Super Robot Wars Complete Box (PS) Review

SRW Complete Box is a remake of three SRW titles using the Playstation F/FF engine: 2nd SRW for Famicom, 3rd SRW for SFC, and SRW EX for SFC. Many issues of 2nd and 3rd SRW were addressed or fixed, mainly being able to choose individual unit response on enemy turn, equippable items, unit upgrades, and a better UI. Animations are still unskippable, of course.

The 2nd SRW remake is very different from the FC original, owing to the evolution of the series. It's so different that you might as well consider it a completely different game, similar to the SRW 2G remake on Gameboy. Yes, this makes 2nd SRW Complete Box the second time 2nd SRW has been remade. 2nd SRW is a fairly difficult remake where you'll mostly rely on your supers, somewhat reminiscent of SRW F. Seishin pools are even smaller than F/FF and your Gundam pilots don't get much in the way of good seishins or robots. Most of the game is spent throwing Getta, Mazinger, and Grendizer at enemies while your Gundams soften up the grunts a bit with underpowered weapons. 2nd SRW Complete Box is the best of the three remakes, owing to the large improvements over the original, and the original's strong campaign.

3rd SRW Complete Box brings some notable gameplay improvements over the original. It's easier than the original all things considered, but you still shouldn't expect a cakewalk. The most difficult scenarios are still the scenarios vs the inspectors. All of the same criticisms of the original apply, including a somewhat bland campaign with far too many grunt waves and not a lot of interesting scripting - a significant step back from 2nd SRW. The campaign doesn't really heat up until the last 5-10 scenarios, leaving the other 3/4 of the game as grunt slaying filler.

SRW EX Complete Box is the least different from its original SFC release. It's still an easy SRW mostly designed for beginners, designed as a reaction to 4th SRW's punishing difficulty. It's of the same difficulty where you can rush ahead and wreck everything in your path with little risk. I can't help but feel that it lost some of its graphical charm in its switch to the F/FF engine.

Overall SRW Complete Box is best left to those interested in SRW history. I'm hesitant to say that the Complete Box remakes are worse than their originals, but they feel a little lacking. They don't have the charm the original games had, and they don't have the variety, depth, and polish of SRW F/FF's roster and campaign. If you're really interested in getting to SRW's early roots, it's probably better to play the originals rather than these somewhat cold remakes.