Peanut butter and jelly? Yeah, it's obvious they go together. Gundam and fighting games? Well, that's not so easy.
The Gundam mega-series is long and intricate. There are constantly new series being released and these are sent back to us in the United States. Back when Gundam Battle Assault 2 was released, the main series were Gundam Wing, G Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam, the original. And so it is that these series are focused on in the main story.
Story? What story? This is a fighting game, right? Yes, of course. The story isn't so much a story mode as a series of brawls that get progressively harder. And so too do the mobile suits and mecha become more advanced. The final boss tends to be one you'd expect if you knew that particular series.
Gundams tend to be varied, and there are many different weapons. Wing Gundam Zero wields a massive pair of rifles, that can be paired together for an enormous blast. Gundam RX-78-2 on the other hand comes from a realistic series and so is armed with a beam rifle and shield. For close combat, there are a pair of shoulder mounted beam sabers as well. Gundam Battle Assault 2 takes these and splices them in as combos and special moves. For example, hit down and then left before hitting triangle, and your Gundam will shoot with his head mounted vulcan gun. Of course, there is limited ammo for these sorts of weapons to keep it balanced.
Additionally, booster units can only be used in bursts, these bursts managed by three boxes. You can boost up from the ground if you've been knocked down. Also there to be activated is a flight mode in which the bars are drained across a few seconds allowing free flight.
Gundam tend to have a couple health bars, representing their high armor and shields. The heavier the mobile suit, the more bars they have; at the same time, though, they have smaller health bars to keep the game balanced. The larger mobile suits are also slower and more cumbersome, naturally.
When you complete the Street mode (the semblance of a story mode) you unlock another mobile suit. There are quite a few different mobile suits to unlock. If you are well versed in the gundam universe, you'll recognize how the grid of a character screen is laid out; rival, protagonist, and two additional mobile suits from that series, either enemies or allies. As you unlock more, they'll fill in more rows for each series, or expand existing series' rows. There are a healthy amount of mobile suits to unlock, and they are all varied in their attacks.
Of particular note are special attacks. Three are allotted to each combatant per round, but they are devastating and thus should rightfully be limited; they can easily take a health bar from an undefended foe. These vary based on the mobile suit, meaning that Domon Kashu's signature move will only be used by Burning Gundam. Amuro Ray will only strike with his signature Gundam Hammer! attack when in RX-78. Pilots and mobile suits are paired based on the series. You can not select pilots and suits independently, but this shouldn't be an issue for anyone looking to see their favorite suits in a brawl.
Want to see who'd win out if Burning Gundam and Wing Zero Custom were to throwdown? Fight to decide the victor!