This first game was a turn-based stragety game where you command several walking tank-like robots.
The next game in the series was Front Mission: Gunhazard, also released on the Super Famicom.
This game was a side-scrolling shooter that was completely different than the popular Front Mission.
Several years later Front Mission 2 came out on the Japanese Playstation. This game was very much like the original Front Mission.
Within 6 months another Front Mission game, Front Mission Alternative came out on the Japanese Playstation.
This game (as the title says) is alternative.
The game play is not turn-based, but real time.
None of these games have seen the light of day in the U.S.
They are all Japanese games, but can be played because all of the menus and game play interface are in English!
One aspect of the seires has remained the same, the robots.
Called by different names in the different games, they have been pretty much the same in design, 18 foot tall walking machines loaded to the teeth with hightech weaponary.
This weaponary as well as the actual machine parts are changeable and upgradeable from a huge inventory in all the games.
In Front Mission 3 you have complete control over the weapons, parts, items, and skills of your individual Wanzers and pilots.
Using the money earned by successfully completing missions, selling captured enemy units you can customize your Panzers with a wide variety of body parts, weapons, and (new to the series) computer upgrades each with different hit points, attack and defense strengths, and weight.
You can build fast-moving units with short-range machine guns, close-combat units that rely on their armor and fists, or long-range stand-off missile units which can blast the enemy from a safe distance.
Add battle computers and repair kits and you get an idea of the complexity of the game.
In addition, your computers gain special attack skills as they increase in level.
Like Front Mission, and Final Fantasy Tactics, and Front Mission 2, Front Mission 3 is played on a large-scale strategic map for choosing the next destination, a smaller scale tactical map for moving units, and a close-up view battlefield for the one-on-one duels between robots.
Although you are always outnumbered, the AI of your computer opponent is rather limited and you can usually out-maneuver the computer with careful planning.
This is one of the strongest points of the game: you must choose the correct balance of robot types and use them effectively to win.
Front Mission 3 is a "must play" for diehard simulation fans who want a complex, challenging war game.
Building your own unique robot force is a lot of fun and the incredible variety of weapons, parts and items, and pilot skills make each game different.
Front Mission 3- Realm of Mecha
