Super Robot Taisen Compact

Super Robot Taisen Compact brought to the WonderSwan the famous Japanese crossover of mecha anime franchises, in which a single campaign brings together robots from several different series to fight side by side against a common enemy. It's a tactical strategy game on a square grid. The player moves units, chooses weapons according to range and terrain type, and watches each attack trigger a short animated battle sequence typical of the series. Between battles, pilots gain experience, machines can be upgraded, and the player decides where to invest limited resources, which affects how manageable later missions become.

Bringing such a sprawling genre to a handheld console required compromises. The maps are smaller, screen scrolling handles the overview of the battlefield, and attack animations are necessarily simpler than on home platforms, yet they keep a recognizable choreography. These are, in fact, an essential part of the experience, since fans want to see their favorite robot in action. The monochrome display puts the emphasis on silhouettes, so units are distinguished more by shape than by color. The campaign is long and its pace is calm, making it well suited to playing one mission a day, which fits a handheld console nicely.

At the time, this was a significant step, since the series had until then stayed mainly on home consoles, and the handheld release opened the door to further installments. Sequels followed on the WonderSwan, along with a newer, color variant for the WonderSwan Color, turning Compact into its own line within the larger franchise. Today the game is of interest mainly to fans of mecha anime and tactics games, who will appreciate how well such a complex system fit into modest hardware. The language barrier is real, though, since the story carries most of the motivation, and without knowledge of Japanese a player is left with pure tactics. Even so, it's one of the most substantial titles ever released on the WonderSwan, and proof that the console could handle games running dozens of hours as well.