The First Gundam Game I ever Played... does it Hold Up?

Today, we're taking a look at Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo. This iconic PlayStation 2 title was the first of many 3D action games to release for the console based on the popular Gundam franchise, and a personal favorite of mine.
But, how does it hold up after all these years? Is it as good as I remember? Come find out!

[@ObsidionshadowX]

This game is the main reason I got a PS2 as a kid. My dad got the game from blockbuster thinking it would work on the PS1 my cousin let me borrow, then yeah.. we figured out it didn't, so even though my dad worked himself to the bone just to make sure we lived in a decent place, he got me one, it was this and Armored Core 2 that truly started my adventure into gaming, Mecha, and the titan of a franchise that is Mobile Suit Gundam.

[@foxhoundms9051]

Same here man. This game AC2 and Wing Gundam on Toonami back when I was a kid made me a mecha maniac 🤣

[@ObsidionshadowX]

@@foxhoundms9051 oh God, yep, Gundam Wing made me a maniac. I played the crap outta Battle Assault 1 and 2 and almost exclusively used Wing Gundam. 😂

[@foxhoundms9051]

@@ObsidionshadowX ahhh hardly anyone knows about those games! They are amazing. I still have them both lol

[@ObsidionshadowX]

@@foxhoundms9051 oh yeah, truly underrated classics, my dad and I would verse each other and eat pizza. Good times. Haha I got to go dig around and make sure I still got mine. 🤣

[@SykNomad241]

​@@ObsidionshadowX I love dads that play video games with their kids. I remember playing Super Street Fighter 4 with my dad long ago.

[@TJTheEmperor]

Journey to Jaburo is a really special game for me. I was one of few kids who got hooked on Gundam through Toonami's broadcast of the original series in 2001. After they pulled it a few short weeks later, I was desparate for more, and thankfully my local video store had Journey to Jaburo on their shelves. In the absense of actually being able to watch the TV series, this game totally hooked me into the Gundam universe - without it, there's absolutely no way I would be the enormous Gundam fan I am now, and for that I'll always be grateful for it.

[@9ner]

I was also one of those kids, dude. The few episodes I saw, I loved. And it was beyond me why it discontinued. But I was very interested in acquiring Gundam games or figures thereafter. If I had known Saturn had its amazing lineup of gundam titles I would've begged my parents to import me a JP saturn and all the gundam games lol. but jaburo was my first console gundam game...while I was a bit disappointed with it scratched a fix. I was too impatient then and wanted something more fluid, but playing it now I love it a lot.

[@racecarpics]

​@@9nerI was one of those kids as well. It was pulled due to 9/11. They felt that a show about war perhaps wasn't appropriate to air, though I would disagree. They did finish it on Toonami Midnight Run later that year

[@GutsOfRivia]

good to see a channel cover the golden age of Gundam games. Its such a shame that todays Gundam games just dont have that special sauce or passion in them.

[@JarboeGaming]

I 100% agree, maybe one day we'll get something good again. We're going to be covering more in the future!

[@daedalusstray1121]

The last Gundam game I enjoyed was Crossfire. Most of them are high paced action games now. That type of game just makes Mobile Suits feel too unrealistic and they don't let you customize anything. Battle Operation 2 is OK but it's free to play and thus very grindy.

[@G0ld3nB0]

wow all the audio triggers i'm getting from just the pre mission intros and all that 👌one of the games I 100%'d as a kid

[@futtbuckle]

If you're gonna keep going with PS2 Gundam games, I wholeheartedly recommend Lost War Chronicles for you to look at. Not many know it as it was a Japan-only game, but it's the long-lost child of Journey to Jaburo and Zeonic Front. You choose either Zeon or Feddie and go through the OYW as a ground troop (basically living out your 08th MS Team fantasies) and playing support in some of the famous battles, while doing your own missions. The great thing is that both sides basically have the same missions, just from either the attacking side, or the defending side. While not as technical as Zeonic Front, there is still quite some amount of loadout customization, and a lot of unlockable MSes. In the same vein as Jaburo, you get scenes after you finish a mission. Getting praised by higher-ups, or getting chewed out by mechanics for bringing back your MS in a heavily damaged state is part of the game's charm (it's all in Japanese, of course). While the game itself is in Japanese, they chose to use a bunch of stylistic English and that made the game somewhat playable for me as a kid who didn't speak or read a lick of Japanese.

