Front Mission is a strategy RPG series that is set far in the future where wars are fought with mechs. It’s a standard setup for Japanese games and anime, but there are a few twists that this series puts on the genre. Front Mission 1st: Remake, which is the fourth attempt at re-releasing the series' first game, takes place in the year 2090.
There are two campaigns players can participate in with each framing a different perspective on an ongoing conflict. There is Royd Clive, a disgraced soldier who joined a mercenary group. Then there is Kevin Greenfield, who works for the U.S.C. military. Those are some basic plot details for Front Mission 1st: Remake, but whether or not the game is worth any beans decades after it originally hit the SNES in 1995 is another matter.
8 Best: Engaging Tactics
Square Enix has put out a lot of tactical RPGs in 2022 from new games like Triangle Strategy to re-releases like Tactics Ogre: Reborn. Front Mission 1st: Remake is up there among the greats as well even though it is held back by a few archaic things seeing as it was originally released in 1995.
Battles can be more intense than other strategy RPGs simply because mechs have different parts. Attacks are randomized, meaning that players could get an arm blown off or see their entire torso destroyed in an encounter. With two campaigns to play through, it’s also packed with content.
7 Worst: Arena Battles
One of the aforementioned archaic things about this game is that it’s hard to level up outside of story missions. The game is supremely tough even on the easiest setting. Players can usually brute force their way through an RPG given enough time. However, players don’t have the ability to fight in mock battles to earn experience or money easily.
Players can participate in one on one matches in the arena, but experience and cash rewards are criminally minimal even with high bets. There are RPGs that are grinds and then there is Front Mission 1st: Remake.
6 Best: Deep Mech-Based Customization
Front Mission 1st: Remake is part tactical RPG, part mech simulation game. The amount of things players can customize with their units is incredible. There are tons of arm and leg parts to equip, for example, and each part has its own pros and cons.
That’s just the bodies too, but the amount of weapons these mechs can equip from rocket launchers to flame throwers is truly staggering. Players can even choose a color for their mechs, adding more personality to the experience.
5 Worst: Cumbersome Menus
Players are going to spend about a third, if not half, of their time customizing their mechs to be in peak condition for battle. The downside to that is the menus, which are beyond cumbersome. Players can’t even scroll through heroes using the shoulder buttons which is a standard for most RPGs.
Players are going to have to back in and out of menus so often, this may as well be a parking test for drivers. That’s another reason why it feels so much like a simulation game, but, in this regard, it’s not a compliment.
4 Best: Diverse Maps
The game manages to keep players engaged thanks to the nail-biting results each encounter brings up. The levels are also diverse, making every mission feel new even though they usually amount to the same objective: kill all enemies.
Some maps are in large fields which gives players more room to play around in. Then there are claustrophobic cities, forcing players to create new types of strategies. Missions can take place at different times of the day as well, with night missions being particularly tricky to navigate.
3 Worst: Load Times
There are many technical aspects that hold this game back on Switch. Most recent Square Enix RPGs with turn-based combat tend to have fast-forward buttons. To bring up Triangle Strategy again, that game allows players to fast-forward through battles and skip dialogue.
Front Mission 1st: Remake has none of those features, which most fans have come to expect in 2022. The load times are not great either, especially if players use a save scum tactic in battle. Related, the limited number of save files, four, is bad, especially since there are two campaigns to play through.
2 Best: The Sound Test Library
The soundtrack to this game was great in its original SNES format. This remake includes a remastered soundtrack but players can change which version they hear in the options at any time. Even better still, there is a library where players can test every track on the title screen.
Sound Test modes have all but died off along with cheats, which were two big features in games in the 90s around the time when this game originally launched. Seeing this option return is one of the coolest things about this remake, even if it isn’t for everyone.
1 Worst: No Voices
There is something about the sound design that this game is lacking though: voice acting. Now would have been the time to voice characters in both campaigns. Not every aspect of the game had to be voiced as players might have been satisfied with only major scenes.
Square Enix released a remake of Live A Live in July, which was also a SNES game originally. That remake got a voice cast, which makes Front Mission 1st: Remake’s re-release seem cheaper by comparison and one of the game's worst qualities.
Front Mission 1st: Remake was released on November 30, 2022, and is available on Nintendo Switch.