Super Robot Wars Alpha 3

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Super Robot Wars Alpha 3, for the PlayStation 2 is the last game in the Super Robot Wars Alpha series. It contains one of the largest casts to ever be placed together within a Super Robot Wars game. The Gundam SEED series also makes its debut, along with GaoGaiGar Final. Also debuting are three units from the Virtual On series; this marks the first time that characters or machines from a game, not produced by either Banpresto or Bandai, have appeared in an SRW game (Virtual On is produced by Sega).

[edit] Series included in SRW Alpha 3

The game once more offers the players a choice of an original character to use as the game's main character. Each comes with their own distinct storyline and profile although their names and other minor info such as birthday are customizable. The characters are:

The Super Robot Types

Touma Kanou (VA: Yasuyuki Kase): A very traditional Super Robot Pilot, hotblooded, dramatic and loud, Touma is a delivery boy who finds himself becoming the pilot of a prototype giant robot named RaiOh.
Kusuha Mizuha (VA: Mikako Takahashi) and Brooklyn Luckfield ("Bullet") (VA: Tomokazu Sugita): Often considered the main characters of the Alpha series, the duo of Kusuha and Bullet are the only selectable characters who have appeared before in the Alpha universe (Alpha, Alpha 2). As usual, they (eventually) pilot the Beast Machines Ryuu-Ko-Ou (or rather, its upgrade) the Dragon-Tiger-King, and Ko-Ryuu-Oh the Tiger-Dragon-King even though it had been previously destroyed in 2nd Super Robot Wars Alpha. However, until they receive their upgrade, they use the Gouryuu (Thunder Dragon) and Raikou (Lightning Tiger), respectively.

The Real Robot Types

Cobray Gordon (VA: Yuuki Tai): A mysterious young man who first appears in a machine that turns out to be Balmarian in origins, he loses his memory when the Astranagant absorbs his machine and mutates it into the powerful and enigmatic Werkbau. Cobray is perhaps the more interesting of the new characters, and later on his true identity offers a real surprise and treat to longtime SRW players.
Selena Restall (VA: Yuuko Satou): Speaks in a combination of Japanese and Spanish. This mysterious and deadly secret agent's true intentions are always in question. Expect to switch sides more often than any other character as this foxy lady. Her specific mecha, the AS Soleares, is the most speed based of the four main characters in terms of performance and motif, as well as having the greatest variety of attacks which bestow negative status on their victim.

[edit] Noteworthy

The storylines of Gundam SEED, Space Runaway Ideon, GaoGaiGar FINAL, the final episode of Gunbuster, Macross 7 and The End of Evangelion take center stage in this game's storyline.
This game contains the squad system started in Super Robot Wars Alpha 2, where multiple units can be assigned to a team that counts as a single unit. Since all the mecha are of different sizes, the size limit must be considered when building a team. Some units tend to make better teammates than leaders and vise versa so experimentation with unit combinations is highly recommended. The system has received several improvements over the A2 version, including:
- The ability to auto-generate squads based on "balance" (generally grouping units together by series), "power" (a strong leader combined with strong supporting attacks), or "speed" (i.e. movement rate; units with the same rate grouped together). This can be useful for the novice player, or one who doesn't want to go to the effort of building squads by oneself, but players are generally better served doing the work themselves.
- Access to the item, upgrade and pilot menus from the squad-building menu, thus saving repeatedly going back and forth between screens.
- The option to change supporters' reactions when targeted by an ALL attack (choose between "dodge" and "block")
- A mildly improved squad attack animation, where the entire group is shown onscreen instead of just the ones attacking.

Combination Attacks are also present in this game. They are quite powerful and are always cinematically impressive, experiment to find them all. They tend to be series specific.

The very popular mechanical designer Kazuma Kaneko is a guest designer in this game. He gives his unique flair and design to all of Cobray's mecha. Kaneko did the designs for Shin Megami Tensei and the devil forms for Devil May Cry 3.

The new animations are some of the longest and most detailed of any SRW game to date.

Gamespan of 60 stages, as well as bonus "EX" Scenarios which can be unlocked. These are special scenarios that are side stories to the main game, which can give you additional benefits...

Three possible endings, the Normal ending, the "Gunbuster" ending which is the best, and the "Ideon" ending which is by far the worst ending.

SRWA3 may be one of the most-torrented video games in recent history; within a few days of its release, more than 40,000 people were downloading the disc image simultaneously via bittorrent. ^{[citation needed]}

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

This is one of the few Super Robot Wars games where a character actually makes a reference to a SRW game in another universe or continuity. Late in the game, Kaworu Nagisa of Neon Genesis Evangelion refers obliquely to RahXephon's role in Super Robot Wars MX, hinting that Kaworu is a dimension travelling being akin to some of the other original characters.

This particular SRW contains a high amount of some of the most devastating attacks seen in all the SRW series' continuities yet. Shin Getter Robo's Shin Shine Spark, Mazinkaiser's Kaiser Nova, Genesic Gaogaigar's Goldion Crusher (as both an ALL or MAP attack - one use only per battle), the (Battle 7) Macross Cannon, Eva-01 and Eva-02's Unison Kick, the return of the infamous Infinity Cylinder move for an original, and the legendary map clearing Ideon Gun are but a few of the most powerful attacks available to players in this game.

The Virtual On units do not have visible pilots in this game. Many speculated for months whether or not these new mecha would have pilots, since in the video game they come from they never have visible pilots. Interestingly though, it is heavily hinted that the VO units are actually being controlled by us, gamers, in another dimension and that the mecha was taken straight out of the game into SRWA's world. Literally a game within a game!

Ideon no longer goes berserk if its Ide Gauge rises too far like it did in Super Robot Wars F Final much to the relief of hundreds of SRW veterans who got to experience being blasted by a crazed Ideons' Ideon Gun more often than not in the said game. However, beyond a certain point, any time Ideon is destroyed, the game still ends.