[@JarboeGaming]

It's one I've heard mentioned and sounds like one worth checking out!

[@American_Gunpla]

I emulate this on my steam deck now. It will always have its place in my library.

[@DevasiaMentalityGaming]

I only look back on this fondly as my first major exposure to the original Gundam series... beyond that, nadda. It's got all the right mechanics and style, but is still far too clunky in most respects. Lost War Chronicles is straight up the better version of this game, and whether you understand Japanese or not I would still recommend that over this any day.

[@LOH3NGR1N]

This game was probably one of my favorites tied with Zeonic Front and the what ifs you got of Gundam vs Zeta. I would always binge it to see what I could unlock. And being only on the earth missions, the story was fun to play followed by encounters in space to get the whole Gundam experience.

[@JarboeGaming]

Encounters in Space is what im playing through now, the controls took a bit to get used to but it's growing on me!

[@LOH3NGR1N]

@@JarboeGaming there's a few secret runs to discover on that one. Definitely subbed to see that 🔥

[@kuailiang6312]

Zeonic front is amazing

[@ItsAGorillaStudios]

This game introduced me to the U.C. timeline and how great the series is on the whole. Unfortunately, I never could get past stage 3 (Garma's Fate). One of my favorite things about it was watching all the previews for Gundam Series' in the Movies section. Didn't have cable, so watching Wing or any other series was out of the question. Pretty awesome for a game that was basically a clunkier Armored Core.

[@Gatherway]

This game came out at a really interesting time. According to Wikipedia, it was released in North America at a point where only 10 episodes of the anime had aired, and to my recollection I myself started playing it right around when episode 20 had finished airing. This means I got to reenact for myself those previous episodes I had already seen, while at the same time being given a preview of many episodes that were yet to come. It made for a truly unique experiences where I got to compare and contrast how the the same events were portrayed in different mediums. One really amusing side effect of this was that it lead to me generating a lot of hype for the Zock; that thing had thoroughly beaten my ass several times before I was able to take it down, so I was anticipating it's fight in the anime to be a showdown of epic proportions. Imagine my absolute shock when it and the Gundam squared off for all of 10 seconds, Amuro taking it down in a single shot from his beam rifle. 😂

[@MC-pt8kv]

I remember playing those extra missions over and over to try and unlock my favorite suits

[@peteryoung2422]

THATS RIGHT! same here.

[@Jociaoftrades]

Guncannon and Guntank were some of the most OP MS in the extra missions.

[@derekbrewer9681]

Journey to Jaburo was my 1st PS2 game, only one for maybe like 8 months after i got the console so needless to say it got 100%'d. Coming from mechwarrior 2 on PC its clunkyish movement system felt very simulation-esque to me at the time, like what mechwarrior had tried to accomplish. JtJ really, really demands precise timing to play it like what you saw in the show, i would also say that the depth of the 3 missions in tactics battle made up for how little content was in the mode. The sort of dynamic difficulty based on how damaged you got in each wave was so cool especially 22 years ago! Encounters in space is the better, bigger, more polished game but JtJ is a solid foundation for this more 'cinematic' series of PS2 mobile suit games.

[@JarboeGaming]

Honestly, after playing through both Encounters in Space and Gundam vs Zeta after this, JtJ does hold up really well imo. Solid game that I also loved as a kid.

