SD Gundam Battle Alliance is developed by ARTDINK and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment that puts players in the role of an unseen character. Plucked from a battlefield with your companion, you are both transported to a digital world where an AI system overlooks the history of the Gundam series. The player is picked to correct timeline errors known as Breaks, where major moments in history have been changed with mobile suits showing up outside of the era they were modelled for.

Players can acquire mobile suits from the many in the long-running anime series that they can use in combat. The SD side of things is a reference to the Bandai model kits you can buy and build, and those who do build Gunpla figures will know that SD stands for Super Deformed – a miniature version. After finishing levels, you will earn parts for mobile suits, so if you are after a certain suit there will be some repeating of missions.

The game supports up to three players co-op, or it can be played as a single player with two computer teammates. You can also personally select your SD Mobile Suit, and that can range in combat styles from long-range classes to close-quarter fighters. All mobile suits have ranged and melee attacks, and based on the class, this will reflect the skills that they can use. I have been using the Barbatos Form 6, which is from the Iron-Blooded Orphans series, and it’s the flagship Gundam in the show. Being a close-quarter combat unit, it was the right fit for my play style.

In between missions, the story is delivered in a visual novel format, with players being able to pick choices for certain questions raised. The story covers many Gundam series arcs and will include select characters from the shows, and they will interact with you and voice their input on the topic of the breaks that are happening across the timeline.

The missions do have a difficulty setting with Easy, Normal, and Chaos modes, but it doesn’t really seem to affect how hard the game is. What it does do, however, is adjust the end mission experience and rewards, so at the time of this review, it’s a great way to quickly unlock everything. This is something that really needs to be addressed in an update, so take advantage while you can!

Combat is played from a third-person perspective with an easy-to-learn play style. Each suit will have a preference as to what range you ideally should be for attacks, especially with the bumper skills and the ultimate attack that fills during combat. As an example, the Barbatos has skills to utilize the weapon it wields – a massive club that can clamp onto enemies, pick them up, and crush them. On the other side of the scale, a ranged unit, such as Freedom, uses the cannons on its back to deliver long ranged attacks.

All of the voiced lines in the game are in Japanese with subtitled options available. The sounds of the mobile suits fighting are made rather well, with the sounds of metals crashing against each other, or a laser sword being swiped through a suit as it explodes.

I love the look of Gundams, so being able to see many highly detailed SD variants was an amazing moment for me. Having a large range of variant mobile suits, the details put into the designs are greatly appreciated, although the level designs can feel slightly empty. They feel very small to play in, but they range from canyons to cities and space stations. Playing in different environments is great, but given the size of the suits, I wish the play zone was a bit bigger with a few more enemies.

SD Gundam Battle Alliance is an ideal game for Gunpla lovers. They’ll appreciate the detailed work with the SD models. The storyline covers a range of the series and is a great way to honour the fandom while also introducing new players to the key points of the series. Online play is very stable, but finding a game can get a tad bit annoying when hosts kick you for not having finished the game already. There has even been some DLC content announced, with more missions to look forward to and new mobile suits to unlock.

Written by: Shane Walsh