History VideoGame / SuperRobotWars

* CombinationAttack: Mostly ones from the same series, but there have been series crossover combinations.

* SuperMovePortraitAttack: Abused to hell and back when even the most basic attack is precipitated by a cut-in of the pilot.

The series is occasionally referred to by English speakers as ''Super Robot Taisen'', the original Japanese name. While some of this usage can be attributed to Japanophilia, the ''scant'' few American releases of the series were specifically titled "Super Robot Taisen" to avoid a trademark conflict with the ''Series/RobotWars'' series. (The {{Irony}} of using an English translation of a Japanese title while using ''rōmaji'' for an English-language title should be noted.) Strangely, "Super Robot Wars" is a Japanese invention: "大戦" (''taisen'') is the actual term used, and the only bit of Japanese in the title. At some point, "Super Robot Wars" began to be used as an alternate "English-language" title in Japan, akin to "Mobile Suit Gundam" and so on. This title has been used for the English-language Asian releases starting with ''Moon Dwellers'', essentially making it the official English title of the series going forward. Starting with 2017's ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'', English subtitles were included, allowing North American players to finally play the game by importing the Platform/PlayStation4 disc from Asia. The 2021 entry, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'', will be the first to have an official North American release on Platform/{{Steam}}, on October 27, 2021.

** In classic timeline, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterAttack Quess Paraya]] has her SpoiledBrat personality removed, and instead has her fangirl attitude toward Amuro increased to the max. She try to impress him by bringing very good MS with her upon joining (either Sazabi, Jagd Doga, or both), something you will be appreciate.

The first ''Super Robot Wars'' was released on the Nintendo UsefulNotes/GameBoy, and featured mecha from ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' (various series) and ''Manga/GetterRobo'' (referred to as the "[[FanNickname Holy Trinity]]" of the franchise and would star in nearly every game from then on). This game is one of the oldest and most triumphant examples of the MascotRPG genre, a TropeCodifier that would go on to inspire many other StrategyRPG MassiveMultiplayerCrossover outings between other franchises. As the franchise itself grew, more series were added, as well as their characters. Each game would take the storylines of all the series and merge them into one (mostly) coherent whole. This often required some creative interpretation, particularly in the case of ''Gundam'', as characters, mecha and events that took place decades apart in the original stories now occur within a matter of weeks of each other, if not, simultaneously.

Starting from the second game, entirely new mecha and characters were introduced. These became known as "[[OriginalGeneration Banpresto Originals]]."[[note]]The term would become defunct once the developer was absorbed into Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment.[[/note]] In 2002, Banpresto released ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, which consisted entirely of the original characters and mecha created for the series over the years; a sequel was released in 2005. Both titles, including SpinOff ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', [[NoExportForYou are the only]] ''Super Robot Wars'' games to be officially released outside of Japan, due to the obvious lack of licensing problems. However, by UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, franchise publisher Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment began a new international push via its licensed installments and the realities of modern Internet commerce (see "International Era" folder in [[Recap/SuperRobotWars recap]]).

The series is occasionally referred to by English speakers as ''Super Robot Taisen'', the original Japanese name. While some of this usage can be attributed to Japanophilia, the ''scant'' few American releases of the series were specifically titled "Super Robot Taisen" to avoid a trademark conflict with the ''Series/RobotWars'' series. (The {{Irony}} of using an English translation of a Japanese title while using ''rōmaji'' for an English-language title should be noted.) Strangely, "Super Robot Wars" is a Japanese invention: "大戦" (''taisen'') is the actual term used, and the only bit of Japanese in the title. At some point, "Super Robot Wars" began to be used as an alternate "English-language" title in Japan, akin to "Mobile Suit Gundam" and so on. This title has been used for the English-language Asian releases starting with ''Moon Dwellers'', essentially making it the official English title of the series going forward. Starting with 2017's ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'', English subtitles were included, allowing North American players to finally play the game by importing the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 disc from Asia. The 2021 entry, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'', will be the first to have an official North American release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, on October 27, 2021.

** Meanwhile, ''Original Generations'' and its {{Sequel}}s took the road of a smaller "partner-based" system: ''K'', ''L'', and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS games, as well as the ''Third Z'' duology followed suit, whereas ''Z'' had the three-unit based TRI-Battle System.

* LoopholeAbuse: As noted in the "International Era" subfolder above, Bandai Namco used the fact that the [=PlayStation 4=] and Switch have next to no region restrictions to skirt around the prohibitively-expense task of obtaining all North American and European licenses for a Western release. The only thing that a Western fan would have to do that's out of the ordinary is set up a UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork account for one of the English-speaking Southeast Asian countries in order to buy DownloadableContent.

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: A common complaint about the series is that sprites and other assets evolve very slowly between installments. This became obvious with the UsefulNotes/GameboyAdvance and UsefulNotes/NintendoDS installments, which shared many series between the titles.

** {{Inverted}} with the "Alert" Spirit Command, allowing 100% evasion from any attack, making it an "Always ''In''accurate Attack" example.

* BossDissonance: Done occasionally because boss difficulty isn't necessarily determined by the amount of {{Hit Point}}s or statistics it has, but from its pilot skills, unit abilities and whether or not it can successfully perform a CounterAttack; fighting such an enemy may invariably lead to the next boss being much easier. Take ''Alpha Gaiden'' for example, where the penultimate boss is harder than the FinalBoss, despite being statistically weaker than the latter. This is due to the FinalBoss having limited ammunition for its attacks.

* ColorCodedArmies: Blue for allies, red for enemies, yellow for neutral/third-party

** The universal pilot skill "Counter" gives the user a chance to attack first before an enemy unit during its attacking phase. Its chance of activation, however, depends on the user's skill stat.

* DefenselessTransports: Rarely are battleships, the primary allied transport units, incapable of defending itself as most are armed with basic weaponry, but the Tausendfussler-class transport in ''Original Generation'' is the one to truly play this straight.

* GlassCannon: A unit with a poor armor rating, but can dish out high damage via weapon statistics, unit abilities with its pilot(s) having offensive-based skills and/or Spirit Commands are this. Top spot for examples goes to ''Getter Robo'', and is more or less reserved for supers.