[@ZeonicFreak]

I remember renting this game extensively from Blockbuster my freshmen year of high school before I got to finally own it a couple of years later. Your right about the controls, it didn't age well, but I learned something while playing Gundam games is that you will adapt to how to play the game the longer you play it. Each of the Gundam games for the PS2 era all handled differently, and that was due to the developers adapting to the hardware of the PS2 which made the later Gundam games a whole lot more enjoyable. I put so many hours in this game and I still got my save game data from 22 years ago that still worked the last time I played it for a Gundam review video I tried to do a couple of years back (kzbin.info/www/bejne/bF69kKKmn52am9U). Looking forward to your review of Encouters in Space, that was another one I highly enjoyed!

[@JarboeGaming]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm thinking that will be the next Gundam game I cover since it's essentially the sequel to J2J, before moving on to Fed vs Zeon and Gundam vs Zeta Gundam.

[@ZeonicFreak]

​@@JarboeGaming Yep I agree. Fed vs Zeon is an arcade port from Sega NAOMI hardware, and I could've sworn that Gundam vs Zeta Gundam was also an arcade game but it was a port from the Gamecube version in Japan since both games have the same gameplay. I find that interesting. Keep in mind that Fed vs Zeon was on the Dreamcast as a port too. I'm looking at the scores for Gundam vs Zeta Gundam and im surprised it was rated this low for a game that threw in the kitchen sink from a space colony in terms of a bajillion bonuses of content that can be unlocked.

[@takempf]

Those d-pad + shoulder inputs, the extra-crunchy cutscenes, and the quality of the audio in the game makes me suspicious this was originally a PS1 title, or based off of assets intended for one. O it could simply be a holdover from the transition period.

[@bryangutierrez6679]

It really feels like one of them second gen Armored Core games. Only with a more lot of jank.

[@kurisu7885]

Sadly never got to play this or any of them, I may need to fix that.

[@A_Dongle]

I got this game Christmas 2001 and it changed my life

[@ryuhoshu3303]

I remember going back and playing this after lost war chronicles and it felt really clunky as you mentioned but I wanted to have it on the collection specially being the first PS2 game, can't wait to see encounters in space, such a great game

[@HYDRAdude]

I remember the Gundam hammer being the go to weapon of choice due to the chain knockdown you could do.

[@uberscosplay]

I still replay this game on the reg. There was a direct sequel that never got a us release called lost war chronicles that used the same engine but vastly improved the control responsiveness and added alot of additonal suits. Id suggest you give it a look as it plays like a ver 2.0 of j2j

[@CodeRed001]

I remember renting this game and getting all the way to the final mobile armor Zock. I remember not being able to kill that guy to matter what I did. Idk if the game was glitched or something else. It's been so long my memory has gone, maybe my health way already too low from another battle or maybe I would run out of ammo. Maybe i'm just remembering the game wrong but I just remember being angry at how I couldn't take him down no matter what I did. I remember not liking this game compared to Zeonic Front. I had all the Gundam games. Gundam Battle Assault 1, 2, Gundam Dynasty Warriors 2 and Reborn and Gundam Crossfire for PS3. I even imported Unicorn Gundam and Gundam Breaker for my ps3. Also had a dreamcast so I owned a copy of Gundam Sidestory which I loved.

[@mohd88zarif7]

Never played this one, might gonna search for it later

[@atomicplunder]

This was the First Game I got For my PS2

[@vaxiit]

I just bought this game thr day this video came out great timing

[@Initial_RX]

Omfg. This unlocked core memories.

[@Peweskimooxy]

I loved this game. My friend and I put a lot of hours into it.

[@JarboeGaming]

I have vivid memories of bringing the games book to school with me and studying it as a kid

[@ImJustRav]

Ah yes, the reason I only did the Zeon side. 7:19

[@daedalusstray1121]

I played Journey to Jaburo as a kid. I definitely struggled with the controls when I first got the game and got stuck on one of the early levels as a result. I went back to it a few years later and I got through the entire game. I really enjoyed it despite the clunky controls. The controls seemed intention to make you feel like you were piloting a giant Gundam. Older games used to do that more often. If the game had the player using a tank or mech they might intentionally obfuscated the controls to make the game feel a certain way. Eventually you get used to them and you feel much more comfortable but that game still stands out and plays differently than others. I think that is something that is lacking in mech games today. They control the same as any other game and I feel less like I'm piloting a machine and more like I'm playing any other first or third person shooter.

