History VideoGame / SuperRobotWars4

'''Super Robot Wars 4''' is the sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'' and the fifth game overall in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series, released on the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom in 1995. In 1996, the game was ported to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation as ''Super Robot Wars 4 S'', which features voice acting and CG movies for the first time in the franchise.

Creator/{{Sega}} decided that they wanted a ''Super Robot Wars'' game on their platforms, and convinced Banpresto to bring the series to the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn by offering to share the video game license to the insanely-popular ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.[[note]]Legend has it that Creator/StudioGainax wanted nothing to do with ''Super Robot Wars'', only for Creator/HideakiAnno himself to step in and demand that Gainax cooperates with Banpresto.[[/note]] Banpresto first considered an even-futher-enhanced port of ''Super Robot Wars 4'' but figured that they couldn't do ''Evangelion'' justice that way, so they decided to remake the game entirely. The result is a duology: ''Super Robot Wars F'' (1997) and ''Super Robot Wars F Final'' (1998). While some series from ''4'' are dropped, the game is greatly expanded with an increase in writing quality and even more voice acting. After time had passed, the games were ported to the [=PlayStation=], where they continued to sell moderately well.

* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion EVA Unit-01]] on the cover for the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}} [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/box/9/5/4/296954_front.jpg version]] of ''F'' is the only robot on the cover to be pointing a gun directly at the viewer.

* ContinuityCameo: Mixed with ContinuityNod - if players had been following ''Hero Senki: Project Olympus'' at the time of release, they would recognize [[spoiler:[[Characters/SuperRobotWarsClassic Gilliam Yeager]]]], having made his debut ''Super Robot Wars'' appearance, albeit as a {{cameo}}, in ''4''. This includes the Gespenst, which is based off of [[spoiler:Gilliam's original machine, the "XN Geist"]] from the same game.

* ''Anime/MazingerZ''

** '''''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz''''' (Debuted in ''F Final'')
* '''''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon''''' (Debuted in ''F Final'')

Creator/{{Sega}} decided that they wanted a ''Super Robot Wars'' game on their platforms, and convinced Banpresto to bring the series to the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn by offering the video game license to the insanely-popular ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Banpresto first considered an even-futher-enhanced port of ''Super Robot Wars 4'' but figured that they couldn't do ''Evangelion'' justice that way, so they decided to remake the game entirely. The result is a duology: ''Super Robot Wars F'' (1997) and ''Super Robot Wars F Final'' (1998). While some series from ''4'' are dropped, the game is greatly expanded with an increase in writing quality and even more voice acting. After time had passed, the games were ported to the [=PlayStation=], where they continued to sell moderately well.

* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing New Mobile Report Gundam Wing]]'' (Appeared in ''F'')
** '''''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz]]''''' (Debuted in ''F Final'')

'''Super Robot Wars 4''' is the sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'' and the fifth game overall in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series, released on the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom in 1995. In 1996, the game was ported to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation as ''Super Robot Wars 4 S'', which features voice acting in CG movies for the first time in the franchise.

* '''''[[Anime/{{Gunbuster}} Aim for the Top! Gunbuster]]''''' (Debuted in ''F Final'')

'''Super Robot Wars 4''' is the sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', released on the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom in 1995. Compared to its predecessor, the visuals are MUCH better, with the game engine refined to the point that every succeeding ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' uses the system in ''4'' as a template, story-writing is improved and additional gameplay mechanics introduced (parts system, manually deciding whether to counterattack or not during enemy turns) would stick around for future releases to ease game difficulty. As it stands, ''4'' is a very good game on its own right. In fact, the game was also the debut of the [[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]], which would reappear in subsequent [=SRW=]s.

Unfortunately, ''4'' was considered an ObviousBeta by developer Banpresto, who thought they could do way better, thus made an UpdatedRerelease version for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn called '''Super Robot Wars F''' in 1997, a partial, but greatly expanded remake of ''4'' with an enhanced plot, game engine and an additional HumongousMecha series added (but at the cost of some previous series being removed). ''F'' would be followed up nearly six months later into 1998 with the sequel '''Super Robot Wars F Final''', which showcased the debut of the ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' in any medium.

