Gameplay
Basically, it’s the SNES’ version of Capcom’s Marvel Superheroes arcade fighter, with Mobile Suits as fighters instead of spandex-clad heroes; The stages are slightly narrower than your average fighting game, but the mobile suits can use their verniers to “fly” (basically a super jump) upward or dash forward.
The usage of the verniers are a big part of the game, because the suits – as expected of hulking pieces of metal – move a little bit slower compared to your average shotokan practitioner. The controls are responsive, mind you, there’s no lag or floatiness involved, but they walk and jump a little bit slow so if you want to get from one place to another, you use the vernier. Additionally, the ability to block while in the air makes the game more dynamic fast paced.
Endless Duel also has its fair share of special attacks and screen-filling super-attacks that range from giant rifle beam blasts to flame throwers, and a couple of suits even have the ability to transform into jets that ram the opponents. As mentioned above, if you’ve played Marvel Superheroes, you’ll have an idea on what New Mobile Suit Report Gundam Wing: Endless Duel’s gameplay is like.
Graphics and Audio
In terms of audio, Endless Duel makes good use of the SNES’ capabilities and provides a decent representation of the sounds from the anime. Surprisingly, the lack of voices doesn't make things repetitive. The mobile suits have similar sounds in places that you’d expect them to (like the sound of them walking or their verniers and vulcans,) but they have varied attacks that produce different sounds – Wing’s beam rifles sound nothing like Shenlong’s flamethrowers or Heavyarms’ gatling gun (easily the most recognizable and unique sound from the series.)
Graphics is where the game really shines. The characters are HUGE and two of them can easily take up most of the screen real estate, and the detail is amazing for a 16 bit game. In fact, if it weren’t for the lower resolution, you can easily mistake the game as running on a system from the 24 or 32-bit generation. The framerate is smooth, the colors are bright and crisp, and the game makes full use of transparencies to produce beams and laser effects that look awesome in action.
Replayability
Fighting games tend to score very high on replayability by virtue of being designed for repeated play against the CPU or a human opponent – Endless Duel is not an exception. Despite having a limited amount of modes (Story and Vs. Modes) and even if the roster is a little bit thin (9 mobile suits + 2 secret ones), the suits require different playstyles so you’ll have a bit of fun trying to master them all. Besides, simply playing against an opponent again and again is fun enough that you’ll spend hours without getting bored on your first few playthroughs. Afterwards, you may find yourself still picking it up for short bursts of Gundam action.