[@Kenshiro3rd]

It most definitely was not intentional, it pure programming/optimization fail. The version we got was actually the "fixed" version. The original Japanese version's controls were even laggier. Also certain combos/moves listed in the manual are actually flat out broken and non-functional in the game.

[@MrPikaGammer]

God it's odd finding someone whose lived some of the exact same experiences, this was my first Gundam game and is one of my favorite Gundam games of all time. Journey to Jaburo, Federation VS Zeon and Encounters in Space made up my childhood. Eventually in twenties my brother tracked me down a copy of Zeonic Front and gave it to me on my birthday. One of the most personally special birthday presents I ever got especially considering how many times I watched it's trailer through Journey to Jaburo.

[@JarboeGaming]

My copy of Zeonic Front is one of the few games I kept from my childhood. Such a great game. Here's to hoping we'll get more quality stuff or remasters in the future.

[@MrPikaGammer]

@@JarboeGaming I'm hoping for another game in the Side Story 0079: Rise From The Ashes style, I love it and The White Dingo Team is my favorite MS Team of all time thanks to it. My ideal game would be Crossfire and Rise From Ashes combined! But I also have terrible taste so there's that.

[@kebomp]

I loved Journey to Jaburo! Growing up my dad bought a crazy ton of PS2 games. My siblings and I would also refer this game as the mouse transformer game because we had no knowledge of the series 😅

[@HamanKarn567]

I loved all the bonus modes playing as both sides cool mobile suits.

[@Just.Kidding]

In terms on controls, keep in mind the context around when this came out. That is an extremely standard "tank" control layout, and at the time of the game's release, would have been near ubiquitous for years, as it was used since the very beginning of the PS1's life cycle, all the way through to the end. Basically, it was a control scheme that gamers at the time would have been totally familiar with, to the point of being second nature - much like how twin analog stick movement is now. Regardless, I agree completely with your assessment about mechs being clunky to control. It calls to mind Armored Core, which kept its specific control method long after analog sticks were introduced for that specific reason; the player is playing as the _pilot,_ NOT the mech.

[@shauqiharris2772]

Remember playing this as a kid and honestly this is way better than whatever the hell Gundam Metaverse is.

[@starfan6299]

I never had a PS2, but I always saw the ads in magazines and always wanted to play them....

[@ObsidionshadowX]

I feel that, maybe there's some little shop somewhere near you where you can get one. Some games can be pretty expensive nowadays, but, if you're committed, you might get lucky to find something at a good price. You really can't beat that classic experience.

[@wolfofmagdalene92]

Hard to believe it's been 23 years since encountering this game. I really enjoyed this as a kid even with the clunky melee and movement system. I wanna say this was my 2nd encounter with gundam, First being Gundam Wing on Toonami. Tactics mode was very legit. I loved how big the maps were, the forest mission is one of my favorites. I would of loved to have seen a sequel. Hard to believe that the following year would give us Zeonic front at the beginning and we'd finally see Fed vs Zeon in the USA. I didn't care much for Gundam vs Zeta and Encounters in Space , as Gundam vs Zeta changed up and added a few things I didn't care for, and Encounters in Space had some neat things but I don't care for flying 24/7 and just zipping between targets. Still Journey to Jaburo is helped spark a deep love for the franchise as a whole. Not to mention first time ever seeing the GM sniper/Destiny Units and Kempfer

[@B0110CK5]

Oh boy. This game just didn't hit for me as a child. I grew up on Wing and G airing on Toonami so when my mom bought home a ps2 gundam game from the thrift store I was over the moon. I didn't understand the gameplay or who the characters were so it ended up getting traded to Game Crazy for Devil May Cry 3 special edition lol. I can 100% see why this didn't hit for Kid me but adult me would eat this game up.

