Super Robot Wars NEO (スーパーロポット大戦NEO Sūpā Robotto Taisen NEO) is the first and only Wii Super Robot Wars title released on October 2009 and is the Spiritual Successor to Super Robot Wars GC, utilizing the same 3D scheme during battle animations.
This game has a couple of franchise firsts:
- NEO marks the first time where focus is placed solely on Super Robots, with the closest thing to a Real Robot representative being Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
- Rather than use the usual grid-based movement system seen in almost every Turn-Based Strategy video game, a radial-based method is introduced. This would later be reused for Super Robot Wars OE.
- With the inclusion of Shippu! Iron Leaguer, NEO marks the first instance where a non-combat oriented Humongous Mecha series is introduced into Super Robot Wars.
Series listing for NEO (debuting series are highlighted in bold):
- Mazinger Z
- Great Mazinger
- New Getter Robo
- Sengoku Majin GoShogun
- Galactic Whirlwind Braiger
- Mobile Fighter G Gundam
- Eldoran Series
- Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh
- Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger
- Nekketsu Saikyo Gosaurer
- Kanzen Shouri Daiteioh
- Lord of Lords: Ryu Knight
- NG Knight Lamune & 40
- Shippu! Iron Leaguer
- Jushin Liger
Tropes regarding Super Robot Wars NEO include:
- Academy of Adventure: The Eldoran series has this in spades, with Nekketsu Saikyo Gosaurer infamously being made out of a school, and the pilots for each group being grade school students.
- Affirmative Action Girl: Sorta...the male-to-female pilot ratio of the series featured in this game is even more skewed toward guys than usual, mostly due to all the super robots, resulting in the one-shot Shippu! Iron Leaguer characters Watt and Amp making it in the game over five of the series's seven main characters to even things out.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Ryouma, Benkei Mushashibou and NG Knight Lamune & 40's non-mecha characters.
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Conclusion in Another Medium: An extreme case of this. The fourth Eldoran entry, and series finale, Kanzen Shouri Daiteioh pretty much only got it's pilot episode prior to appearing in full in this game. - Cool BFS: Shigzarl, Ryu Knight Zepher, the Eldoran units, Great Mazinger and Thunder Liger use them.
- Pure Energy: The moment any Sig unit uses its Last Burn attack.
- Cool Horse: Fire Liger rides one and becomes Velgada Liger.
- Cut Short: New Getter's plot ends after beating Abe no Seimei.
- Demonic Possession: Amane Inaba gets possessed by Larva.
- Demoted to Extra: Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh is the only non-debuting entry to have its plot done (and is thus the only returning series to have newly recorded lines for its characters); none of the bad guys from Braiger, Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Mobile Fighter G Gundam and GoShogun appear, as they are all post-script. Domon, the J9 team and the GoShogun team are the only representatives of their respective series.
- Elemental Powers:
- Elemental Punch: God Finger and God Finger: Seikha Tenkyoken
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: Ryu Mage Magidora has all three
- Playing with Fire: Mazinger Z's Breast Fire and God Gundam's God Finger: Seikha Tenkyoken
- Shock and Awe: Ryu High Priest's Ikazuchi Aura, Gold Arm's 44 Sonic Bomb Thunder, Thunder Liger and Great Mazinger's Thunder Break
- Grandfather Clause: G Gundam is here largely because every Super Robot Wars needs a Gundam series and it is the best fit for an exclusively-Super Robot cast.
- I Believe I Can Fly: Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger because of scranders.
- Irony: You have some of the youngest mecha pilots (the Eldoran series) to be featured in a SRW teaming up with the most insane and violent animated incarnation of the Getter Robo team.
- Joke Character: Boss Borot, per series tradition. Though Resupplying is very powerful in this game (it can be used after moving and for no cost), he has a reasonably strong Assault attack, Borot Pressure Punch is long range, post movement, and can knock back for cheap, and his weapons upgrades are really cheap so he can do all of that (including the Resupplying) stronger for less money. He may not be the best supporter in the game, but he isn't horrible either.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Adeu the Sonic, he even has a special ability called Chivalry.
- Leitmotif: Notably, this game gives an original theme for Ryu Dolk's Maryuoh Dolga called "Fated Rival".
- Mythology Gag: When using the giant Getter Tomahawk attack, one of the Getter Team's lines in reaction to the dangerous amount of Getter Rays is lifted straight from the Getter Robo Armageddon OVAs, specifically from the moment they used this same attack against the Invaders while piloting the Shin Getter.
- Odd Name Out: New Getter Robo in the middle of all these kids's shows, which is clearly not...for small children like the rest. Then again, with the exception of New Getter Robo, the last time any of these shows were aired was 14 years ago...which means the target demographic who watched them are now adults (circa 2009).
- Recycled Title: Not 100% the same, but a previous SRW is officially titled "Neo Super Robot Wars" in English. Luckily, the fanbase didn't take to that name.
- Single Line of Descent: Baba Lamune and Ken Taiga are descendants of heroes.
- Theme Music Powerup: The Sword of Justice. The moment you start hearing the new theme for Kakeru, you know shit's going down!
- Trademark Favorite Food/Sweet Tooth: Donuts for Sharlie, so much that they call her Donut Girl.
- Transforming Mecha: Getter Robo, Braiger, King Scascher and Queen Saidarone
- Wave-Motion Gun: Brai-Cannon, Etheral Blaze, RevolBuster, Saurer Big Burster, Getter Beam at Full Power and Space Bazooka.
