SUPER ROBOT WARS 30 (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.3.1 Update + All DLCs

SUPER ROBOT WARS 30 is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Banpresto. Starting as a spinoff of the Compati Hero series, the main feature of the franchise is having a story that crosses over several popular mecha anime, manga, and video games, allowing characters and mecha from different titles to team up or battle one another.

The first game in the franchise was released for the Game Boy on April 20, 1991. Later numerous games were released on various consoles and handhelds. Due to the nature of crossover games and licensing involved, only a few games have been released outside Japan, and in English. The franchise celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016, and its 30th anniversary in 2021.

A tactical RPG unites characters and robots from various mecha anime for battles against common adversaries. Players guide characters through both adventure and battle, taking command of colossal robots on a strategic map to vanquish their foes. The battle alternates between ally and enemy phases. After the player moves and attacks with their robots, it’s the enemy’s turn. Once all adversaries are defeated, the game transitions to an Intermission phase.

During Intermission, players utilize resources earned in battle to train pilots, enhance robots, and gain bonuses for their army. Subsequently, they advance to the next chapter of the adventure. Super Robot Wars offers a distinctive gaming experience with its amalgamation of mecha series crossovers, dynamic attack animations, and the opportunity to upgrade cherished machines and pilots.

GAMEPLAY

Battles in Super Robot Wars are turn-based. The player usually gets to move their forces first, one at a time, then control switches to the game’s AI. When a unit attacks, the target reacts by blocking (increasing defense against the attack), evading (reducing the attack’s chance to hit), or countering (striking back with their attack). Once chosen, the battle animation is played out. If the player unit is not destroyed and successfully damages the enemy, then the unit gains experience points.

All battles are carried out either in the terrain of land, air, sea, or space, which affects the performance of machines, pilots, and weapons in various ways. The battlefield also contains objects which grant various effects. For example, besides providing repair and energy refill, a military base also provides land units with a defense bonus but will hinder them from moving freely. In addition to standard mecha and vehicle units, the player often has one or more “Battleships”, air- or spacecraft units that in addition to powerful long-ranged attacks, can also dock other units to refill energy and repair damage.

Units are in-game are generally separated into two categories: “super-type” and “real-type”. Superrobots are heavy units with exceptionally high hit points and armor, and powerful, close-range weapons with high energy costs. On the other hand, real robots are light units that are faster and more agile but have less armor and hit points, relying instead on dodging attacks. Their weapons have longer ranges and better accuracy at the cost of doing less damage per hit. Some units are treated as “support units”, regenerating hit points and/or energy to allies, while battleships and carriers serve as transports or to resupply all units, while also providing powerful fire support.

Though every unit takes a single grid on the tactical map and has little visual difference in battle animations, a larger unit gains defensive and offensive bonuses against smaller units, but carries a disadvantage to evasion and accuracy. In later titles, certain attacks can bypass the size attribute, nullifying the effect of size in combat. Some units have other unique characteristics: for example, Getter Robo can transform into different forms with new weapons and different attributes.

Weapons carry various attributes other than range, accuracy modifier, and attack power. All weapons can be divided into melee and shooting categories that determine their effectiveness by pilots’ status. Other attributes can be affected by terrain or a target’s defensive ability.

In addition, some units make use of “MAP Weapons” which affect multiple squares at once, with some damaging everything in the area and others, such as Cybuster’s Cyflash, ignoring allies. Some games feature weapons that inflict status effects on enemies that drain their energy, weaken their armor, or damage the pilot’s stats.

PLOT

In most games, the player selects or is given a Banpresto original character and machine, who is connected to the overarching storyline which ties together the events of the constituent anime for the game. Some featured anime also have their plots intertwined.

In Super Robot Wars Alpha, the White Fang from New Mobile Report Gundam Wing allies with Paptimus Scirocco’s rebellion from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, resulting in the two enemy forces working together.  The stories play out the events of the anime, albeit altered to make room for characters, settings, and plot elements from other shows.

It is said that the events of each game are caused by incursions known as Dimension Quakes that started several years prior with the explosion of a “dimensional bomb”, thereby constantly merging and separating the various universes without anyone knowing, and ensuring canonicity with both the other games and the properties they adapt.

One of the most notable recurring changes in the series is the near-complete absence of character death. Whenever the game gets to a point where a character dies within their anime, the games will frequently use an element from another series to ensure the character’s survival. This is likely done for the games to appeal to a broader audience.