[@B0110CK5]

The gameplay also reminds me of ps1 era Armored Core in a way that did not click with me when I was younger (Mostly bc AC didn't click with me until a decade or so ago lol)

[@JarboeGaming]

Encounters in Space is much better IMO. It's the games spiritual sequel, just finished it up and it really grew on me.

[@f_sharp64]

Journey to Jaburo had some of the most JANK controls i've ever played a game with. I'm so glad they fixed it in Feds vs. Zeon and Zeta vs. MSG.

[@Revealingstorm.]

So jank but my teenage ass loved it

[@cww2490]

Loved the game, but I only remember 2 thing. 1. If you held down the fire button it would turn off the lock on but you could fire a more powerful ranged attack. 2. The trailers you could watch were amazing and told you there was a whole lot more to Gundam than you could ever know. This was back before KZbin and it being common to search up everything on a phone.

[@gundathroneps448]

This was my 1st game for the ps2 back when me and my older brother got one for Christmas. I got Journey to Jaburo cuz our parents new I loved Gundam and he Got Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty which is quite good. But yea Journey to jaburo was quit Clunky tho I do believe it was the 1st Gundam game for the Ps2. Cause later came Encounters in space, Zeonic Front(My favorite),Federation Vs Zeon and Gundam Vs Zeta. I had all of them lol. It was a Big thing tho as it Introduced MSV to the US with the most Side Stories missions. I miss this game. I enjoy the newer Gundam games like the Breaker series tho I do hope we get another 1v1 Story mode Gundam Game someday. I do enjoy GBO2 tho it's Multi-player focused.

[@SleepFighterzz]

I just got done playing Mecha Break playtest and it made me think about the gundam games I played in my lifespan. I remember my dad renting this from blockbuster during thanksgiving break when i was 11.. I was hooked! Bummed when he had to return it, but he ended up getting it for me on Christmas.. blew my mind and it made my childhood that much better. Good times.. thanks for the nostalgia with this video. Time to emulate this on my steam deck oled now!

[@codemonkeyattack]

We got a PS2 for Christmas about a year into the PS2's lifetime and the only game I had was FFX at the time. So my brother decided to loan a few of his PSX games to a guy at his High School in exchange for borrowing a few PS2 games and this was one of them. He wasn't a Gundam fan so he just let me play it while he focused on the other games. Turns out that guy he did the trade with refused to return his games and just kept avoiding him so he gave up and told me I could keep it forever. Now realizing he lost a few of his games for it is annoying but at that time I was on cloud nine, this easily turned my interest into Gundam into an obsession because I ended up getting every Gundam game I could during the PS2 era.

[@Kenshiro3rd]

The unresponsive/laggy, clunky, (nd partially broken gameplay ruined this game for me... back when it came out. I was actually excited for this game. These days I call it "Gundam: Journey to Go **** Yourself". I honestly hate this game.

[@chesster423]

This is the gameplay ive always wanted. Slowpaced action game. Not so much hacknslash.

[@kurtmager1626]

Except for the melee attacks, I didn't have much trouble with the controls. They basically reminded me of the PS1 Armored Core controls. That's probably also why I had trouble with the melee TBH. So after failing multiple times to vary slashes, I gave up and just pretended I was playing Armored Core. I had a much easier time with the melee after that.

[@OtioseFanatic]

I can wholeheartedly confirm that your issues with melee combat is because you "spam" square. It's a timed hit system. You can't continue strings without proper timing and different mobile suits have different timings.

