes up for its standard tunes with excellent usage of plenty of classic Mobile Suit Gundam weapon and explosion sound effects throughout. Some folks will find these effects dated, but as a longtime Gundam fan that intimacy makes the battles even more appealing. In a way, the more appreciative you are towards the franchise, the more you'll appreciate what Banpresto has done with the overall production.

In terms of the things that don't work out so well, there aren't too many negatives. The main issue RPG fans will have is with the well-worn plot points that can be seen coming from many miles away most of the time, while the surprises won't be too surprising to the jaded gamers who populate message boards. My own Rule #1 for enjoying a console RPG (or any game, for that matter) is to approach each one as a new, separate game world, not stack it up against the last or even best games of a particular genre. This frees up a whole block of brain cells to just dive in and explore, taking in the sights and sounds as if all the familiar parts were brand new. It's hard to enjoy any game if you're "what-iffing" and comparing every millimeter and microsecond to your all-time favorites (or someone else's that hasn't played the game yet has an 'opinion' on it).

Some other folks may see the encounter rate as too high, but here's where actually playing other RPGs helps. Compared to something like Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Golden Sun, or even Final Fantasy X, you'll run into areas where you can make it through four or five corridors with no action before being besieged a few times in ten steps. Given that you need the money and experience, you'll want to get into as many battles as possible, anyway, especially as money is tight for the first few hours of gameplay, so stocking up on healing items becomes a life lesson early on. One other problem is that the gameplay does take a while to get moving - eventually you cover what's left of the Earth and end up leaving it for some supremely challenging late dungeons; heck, it wouldn't be a Gundam game without outer space battles.

MS Saga is completely compelling once you let it sink its hooks into you, promising at least a good forty hours of gameplay and some cool replay bonuses. I sunk a solid 78:04 into my first go over the course of a long weekend and a few extra days of leveling and trying out different suit loadouts. The really awesome Mobile Suits come past the halfway point in the colder parts of the game world. If you level up enough most enemies are pretty easy to dispatch with these, yet you still need to use techniques and proper attack/defense skills throughout. While the plot isn't too spectacular, the whole New Dawn aspect can be seen as a fresh start for the franchise that shows the universal connection that console RPGs share. Therefore, that familiarity actually works in the game's favor after all, when you get right down to it. Bandai and Banpresto have laid the groundwork for a new take on the long-running Gundam franchise, and players looking something with a nice blend of old-school flavor and a spicy mech twist will find MS Saga: A New Dawn very much worth the time and effort to get into.

Reviewed by Greg Wilcox for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).