Two Japanese mecha legends in Gundam and Robotech/Macross have been the cause of many world wars, several colony drops and advanced fighter-jet technology able to warp through time and fight off the hordes of worldly (and unworldly) scum of the earth in an epic war between fanboys of all ages. Now, both are considered epic masterpieces in Japan, much like Star Wars and Star Trek are in American Culture. Both also share the successes in their contrasts with the other, which makes the two for good sparring matches on the holy ground of Trek and Wars conventions. How did this happen? A cast of young, hormonally-driven teenagers with an urgent desire to end their wars in any way, shape or form and still appeal to the masses as something more than a Holden Caulfield clone in disguise. Truth be told, both are different in the very same way that Trek and Wars are different – and here’s why.
Star Trek focused on the military aspect of the Star Trek’s voyages into the great unknown, encountering Klingon and pretty much every other neighbor humans have in the Galaxy. Now, Robotech and Macross operate in this same manner, with the exception that their ship is a massive mech and they travel through time, rather than space. Star trek features the Jedi, the destiny of a young man bound by their code and ultimately, redemption. Gundam doesn’t stray too far away from this fact, and instead focuses on the aspects of that spiritually that Newtypes (the equivalent of Jedi) possess and what their role in the galaxy is. This is why I found myself clinging to both Star Wars and Gundam for my childhood and still hold true in my adult life; that inner level of humanity and responsibility even amongst arguably the wimpiest main characters in existence still redeems them and creates an iconic character that one can awe at and inspire to be.
In Encounters in Space, we get the final leg of that journey that Amuro and the White Crew take in order to become the heroes that would forever make them iconic in the anime community. After learning about the casualties of war and the psychological damage that one can endure only so much of, the crew of the White Base returns to space to act as a Trojan horse for the Federation, who plots one last attack against the now morally-depleted Zeon forces. Though Amuro is still the main character within this mode, the aspect of the crew’s emotional tension is the eventual sub-plot that compels the player into following the struggles of the White base in their conquest to end the One Year War.
The plot, despite being based on the anime has many new variations to not only create wonderful cameo appearances by some of the game’s ace pilots (Johnny Ridden attacking the Magellan after Axis’s destruction, or Anavel Gato at the battle of A Baoa Qu are just a few examples.) Even if you play without ever going through another mode, the levels in White Base mode mimic the intensity of each climactic battle of the One Year War’s spacial campaign. The actual battles themselves become pretty intense as the games marches on through White Base mode. (If you think that the Bigro’s bad now, just wait until you fight Byg Zam.) Like Journey to Jaburo, hordes of mobile suits await your every launch. The White Base mode, while being the major plot-teaser for the game is nothing without the extras being unlocked, and the more you unlock in other game modes, the more exhilarating the battles become. However, we’re not here to praise the unlockables. Let’s focus on some of the gameplay features and infamous battles recreated within the game.
In a matter of minutes to the amazement of Char Aznable and Lalah Sune and the horror of their commander, a dozen DOM units were wiped out by Amuro Ray and his Newtype abilities. Marking this as an absolutely significant display of prowess by the improved abilities of Amuro Ray, this ‘skirmish’ of battles gave Char the adversary worthy of his full attention. Though his revenge on the Zabi family would have to wait, Char would pursue Amuro and the White Base relentlessly in his attempts to impress Lalah. However, as time progressed it would be Char and not Amuro that would fall short of their true destiny. This skirmish battle, which shot down a dozen mobile suits in a matter of two minutes was the turning point in Amuro’s career as a pilot.
Against the indomitable force known as Solomon, the Federation was going to utilize every weapon in their power to capture the base as their own. Not only would the Solar Flare be utilized to wipe out the Zeon forces, but Amuro’s infiltration of the enemy base made it clear that his skills were notable even amongst the highest-ranking officers within the Federation. By this point in time, he began to bond with the transfer Lieutenant Slegger, a man who would eventually become one of the White Bases’s greatest icons. As the White Base exhausted every resource into the capture of their base, Amuro’s true strength was revealed during his campaign to bring down the Byg Zam, Zeon’s finest war machine that could wipe out entire battalions in a single attack. It was not a war against Zeon that drove his skills to such extremes; it was the mental war he had with that machine, the very unstoppable force that killed Lieutenant Sleggar in the process. Amuro’s talents seem best displayed against such unstoppable forces, and this was no exception. The fact that one mobile suit, let alone by a sixteen-year-old could wipe out such a force was phenomenal proved more than enough to Char that it may be Newtype powers that drive and compel both Amuro and Lalah. With an inferiority complex to Amuro, Char would continue to seek conquest against his rival.
The death of Lieutenant Sleggar already dropped morale on the White Base to a completely new low. However, as tools of war they were thrown into the thick of war to clean up after the Federation’s dirty-work. Challius Bull, already handling the assignment of ‘ghost’ as he wiped out the Federation’s docked forces with his pyscommu weapons would be in charge of bringing down the Gundam, to which he accepted without hesitation. Eventually, Amuro managed to defeat Challius Bull even when his Newtype senses were being matched on-par by Bull. It was another token of his strength as a Newtype that would eventually propel Char into doing the unthinkable – sending Lalah, his trusty lap-dog and love interest into combat against the battle-hardened Amuro, another fight that would eventually demonstrate Amuro’s strength at the cost of a Pyrrhic Victory.
“I can see time itself…” –Lalah Sune, upon ‘ascending’ as a Newtype.
Considerably, Amuro and Lalah could’ve been a couple. However, the fact remains that the White Base had to survive, and that Amuro had to ascend himself in a way that neither Lalah nor Char ever could. The pure emotion and replication of this scene was well done within the game, a moment in the entire franchise that defined what Gundam was about, and why the White Base mode was so important to me. Goddamn, did this scene swell some tears in my eyes when I was younger – it defined humanity’s prejudices of superbeings, how these super-beings handled their existence, and what ultimately man did to destroy what these beings so longingly tried to replicate.
Finally, the most important battle in the history of the Mobile Suit Gundam universe took place in A Baoa Qu. Amuro, a boy who has struggled through all obstacles (much like Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker did in the first three episodes of Star Wars) loses a love interest, best friend, his father and the morale of the White Base crew and simply demolishes the Zeon defense. It’s not that he embraces war, his mobile suit or anything of that nature; it’s that he’s come to terms with his destiny, that he was meant to be a newtype that could change the face of their presence and culture, the man who could retake history in the name of the Newtypes. What followed was one of the most iconic battles (and for real, I’m not spamming that word again) in the history of anime. Char’s Zeong and Amuro’s Gundam fought with such prowess and conflict, with such dictation and cunning, with such understanding and compassion that the battle was not one of attrition, but simply a psychological battle. Could Newtypes ever be understood by humankind? Would wars cease if Newtypes reigned supreme? This plague eventually ended with the destruction of both units before the eventual end of the game, played out surprisingly by an infinite fight scene within A Baoa Qu’s armory between Amuro and Char.
So what was so wonderful about White Base mode? What made this the crème de’ le’ crope above all other modes within the game? When you come to terms with the simple fact that the One Year War pioneering every other Gundam series to come after it, even to this day…there’s a lot of awe and inspiration from the sheer legacy that this game had to offer for its players and what it does to prove that this is trying to abridge the anime in a way that not only keeps the player excites, but beats the ever loving shit out of them. Need I say more? Amuro Ray is the greatest mecha pilot ever, and the One year War was the greatest anime event his history.
Continued in Part III: The Pocket War of 0083.
0 comments:
Post a Comment