Personal thoughts and feelings:

This takes me back a number of years (God I hate being old) I played it first on a emulator, same game, hacked to English, and later played it for the DS which was the same game, just prettier and offered a second campaign as well as extras to play with at the end (Like the uber battle mech boss that didn't even fit on the screen)

But when I played it and saw it was a strategy RPG I was braced for the worst, I've played several turn based RPGs like this, and they were often convoluted, complicated and the story was usually very very weak. (princess is kidnapped, or darkness is coming if we don't win etc etc) and no offense to people who love the genre, it just got old FAST for me. However I was surprised, pleasantly surprised I was getting sucked into the game. The story (while I admit a LITTLE cliche' was well done.)involved the main character (you) starting a mission with the military, whom have some control over the island Huffman, however the mission you're sent on is a setup, rigged by the OCU militants, and conspirators to start a full fledged war, which is what they got, though in the process of the attack you loose your fiance in the battle (Against a mech you will learn to really really hate)

From there you are hired on, as a Mercenary after you were discharged formally. The mission? Help the army get back and end the war, but most importantly, find the jerk who killed your fiance. I admit I had alot of fun with this game, and I'm sure you will too! Give it a true, and come on, its made by Square soft? How can you go wrong?

The real review:

Graphics: 9
The graphics of the game are presented largely in isometric view, and they don't disappoint either. The attention to detail phenomenal. From the explosions, to the sparks, even cartridges ejecting from guns to clink to the ground. And you are able to even customize and color your mech (and this is a SNES game!) With dozens if not hundreds of different parts for the body, legs and arms, as well as weapons, shoulder weapons and special weapons galore. Each with its own traits and abilities (Make sure you have your HIT% high or you won't hit the broad side of the barn and it won't matter if you have the best weapon ever in the game) The backgrounds and playing fields are also very detailed, between missions you can go to cities that have hangars full of mechs inside, and the shop has mech pieces in great detail everywhere, some you'll even recognize from using. So for the graphics, there is nothing to disappoint here.

However I did give it a 9 because there are a few graphical glitches now and then (though small) and this seemed to be a early use of the 'If its real, its brown' rule used in video games (before they started using the 'Bloom makes everything better' rule.)

Sound: 7

Okay, the sound for the game is good. Not great but it is good. The sound effects are pitch perfect for a game like this, rockets, explosions and so forth and that goes strong. However the music and so forth is... lack luster. It seems to have only a couple different songs, even for bosses used for the whole game so they aren't really memorable. So the sound for the game is solid, but not fantastic. Which is strange considering Square's dedication to making everything they touch sound beautiful.

Addictiveness: 9
Okay, so if I used the Tempest body, with the Gust legs I can support two heavy weapons and a L Tonfa...

That is my train of thought when I go to the setup screen, which for some it might prove confusing, but is actually relativity simple, anyone who plays RPGs will get into it fairly easily, but this is the big draw for me, customizing my mechs to perfection to each pilot. You see every pilot has their own strengths with certain weapons. Like from the start the main character is great with short range machine guns (however as you level up and use different weapons you can get better with others) While others are better with long range missiles, grenade launchers or get up and close with heavy hitting knuckles or tonfa weapons.

Piece of advice for you if you play: GET A SHIELD AS SOON AS YOU CAN FOR EVERYONE! They are shoulder mounted and nine times out of ten you don't need two missile weapons (which mount on shoulders) unless you have a long range fighter, otherwise, give em a shield, it will save you from the cheap one shot lucky kills the enemy gets from time to time with powerful missile barrages.

And if you ever want to see how your mech works out against enemies without going through a mission, take em to the coliseum to test their strengths and weaknesses, and earn some EXP and cash on the side.

By the way, get to level 5 as fast you can, before mission 5 if you can, you'll thank me later.

Story: 8

Anyone here ever seen/read any military conflict movies/books? Then the general scenario will be fairly familiar. Your crew gets used as chumps to start a conflict by the OCU against the UN. Justifying a war for expansion on HuffMan island. I won't spoil the story too much more then that, other then your main characters fiance gets killed during the mission, and revenge becomes the objective for you. So go stomp on them. It is still well written (and well translated) and you actually start to care for the characters under your control through the game.

Depth: 10
This is where the game passes with flying colors. From the tactical strategy you can use against your enemy, outfitting your mechs, fighting in coliseum bouts, earning secrets, destroying mechs, saving people and unlocking the story, Square did what it did best and made it freaking awesome! You will not regret playing this game.

Difficulty: 9
I gave the game a nine because of several differnt factors. First, past mission five things get rough, and keeping your entire crew alive and in decent shape becomes a challenge, you are almost always outnumbered and out gunned. And one tactic that worked in one map, won't work in them all. So make sure you think ahead and plan your moves. Even with this in mind, it can be very hard, especially near end game where despite the best armor, one lucky shot can take you down for good, or destroy your weapon. Piece of advice, go against the bigger, meaner mechs first with two, or more of your units, and it will make things easier. And take out missile launching mechs fast, they have the biggest chance to one hit kill you.

Over all: 8.6
So for the final word, I have to say this was a great ride of a game. Great story, it challenged me, it was fun and I loved being able to make colorful mechs stomp around and blow stuff to bits! Anyone that likes sci fi and giant robots give this a try!

I find it annoying that people pass up reviewers like you and comment on reviews that don't even meet requirements.
This is an excellent review.  I like how you not only gave tips, but also went in-depth with each topic.
I hope you continue to make more reviews.

mlb789 :

Hey thanks! Glad someone enjoys the reviews I write! And if you liked this one I have another for another great by square soft, Mario RPG

https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=50923

In case you are interested. Thanks again for the comment!.