Now here is a game that is unabashed in its love for the source material. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam features units, characters, and story concepts from the first three entries in the Universal Century timeline, with music from that wide range as well. The major features here are the arcade mode and the Universal Century mode, with the latter being a sort of campaign initially set during the Gryps Conflict that can be expanded further after making certain decisions during missions. The alternate routes are the real draw here, providing different scenarios like "what would happen if you saved Lalah" and "what if Lilia survived her encounter with Kamille".

My main problem with Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam is that the combat can be pretty frustrating. The lock-on system is NOT suited for taking on multiple opponents at once, as it prioritizes newly spawned enemies over anything else. Fighting three units at once and just killed one of them? Are you expecting the lock-on to switch to the target that's in front of you? No, it will switch to the enemy who's basically in the next solar system over, and now the unit who's beside you can get a whole combo's worth of hits on you! It's just a bad system that nearly invalidates the rest of the combat's merits, and those merits are real: beam weapons are lethal like in the shows, melee is a high risk proposition that is insanely rewarding, and the missions in space are an absolute blast when the lock-on problems don't rear their ugly head.

Despite feeling a bit lukewarm on it, I would still recommend this game to any Gundam fan. The stages are all very well done, and the presentation in general really sells the whole package.