The Gundam series has a long and storied history, none of which will mean anything to someone who doesn’t follow the various series under the Gundam banner. Gundam Seed: Battle Assault doesn’t require in-depth knowledge of any of the series, however, not even its namesake. The game is a basic 2D fighter – a very basic 2D fighter. From the tiny environments, shallow mechanics, and unappealing graphics even the most dedicated Gundam Seed fan will probably stick with classic 2D fighters.

Gundam Seed: Battle Assault has is about giant mechs fighting in one on one combat. The series is the story of a year long war between The Earth Alliance and Zaft -- natural humans and the genetically engineered Coordinators. The game endeavors to present some of the story from the series in the single-player story mode, but this is done with generally around a single line of speech between combats. This doesn’t exactly build any sort of context that people who haven’t seen the series will understand at all.

The lack of context in the dialog is just a small part of a larger blandness that dominates this title. The backgrounds, while demonstrating some variety by allowing you to fight in space or in different environments, are mostly static and uninspired. The Gundams themselves are frequently are not distinctive to those who aren’t familiar with the series and the animations lack oomph. There’s frequently no context for how large these mechs are supposed to be, and the guns and missiles fail to make any sort of impressive visual effects.

The biggest problem with Gundam Seed: Battle Assault, however, is in the actual gameplay. When you select your character and their mech you are given a screen where you can customize their settings, making your Gundam heavier and more durable, or lighter with better firepower. There’s not really much balance in these selections – despite a range of guns and missiles, the air game is next to useless. The arenas are just too small to give maneuverability any real meaning. The best strategy is almost always to go with lots of health and corner your enemy, throwing combos at them until you break through their defenses.

In addition to story mode, Gundam Seed: Battle Assault offers the standard variety of alternate game modes. Training Mode gives you a safe spot to practice your favorite character’s special moves. Survival Mode tests your defensive skills as you move from battle to battle with only a small amount of health regeneration between rounds. Time Limit lets you test how quickly you can destroy the AI, and Free Battle mode gives you a quick match against the AI whenever you want. There is also a 2-person vs. mode that uses the GBA link cable.

The fighting game market is, appropriately enough, extremely competitive. Just about everyone has their favorite franchise, and Gundam Seed: Battle Assault simply is not good enough to top anyone’s top three list. From muddy graphics to the weak mechanics, this simply is not a title with any lasting appeal, even to Gundam Seed fans.