Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs. Zeon is an action game developed jointly between Bandai and Capcom. The game was released in North America in September 2002 In the game, you engage in battles with mulitple enemies and allies across a wide range of environments. From underwater, to outerspace one of the strengths of this game is that lets you fight everywhere, not just on land like some other recent Gundam games. The controls are very simple. There are two ranged attacks, one close attack, a thrust button and a target lock-on button that cycles through available targets. You can also issue simple orders to your allies. Winning a battle is decided by the side that destroys the most targets to knock his opponents battle gauge down to zero. Different MS have different values, so for example destroying a Gundam will knock the federation's battle gauge down greatly, but shooting down a GM will only knock the gauge down a little. This is where the strategy comes in. Do you concentrate on a few high value targets or go for the safe kills knowing you will have to destroy far more of them? This also affects what MS you choose as you can afford to be shot down many times in a Zaku but if you choose the Zeong, you better stay alive. In addition to the arcade and VS. mode you can play a lengthy campaign mode. With over 200 missions this mode greatly extends the play life of the game. There are campaigns for both the Federation or Zeon side as you replay the One Year War. As the campaign begins you have only one weak mobile suit. But as you finish missions you are given more suits to choose from. The missions have a variety of tasks such as protecting transports, destroying battleships, surviving for a set time period and the classic 'kill'em all'. Some missions will even have you fighting alongside Char or Amuro in classic battles. The campaign mode will really keep you occupied until you can get some friends over to play the Versus mode. Here you play split screen either cooperatively or against another player. The game is a blast with multiple players. In terms of graphics Fed vs. Zeon is the best-looking Gundam game yet. The MS models are have a chunky retro look, subtly weathered to give a very solid feel. The animations are excellent and replicate some of the classic moves from the show such as Amuro's famous behind the back shooting. The audio does it's job; all the usual Gundam sound effects and music are present and accounted for. There are no anime cutscenes, and no extras like sound tests or model viewers, but really this just a fun game. Recommended for all Gundam fans.

Mobile Suit Gundam- "Federation Vs. Zeon" Playable Mobile Suits RX-78-2 Gundam RX-77 Guncannon RX-75 Guntank RGM-79 GM RX-79(G) Gundam RGM-79(G) GM MS-05 Zaku MS-06 Zaku II MS-06S Zaku II (Char's) MS-07B Gouf MS-09 Dom MS-09R Rick Dom MSM-03 Gogg MSM-04 Acguy MSM-07 Z'gok MSM-07S Z'gok (Char's) MSM-10 Zock MS-14A Gelgoog MS-14S Gelgoog (Char's) MS-15 Gyan MSN-02 Zeong Hidden MAs playable in Vs. Mode Adzam Big Zam Braw Bro Zakrello Elemeth Bygro Grabro G-Fighter G-Bull/G-Sky

Released in Dec. 2003, "Encounters in Space" is a sequel of sorts to "Journey to Jaburo" in that it continues the path of the Whitebase as it returns to space. As you can tell from the title, the game takes place all in space. In addition to replaying the end of the original Gundam series, Bandai has packed the game with many other campaigns and game play modes. You can play as Char or the famous OYW aces Johnny Ridden, Shin Matsunaga, or the Black Tri-stars. You can also play missions from 0083 Stardust Memory as Kou, Gato, and Cima. There is even a brief two missions with the Blue Destiny. What was really hyped in the Japan release was the original side story campaign featuring two new Gundams, RX-78-4 and RX-78-5 and their battles aboard the pegasus-class ship, Thoroughbred. Finally, there are some two-player action and mode where you can create your own pilot and run them through a gauntlet of up to 8 missions. There are over 70 MS and other vehicles you can unlock so there is a lot to do in the game. Unfortunately, the gameplay is mediocre at best. There is little variety and it consists mostly of firing the multi-lock over and over again and target lock-on system is terrible. If you can overlook the gameplay, there is enough for Gundam fans to enjoy. But even the gundam fans can complain about he new animated footage being very bad, and having new dub voices for the 0083 characters, Gato's being particularly poor. This game should tide fans over until the next good gundam game, hopefully that will be the Aeug Vs. Titans game scheduled for a Nov. 04 release in the U.S.

Mobile Suit Gundam- "Encounters in Space" The no. of missions in each campaign. Whitebase - 8 Thoroughbred -5 (+2 alternates) Kou Uraki- 6 Anavel Gato - 5 Cima Gaharau- 3 Char Aznable- 5 Johnny Ridden - 5 Shin Matsunaga - 5 Black Tri-stars - 3 Blue Destiny - 2 Bonus MS only playable in Vs. mode Aile Strike Gundam (SEED) Aegis Gundam (SEED) Burning Gundam (G) Master Gundam (G) Wing Zero Custom (W) Tallgeese III (W)