G Generation World is here and it’s indeed a fine G Generation game. It sports great graphics, very fluid animation and a gigantic roster to create your own group of overpowered units and wreck havoc through all Gundam timelines.
The game, however, is far from being perfect. Those coming from Wars may feel the lack of several details like machine introduction and cockpit cut-ins, as well as exploding animations. Several key characters and all grunt soldiers lack voices and there are no more tag lines spoken when a character is assigned at the Master Unit slot. A few featured series were relegated to just a few units and characters.
This can be due to the storage limitations for the PSP version. With the game being promoted as multi-platform, they couldn’t wield a better game for either of them. So those with the Wii version may feel a bit cheated with all the small details lost in comparison to its prequel, but in contrast the combat scenes feel a lot faster paced without those.
Graphic wise, no matter what version is played, they’re breathtaking, specially those from newcomer Unicorn. It’s important to note that there’s no difference between the Wii and PSP version on this matter, except for perhaps screen resolution and a few noticeable compression on FMVs for the portable device.
The gameplay remains much the same from its prequel, with a few additions:
- targets are marked when moving a unit, so to easily spot who we can attack
- smaller, simpler shaped battleships and unit launching from its center rather than catapults
- Generation Breaks: the renamed Wars Break brings in not only enemy reinforces but allies too
- Challenge Mission: a special condition that, alongside Generation Breaks, bring in a secret unit forces when the condition is triggered
- Custom Character: it’s possible to create a character with customizable pilot suit, voice and BGM
- automatic unit combination: the option is shown at the unit combination screen, where all possible combinations are made, so there’s no more need to go unit by unit to see if a combination is registered
- better hints for unit evolution and combination
On the sound aspect, some tunes feel a lot better, specially for Zeta, but most if not all series lost the change of background music when a character reaches Super One Hit mode. Wars had a lot of personal favorites of mine as Super One Hit mode only. World, on the other hand, lacks lots of those.
All in all, it’s quite a solid game for new players. Those with PSP and coming straight from Portable may be happy to see what they’ve been missing. Old time veterans might feel a bit cheated with the few new content, but the special treatment on Unicorn’s animations, the great graphics for both Wii and PSP and fun stages with lots of enemies to beat make up for it.