[@RamadaArtist]

Many many years ago I had Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, back when a lot of kids only had one console, or you were either a console house or a PC house. My friend loved the game, but he came from a PC house and wanted some kind of mech game to play at home, so eventually got his hands on this. We played the shit out of it, but admittedly, we were looking for something that had more of the customization options that MW offered. From there, and directly because he was craving more games like this, my friend got his hands on a copy of Armored Core 3. I can say, all these years later, that I never really liked Gundam as a franchise, (all that I had been introduced to at the time was Gundam Wing, which just felt goofy to me,) and it was circuitously Armored Core that got me back into Gundam, because a number of years later, (and after Nexus and Last Raven,) we got Armored Core 4, and I DEVOURED that shit. To this day it's the only FS game I've bothered to fully 100%. (And the pain of doing so is largely why I don't spend time on annoying pointless achievements, because at least in the 360 version of AC4, 100% meant S-ranking every mission, and at least in AC4 you got an additional tuning point for every mission you S-ranked. It wasn't enough to actually make a difference online, but it felt like it.) Well my nerdy friends in college actually got me to watch Gundam 00 as it was airing, and it was only because of the some of the plot similarities to AC4 that I even gave it the time of day and well... I mean not only was I hooked by Unicorn came out shortly after that, pretty much permanently cementing me as a fan. I still think Armored Core is the best mecha game franchise out there, (and I still think ACVD is the primary outstanding example of everything a mecha game should be, but it's also pretty indicative of how little the market actually wants what I think a mecha game should be,) but if not for this stupid little romp through part of the 1 Year War, (which, honestly, if this is all you're gonna get of 0079, it's not the worst way to get it,) I would likely have never encountered my true love. So I can't really hate on it.

[@appletherapy]

"Ignorance is bliss" true. I loved this game. It had enough replay value for me. And being to poor to afford the anime dvd, I had to soak up as much story from this game.

[@immanuel_shadowhammonds2813]

This game was good in the beginning, but once beaten, it could get pretty boring real fast! You only have I think 2-3 maps to choose from and very limited play. On the federation side, you only play with I think three Stationary GunTanks… so boring, but on the Zeon side you get a squad of Zakus who traverse the map with you. It’s not like You could play unlockable Suits in story mode… oh boy! Now it’s namesake… Gundam Crossfire is way better than this, it’s like Japan gives us lackluster Gundam Games while they get to enjoy the good ones! That what it seems like to Me anyways, because the Japanese Titles are much more enjoyable with more content than the American ones….

[@briand8335]

This was a game that my friend had, and I never could get for whatever reason. It was my favorite of the time i think and one of the coolest crossovers for the video game tv era. Having the show be in your video game was the best experience. I had a lot of other Gundam games but for whatever reason i think this balance between klunky like mechwarrior (mw ii and mercenaries, other altime favorites) and speedy like armored core. I think it was a good compromise and obviously maybe button input/recognition could be improved nowadays but it would be nice for a ps5 port or a remaster. Funny enough though, our mom wouldn't let us rent the M games as we would be like 10 but we opened a ps2 on christmas in maybe 2001 and they had gotten us Metal Gear Solid 2 haha.

[@josephstahl3137]

This game was better than ANYTHING ever released at the time, and imo is still better than 95% of games made since. That's all games, not just mecha games. No other game lets you literally fly onto a massive airplane, cut or shoot it until its crashing then jetpack off and watch it explode. The game is an entire series packed into a game. Then there's an challenge maps (tactics) outside of the main story which see's waves of enemies to test your skills you've built up during the story mode. Ive never felt eager to 100% a game before or since this game. Bought to buy another ps2 to replay this masterpiece😅

[@evoiii8]

I remember the day I got this game as a kid, so clearly. Got it from Target and the drive home felt like years.

[@merten0083]

Have you played Gundam Lost War Chronicles on the PS2? I think it's Japan only but if you can find an emulator, it's a direct upgrade to Journey to Jaburo, much like Encounters in Space was. I'm not a fan of space combat so Lost War Chronicles gave me my ground battle Gundam fill.

