Super Robot Taisen J is an excellent game in the Super Robot Wars (or Super Robot Taisen) franchise which I would recommend to many different types of gamers. If you are a fan of story driven games with tons of characters interactions and dialogue this is definitely a game you should look into. Fans of super robot series, both classic and modern, will be drawn in and fully satisfied by the awesome cast of different mecha from various franchises. The action and attack animations are top notch and truly capture the spirit of the different series that inspired the units in this game. Lastly, fans of strategy RPG will definitely find hours and hours of joy by picking this game up. Even if you are unfamiliar with the different anime that inspired this game or if you're not interested in the story there is still tons of very addictive gameplay to satisfy the tactician deep inside of you. For this review I'll talk about the different elements that make up the game and why I assigned each score to each category. The categories are Graphics, Sound, Addictiveness, Story, Depth, and Difficulty. I'll also talk about the Representation and the Translation.

First I will make a list of the anime series represented in this game and talk about the Representation in this game. Hopefully this will serve as a helpful quick reference to any players who might be interested in the Super Robot Wars franchise and want to know this information alone. Here is the full list:

Blue Comet SPT Layzner
Brain Powerd
Dancouga
Full Metal Panic!
G Gundam
Gundam Seed
Hades Project Zeromyer
Martian Successor Nadesico
Mazinger
Combattler V and Voltes V
Tekkaman Blade

In addition there are some original characters and mecha featured in the series. I was not familiar with all of these anime before playing this game, but the game is still very easy to follow. No outside knowledge of these anime series is required to understand the plot of Super Robot Taisen J. Many of these series have more than one playable representative, as well as a number of supporting NPC characters who factor in as support pilots, antagonists in the story, or side characters who have dialogue but don't actually pilot any units. One of the joys of having so many inspirations is that you may be drawn to the game by the ones you are familiar with and end up being exposed to a new franchise or series that you end up liking. I am a big fan of the Mazinger series, and I got into Combattler V as a result of this game.

I rated the graphics a 10 out of 10. This is one of the strong points of the game. Enemy and ally units are easily identifiable on the map. The only time you might get confused is in cases such as the units that come with the Nadesico. There's a handful of pilots who all ride the same mass produced unit and have the same icon as a result. Since the HUD is so quick and informative, this was never a problem for me anyway. Moving your cursor onto a unit immediately tells you who is piloting it. Mostly every other robot in the game has a unique icon and even the different battleships have their own icon.

As compared to other Super Robot Wars games on the GBA (notably the OG series which was actually localized proper), the attack animations in this game are even better. As the standard for the series each unit has more than one attack with different properties and unique attack animations. Many units even have one or more super attack that has a very flashy animation, sometimes with anime graphics incorporated along with the traditional sprite graphics. The amount of detail that goes into such minor things as the smoke trails which follow missiles in combat, or how enemies explode when they die, is pretty great. If you get tired of the animations and want to speed up the gameplay you can turn them on and off at will. You even have the option during every single attack phase on both sides of combat (Ally and Enemy Phase). I use this feature sometimes when I'm speeding through a combat, and then turn on the animations for flashy finishing attacks whenever I feel like it!

I rated Sound as a 9 out of 10, only because I find this to be a very subjective category. Admittedly I am not an expert on music or sound quality so I don't feel confident giving a 10 out of 10. Personally, though, I think the sound quality sounds good. I mostly use headphones when I play. In terms of variety there are a ton of BGM, many of which are inspired by the different franchises incorporated into this game. One interesting feature is the ability to assign any BGM you want to any ally unit. By default the Mazinger theme will play when your Mazinger Z attacks, but you can change it to something else if you like. Combined with the sheer amount of BGM featured, this makes for a very satisfying audio experience while playing this game.

Addictiveness is based on how often you may want to pick up the game again after putting it down, and how likely you are to replay the game. Even with the long story sessions between missions, this game features such addictive gameplay that you might stop to take a break and find yourself starting the next mission anyway after fifteen or twenty minutes. There are two main characters to choose from and three mechs that you can pick for your main character. One is a Super Robot, and there is a Real Robot focused on ranged and melee fighting. There's also a fourth which can be unlocked. Additionally, your main character has three co-pilots that can be selected on a mission by mission basis. It's conceivable that a player could have two runs where neither the main character, their mech, or their co-pilot was the same. I gave it a 10 for those reasons. This game is just fun and if it clicks with you, you will find yourself wanting to play more.

