Front Mission, an history of Wanzers and remakes
Developers: G-Craft and Squaresoft (original SFC version), Square Enix Business Division 6 (PS1 and Nintendo DS versions, BD6 was actually Tsuchida’s G-Craft after it was acquired by S-E), MegaPixel (Switch, PC and PS4 remake)
Publishers: Squaresoft (original), Square Enix (PS1 and DS versions), Forever Entertainment (contemporary remake)
Directors: Toshiro Tsuchida, Shinji Hashimoto
Character designer: Yoshitaka Amano (with Tetsuya Takahashi adapting his art in-game)
Composers: Yoko Shimomura, Noriko Matsueda
Countries: Japan, Poland (Forever Entertainment remakes)
Release dates: 1995 (Super Famicom, fantranslated), 2002 (Wonder Swan Color, Japan-only), 2003 (PS1), 2007 (Nintendo DS, localized), 30\11\2022 (Switch, PC, PS4)
Status: Completed in late 2001 (Super Famicom fantranslated version), completed in late 2007 or early 2008 (DS version), completed on 1\6\2025 (Forever Entertainment remake, both OCU and USC scenarios)
In the early ‘90s, the tactical Japanese RPG subgenre was starting to consolidate a number of its defining elements, distancing itself from some different takes like Koei’s grand-strategy titles or Kure Soft’s real time tactical games. While Intelligent Systems wrote a fundamental part of this subgenre’s history with the first Fire Emblem on Famicom and Sega contributed in defining its identity with Crystal Warriors, Royal Stone and Camelot’s Shining Force games, a number of other developers were also trying to make a name for themselves in this vibrant design space.
Among those, one of the most important was surely Masaya, the development arm of Nippon Computing System which worked on a number of early tactical JRPGs like Guyframe and Gaia no Monshou (both released in 1987), which acted as precursors for the much better known Langrisser franchise, started in 1991 with the first entry, which was localized as Warsong and ended up being the only officially translated game in the series for decades.
Inside Masaya, many young developers were anxious to leave their mark on the industry: while some of them would end up working on the other Langrisser games, ultimately forming Career Soft later on, developing the Growlanser series under Atlus’ banner and working on the Devil Survivor series after their team was absorbed by the main company, others had a different history.
One of those was Toshiro Tsuchida, who, since his very first works, tried to mix tactical JRPGs with real mecha (meaning industrially produced military robots in fairly grounded war settings, as opposed to unique, overpowered so-called super robots like Goldrake, Mazinga or Daitarn) aesthetics and settings. In 1992, Tsuchida produced Masaya’s Vixen 357 on Mega Drive, one of the most impressive early efforts in this subgenre alongside CRW Metal Jacket and Power Dolls on NEC’s PC98. In the same year, he also worked as producer for another legendary mecha game outside of the tactical space, Cybernator (also known as Assault Suit Valken). Possibly feeling Masaya’s reliance on the high fantasy Langrisser series wasn’t in line with his own ambitions, he ended up leaving the company in 1993 to found G-Craft with a number of like-minded developers.
Tsuchida’s first game under this new label, published and co-developed by Japanese RPG heavyweight Squaresoft after he successfully pitched his concept (to the point of building a prototype for its intro in order to impress Square’s Hashimoto), was Front Mission, which would go on to become Tsuchida’s defining opus alongside the early Arc the Lad games, not to mention the most important title in popularizing real mecha-based tactical JRPGs, both in Japan and abroad, at a time where the super-robot space was already crowded with successful releases in the Super Robot Taisen franchise.
Front Mission’s development, which lasted roughly one year and a half until its 1995 release on Super Famicom, saw Tsuchida working with Squaresoft’s Shinji Hashimoto which, even back then, was no stranger to the tactical JRPG space, having worked as director on the seminal Last Armageddon back in 1988. Tsuchida didn’t just create the game’s concept and systems, but also its setting, a future Earth where vulcanic activity had created a new landmass in the Pacific Ocean, Huffman Island, fostering a conflict between the main regional blocs of the area, the OCU, formed by Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines and most South-East Asian nations, and the UCS, consisiting of an union of North and South American nations, but actually acting as an expanded version of the United States. The tone of this war epic could actually remind one of a number of traits of animes like Dougram or VOTOMS, even if one of the most similar ones, Gundam 8th MS Team with its grounded, jungle-based mecha war setting, was actually released years after Front Mission itself.