Both games would be ported to the Sony UsefulNotes/PlayStation. ''4'' was actually remade earlier in 1996 into ''Super Robot Wars 4 Scramble'', featuring voice acting and CG movies for the time in the franchise. However, ''Scramble'' has been {{Retcon}}ned by ''F'' and ''F Final'', so no worries there about not playing this obscure VideoGameRemake.

* VillainTeamUp: Learning from the Inspectors' mistakes, the Guests decide to align with [[Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim Poseidal]].

* EarnYourBadEnding: In ''F Final'', taking the Earth route at the penultimate route split while allowing Eva-01 to go berserk five times and failing to recruit [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Quatre]] at any point will cut the game short, as [[spoiler:Shinji is forced to put down Kaworu and, without Quatre to keep his head above water, falls to despair as [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Instrumentality]] is implied to occur.]]

** Though not as weird as the series' implementation in ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'', all five members of ''Gundam Wing''[='s=] main cast require steps to be taken to recruit them in ''F Final''.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superrobotwars4scramble.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''Super Robot Wars 4 Scramble'']]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superrobotwarsf.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''Super Robot Wars F'']]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superrobotwarsffinal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''Super Robot Wars F Final'']]

[[hardline]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/super_robot_wars_4_front_box_art.jpg]]

** Daimos' finishing move, "''Hissatsu Reppu Seikenzuki''", does not work in space. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome is in effect when there's no air to create "Double/Fire Blizzard", the moves that precede ''Hissatsu Reppu Seikenzuki'', in space, but future games would file it under AcceptableBreaksFromReality instead of depriving Daimos of its strongest attack.
** Though not as weird as the series' implementation in ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'', all five members of the ''Gundam Wing'' main cast require steps to be taken to recruit them in ''F Final''.

* FakeLongevity: The inability to skip battle animations and the fact that these battles take a very long time to resolve, combined with the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading non-stop two-to-three second load times on mundane things such as swapping music]], add hours of downtime to ''F'' and ''F Final''.

** ''F'' and ''F Final'' are quite manageable as long are players aren't fighting Guests or [[Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim L-Gaim]] units.

** Masaki comments that [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Amuro Ray]] has [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack aged somewhat]] since the last time they met, a couple of months ago (during the events of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsEX''); Amuro notes that he's been doing administrative work he isn't completely suited for.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Although it's still a fairly subpar unit overall, the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory GP-01 "Zephyranthes"]] is very useful for extended battles with [[Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine Aura Battlers]] thanks to its decent accuracy from [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Kou Uraki]] and a lot of ammo for its vulcans. Even though there are better units for taking down one or two Aura Battlers, they usually run out of ammo too quickly.

* ContinuityCameo: Mixed with ContinuityNod - if you'd been following ''Hero Senki: Project Olympus'' at the time of release, you'd recognize [[spoiler:[[Characters/SuperRobotWarsClassic Gilliam Yeager]]]], having made his debut [=SRW=] appearance, albeit a {{cameo}}, in ''4''. This includes the Gespenst, which is based off of [[spoiler:Gilliam's original machine, the XN Geist]] from the same game.

** Daimos's finishing move, Hissatsu Reppu Seikenzuki, does not work in space. This is actually a surprising bit of realism (there is no air to create Double/Fire Blizzard, the moves that precede Reppu Seikenzuki, in space), but other games would file it under AcceptableBreaksFromReality instead of depriving Daimos of its strongest attack.
** Though not as weird as the series' implementation in ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'', all five members of ''Gundam Wing's'' main cast require steps to be taken to recruit them in ''F Final''.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: The ability for all of your units to be upgraded an extra five ranks gained ten scenarios before the end of the game.
* FakeLongevity: The inability to skip battle animations and the fact that these battles take a very long time to resolve, combined with the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading nonstop 2-3 second load times on mundane things such as swapping music]], add hours of downtime to ''F'' and ''F Final''.

* NegativeContinuity: Remember how [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Four Murasame]] got brainwashed and shoved into the Psyco Gundam the [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2 last]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3 two]] games? [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten Guess what happens.]] [[GroundhogDayLoop Again.]]

