Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On is leaving Japanese arcades for a PlayStation 4 release

The white whale of Gundam games is finally happening

During a live stream this morning celebrating the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Extreme Vs. spinoff line, Bandai Namco dropped a bombshell. The previously arcade exclusive Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On will be receiving a PlayStation 4 release, something many doubted would happen. Shortly afterward, the international branches of the company confirmed that the game would be releasing internationally this year as well.

You can check out the announcement trailer below.

If you’re wondering why this game has such a long name, that’s because this isn’t the first iteration. Extreme Vs. was the name of the original release in Japanese arcades in 2010, before receiving several major patches over the course of the decade. The final result, Maxiboost On, is kind of like if Street Fighter IV had stayed in arcades until it reached Ultra Street Fighter IV.

The big upside of this means we effectively have a complete game, especially compared to Gundam Versus. A grand total of 183 characters from 36 different entries will be playable, and since we already know the roster from its time in the arcade, you can see it here. Unlike Versus, almost every single animated work is present with the exception of the Build series and Narrative, along with multiple spinoffs such as Crossbone, SEED Astray, and Hathaway’s Flash. If all the stages come over as well, then we’re looking at a total of 36, which can be seen here.

While Bandai Namco was silent about other details for now, the official Japanese site did confirm an important feature that was present in the PlayStation 3 release of Full Boost but absent from Versus. It supports up to two players locally, which means split-screen play for competitive and co-op options will likely be returning. Whether or not those two players can go online together remains to be seen. Either way, options are always a good thing

I have been waiting a long time for this, thinking it would never happen. It’s easily one of my most anticipated games for 2020 now, and even just the few details we have are already elevating it above Versus. Hopefully this momentum keeps going because this is everything I wanted to hear so far.

[Official Site]