Interestingly, Front Mission’s world debuted before the game was even out, with a Front Mission manga allegedly being published from 1994 to early 1995. This manga, however, has been the object of a lot of controversies inside the series’ English fanbase, since the way it was known by many, as a Front Mission Zero introducing a lot of details and characters that the series’ videogame entries would start using only later on, including characters like Front Mission 5 protagonist Walter Feng, was later questioned when people started noticing how the only references to this Zero manga, or its contents, were from English sources related to the Front Mission Project initiative, with no Japanese source whatsoever backing those claims.
So, while a “Front Mission” manga did exist before the game was out, so far nothing confirms Front Mission Zero ever existed outside of a placeholder image fabricated for unknown reasons, and this 1994 Front Mission manga itself, as far as I know, has never been scanlated or preserved (outside of the summaries of a number of its magazine’s issues, proving it existed but saying nothing about its contents), as opposed to the ASCII-published Front Mission comic, released in 1995, which even got an English fantranslation (and which could be the same manga with a different release model, even if I haven’t been able to confirm this). Debates on this topic, same as regarding other early Front Mission publications, was still ongoing just a few years ago, showing a fascinating example of language barriers and lack of media preservation giving way to uncertain, possibly fabricated memories in the context of videogame history.
Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano, by then recognized as a master of his craft in pretty much every possible context of Japanese entertainment and culture, with multiple Seiuun Awards and celebrated videogame works on the Final Fantasy franchise (not to mention plenty of lesser known JRPG collaborations, like the ones for Kure Soft’s First Queen games or Ys’ X68000 remake) under his belt, was also key for fleshing out Front Mission’s identity, albeit from a visual standpoint.
When he was asked to work on the series, apparently he was eager to participate because he missed working on mecha and sci-fi properties, with most of his works in the years since he left Tatsunoko being in the fantasy space, from his Moorcock fantasy novel covers to his videogame-related works. For Front Mission, though, it seems he went on an illustrating spree of sorts, creating much more art than was actually requested, not just with a number of awesome artworks and character portraits, but also including small-time NPCs that helped to show other sides of the setting.
Amano was also influenced by his trip to Bali, right before starting his work on Front Mission’s art direction, which impacted a number of pieces related to the Huffman warzone, itself a tropical island. In the end, while Amano’s work would only extend to the original Front Mission and its first spin-off, Cybernator-like Front Mission Gun Hazard, with the following entries being illustrated by other greats like Jun Suemi, Akihiro Yamada and Yusuke Naora, his style will end up becoming a fundamental part of Front Mission’s core identity.
Then again, while Amano worked on character designs, many of the in-game portraits rendition (Front Mission was one of the few titles using portraits for dialogue boxes and menus, a trend that wasn’t as established in the Super Famicom days as it would become in the next console generation) were actually heavily reworked by Squaresoft’s Tetsuya Takahashi, the same that will later become the renowned creator of the Xeno series, something that required quite a bit of finesse on his part and had him credited as graphic designer.
Also, many of the actual mecha deisngs were inspired by another master of this craft, Kow Yokoyama, an incredibly talented indie garage kit mecha virtuoso which was recruited directly by Squaresoft’ Sakaguchi, a fan of his mecha plastic models, in order to contribute to the game’s grounded style with realisitic mecha parts and weapons.
While Front Mission’s original Super Famicom version was left stranded in Japan, with the series starting to have a Western presence only with its third entry, after Final Fantasy Tactics had popularized the tactical JRPG subgenre in the West justifying a new wave of tactical JRPG localization efforts by a number of publishers (back then, I felt its outsized impact even here in Europe, despite it never being published here, with my country’s videogame press gushing on it and most committed genre fans having yet another reason to make their PS1 region free), thankfully the original Front Mission did enjoy an early English fantranslation effort by a committed team back in 2001.
Front Mission’s story starts with a simple patrol on the OCU-UCS border of Huffman Island by a squad of OCU Wanzers (as in Wanderung Panzers, German for Wandering Tanks), the setting’s word for its mechas, coming into an unexpected firefight near a mysterious UCS installation and unwillingly triggering a new wave of hostilities, culminating in the Second Huffman War between those super-powers. Both Royd and his fiancee Karen were part of this fated OCU patrol, with Karen seeming missing in action and Royd, traumatized by this experience and by being the cause of the new outbreak of violence, leaving the army and working for a time as a mecha pilot for gambling-related coliseum fights.
After being recruited by OCU-aligned mercenary group Canyon Crows, Royd will find out not everything about the incident was as he thought, and Karen’s fate may also be different from what he had imagined, starting out a complex web of intrigue that will see him fighting in the Second Huffman War while also searching for truth alongside his comrade at arms, which themselves have a number of secrets and developments.
