10 Best Gundam Games, Ranked According To Metacritic

The Mobile Suit Gundam series has had a long tenure of success in anime, manga, and video game form. The story has spanned generations in its own universe and the real world. Fans have been able to immerse themselves in the world of Gundam through electronic mediums, and of course, by building model kits.

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When it comes to the Gundam video games, there are a lot of offers, ranging in art style and gameplay. There are tactical RPGs, turn-based strategy games, third-person shooters, fighting games, and an upcoming first-person hero shooter type game in development. For now, the offerings out there span console generations, and while the critics have been harsher on the review scores, fans have enjoyed the offerings year after year.

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10

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 Strikes A 65

The third entry in the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series, released on PS3 and Xbox 360, corrected a handful of the issues fans had with the previous two titles, as well as adding new modes and more mobile suits. The developers went for a cel-shaded art style, rather than the standard 3D of the previous games, that better reflected the anime style.

Like the Dynasty Warriors series, Gundam 3 has players completing missions on levels by tearing through hordes of basic enemies, and then facing elite enemies. Fans could also control their favorite mobile suits and face off against iconic suits. The Dynasty Warriors series is great for mindless battles, and the Gundam aesthetic adds a sci-fi flavor, especially for fans of the anime.

9

Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation Code Fairy Has A Mediocre 66

Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation Code Fairy acts as a companion game to the Free-to-Play Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 on PS4 and PS5. The two games link data so progression, and unlocks can be carried over. Operation Code Fairy, however, is a story-based single-player game.

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The game combines visual novel-style cutscenes with anime cutscenes amidst third-person action battle stages. Players can issue orders to AI companions and upgrade suits and pilots. The gameplay is fun and mirrors that of its online-only counterpart, so those players looking for more story from the Free-to-Play game should definitely check out Code Fairy.

8

Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters In Space Orbits With 66

Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters In Space is a third-person shooter released on the PS2 in 2003. While many Gundam battles take place on planet surfaces, this game, much like its title suggests, focuses on space battles. The story is broken up into several shorter chapters that span several years.

Players get to pilot a wide variety of iconic mobile suits and numerous melee or projectile weapons. The zero-G environments mean battles give players a full 360-degree combat experience. There was also a multiplayer mode where players could go online or play against bots.

7

Gundam Versus Fought For A 68

Releasing in 2017 on the PS4, Gundam Versus was the fifth iteration in the Gundam Vs. series of games. It kept the traditional two vs. two matches but also introduced three vs. three. Players take control of one mobile suit, pick their partner or partners and fight against another team of mobile suits.

Players can face off against fellow players online or take on AI Gundams in standard matches or a survival wave mode. In addition, Gundam Versus gave players over 180 suits to unlock and play as, offering a wide variety of possible combos and play styles.

6

SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays Settles At 71

SD Gundam Z Generation Cross Rays was released on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PS4 in 2019. It is a turn-based strategy game set in the Gundam universe. The story covers battles from the Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, Gundam 00, and Gundam Iron-Blooded-Orphans periods.

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Players embark on missions that were conflicts in the timeline of events from each series with two parts. The first has players control canon mobile suits, but the second part lets them assemble a mobile suit team of their own to fight with. Cross Rays is a fun tactical RPG adventure for fans of those periods in the Gundam universe.

5

Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front Deserved More Than 71

Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front launched on the PS2 in 2002 and gave Gundam fans a new perspective on one of the famed wars from the series. While the anime covered the One Year War from the Earth Federation’s perspective, this game put players in the suits of the opposition, the Zeon. The third-person shooter put players in control of a decent variety of mechs, embarking on missions to clear enemy forces from familiar locations.

Though the story focuses on the Zeon point of view, players can unlock Federation pilots to use during the campaign. There is also a cutscene viewer that added a longer recap movie, voiced by the game’s main character, and covers the events of the entire One Year War. Great graphics and gameplay, partnered with the alternate story view, made this game a favorite among fans, just not the reviewers.

4

Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs. Zion Battled To A 73

Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs. Zion was originally an arcade game in Japan but was ported to the PS2 and Dreamcast in 2002. The story takes place during the One Year War, and lets players pick their side, either fighting as the Earth Federation or the Principality of Zeon.

This third-person shooter gave players both ground and zero-G space battles to fight. The ground battles were fun, but the 360-degree space battles really added some strategy and excitement to the gameplay. For fans looking to play an authentic representation of the anime, Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs. Zion is a great choice, even including a lot of the music from the show.

3

SD Gundam Battle Alliance Achieved 74

SD Gundam Battle Alliance is the latest offering from the Gundam franchise, launching in August of 2022 on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. Like the other SD games, the Gundams featured are a “Chibi” art style, making them look like smaller, squashed toys.

Battle Alliance follows a story that spans several generations of Gundams, letting players play alternate timeline battles and replaying them with the correct enemies to reset the timeline to how it should be. In addition, players can unlock and customize tons of mobile suits, and select two partners to join them in each battle. This third-person action RPG is great fun for long-time fans of the series and newcomers alike.

2

Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. MaxiBoost ON Blasts Into 78

Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. MaxiBoost ON is another Gundam game that started with an arcade version popular enough to warrant a console port. In 2020, the arena fighter was released on the PS4, giving players a fantastic experience that truly captured the frantic, epic action that the arcade game has provided since 2016.

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Unlike previous versions, the player’s stats are upgraded instead of the mobile suit’s. There is a split-screen mode for local battles and dozens upon dozens of mobile suits to unlock and play as. This fighter has a ton of depth and fan service for long-time Gundam fans to fawn over.

1

Gundam Battle Assault 2 Tops Out With 80

Gundam Battle Assault 2 was released on the Playstation One in 2002 and was a sequel to the original Gundam Battle Assault. It was a 2D fighting game and one of the first original Gundam games released for an American audience instead of Japan.

The sequel added 3D backgrounds, replacing static ones, additional health bars to reflect armor levels, and an expanded story mode with fully voiced cutscenes. It also added Time Attack and Survival modes. With over 20 mobile suits to choose from, this fighter had great mechanics and a great way to sort out the epic Battles from the anime.

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