[@almostagenius75]

Gm sniper special was my favorite, and it was the coolest looking next to blue destiny

[@Jociaoftrades]

Tactics Battle is where I really got into sniping, especially thanks to the GM Sniper 2 WD. On the Forest Base level I would stand on top of one of the hangers and I would use the fidgety right stick to free aim. Then when I got the enemy in sight from very far away, I would hold for a power shot and bam. I once completed the mission without the enemy ever getting close to the base and me not taking any damage. Made me love the GM Sniper 2 and the White Dingos so much. The best units to use were actually the Guncannon and the Guntank. As if you manually aimed you could control their power shots or the aux weapon. Which usually was their shoulder cannons that did a ton of damage as well as stun. They could even shot from across the level. They were very OP when used correctly.

[@9ner]

of the gundam titles i've played so far this one is my favorite campaign experience. I agree that although the controls are clunky at first, you get used to it as you progress and does feel like how I'd imagine using a giant mech would feel like. fantastic campaign, get's better and better and climaxes at the end. such an amazing series across the saturn, dreamcast and ps2. very fortunate to have so many games to enjoy.

[@e.fiddy305]

Still play it to this day. I remember how frustrating it was when I was a kid, now i do speed runs on the campaign for fun

[@shinnok5337]

I find it funny how JtJ gets a pass from people for its gameplay but yet ZF, which I would argue is another fantastic game, gets criticized for it's gameplay.

[@comradefreedom8275]

I heard in the Japanese version it's possible to unlock the Wing Gundam in Tactics battle, but I've never seen any footage, not even a picture. So, let's just say it's a rumor. Also, there's a better, not sure if it would be called a Spiritual Successor or a sequel, or maybe a side story with similar gameplay, but better control, called Mobile Suit Gundam Lost War Chronicles. I happen to own that game, and I have fun with it. Also, Encounters in Space is my favorite Gundam PS2 game. That takes me back.

[@donovanbradford8231]

Myself yes I remember this and played it and thankfully this was my introduction to tye Gundam game series that would Gundam Battle Assault on the PS1. While I saw the trailers to Zeonic Front my first game play for Gundam on the PS2 was Gundam Federation vs Zeon which I loved. I got to play Zeonic Front next while Journey to Jaburo was last of the original three PS2 releases and oh boy I didn't care for it. The controls were clunky as all get out and sadly I wasn't able to master them. Seeing as how Journey was first of these games it makes sense because Federation vs Zeon does seem far more polished by comparison where Zeonic Front at times was supposed to be difficult given its style of game play. But I very much get people's love for this game because depending in your age this might be your first introduction to Gundam a game, I'm the same way with WWF War Zone ir Smackdown Know Your Role dispite the massive issues those games have by today's standards.

[@God_gundam36]

It sucks that the ps2 era is probably the peak for gundam games I will forever be frustrated that bandi hasn't gotten from software to make a modern gundam game instead just all over priced poorly made MP arcade games They literally have the guy who designed thee gundams on for AC6

[@soegengsoeprijanto45]

The clunkiness of the control,and the heavy feeling is indeed the charm dear. It is the most realistic feels,compared to modern Gundam game which mobile suit ifeels too manueverable for its size.

[@RatedRY]

A remake or fan-remake of this w/e, that gives the game more modern controlls would be a dream come true for replays of this since we probably won't get anything like it again. Anyway, this game definitely gives me nostalgia as well. I remember after watching Wing back in the day I was searching the "web" for some gundam games and I saw a trailer for Journey to Jaburo that blew my mind. I still think of that trailer from time to time. BTW, I highly recommend checking out Zeonic Front. It's more of a tactical game, which threw me off at first as I was actually looking for something more akin to this or FvZ but trust me give it a shot. It's pretty special.

[@AntResilient]

It sounds like a lot of the control scheme was based on Tank controls, also used for the Armored Core series. Interesting video, it made me want to play the game.

[@donovanbradford8231]

If you have a console that can run PS2 games Journey to Jaburo is most definitely the cheapest as Federation vs Zeon, Zeonic Front, and Encounters in Space tend to cost more. That said the other titles I mentioned overall are better than Journey to Jaburo because they came out after the fact and could build on that games foundation.

