Atlus and its Japanese partner Banpresto really deserve pats on the back for bringing Super Robot Wars: Original Generation for the Game Boy Advance to America. But it shouldn't come as any shock to anyone that the same company that brought us such wonderful games as Steambot Chronicles and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness from our Japanese brethren is bringing yet another interesting franchise to North America. Many thought it could never be done because of some very complicated licensing issues, but Banpresto handled that dirty work and Atlus picked up the ball and ran with it. This first chapter in the series to come to North America has been faithfully translated to English, and at first glance, looks like it could be a lot of fun for fans of both the anime series it is based on and turn-based tactical RPGs.

Super Robot Wars: Original Generation (also known as Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation in Japan) is a turn-based strategy game that was originally released in Japan in November 2002 by Banpresto. The game's marquee feature is that it features various familiar characters created by Banpresto from their Super Robot Wars franchise, along with some corporate branded mecha that made it a licensing nightmare outside of Japan... or so everyone thought.

Due to those aforementioned licensing problems, Super Robot Wars: Original Generation was not to be released in the United States. Banpresto took care of those legalities and managed to sign the first two games in the series for North American releases later this year. That's where Atlus comes in. Not only will they publish these games in North America, but they will also handle the task of localizing each game to English. From our hands on time with the game I can tell you that Atlus has done a decent job on that front.

The story in Super Robot Wars: Original Generation takes place two hundred years after mankind makes its way past the moon and into the vast mysteries of our solar system. This time in history is dubbed the "Space Era." It is during this pioneering time in the 21st century history that terrible cataclysm occurs - the earth is struck by two massive meteors that destroy much of the planet and send civilized society into chaos. A third meteor strikes the planet, but instead of more destruction, scientists and the government discover a strange alien technology called Extra-Over Technology, or EOT. The ruling power of Earth immediately begins developing this technology into war machines called Personal Troopers. Along with the discovery of EOT, the government also discovered that the alien owners of this technology were on their way to reclaim it. This further accelerated the need to develop this technology and use it to defend Earth against whatever alien threat was on its way.

When you fire up this tactical robot battling RPG, the first thing you do is select one of two pilots, one a skilled rookie named Ryusei, fresh from high school and full of youth; the other a seasoned test pilot with an iron will and a personality to match named Kyosuke. Both are vastly different in the way they pilot their mecha's and their personalities are certainly like night and day. Both characters have different sets of supporting characters that they'll interact with, and while this might all seem like story filler, these extra characters play some important roles while you're on the field of battle.

There are three basic phases to the game - the story, which plays out in stills before and after missions, preparation or maintenance phase (where you can deck out your robot with weapons, improve weapon systems add enhancements and micro manage your pilot's skills and more) and the battle phase.

The battle phase is played out on a grid-based battleground (if you're familiar with these kinds of games you be comfortable with the way things are laid out). Your army and the enemies are represented by icons on the map which you'll move around so you can get close enough to use one of your robot's various weapons systems on. When you get close enough to attack you'll get a simple menu interface offering options based on what you have equipped and what pilot is doing the driving. When you've selected what you want to do you'll see a 2D animated battle between you and the unit you're engaging which is a heck of a lot more exciting than the boring map you're shuffling around on. Alternately, you can opt to turn those animated sequences off to make the game go a tad quicker but it's not quite as exciting or fun as leaving them turned on. The gameplay is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. Combat is a very tactical affair as you would expect and as you delve deeper into each mission you'll be challenged with more and more enemies to take on and have more pilots at your disposal to help in the fights. The battles are enhanced further by the myriad of personalities you'll take with you. radio chatter from your comrades in arms is one of the more entertaining things you'll experience as you take down the enemy and push towards a decisive victory. And the chatter you'll hear is really dependant on the pilot themselves and the mecha they are assigned and even what weapons are equipped. This is one of the features that Atlus put a lot of effort into keeping intact during localization and it's very much appreciated.

During the maintenance phase players can get to work on improving their robots and pilots by using the experience and money they've earned during combat. This money can be used to improve weapon systems, train pilots, or add enhancements for fighting on specific terrain types, or even improving armor mobility and more. Additionally pilots can be trained, enhancing their stats and abilities to further aid players during the combat phase. I'm probably understating the importance of this phase because there's an awful lot you can do to make your experience the way you want, limited only by your available cash and earned experience.

Even without all the cool window dressing, Super Robot Wars: Original Generation is a pretty straightforward and solid mech battle game that works great on the Game Boy Advance. But when you add all the little things like character relationships, an anime style over the top storyline, fun battle chatter and cool animated battle sequences, Original Generation proves to be a delightful an engaging experience. We hope the final retail version of the game offers even more polish when it is released this summer. We'll have a full review on the day and date of its release. You can learn more about the game by visiting www.atlus.com .