Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space

Last updated
Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space
Mobile Suit Gundam Encounters in Space Cover.jpg
NTSC-U cover art
Developer(s) Bec
Publisher(s) Bandai
Composer(s) Tadayoshi Makino
Yasuharu Takanashi
Takanori Arima
Koji Yamada
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Release
  • JP: September 4, 2003
  • NA: December 4, 2003
Genre(s) Action, Mecha simulation,
Third-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, known in Japan as Mobile Suit Gundam: Meguriai Sora, [lower-alpha 1] is a third-person shooter action video game for the PlayStation 2 released in 2003. The game is centered on space based mobile suit (or mecha) combat. The game is based on the Universal Century timeline of the popular Gundam franchise.

Contents

Rather than tell a single continuous story, the single-player game in Encounters in Space is broken up into a few short vignettes that take place over the course of four years. These vignettes are accounts of several significant battles during and after the One Year War between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon.

Gameplay

The game takes place entirely in Outer Space, although the Moon, space colonies, and asteroids are sometimes visited. The player pilots a wide variety of Mobile Suits, Mobile Armours, and other spacecraft throughout several different zero gravity environments. Also thrusters can be used to give these mobile weapons a temporary boost in speed and maneuverability. These vehicles can move forward, backward, and side to side using the left analog stick and can move up and down using the R1 and R2 buttons, allowing for 360 degree combat. The game is mostly free roaming, although a few rail shooter sections are commonly encountered.

Players can use a large assortment of different main, sub, and melee weapons that vary greatly between different units. Certain crafts are also equipped with a special attack, which can be activated once a special meter has been filled. The game is divided into several different story modes, each corresponding to a different pilot or setting. These pilots range from main characters of the original Gundam series to lesser known pilots from the Gundam manga. The game also includes a two player multiplayer vs. mode. Players can also play against AI units in multiplayer. Finally there is a mode where players can create their own unique pilots for use in multiplayer. [1]

Reception

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [2] IGN said the game was the best Gundam title on the PS2 so far. They stated that the game played like a Zone of the Enders clone but said that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. They also praised the game for its large assortment of units, levels, and bonus content and recommended the game to Gundam and shooter fans. [6] GameSpot called the game one of the more accessible Gundam games to be released. However, they criticized that the plot would confuse newcomers to the Gundam series. Still, they praised the game for its quick pace action. [1] Game Informer gave the Japanese import a mixed review over a month before the game was released Stateside. [4] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 30 out of 40. [3]

Manga

Cover Art for Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Space, to The End of a Flash Go01001hg1.jpg
Cover Art for Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Space, to The End of a Flash

"Thoroughbred Mode", one of the stories in the game revolving around a Pegasus class ship named Thoroughbred and its crew, was adapted to a three volume manga written by Tomohiro Chiba and illustrated by Masato Natsumoto, named Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Space, to The End of a Flash (機動戦士ガンダム外伝 宇宙、閃光の果てに…, Kidō Senshi Gandamu Gaiden: Sora, Senkō no Hate ni...?). It also received a novelization, which was released to coincide with Encounters in Space.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Kidō Senshi Gundam: Meguriai Sora (Japanese: 機動戦士ガンダム めぐりあい宇宙, Hepburn: Kidō Senshi Gandamu Meguriai Sora, lit. "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space").

Related Research Articles

<i>Mobile Suit Victory Gundam</i> Japanese anime television series

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, is a 1993 Japanese science fiction anime television series. It consists of 51 episodes, and was directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. The series was first broadcast on TV Asahi. It is the fourth TV anime installment in the Gundam franchise, first series in the franchise released in Japan's Heisei period, and the final full series to be set in the Universal Century calendar.

Gihren's Greed, is a series of turn-based strategy video games produced by Bandai, based on the Gundam franchise. It takes its gameplay style from the SD Gundam series and adds political and military management to the One Year War. The Japanese title, Giren no Yabō, is derived from that of Nobunaga's Ambition, although the English title uses a different translation for the word yabō.

<i>Mobile Suit SD Gundam</i> Original video animation

Mobile Suit SD Gundam is a series of animated shorts released in theaters and as original video animation between 1988 and 1993 by Sunrise. Part of the SD Gundam media franchise, the anime was based on the popular Gashapon capsule toys and model kits being released by Bandai at the time.

<i>Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki</i> 2004 video game

Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki is a GameCube-exclusive third-person shooter video game released in 2004 by Bandai. The game was released only in Japan and a part of the Mobile Suit Gundam series.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin</i> Japanese manga series

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It is a retelling of the story from the 1979 anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam, of which Yasuhiko was the original character designer.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn</i> Japanese novel series

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is a novel by popular Japanese author Harutoshi Fukui. The novel takes place in Gundam's Universal Century timeline. Character and mechanical designs are provided by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Hajime Katoki, respectively.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front</i> 2001 video game

Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front, known in Japan as Zeonic Front: Kidō Senshi Gundam 0079, is a video game for the PlayStation 2. Set in the Gundam franchise's Universal Century timeline, Zeonic Front places players in the role of the Midnight Fenrir Corps, a mobile suit special forces unit of the Principality of Zeon, as it undertakes missions against the Earth Federation during the One Year War. This marked a notable departure from previous Gundam UC games, in which the player always fought on the side of the Earth Federation.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam Alive</i> Japanese manga series

Mobile Suit Gundam Alive is a Gundam comic title created by Mizuho Takayama (illustration) and Yuka Minakawa (script). It was premiered on the November 2006 issue of Comic Bom Bom. The prologue chapter Gundam ALIVE Episode 0 is published in Gundam Magazine which was bundled with the November 2006 issue of Comic Bom Bom.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam</i> 2004 video game

Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam, known in Japan as Kidō Senshi Gundam: Gundam vs. Z Gundam, is a third-person shooter published in 2004 for PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It takes place seven years after the One Year War Gundam storyline. The game includes 31 mobile suits which can be played in five different modes: Arcade, Versus, Universal Century, Survival, and Training.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo</i> 2000 video game

Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo is an action game based directly on the Mobile Suit Gundam films and series. The game begins at the start of the series and ends at the ending of the second film. The game plays in an action game format with a standard third-person view. It features newly hand animated cutscenes that depict events from the original television series as well as a CGI opening depicting a space battle from the One Year War and then a scene of the Gundam destroying several Zaku IIs before being attacked by Char Aznable. A sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, was released in 2003.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam 00</i> (video game) 2008 video game

Mobile Suit Gundam 00, is a 3D action video game for the Nintendo DS based on the anime, Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The game involves four main characters who control their mobile suits, performing interventions against various conflicts around the world. It was developed by BEC, and published by Namco Games.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon, known in Japan as Kidō Senshi Gundam: Renpō vs. Zeon, is a 2001 arcade video game based on the anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam. An upgraded compilation of the game, called Kidō Senshi Gundam: Renpō vs. Zeon & DX, includes 360-degree, zero-G space battlefields. Both versions were later ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 game consoles.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel</i> Japanese manga series

Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Haruhiko Mikimoto. Officially part of Sunrise's long running Gundam franchise, the manga was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Gundam Ace from 2001 to 2011 and was compiled into twelve tankōbon volumes. It was licensed in North America by Tokyopop, who released nine volumes, and in France the manga is licensed and published by Pika Édition. The manga is the first work in the franchise to feature a main female lead.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam AGE</i> Japanese anime television series

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE is a 2011 Japanese science fiction anime television series and the twelfth installment in Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise. The series was first announced in the July issue of Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic, and has gaming company Level-5's President Akihiro Hino in charge of the story.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is an action game developed by From Software and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3. The game is based on the first three episodes of the anime adaptation.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam AGE</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE is a mecha action role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Namco Bandai Games. Considered as an adaptation of the anime of the same name, the game is divided into two versions: Universe Accel and Cosmic Drive, with each version having differences in the additional content. Both games were released on August 30, 2012.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO</i> Japanese OVA series

Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO is a Japanese mini-series of nine CGI short films and OVAs based on the Gundam anime franchise, released from 2004 to 2009 in three chapters each comprising three episodes. Directed by Takashi Imanishi and with Yutaka Izubuchi as production supervisor, the series' storyline takes place during the One Year War of the original Universal Century timeline.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt</i> Japanese manga series

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Superior since March 2012, with its chapters collected in twenty-two tankōbon volumes as of August 2023. The story takes place in the Universal Century timeline during and after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam. The manga is licensed in English Viz Media in North America and by Shogakukan Asia in Southeast Asia.

<i>Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight AXIS</i> Japanese light novel series

Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight AXIS is a Japanese light novel series written by Kōjirō Nakamura and illustrated by ARK Performance, released by Sunrise under the Yatate Bunko imprint. It is the second Gundam media to feature a main female protagonist after Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel. Set after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and before the events of Mobile Suit Gundam F91, in which it focuses on two former Zeon remnants as they were hired to investigate the remains of the asteroid base Axis. The novel is loosely based on Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beyond the Time</span>

"Beyond the Time ~Möbius no Sora wo Koete~" is the 13th single by Japanese rock band TM Network, released on March 5, 1988 under Epic Records. Written by Mitsuko Komuro and Tetsuya Komuro, the song was used as the ending theme of the 1988 mecha anime film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Davis, Ryan (January 23, 2004). "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space Review". GameSpot . CBS Interactive . Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "機動戦士ガンダム めぐりあい宇宙". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain . Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space". Game Informer . No. 127. GameStop. November 2003. p. 153.
  5. ↑ Meston, Zach (February 29, 2004). "GameSpy: Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space". GameSpy . IGN Entertainment. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Dunham, Jeremy (December 5, 2003). "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space". IGN . Ziff Davis . Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine . No. 75. Ziff Davis. December 2003. p. 164.
  8. ↑ Dunham, Jeremy (January 2004). "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space". PSM . No. 80. Imagine Media. p. 48. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  9. ↑ Bemis, Greg (March 29, 2004). "'Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space' (PS2) Review". X-Play . TechTV. Archived from the original on April 14, 2004. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.