Royd’s personality in the original version showed a personality influenced by PTSD and mental exhaustion due to his loss and the traumatic events he had to face, something that later translations, like the first official one for the DS remake, ended up trying to avoid by making him into a more traditional and stoic hero, even if it did end up creating a bit of a conflict with the way he was depicted later on.
The game is structured in a rather basic way, with menu-based cities having shops to buy weapons, parts and items for your wanzers, an arena to grind money and experience points and a number of interaction chances, for instance bars with flavor NPCs and command centers. This down time is alternated by story missions, which are served through isometric 2D maps where height and terrain often play a major role, even more so considering the leg types of your wanzer can often make or break their chances to contribute to the fight depending on the terrain they face.
Back when I first played the SFC fantranslated version in late 2001 or early 2002, I found it fairly challenging, with a number of though fights later on, even if recruiting optional characters (including unique people like Molly, an aged mother turned wanzer pilot while trying to avenge her community) and grinding in the coliseum really helped to make things smoother, especially given how difficult it was to keep your wanzer lineup fully upgraded by only using the cash provided by the main missions. While you could freely lose units without them dying permanently, outside of a number of missions requiring to protect units to be able to recruit them later, you had to pay their repair costs, making the in-game economy even more relevant if you didn’t bother to break it through the coloseum.
Wanzer customization, as one could expect, was one of the game’s main features, with beautiful sprites used to show the different models and weapons, also featured in the animated combat sequences (akin to Shining Force and Fire Emblem’s battle animations, in a way) during missions. Bodies, arms and legs all had their own HP and defence stats since they could be hit and destroyed separately, while also contributing to the overall Power and Weight stat of the whole wanzer. A number of parts also altered the wanzer’s hit chances while using melee, short or shoulder-mounted long range weapons, which were also affected by the wanzer’s CPU, while the backpack mostly influenced the wanzer’s engine power output, balancing its weight, and the number of items it could bring into battle, including impromptu repair kits, landmines and others.
Pilots also developed their own skills not just by their own level ups, but by improving each of their hit chance, thus building specialized units which could work exceedingly well with a certain type of weapons while being green with others, even if growth potential isn’t the same for everyone and there are indeed pilots that are much better suited to a certain playstyle, even if one can force them to work in a different way. Skills, obtained after a certain number of level ups, also had a deep impact on combat and unit usefulness, allowing pilots to, say, focus their hits on a certain enemy part (which can be lethal, if one aims at the body), shooting two times, stunning enemies with a melee blow, and so on.
While Front Mission was a great start for such an iconic franchise, the scope of its setting and story left plenty of potential plot hooks for its later versions. Its first port in 2002, on Bandai's Wonder Swan Color, a platform that was heavily supported by Squaresoft including a number of Final Fantasy ports and even a bundle, was mostly identical to its Super Famicom version, but its PS1 release in 2003, Front Mission 1st, was much more ambitious, in many ways a remake with plenty of new Amano art and a whole new campaign, this time based on the UCS side of the conflict.
Those upgrades were included in yet another version, the DS port (released in 2007, after the series’ main narrative had been completed with Front Mission 5’s PS2 release two years before) which wasn’t only the first officially localized version of Front Mission (albeit with the caveats discussed before, regarding Royd’s personality), but also included a number of extra missions for both campaigns, which introduced a number of UCS-side characters in the OCU campaign, not to mention a number of cameos of relevant Front Mission characters featured in later entries, like Walter Feng.
In turn, the DS version acted as the content base for 2022’s Front Mission 1st: Remake, developed by Polish publisher Forever Entertainment and contracted developer MegaPixel after Forever Entertainment negotiated with Square Enix in order to be able to create remakes of the first three games in the series on contemporary platforms. While this remake was released with a number of glaring issues, over the years both its publisher and developer kept working on it, ultimately fixing it and making it, in most ways, the definitive version to tackle Front Mission 1st.
From a visual standpoint, this version introduced 3D maps, partially rotable, not to mention 3D models for the wanzers themselves and a number of new features, including a completely new Mercenary Mode, outside of the OCU and UCS campaigns and extensive difficulty options.
While 3D models are often seen as an upgrade, and I do think 3D maps also did help making some missions more readable despite the originals’ charm, it’s also fair to mention how Front Mission featured some really nice spriteworks and how, due to the way part breaking is portrayed during battle sequences (for instance, legs can be destroyed but they aren’t blown off, rather staying there in wrecked form since the wanzer is still allowed to move), having parts not actually getting destroyed, but rather being re-textured after a brief explosion and weapons falling down can be more jarring in 3D compared with the more abstract 2D depiction of fight scenes featured in the older versions.
