Super Robot Wars W

WARNING: Units Not to Scale

Super Robot Wars W is the first entry of the series for the Nintendo DS.

Space Calendar (SC) 99. In the previous age, the governments of Earth formed the Federated Earth Nation (FEN) to bring World War III to an end. After putting down the defiant lunar colony, the Federation Space Calendar was instituted. To alleviate environmental pressures and overpopulation, the FEN began expanding into space, constructing space colonies and asteroid cities, as well as an Orbital Space Ring around the Earth, and the development and terraforming of the Moon and Mars. This was accomplished in a short time, due to quantum leaps in physics and energy research.

But repression of those living in the colonies by the FEN ignited a war between factions in space, and OZ, the true leaders of the FEN. This "Revolutionary War" ended in the year 98, with the death of FEN President Treize Khushrenada. From Treize's will, a New United Nations was formed, returning power back to the individual states.

But the new Earth Sphere's troubles seemed to multiply. The Earth Sphere was invaded by the Radam, who seized control of the Orbital Space Ring, and the invaders known as the Jovian Lizards, who destroyed the Mars Colony. In addition, internal strife, such as the distinction between Coordinators and Naturals, and mechanized terrorism (that is to say, terrorists in Humongous Mecha) seem to be taking the New United Nations to the breaking point. To make things worse, Dr. Hell has begun mobilizing, and has managed to destroy Getter Robo and seriously damage Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger.

To this point, Kotaro Taiga, the head of the Gutsy Geoid Guard, is working together with an old partner of his, Heinrich Freeman of the Space Knights, to work together to face this crisis. To this effect, he has also enlisted the Preventer organization, and is trying to get help from Mithril, Nergal Heavy Industries, and anyone else who is willing to join the fight.

As luck would have it, two Preventer agents happened to have hitched a ride from Blessfield Ardygun, a former Space Pirate and old Worthy Opponent of Taiga and Freeman's who has become a "Trailer" (a kind of spacebourne Jack-of-All-Trades), and his family. They know from first-hand experience that Ardygun happens to carry some serious firepower, so maybe it's time to turn an old enemy into a new friend...

The game uses an engine similar to Super Robot Wars J, and in the case of shared series', many of the same sprites.

Featured series (with debuts in bold):

Note that with the inclusion of Blade and Orgun, this game is, if you'll forgive the pun, of a slightly smaller scale than most other games in the series, with a larger number of units, both friendly and otherwise, in the SS (human-sized) scale. There is also a Transhuman undercurrent in the game, with many characters being genetically modified, Cyborgs, or a combination of the two. This is rather important, given the whole Natural-vs-Coordinator thing SEED brings in.

It is also highly worth noting that the above list is the first time in the entire history of the franchise that all of the listed series are licensed and distributed in the United States, with some (Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, and GoLion/Voltron) very popular in the American market. Indeed, a few (Voltron and Orgun, which was an early and much-liked Central Park Media release) are not well-remembered at all in their country of origin and seem included primarily to make the game more appealing to an American audience. Despite this, the game is not available in English and no plans have been announced to import the game for localization (and given that the game is five years old now, it is fairly likely it won't be released overseas officially).

