An Excellent Entry For Newcomers

‘Gundam: The Witch from Mercury’ makes for a fun new addition to the series.

Bandai Namco

It’s been a while since we had a new Super Robot Wars game, and Super Robot Wars Y doesn’t disappoint, with a bunch of great new additions.

First off, I’ve reviewed the last four Super Robot Wars games, and all have been excellent. From V to X and T, as well as the most recent 30, all of them really pushed the series forward.

From V being the first mainline game in the series to get an English localization to 30 finally getting a proper global release.

So it’s this recent legacy that Y now sits atop, as it’s now another Super Robot Wars game that has been given a worldwide release, along with all its DLC and other extra content.

If you’re new to the Super Robot Wars series, these are tactical role-playing games featuring mecha from decades worth of mecha anime, where you take turns to use said mecha to destroy enemies across a grid-based landscape.

Once you pick a fight with an enemy, a very lovely 2D battle animation plays out, with series-appropriate music. Like with other recent games in the series, these new battle animations are all very impressive indeed (shown below).

That’s the first big improvement here, as the general level backgrounds are much better now, with more involved terrain and a general increase in graphical detail.

On the flipside, the UI for the game has been given a major overhaul and is a lot simpler visually. I’m on the fence with this, as I did like the more involved UI from the older games, but I can see this newer, simpler UI being easier to handle for newer players.

The game also retains the more selective mission structure from 30, although the main storyline missions do flow together better now, at least in terms of the story.

After that, apart from small changes to transforming mecha that auto-transform to cover distances (something that was managed manually previously), this is very much a continuation of what players saw in 30.

The new lineup is great, with my favorite Aura Battler Dunbine making a big return, but we also have newer shows like Getter Robo Arc and Macross Delta here as well.

The return of Raideen is also lovely, as that was one of my favorite units from Alpha 3, and in general, it feels like the roster has a solid balance now.

As for the DLC, the return of The Big O is obviously great, but I am also happy to see the OG units from recent Super Robot Wars games make a return.

That’s also one major piece of advice for any of the Super Robot Wars games: always upgrade the OG mecha and carrier ship before anything else. These are almost always in every mission, and will have major story points pivoted around them.

Upgrading them first and early on saves a lot of suffering later, when the OG mecha and carrier ship have to inevitably fend for themselves.

Apart from that, Gundam has a solid showing, too, with Witch from Mercury and G Gundam making a welcome appearance, along with classic Universal Century anime such as Zeta Gundam and Char’s Counterattack.

While most Super Robot Wars tend to have a lineup of mecha anime that affords something for everyone, I do feel that Y managed to strike a new balance that will probably appeal to a lot more newcomers.

Naturally, you also have a massive amount of pilot and mecha upgrades to invest in, as well as overall improvements to your team, so you’ll want to do a few playthroughs to properly upgrade everyone you want to and find more of the secret units.

As for the Switch version, I played this as well as the PlayStation 5 release, and there really isn’t much between them. Both play pretty much identically, so there’s no need to worry that the Switch version can’t keep up.

Overall, Super Robot Wars Y is another solid entry into the series. It’s got a great lineup and a more careful eye placed on making the game more enticing for newer players. While I am always happy to see Aura Battler Dunbine featured, I do feel that this game includes a mecha anime for almost everyone.

Super Robot Wars Y

Platform: Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PC

Developer: Bandai Namco Forge Digitals

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Released: 28th August 2025

Price: $59.99

Score: 9/10

Disclosure: Bandai Namco sent me a copy of this game for the purposes of this review.

Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.