Mecha Games

Because of their size and power, and the resultant potential for massive property damage demonstrating that size and power, mecha are quite popular subjects for games, both tabletop and electronic.

Tabletop games centered around mecha include Dougram, BattleTech, Mekton, Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles, Gear Krieg, Mecha!, OHMU and many others, and they appear regularly in other epic-scaled games such as Rifts. Mecha are also major elements in some fantasy games, such as DragonMech and Iron Kingdoms, and although they appear in Exalted, they are not a major element of the game's setting. Another prominent tabletop game was Epic Armageddon, which featured monstrous constructs (coined Titans) fighting amongst a retinue of thousands of foot soldiers over thousands of worlds.

Mecha are often featured in computer and console games. One notable console title that focuses on the mecha anime genre is Banpresto's Super Robot Wars series (also known as Super Robot Taisen), which in each installment of its games depict an elaborate crossover of popular and less-known mecha anime series. Also popular are the action game Zone of the Enders, the various Armored Core titles, the Virtual On series, and the Metal Gear series. On the remote controlled side of the genre there are games such as Robot Alchemic Drive and Remote Control Dandy:SF. Many game adaptations have been made of various popular mecha franchises, including Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, many Macross games, and even American titles like the MechWarrior and MechCommander series, the Earthsiege and Starsiege series, Robotech: Battlecry and Robotech: Invasion. Also, there are the Front Mission and Xenogears games by Japanese developer Square Enix (who are also responsible for an homage to Super Robot anime with Robot Alchemic Drive). The Front Mission series is seeing increased popularity in America, especially with the third and fourth installments for PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Xenogears’s spiritual successor Xenosaga, by Namco Bandai followed a similar structure, although in a more science fiction-based setting. In TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, the Goliath SD/9 is a giant mecha armed with chainguns and homing missiles.

Some non mecha-oriented games also feature some mecha-like machines, like Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, StarCraft, Supreme Commander, Warhammer 40,000 and Sonic CD. In addition, Battlefield 2142 features biped mechs as an addition to tanks. The role they play is an anti-infantry, anti-tank and limited anti-air warfare unit. The Gigas in Skies of Arcadia can also be considered mecha of a sort, although at least one of them is actually biological.