Tropes used in Super Robot Wars W include:
  • A Day in the Limelight: W is essentially A Game In The Limelight for the cast of Gundam SEED Astray, as the game focuses on the Junk Guild and Serpent Tail characters while much of SEED's early plot occurs offscreen.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Zonder, Sol Lords and The Database
  • Ascended Extra: Gimlet is a weak Starter Villain in his series and a borderline Joke Character, but here he appears during several chapters, you fight him three times and puts SOME resistance (Though not much).
  • Badass Crew Badass Army: Warter, which is composed of various Badass Crews. To wit: Mithril, the Gutsy Geoid Guard, the Nadesico Crew, the Preventers, etc.
  • Badass Family: The Ardyguns, full stop. Need proof? 1 word for you: Valzacard.
  • Belated Backstory: For Archetype Orgun, whose motives for his betryal of the Eviluders is explored (and tied in with Tekkaman Blade) in the first half of the game.
  • BFG: Wing Zero's Twin Buster Rifle, Heavyarms' Gatlings, Blue Frame's Gatling and "Lohengrin" launcher.
  • BFS: The 150-meter Gerbera Straight of the Astray Red Frame, Blue Frame's Tactical Arms, Valzacard using Arm Arcus as a sword
  • Big Bad: Inference, later Critic on the second playthrough of the game
  • Bigger Is Better: Valzacard, the first "Banpresto Original" that rivals the Gunbuster in size
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Hilariously played with the dragon siblings of GaoGaiGar. When Kazuma asked whether or not the brothers can combine with the sisters, the 4 brothers started trying to one-up each other to curry favor with the girls.
  • Brother-Sister Team: Kazuma and Mihiro.
  • Chekhov's Gun: In the first opening lines of the game, Kazuma relates his sadness how Pluto was demoted from a planet. Take a wild guess where you fight the Final Boss.
  • Clown Car Base: One of the most extreme cases in the series. Because of some battleships being reduced to deployable units, such as the Eternal and the J-Ark, it's actually possible to deploy units that are larger than the ships they're being deployed from. Including swapping them in and out mid-mission, meaning they're actually supposed to be inside.
  • Combined Energy Attack: The Ardygun family and their gamebreaking, combining mecha were made for this trope.
  • Combining Mecha: Valguard (Mecha + Battleship) and Valzacard (Mecha + Battleship + another Mecha and another Battleship). Also, the Getter, Golion, GaoGaiGar and 80% of the GGG robots
  • Defrosting Ice Prince: Prince of Darkness Akito through gameplay. The first time you use Double Gekkigan Flare he mutters something. The second time he starts saying stuff hesitantly. The third time he returns to full-on hotblooded shouting.
  • Demoted to Extra: Emperor Dai Bazaal barely shows up until it's time to fight him at the end of his show's plot, despite being the Big Bad and a regular on his series. To add further injury, his death isn't even the point of the chapter, as Palparepa and Applicant show up after he dies and take the spotlight. Can be Justified in that Dai Bazaal's always been mainly Orcus on His Throne and his son Sincline the more active villain, but if you don't know about his series, he feels like a Fat Space Emperor From Nowhere.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Mu La Flaga and the Astray cast appear early in the game, despite the fact the SEED plot doesn't start until the second half. Also, the Radam Tree sequence features Yumi, David and Natasha getting swallowed, which is never seen in the first Tekkaman Blade (and just mentioned in II)
  • Enemy Mine, Guest Star Party Member : At one point, you end up controlling Tekkaman Evil who works in tandem with Blade to remove the Zonders, just so the Radam trees can grow.
  • Evil Versus Evil Versus Evil The Radam, Evoluders, and Zonder have been fighting each other all across the galaxy. They don't get along with the other baddies, either.
  • Final Boss Preview: Inference shows up in the Scientia and blasts the heroes just before the Time Skip. However, the Scientia is actually the second-to-last boss, although Inference does normally pilot the real Final Boss machine.
  • Grasp the Sun: Orgun reaches out to the Earth as he dies from the wounds sustained from the explosion from when he and the Scientia fired their MAPs at each other.
  • Gratuitous English: The Database Mecha-Mooks only say things like [ATTACK], [DAMAGE], and [SUPPORT]. On one occasion Gates also screams "OH! MY GOD!" (sic) on an open channel.
  • Henshin Hero: The Tekkamen and Orgun
  • Hot-Blooded
  • In Spite of a Nail: The United Nations bombing on the moon that gave the nations of Earth an excuse to start the Bloody Valentine War is prevented in one of the missions, but they end up declaring war and attacking the PLANTs anyway.
  • Joke Character: They say you can beat Super Robot Wars W with any units in the game... except Soltekkaman 1 and Soltekkaman 2. At least Balzac survive. Beating the game with those two actually is possible, though very difficult and time consuming.
  • Killed Off for Real: Shirogane/Sven, Papillion (both versions of her), Bernard and Leo Shishioh (although he dies during the events of FINAL rather than the end of the TV series).
  • Killer Rabbit: Bonta-Kun.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Bonta-kun.
  • Magikarp Power: Mic Sounders starts off with only two discs (Disc P and Disc M) until midway through the Primevals segment of GaoGaiGar TV, where he gains MAP versions of Discs M and P plus the powerful Disc X and it's respective MAP attack, the Solitary Wave. Then, after the timeskip, Mic gains Disc F, his most powerful attack.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: EI-13 nearly gets retconned from existence thanks to Akane Ardygun being a huge fan of Uppo-Kun. However, Sousuke shows up in his Bonta-Kun outfit and causes pandemonium, resulting the creation of EI-13.