The abovementioned UCS scenario, introduced to the English audience by the DS port and later by the Forever Entertainment remakes, also deserves its own scrutiny, since it ends up being a fairly different experience compared with the original OCU campaign, showing Tsuchida’s growth as a designer of tactical games in the seven or so years passed between the SFC and PS1 version, even if he didn’t go so far as to introduce the systems developed for the series’ later entries, like Action Points, likely in order to be able to reuse Front Mission’s original game logic, not to mention how this second campaign was never meant to be as full-featured as the original, despite packing a punch in its own way.
Focused on the idealistic UCS officer Kevin Greenfield, who botches a mission against South American separatists and get sent to Huffman Island right before the start of the Second War while also getting involved with the enigmatic Nirvana Institute, this scenario provides more character development opportunities by allowing the player to talk with all squad members between missions, not to mention following the war effort more closely since the squad is ingrained into the USC standing army, instead of being contracted mercenaries like on the OCU side. Its story also works as a nice complement to the original, having plenty of callbacks showing what was happening during a number of key OCU events while still feeling like its own story instead of a grafted appendix.
Challenge-wise, the first few UCS missions can be downright brutal, both because of their own steep difficulty, the small number of available pilots and the arena becoming available only later on, even if things do improve soon after, with more recruits joining the fight (even if the full UCS roster is still half than the full OCU pool of recruitable characters) and things smoothing out quite a bit in terms of challenge once the pilots start acquiring skills. In fact, Kevin ends up being downright brutal in a short range build, in my experience being among the deadliest possible builds in both scenarios.
USC missions later on tend to be a bit too quick and simple in terms of objectives and map design, despite offering a wider variety of enemies, not just wanzers and support trucks but also tanks, self-propelled MLRSs, choppers, turrets and fortresses, which the OCU side didn’t really use outside of cutscenes and NPC dialogues (the bar lady NPC claiming heavy tanks were still kings of the battlefield in the OCU scenario did sound a bit weird given the battles faced by Royd, for instance).
Outside of the two main campaigns, as mentioned, the Forever Entertainment remake also introduced a completely new mode (albeit not at launch, since it was introduced later on via a free DLC), the Mercenary Mode, which has the player choose the best possible team between a dozen or so completely new pilots with preset wanzer loadouts and skillsets in order to tackle a number of increasingly hard missions set in the Front Mission world. Completing missions also unlock new ones, and one can also challenge themselves in terms of turn numbers.
Patches didn’t limit themselves to fixing a number of bugs that plagued the remake’s early days and introducing the Mercenary Mode, but also included another brand new feature, the local multiplayer mode based on the hot seat model, allowing to challenge friends on tailor-made maps, which makes sense considering how MegaPixel had to build a level editor to re-create the original OCU and USC missions to begin with.
Considering the number of times Front Mission was released in its long history, the way it was perceived also changed quite a bit, even more so since westerners like yours truly had a chance to properly enjoy it years after its Japanese debut. In 2001, with Front Mission 3, in many ways one of the biggest and most accomplished games in the series, still fresh in my memory, Front Mission did feel a bit dated, even if I still appreciated its spriteworks and tone quite a bit. Then again, despite playing it six years later, its DS version didn’t just feature very welcome new contents and faster gameplay, but also felt right at home on Nintendo’s handheld, whose tactical JRPG lineup still is a treasure trove featuring many interesting and experimental titles, meaning I ended up enjoying it much more than the original.
As for the Forever Entertainment remake, despite being an ardent fan of the series, after reading about its release woes I opted to bide my time and tackle this version almost three years after its November 2022 release, saving myself from the early disappointment many felt due to the issues the game had when it was released. Then again, while releasing a title in a competent state should be a given, working over the span of two years to rectify those issues and even add a number of original modes does show Forever Entertainment and MegaPixel’s willingness to improve, and it’s fair to say that, right now in mid 2025, their version is in many ways the definitive way to experience Tsuchida’s first directorial effort, unless one is fascinated by the previous versions’ spriteworks.
Ironically, this last version ended up hitting me a bit harder than I expected simply because of how starved I am in terms of new mecha tactical JRPGs, while back when I played the previous releases not only the Front Mission franchise was still very much active, but there were also a number of similar releases on PS2 like Robot Warlords or Ring of Red (and that’s just considering localized titles, since interesting games like Armodyne were unfortunately left in Japan). While the original Front Mission isn’t the most accomplished entry in the series, either in terms of systems or narrative, and can feel a bit basic in a number of ways to those used to more modern titles in the same design space, I feel it’s still very much enjoyable not just as an important part of tactical JRPG history, but also on its own terms.