[@波切和雄]

I had a hard time with the melee too. 😅 I just got really good with the special moves. The ones where you hold down the square button.

[@Steellama]

Not gonna lie when soldiers of sarrow kick in on the last mission it was so hype.

[@FriendsAndGamingYT]

Man watching all these videos on gundam games that haven't come out in Europe is cool to see but depresses me greatly.

[@DanBuildsIt]

That last mission was so frustratingly hard as a kid

[@OOZ662]

I could _never_ beat the final level on this game, no idea why. I 100%'d the rest of it over and over no problem.

[@kuailiang6312]

I tried it. Put it down after it expected me to use the D pad to move.

[@frost8077]

You have to wiggle/rub hard on the D-pad to get the game to recognize certain melee moves, but even then it may fail. Even worse is some suits require you to be not locked-on to enemies in order for the weapons to shoot ahead. It's funny how lame the combat looks in videos, but I can probably still play it for hours, even if it lags far behind online tank combat games. The CGI intro was wildly well done for the time, and still looks good. My favorite way to play is using really long range power shots from cannons, but BD-1 are MS-18E fun too. It's a shame the Zaku auto-cannon is so under powered. It'd be great to have a modded version of the game where weapons do better damage and each suit gets way less ammo.

[@JarboeGaming]

It honestly holds up pretty well IMO, better then I thought it would after checking out others' gameplay. It's gonna be nice though when we get to Fed vs Zeon and the later titles though, looking forward to it!

[@MRMilade]

didnt even see you use the charged shot once lol

[@Cheapstall]

I definitely avoided melee in this game due to it being too inconsistent

[@costcocombopizza8229]

At 4:05 the RX-78-2 has no hand nor a bean saber.

[@ph43draaa]

I looooved the sound design in this game

[@zellcrs]

I got such a high s ranking woth a zalu 1

[@GW2_Live]

Tactics battle was so awesome

[@TheHunnerbass]

I found my people. (T_T)

[@BatemanGosling]

I would like you to review Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam This is very interesting game title and i spend hundred hours playing it.

[@JarboeGaming]

That will be coming! Encounters in Space will be featured next though

[@kevinyoung9540]

I remember Journey to Jaburo feeling very clunky as a kid. Still had a blast. S-ranked almost every mission. Got recognized as an ace by both the Federation and Zeon. Never got every mobile suit. Couldn't figure out how to unlock Garma's Zaku. What I'd give to play it again...

[@physalisgp0265]

Such a good game.

[@foxhoundms9051]

This was one of my 1st games on PS2 back in the day, got it new the day it came out. Beat it that day 😅 tactics mode was the best. Encounters in Space was meh...Zeonic Front was amazing. Fed vs. Zeon also amazing with a NG+ mode that's awesome.

[@Gingergod1000]

Man, I was obsessed with gunda in middle school. I got this with my ps2 the Christmas it came out. I have so many good memories with this game.

[@billyj.causeyvideoguy7361]

Im still sad this was the only 0079 focused story game we got. The one year war title in japan is so much better.

[@JarboeGaming]

@@billyj.causeyvideoguy7361 Check out Encounters in Space! The spiritual successor to this game.

[@billyj.causeyvideoguy7361]

@@JarboeGaming EIC is a truncated starfox clone.. not the same thing

[@ValkyrieThunderbolt]

When I was a kid I played this game a lot. Still have my copy and my PS2 and I still play it from time to time.

[@FogHorn1911]

Loved this game and Encounters in space, Played it on emulator a few years ago.

[@Decept1onCheck]

When I think back to scenes from the original series, It's always the cutscenes from this game that immediately pop up in my head. They were so well done and all I want is a movie trilogy remaster with that animation.

[@Garugontheblue]

I have a ps2 still and I am looking for this game. I wish they made Gundam games like this still.