Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Federation vs. Zeon starts from a fantasy Gundam fans immediately understand: choose the Earth Federation or Zeon, climb into a mobile suit, and start settling the war one enemy mech at a time. Its action is direct rather than fussy, and the early missions make it easy to fall into a satisfying loop of entering a battlefield, pursuing the current objective, and trying to emerge with another win for your chosen side.

The campaign is the real bulk of the package, with more than 200 missions spread across both factions. That number is a strength and a warning. If you enjoy working through a long arcade-action checklist and seeing your available suit roster grow, there is real momentum here. If you need every mission to feel like a major new event, the sheer volume can turn persistence into the challenge.

Progression helps. Successful missions let you upgrade mobile suits and expand the selection you can bring into battle, so continued play has a tangible payoff beyond another completed objective. Picking a faction also gives the campaign some welcome ownership; you are not merely sampling a few disconnected fights, but committing to one side’s push toward victory.

Versus mode is where the game becomes easier to recommend casually. Split-screen battles and team action let you bring campaign-unlocked suits into fights with a friend, which gives the unlocks a second life. The single-player campaign supplies the long-term grind; local competition supplies the immediate laughs, rivalries, and reason to test a favored suit against another human.

Graphics

The game puts its mechs in 3D landscapes, keeping the focus on mobile suits trading fire across broad battle spaces. The split-screen mode is particularly useful for its straightforward head-to-head framing: you and a friend can follow separate sides of the same fight without mistaking the mode for a cinematic showcase.

Story

This is rooted in the original Mobile Suit Gundam conflict, and the central story choice is clear from the outset: fight for the Earth Federation or fight for Zeon. That faction decision does more for the game than a generic campaign framing would, because it gives your mission run a side to represent.

The story is delivered primarily through the campaign’s war-focused structure rather than through a promise of elaborate narrative detours. You are moving through missions, destroying hostile mobile suits, and completing objectives in service of your faction’s victory. For a game with arcade roots, that is an appropriate fit: the conflict keeps the action pointed in a recognizable direction.

Voice work from actors associated with the TV series is a meaningful touch for fans. It helps connect the fighting to Gundam’s established world, especially for anyone coming in because they know the original series rather than simply because they want another third-person mech shooter.

Overall Experience

Federation vs. Zeon is a solid, content-heavy Gundam action game whose best quality is how plainly it understands its audience. You choose a side, earn stronger and more varied suits through a large campaign, then take that collection into local battles. Nothing about that loop is difficult to grasp, and it remains a reliable way to spend time if mobile-suit warfare is the specific itch you want scratched.

Its scale is also its most likely source of fatigue. Over 200 missions is generous, but the game asks you to enjoy the core process enough to keep revisiting it. Treat the campaign as a long war to chip away at rather than a sprint to finish, and the upgrades and unlocks have more room to do their work.

Give it a chance if you are a fan of the original Gundam series, want the freedom to play Federation or Zeon, or have a friend ready for split-screen mech battles. It lands closer to a dependable arcade-flavored Gundam package than an all-time essential, but its faction campaign and unlock-driven multiplayer give it more staying power than a brief licensed diversion.

Retro Replay Score

6.8/10