In this day and age it's almost unfathomable to think that someone could screw up a robot-battling game. But that's exactly what Bandai did with Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam.

My experience with videogames has taught me a few things. How to control my blood pressure is not one of them. One thing I do know is that games that are based on movies or cartoons should be approached with caution. Regardless of the myriad of reasons that the quality of these games are below average it's in your best interest to rent them first so you don't waste your cash. I hate to burst your bubble sunshine but there are people out there that only care about your money. Often the producers of a particular show have little to no influence in the development of a videogame based on it. At the same time some videogame developers may have only the shallowest perception of the premise that they're basing their game on - nor do they care as long as it meets deadline.

Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam suffers from an extremely poor control system. You have no control over the camera angles which basically reduces you to a statue instead of a highly manoeuvrable, high tech weapon in the form of a giant robot. These giant robots have the ability to fly in space but they can't take out an enemy unless it's standing still or coming right at you.

After emerging as victors of the One Year War, the once benevolent Earth Federation has now become malevolent. The freedom fighters and even the enemies of the last game now find themselves in the position of fighting on the same side against a common enemy. Much attention is paid to pilot Kamille and his transforming Zeta Gundam suit. With more than 30 different suits and the ability to play as either the Titans or the A.E.U.G. you would think this game would be locked and loaded and ready to explode. Don't think too hard.

Due to the inability to control the camera the game ends up imploding on itself. The only way to get through the game is to use the lock-on targeting system which only targets the last location of an enemy when you engage the control. That means that if it's moving, the projectile will go to where it got the last reading from which will typically result in a miss. You have to wait for the robots to land before you can take them out. This significantly reduces the potential for any fun that this game might have possessed.

Expect slowdown when there are more than a couple of robots onscreen. You can also look forward to sparse environments which for the most part are non-interactive. The voiceover work and the soundtrack are also under-whelming. If there was an award for missed potential than Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam would certainly be up for game of the year.