0 
0 Brought to us by Forever Entertainment we have Front Mission 1st Remake. Although it has been more of a remaster, gamers now have the chance to play a SNES classic on their Nintendo Switch.
War Is Upon Us – Grab Your Wanzer
The franchise kicked off with its first release in the 90’s on the Super Nintendo (SNES) aptly named Front Mission. We have seen a vast number of these tactical RPG titles across the years with more than ten titles on the list.
Gameplay
Huffman Island, June 3rd 2090 the Larcus incident occurs. In turn, generating The Huffman Conflict. The Oceania Cooperative Union (OSU) and the United States Of The New Continent (USN) are at war fighting for Huffman Island. Donning your mechs (Wanzers) Capt Clive and Driscoll are at the front of these organisations and have a classic 90s game rivalry that’s fit for a Jean Claude Van Damme film. Alongside this Capt Royd Clive has another mission, to find out who killed his fiance.
There are two game modes available, for those who didn’t check out the first release you can play the classic mode. This has the original soundtrack, Orthogonal view and the original experience that many loved back in the day. Also available is the modern mode, whereby you can see a remastered soundtrack, and a perspective/free view (which most will probably prefer) bundled along with a few fixes and improvements.
Front Mission 1st Remake is a turn-based strategy title and we know these aren’t for everyone. However, if you haven’t checked one out as of yet, maybe this is the one for you. It isn’t as complex as some of the others on the market currently and makes a good introduction to the genre along with some of the complexities you see in titles like this. Having said that please ensure you play it at a lower difficulty if you are new.
Using the grid-based movement you travel around the map completing the mission on hand battling mechs from the opposite side. Along the way, you have the ability to bolster your mechs and provide them with long-awaited upgrades to enable a more powerful front. To create challenges within the game there are stats on the sections which enable/block attacks. Alongside this, there is the in-game arena which will allow you to test your upgrade and battle style against AI in the game.
When battling you have four health bars to look after and these refer to various parts of your mech. Once these reach zero that particular part can not be used, however, it isn’t all doom. Luckily there are items that you can use to gain health back in these areas. One of the downsides that can be frustrating is the random number of generated attacks. This means that you could potentially spend all your winnings on upgrades and still lose.
The Limited Edition
When it comes to Limited Edition Titles, unless you are paying a ridiculous amount of money you usually only get some in-game cosmetics. Or if you are super lucky you might get a slipcase. The good news is that with the Limited Edition version of Front Mission 1st Remake, you get some goodies without the extortionate price. To start off with you get a slipcase which houses the exclusive lenticular. Along side this you also get two lithographs which look absolutely stunning. Either keep them with the game or mount them as an extra special piece for your wall.
The final item its a nod to the gaming past. You get a physical full printed game manual and it feels amazing to flick through. I remember checking manuals out on the way home in the car after picking up a new game for my NES.
Graphics & Audio
Graphically Front Mission 1st Remake offers a solid experience. With no graphical glitches or what I would call rough edges. Having said that as it’s a remaster of an original what we are getting is polished assets. The UI is sometimes a little lacklustre and can feel slightly repetitive, however, when we look back at other strategy titles like this we would most likely see assets being reused across maps anyway. I think this is probably just something I am maybe been too fussy about with modern titles offering a vast library of designs available.
Similarly, with the audio we do have a soundtrack that fits the game. The score used is dramatic where it needs to be and delivers a great finishing touch to the gaming environment. Having said that, if we turn back time and jump onto the SNES, we did get music that gets quite repetitive. Unfortunately, we do see that here as well, but it doesn’t detract from the gameplay.
Longevity
I personally love a challenging game, and this did test me. Not to the point Elden Ring would, but you feel the slight frustrations when you get pummelled after various upgrades. I think it has a lot to offer gamers. However, I feel that unless you are a hardcore fan it doesn’t offer much replayability.
Final Thoughts
Having played the original, but admittedly not remembering what it was like I was going into this blind. It is great to see the classics being revived and bringing them back to life with updated graphics. For those who are huge fans of Front Mission titles or turn-based games. Then I think this is most definitely something you should add to your list. However, if you are on the fence then it might be worth waiting for a price drop. I enjoyed my time in-game, but it’s not necessarily a title I would have gone out purposely to pick up. For me now, I think it would be a good next step to visit some of the other games in the series.
I award Front Mission 1st Remake a Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