Story I had to rate a 9 out of 10. While not quite perfect, the amount of content alone is pretty staggering. All of the playable characters are faithful to their personalities within their own world, but in completely original scenarios. There are tons of NPCs and antagonists to keep track of, leading to a very complex and deep story experience. The fact that there is so much cut scene discussion before and after each mission is a bit of a double-edged sword, which caused me to knock off a point. It's very cool that every single chapter is almost like an episode of a great super robot crossover anime. However, each mission is likely to take 30+ minutes as a result. At least 1/3 of that is spent reading unless you skim through the text very quickly. Much like watching an anime, you really have to dedicate a certain amount of time to sit down and make it through an entire chapter in this game. This is enjoyable, but not all the time. If you want to get right into the action but you last saved the game at the start of a mission, you'll have to sit through a bit of story before you can start really playing. People who hate reading or story-driven games could rate this a bit lower, but they also have the option to skip the cut scenes.

Along with the story I'd very much like to rate the Translation of this game. In a word: Phenomenal. I was very impressed with the work of the amateur translation team that handled this project. Not only is nearly everything in the game faithfully translated from the source material, there are virtually no errors to speak of. The story reads just as great as if it were written in English. I did not see any annoying hangover symbols from the hacking process that sometimes show up in the text as a result of amateur translations. Although I did not factor this into my score specifically I thought it was pertinent to anyone curious about the game who might worry about being turned off by a shoddy translation. In this case you really need not worry. This is easily a professional quality translation and I really commend the individuals who worked on this project.

Depth is one of the most rewarding of the categories, along with the Graphics. This is the one that didn't take much thought to give a 10 out of 10. There is tons of content in the form of different robots, different pilots, different abilities, different spirit commands, and the complexity of the strategy based combat. Figuring out the system isn't too hard, but mastering it will take a long time. As you play through the game and become more and more familiar with how the game is played, you will be surprised at how it just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

On top of that, the Depth of the story content is amazing. In the above paragraph I talked about how long it can take to get through a single chapter. There are over 50 chapters. Between each chapter is the chance to customize your squad with a very deep system that involves leveling up pilots, mecha, and their weapons separately. There are also puzzle maps that are unlocked by beating chapters. In addition to that there are even secret units to unlock, combination attacks that can be performed when certain units team up, and many more things. The Super Robot Wars franchise is one big love letter to the mecha series, intent on jamming in tons of great content to appeal to fans of super robots, and Super Robot Taisen J is no exception to that rule.

If you want a deep series that you can play for a hundred hours or more between the depth of a single play through and the replayability of the game, Super Robot Taisen J is definitely a strong candidate.

As a side note, I was also asked to rate the Difficulty of this game. Honestly it is not as difficult as some other Super Robot Wars games that I have played. That being said, like all Strategy RPGs, there is certainly a learning curve. If you're picking up and playing this game for the first time you may have no idea what is going on. Figuring out how the game works can be a little difficult. Many tiny details that are super important are not readily apparent at a first glance to a beginner (there are some attacks that can be used after moving and some that can't, designated by a small P which a new player would have no way of knowing what it meant). At a 7/10 Difficulty it's certainly more challenging than the average game, but not so hard that you'll want to pull your hair out. And for those patient enough to learn the mechanics, you will certainly be rewarded.

Overall this game is an easy 10/10. Many people don't believe in a "Perfect Game," which is understandable. As compared to other Super Robot Wars games, there are those who might dislike this one because it contains fewer Gundam series than normal. However, the gameplay is beyond solid. The story is engaging and massive. The graphics and sound are wonderful. The series on display here are very well represented, to the point where you may decide to pick up some new anime series that you weren't familiar with. The sheer depth of the game is astounding. The number of awesome things you can do is beyond counting -- using the Mazinger Z's Rocket Punch to smash enemies to bits never really gets old, and that's only ONE unit under your command. While I cannot stress enough how wonderful this game is, there are not many more ways for me to say it. If you are at all interested in this game, or if you're simply browsing for a new title of high quality that you hadn't heard of or played yet, Super Robot Taisen J is a great choice!

This...is what all reviews should look like. I don't know how to word this really but I loved the way you wrote this. Very professional and great everything. Awesome job. I really hope to see more of your reviews.

This was one of the best reviews I ever read hope to read more keep up the great work.