  • Obviously Evil: This is Bless and Kazuma's opinion of Honeruba when they first meet her. So much so that they pretty much unilaterally decide to commit Earth to war with the Galra on the spot because of it.
  • Original Generation: The Ardygun Family and the Database. The Ardyguns are pretty notable for being some of the most popular OG characters the franchise has produced in the entire decade; fans in Japan and abroad keep asking if they'll be included in OG3 or something similar.
  • Paper Fan of Doom: Kaname's paper fan is an actual Power-Up in the game; it gives a 30% boost to a mech's critical-hit rate.
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: In the half-year time skip, Science Officer Ruri Hoshino of the Nadesico mysteriously transforms into her older self, Captain Ruri Hoshino of the Nadesico B. Lampshaded, and then handwaved away as "puberty".
  • Powered Armor: Birdmen and the Sol Tekkamen suits. Bonta-Kun might count, as well...
  • Power Gives You Wings: The Valzacard grows glowing energy wings during some of its attacks. So does the Sapientia.
  • Power of Rock: Mic Sounders, imported from GaoGaiGar, turns out to be one of the best support characters in the game, especially after his upgrade gives him an area of effect Will boost.
  • Powers as Programs: The Database
  • Power-Up Letdown: Aestivalis Customs lose the ability to change frames and the barrier-ignoring field lancer as per the plot of Prince of Darkness.
  • Robeast: Mechanical Beasts, Zonders, and the trope namer.
  • Recurring Extra: Kaname's class takes good advantage of the expansion this crossover gives with lot of field trips, usually arriving shortly before a battle breaks out there.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Surprisingly, they did it to Tekkaman Evil. Rather than dying after waking up from the Radam control, he says his thanks by turning into Tekkaman Evil and blocks off a horde of Radam beasts alone, allowing Blade to confront Omega at cost of his life.
  • Rocket Punch: (Wouldn't be Super Robot Wars without it!) Broken Magnum/Phantom, Wire Fist, Hundred Ton Punch, Turbo Smasher/ScrewPressure Punch (and the original, of course).
  • Sempai-Kohai: (Heero and Sosuke, respectively. Interestingly enough, Heero is the Sempai despite being a few years younger than Sosuke.)
  • Shout-Out: Does the Valhawk AF mode's Heat Edge attack remind you of something?
  • Sixth Ranger: Though he politely declined an official invitation (complete with Lampshade Hanging), Gai (Shishioh) plays this role with the Golion crew a number of times.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: A lot of people (especially the cast of Gundam Seed), but subverted by Leo Shishioh, Guy's dad, who survives his canon death only to be killed by Palparepa during the events of FINAL.
    • Mostly notably, Gai Daigoji, who survives to go through the events of the Prince of Darkness movie, and even gets a character redesign and an Aestivalis Custom! However, he does not receive an updated pilot cut-in until he and Akito unlock the Aestivalis Custom version of the Double Gekigan Flare, and then his new cut-in is exclusive to that attack.
  • Super Mode: Blaster Tekkaman, Mazin Power, ZERO System, SEED Mode, and Lambda Driver.
  • Super Title 64 Advance: Makes more sense when you realize that the Japanese use "W" as a short-hand for "Double" -- or in this case, "Dual Screen".
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Ruri invokes this by playing the Gekiganger3 theme during a key battle, giving everyone the extra dose of Hot-Blooded they need to save the day. Sousuke and Heero try to resist this, as they must be stoic.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill :Valzacard's Nova Exa Shot Can OHK anything short of a boss,and even then two or three shots at full power kill most bosses
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: One of Red Frame's attacks involves tossing the 150-meter Gerbera Straight.
  • Time Skip: Six months, at which point Gundam SEED, Detonator Orgun and the sequels/movies kick in. Also finishes up on Golion and Tekkaman Blade's storylines.
  • Transforming Mecha: Valhawk (also Noin's Taurus, and the Birdman, a transforming Powered Armor).
  • The Usual Adversaries: Radam. Any mission that doesn't start with you fighting Radam has an even chance of getting crashed by them later. The Eviluders are like this to a lesser extent too, particularly towards the end of the game.
  • Villain Team-Up: Dr. Hell + Galra Empire, Amalgam + Mariemaia Army, ZAFT + Martian Successors + Amalgam, The Database + Galra Empire + 11 Lords of Sol.
  • Wave Motion Gun: Wing Zero's Twin Buster Rifle, Nadesico's Gravity Blast and Phase Transit Cannons, Archangel's Lohengrin, Valstork's Dual Proton Cannon, the Tekkamen's Voltekkas, Orgun's P.E.C. Cannon...
  • Weirdness Magnet: Mamoru, Hana and Kaname; Kaname even lampshades this by noting that every time she runs into Mamoru and Hana, something bad happens. This is right before the Pasdar tries to turn half the population of Tokyo into Zonders and the Radam trying to turn the other half into Tekkamen.
  • The World Is Always Doomed: The only thing that seems to keep the world going early on is the fact that 80% of the bad guys don't like each other at all.
  • You Wanna Get Sued?: Upon seeing Lowe use the "Thunder Ball" energy attack (due to an accident with Red Frame's power distribution), Gai Daigouji is about to call it the "Shining Finger", until Saburota stops him mid-sentence. Doubles as a moment of Hilarious in Hindsight, as Saburota is voiced by Shinichiro Miki, Ryusei Date's voice actor, and Gai is voiced by Tomokazu Seki, Domon's voice actor.
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