SD Gundam Dimension War
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| SD Gundam Dimension War | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Publisher | Bandai |
| Platform | Virtual Boy |
| Device | Virtual Boy |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Strategy, Simulation |
| Play Area | Seated |
| Release Date | JP: December 22, 1995 |
| Price | JP: 5,800 yen (excluding tax) |
SD Gundam Dimension War (Japanese: SDガンダム DIMENSION WAR) is a turn-based strategy game for Nintendo's Virtual Boy, published by Bandai and released only in Japan on 22 December 1995 at a price of 5,800 yen before tax.[1] Based on the SD Gundam line of the Gundam mecha franchise, it has the player command a small task force of Mobile Suits and battle cruisers, moving units on a map screen and fighting individual battles in a close-up view.[2]
The game uses the Virtual Boy's stereoscopic 3D display for the height of units and obstacles on its map and for its combat sequences.[2][1] It came out in the last weeks of the system's commercial life in Japan and shipped in very limited quantities, which has made it one of the rarest Virtual Boy cartridges among collectors.[3][4]
Gameplay
Each battle is split into two parts: a map screen on which the player moves units, and a close-up view in which individual fights take place. Both sides consist mainly of Mobile Suits with a small number of ships. The player starts in the lower half of the battlefield and the enemy in the upper half. The units are drawn in the "Super Deformed" style that gives the series its "SD" name, with short, squat proportions.[2]
A battle does not require the destruction of every enemy unit. In the early stages the player wins by destroying the enemy battle cruisers; from the third level onward, a heavily armoured enemy must also be defeated before the player can advance. The campaign has eight levels, and the cartridge holds three save files.[2]
When a unit is selected, the player can choose "Ambush", which keeps it in place, or "Move", which plots a course of a few spaces in any of the four directions. Units can also change altitude, moving up or down to get around obstacles such as asteroids. Once an enemy is in range, two combat commands become available: "Indirect", which fires from a safe distance, and "Attack", which closes in for more damage at the cost of taking damage in return.[2] In its listing for the game, Famitsu notes that because the map is three-dimensional, differences in height affect whether attacks succeed.[1]
A Mobile Suit attack begins with an animated approach in which the two units fly toward each other while the player can fire at the oncoming enemy. The main fight is then shown from the side, with the Virtual Boy controller's left directional pad used for movement and the right pad for attacks: three projectile attacks of different speed and power, and a sword attack at close range. The fight takes place on three planes at different depths, and the player switches between them with the L and R buttons. When a Mobile Suit attacks a battle cruiser, the fight consists only of a longer approach sequence with no second phase, and cruisers fire back more readily than single units. The player cannot control the ships in combat even when choosing "Attack"; an autopilot option is available instead, which Frear found no more effective than an indirect attack.[2]
Use of the stereoscopic display
On the map screen the 3D effect is used only for the units, ships and the many asteroids, which float at different heights and act as cover or obstacles. Battles take place in space against backdrops such as a distant planet or an armada.[2] In the Nintendo Life review, Dave Frear wrote that the approach sequence "makes good use of the Virtual Boy's 3D display", although he found the stars flying toward the screen distracting, and that the side-on fights "still look quite good due to the 3D effect" despite limited character animation as the units "swoop further away and closer to the screen".[2]
Release
Bandai released the game in Japan on 22 December 1995 at a list price of 5,800 yen excluding tax.[1] In its 2003 Virtual Boy collecting guide, Tips & Tricks described it as the last Virtual Boy game released in Japan, along with Virtual Bowling, and noted that it was not released in North America.[4] Writing in Wired in 2010, Chris Kohler gave 22 December 1995 as the date of the system's final Japanese releases and listed SD Gundam Dimension War, Virtual Lab and Virtual Bowling as a trio of titles that "shipped in severely limited quantities right as the whole operation was collapsing".[3]
| Region | Release date | Publisher | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 22 December 1995 | Bandai | 5,800 yen (excluding tax)[1] |
| North America | Not released[4] | ||
Collectibility
Tips & Tricks wrote in February 2003 that the game was sought after by both Virtual Boy collectors and Gundam fans and that, although prices had fallen in the preceding months, copies had sold for more than US$1,000 in online auctions. The magazine, which compiled scarcity ratings with the collectors of Digital Press on a scale of one ("readily available") to ten ("impossible to find"), gave it a 9.[4] In 2010, Kohler wrote that the three late Japanese titles "easily fetch upward of $500 each".[3]
Reception
Famitsu reviewed the game in the Cross Review section of issue 370, giving it a combined score of 19 points.[1] The magazine's summary describes it as a simulation game in which deformed Mobile Suits fight on a three-dimensional map.[1]
Reviewing the Japanese version in 2009, Dave Frear of Nintendo Life gave it 4 out of 10 ("Poor"). He praised the character designs and the use of 3D, and called parts of the music catchy, but criticised the limited animation, the similar look of the player's units, the lack of direct control over the player's capital ships and the lack of any rise in difficulty across the eight levels. He found the combat fun at times but repetitive, and concluded that the game was "really not worth bothering with, even for hardcore fans of the popular Gundam universe".[2]
| Publication | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Famitsu | 19 points | Cross Review, issue 370[1] |
| Nintendo Life | 4/10 | Japanese version, reviewed 14 August 2009[2] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "SDガンダム DIMENSION WAR". Famitsu. Archived from the original on 2020-05-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20200515063847/https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=21805&redirect=no. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Dave Frear (2009-08-14). "SD Gundam Dimension War Review (VB)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2019-11-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20191123052959/http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/2009/08/sd_gundam_dimension_war_retro. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chris Kohler (2010-08-13). "Virtual Boy, Nintendo's Big 3-D Flop, Turns 15". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2010/08/virtual-boy/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Collector's Closet: Collecting Virtual Boy". Tips & Tricks, no. 96. 2003-02. https://archive.org/details/tips-and-tricks-issue-96-february-2003. Retrieved 2026-10-13.