** ''F'' and ''F Final'' are quite manageable as long are you're not fighting Guests or [[Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim L-Gaim]] units.
* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler:It depends on whether you fight [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2 Shu Shirakawa]] or not.]]
** DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Shu Shirakawa is defeated, but [[Characters/SuperRobotWarsClassic Mekibos]] thinks that humans are power-hungry, thus canceling the negotiations with Guest & thus leading to a HopelessWar. NiceJobBreakingItHero.]]
** BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Masaki decides that Shu Shirakawa is NotWorthKilling, Zezenan is defeated, and the peace negotiations with the Guests are a success.]]

* OriginalGeneration: All eight selectable protagonists, the Guests, the Gespenst (which would be a recurring mecha in subsequent [=SRW=]s), as well as the very first Huckebein (what would specifically come to be the Hucke 008L in ''OG'') and Grungust, [[spoiler:and Gilliam]].
* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: At best, ''4'' is set only three months after the last game, but [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Hathaway Noah]], the son of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Bright Noah]], is all grown up and playable. No one else seems to have aged that much to make this plausible, which just makes it very, very odd.
** Masaki comments that [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Amuro]] has [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack aged somewhat]] since the last time they met, a couple of months ago (during the events of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsEX''); Amuro just notes that he's been doing administrative work he isn't completely suited for. It's that kind of game.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Although it's still a fairly crappy unit overall, the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory GP-01 "Zephyranthes"]] is very, ''very'' useful for extended battles with [[Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine Aura Battlers]] thanks to decent accuracy from [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Kou Uraki]] and a lot of ammo for its vulcans. Even though there ''are'' better units for taking down one or two Aura Battlers, they usually run out of ammo too quickly.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Exclusively to 4 (and somehow not Final), each playable characters get an explanation of what they're doing after the war with the Guests are over, to mark the end of the Classic Timeline.

** Daimos's finishing move, Hissatsu Reppu Seikenzuki, does not work in space. This is actually a surprising bit of realism (there is no air to create Double/Fire Blizzard, the moves that precedes Reppu Seikenzuki, in space), but other games would file it under AcceptableBreaksFromReality instead of depriving Daimos of its strongest attack.

** Daimos's finishing move, Hissatsu Reppu Seikenzuki, does not work in space. This is actually a surprising bit of realism (there is no air to create Fire Blizzard, the move that precedes Reppu Seikenzuki, in space), but other games would file it under AcceptableBreaksFromReality instead of depriving Daimos of its strongest attack.

* FakeLongevity: The inability to skip battle animations and the fact that these battles take a very long time to resolve, combined with the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading nonstop 2-3 second load times on things such as swapping music]], add hours of downtime to ''F'' and ''F Final''.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Treize Kushrenada and Zechs Marquise]]]] attempt to stop Scirocco with this at the end of the Divine Crusaders Route in ''F Final''; unfortunately, they fail. [[spoiler:[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Jerid Messa]]]] does this to stop Shapiro in the Guest-Poseidal Route.

* VillainTeamUp: Learning from the Inspectors' mistakes, the Guests decide to align with [[Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim Poseidal]]. The resulting alliance is arguably the [[DemonicSpiders most effective]] villainous faction in the entire franchise.

'''Super Robot Wars 4''' is the sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', released on the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom in 1995. Compared to its predecessor, the visuals are MUCH better, with the game engine refined to the point that every succeeding [=SRW=] uses the system in ''4'' as a template, story-writing is improved and additional gameplay mechanics introduced (parts system, manually deciding whether to counterattack or not during enemy turns) would stick around for future releases to ease game difficulty. As it stands, ''4'' is a very good game on its own right. In fact, the game was also the debut of the [[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]], which would reappear in subsequent [=SRW=]s.

* DummiedOut: ''4'' contains unit listings for the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Nightingale]] and [[Literature/MobileSuitGundamHathawaysFlash Xi Gundam]], alongside a number of unused units from ''Dunbine'', ''Zeta Gundam'', and ''L-Gaim''.

* VillainTeamUp: Learning from the Inspectors' mistakes, the Guests decide to align with [[Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim Poseidal]]. The resulting alliance is arguably the [[DemonicSpiders most effective]] villainous faction in the entire franchise.

* ArrestedForHeroism: In ''4'', [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Jamitov Hymem]] tries to have Londo Bell hauled in and dealt with after he gains control of the Earth Federation forces. In response, the heroes end up going indepenent for a dozen or so missions.

