MightyMatilda
Since: Jan, 2015
06/26/2015 00:00:00
I'd love to play this game, but it is notoriously difficult to emulate. It flat out won't work on PSX 1.13, while ePSXe requires plenty of workarounds to prevent it from locking up all the time. It's really a shame.
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The flawed masterpiece (SRW Alpha 1)
The original SRW Alpha game marked a magical point in the history of the franchise, just as it was starting to transition out of the formula of the Classic games and started to introduce features and mechanics that are a given in current titles.
The game still keeps the old morale mechanics though (+1 morale meaning +1% to attack and defense) and I actually like that. It means when you're throwing around your best attacks even tough bosses probably won't survive more than three or four hits barring the rare casting of Guts. It also has some very strange Spirit commands (+10 morale to all units? Bring back fallen allies?) and a peculiar "defend/attack" option where you'll be guaranteed to be hit by your enemy's attack, but you'll also be able to attack them for half the regular damage.
Story-wise, the game has a great deal going on. It starts small at first, focusing on more old-school mecha shows, but things get spiced up with Dancougar, Evangelion, Dunbine, and Gunbuster, and then the plot kicks into high gear after Macross's introduction when everyone's warped into space. The game also has a lot of three-way route-splits, which helps with the feel that a lot of stuff is going on. The downside to this though is that you can miss out on a lot of a canon's great moments because you're on another route either to experience it or just get all those UC Gundam secrets. Still, it's a great experience and there's no lack of fun stages. Like the one when everyone is fighting in their support crafts.
The game still shows its age regarding Battle Masteries, with no guide whatsoever to let you know what they are or even an easy way to check when you get them or how many you have. Akurasu fortunately has a very detailed guide to the game, and Neidengard has a plot translation over on gamefaqs, even though it has godawful translation choices.
Admittedly, I played Alpha 1 using an emulator which gave me a leg up over the game's technical failings (loading times and the infamous glitched tiles). If I'd played it on a PSX my opinion of it would be more critical, but even then it wouldn't take away from the strengths of the game. Even with all of that taken into consideration, the game's still aged much, much better than the Classic-era games. If you like Super Robot Wars, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a look.