My copy of the original 'Super Robot Wars' on Game Boy.

Ollie Barder

With the first Super Robot Wars game released on the Game Boy back in 1991, today marks the 35th anniversary of the series.

The original Game Boy game was a surprisingly tough turn-based strategy game, which had you pit mecha from disparate anime series against a multitude of enemies.

Coupled with backend customization, the game spearheaded the tactical role-playing game genre and was unsurprisingly a huge success in Japan.

Over subsequent installments, the games became more involved and started to feature elaborate battle animations, with the latest game in the series, Super Robot Wars Y, having some of the most impressive yet.

As each game increased an ever-growing roster of famous mecha anime, many fans thought that seeing the mainline games get an international release would be logistically impossible.

However, that all changed in 2017 when Super Robot Wars V was given an Asian release with a full English localization. As the game was effectively region-free, it meant overseas fans could import the game stress-free.

The subsequent releases all featured English localization as well, with Super Robot Wars 30 receiving a US release via Steam in 2021.

The latest game in the series, Super Robot Wars Y, finally received a full worldwide release last year, meaning that the franchise has finally made the transition to a genuinely global franchise.

As someone who’s been playing these games since I was a kid, it’s amazing to think how far the series has come in the last 35 years. Here’s hoping the next 35 will be just as eventful.

Super Robot Wars Y is available to play on Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently writing regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for both Game*Spark and Automaton.