* '''''[[Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine Aura Battler Dunbine: The Tale of Neo Byston Well]]''''' (Units/Fairy only)

* BagOfSpilling: Justified; the excuse in ''4'' is that the increasingly [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Titan]]-controlled [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Earth Federation]] distrusts [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Londo Bell]] following their [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsEX sudden disappearance]], thus has them downsized.

* {{Noble Fugitive}}s: In ''4'', Londo Bell breaks away from the Federation government for a dozen or so missions after they find themselves under [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Jamitov Hymem's]] command.

* NegativeContinuity: Remember how [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Four Murasame]] got brainwashed and shoved into the Psyco Gundam the [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2 last]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3 two]] games? [[NeverLiveItDown Guess what happens.]] [[GroundhogDayLoop Again.]]

* OriginalGeneration: All eight selectable protagonists, the Guests, the Gespenst (which would be a recurring mecha in subsequent [=SRW=]s), as well as the Huckebein 008 (what would specifically come to be the Hucke 008L in ''OG'') and Grungust, [[spoiler:and Gilliam]].

* CharacterCustomization: Unlike ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2'' and ''3'', ''4'' allowed the player to manually select from eight original characters, each with a specific character archetype, to be the protagonist of the story - male/female, who their LoveInterest is, and whether they will use a RealRobot or SuperRobot. (Though, funnily enough, for the first half or so of ''4/S'' and ''all'' of ''F'', you are instead in a "Type R" or "Type S" Gespenst, depending on choice, meaning even super pilots are in a "real" for part of the game, albeit one that can do very convincingly super things.)
* ContinuityCameo, ContinuityNod: If you've been following ''Hero Senki: Project Olympus'', you'd recognize [[spoiler:[[Characters/SuperRobotWarsClassic Gilliam Yeager]]]], having made his debut [=SRW=] appearance, albeit a {{cameo}}, in ''4''. This includes the Gespenst, which is based off of [[spoiler:Gilliam's original machine, the XN Geist]] from the same game.

* FinalBoss: Three of them for ''F Final'' - [[Anime/{{Dancougar}} Shapiro Keats]], [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Paptimus Scirocco]] and [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu Nagisa]]

* NintendoHard: ''3'' was harder than this, but ''4'' features even more enemies with the "Beam Absorb" unit ability that ''completely'' nullifies beam-based attacks. This made it an annoyance for early gamers sticking mostly with Franchise/{{Gundam}}s, who are affably religious beam weapon users.

** DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Shu Shirakawa is defeated, but [[Characters/SuperRobotWarsClassic Mekibos]] thinks that humans are power-hungry, thus canceling the negotiations with Guest & thus, leads to a HopelessWar. NiceJobBreakingItHero.]]
** BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Masaki decides that Shu Shirakawa is NotWorthKilling, Zenezen is defeated, & the peace negotiations with Guest are a success.]]

* OldSaveBonus: Clearing ''F'' allows players to carry over completion data into ''F Final'' via the Saturn's internal memory
* OriginalGeneration: All eight selectable protagonists, the Guests, the Gespenst (which would be a recurring mecha in subsequent [=SRW=]s) [[spoiler:and Gilliam]]

* CharacterCustomization: Unlike ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2'' and ''3'', ''4'' allowed the player to manually select from eight original characters, each with a specific character archetype, to be the protagonist of the story - male/female, who their LoveInterest is, and whether they will use a RealRobot or SuperRobot.

'''Super Robot Wars 4''' is the sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', released on the SuperFamicom in 1995. Compared to its predecessor, the visuals are MUCH better, with the game engine refined to the point that every succeeding [=SRW=] uses the system in ''4'' as a template, story-writing is improved and additional gameplay mechanics introduced (parts system, manually deciding whether to counterattack or not during enemy turns) would stick around for future releases to ease game difficulty. As it stands, ''4'' is a very good game on its own right. In fact, the game was also the debut of the [[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]], which would reappear in subsequent [=SRW=]s.

* ''Anime/GetterRobo''
** ''Anime/GetterRoboG''

* HowUnscientific: ''F'' would be the TropeNamer - after [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Master Asia]] takes out several military HumongousMecha using nothing but his own martial arts skills, [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]] says this word for word. Rather hypocritical, given she comes from a series where the antagonists are {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and mankind's {{Super Robot}}s have human souls residing in them.