Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii Dunbine and Robot Damashii Drumlo from the classic 80’s mecha anime Aura Battler Dunbine. While the Dunbine is an updated re-release from 2012, the Drumlo is a brand new release in Bandai’s ongoing and thoroughly excellent aura battler Robot Damashii range. We’ve also included some anime and game footage at the end of the review.

We’ve tried to avoid doing these kinds of lists over the years. Mainly because they end up being contentious and misinterpreted. That said it’s about time we got around to doing this. Especially as other places have attempted similar lists and ended up being laughably parochial and clearly ignorant with it.

Before we start, there are a few a disclaimers. “Best” in this context means that these games are obviously great fun to play but they also went on to influence other games as well as approached mecha gaming in a unique way. They might have even resolved design issues that had plagued other titles too.

The games listed are also not necessarily based on our reviews either, as some we have yet to even cover, but more how they have defined mecha gaming over the years. These are also games that we regard to be very well wrought, based on our years of experience from playing lots and lots of mecha games.

Occasionally you get to see something wonderful in terms of gaming history. In this instance it’s an interview from the early 90’s with the team behind Assault Suits Valken that has been recently translated (made all the more brilliant by lovely scans of Satoshi Urushihara’s artwork for the game). Originally in a guidebook for the game, it covers all sorts of fascinating aspects about this classic game. If you have never played Valken, then avoid the dire PS2 port and instead avail yourself of the Virtual Console release. Thanks to GSK for the heads up.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Super Robot Chogokin Mazinkaiser as seen in Mazinkaiser (though its origins predate that by quite a bit). In addition, we’ve also included some game and anime footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Super Robot Chogokin Shin Getter Robo 1 as seen in Change!! Shin Getter Robo (though its origins predate that by quite a bit). In addition, we’ve also included some game and anime footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

Bandai are deciding to grace us with a new Super Robot Chogokin figure of Shin Getter-1 this August. At 7,140 yen, it’s not exactly cheap but neither is it overly expensive either. Like the other toys in this line, expect a lot of diecast and an overall excellent sculpt and finish. As for the design itself, its gaming heritage is extensive and was originally premiered in Super Robot Wars 4. Admittedly it was work in progress for the manga and then later for an OVA but Shin Getter has been a staple of Super Robot Wars for as long as I can remember. It’s likely we’ll get the other Getter Machines too, with Shin Getter-2 being notable with its influence on the drilltastic Gurren Lagann, with the Getter Rays and subsequent Spiral Energy being also of note too. Whilst this isn’t the first Shin Getter-1 toy, with the Aoshima figures being really quite something, it will be more reasonably priced and slightly less huge.

You can now pre-order the Todd Guiness and Tokamak Rovsky coloured Robot Damashii Dunbines via Bandai’s online premium shop. These are shortlived units from Aura Battle Dunbine, leaving only Show Zama’s iconic mauve Dunbine to hold out for the remainder of the series. Whilst we already bought the other Robot Damashii aura battlers we may pass on these but it’s pretty cool that Bandai are at least doing toys of them. Buying both toys will cost you 8,400 yen and they will be released in April of next year.

Now that the Robot Damashii Dunbine is in the wild, Bandai have created a rather wonderful page for their new Aura Battler toys. Showing the previously released Billbine as well as the forthcoming camo-coloured Billbine too. Not to mention the wing calibur attachment has been revealed in detail finally. What’s especially lovely about this toy though, despite the fact we love Aura Battler Dunbine, is that people like Hidetaka Tenjin have been posting pictures of the toy squaring off against cats. In any case, the toy does look lovely and we can’t wait to get ours in the post.

Bandai have announced the later alternate colour version of the Billbine as one of their premium online shop only items. Pre-orders start today and the toy will be released in February of next year. Costing 4,275 yen it’s in the same price range as the original, though if you can find the latter at that price then good luck (as it’s already pretty rare now). If you live outside Japan then getting a hold of this will be a bit tricky but we will be nabbing one for sure. As “upgrades” go in anime, the alternate colour for Billbine didn’t actually do that much. Rather it was the supposed result of field maintenance and parts replacement during the extended battles back on Earth. Personally, we prefer the original colour scheme but the dark blue and green colours do make it look pretty tough.

As we mentioned previously, the positively regal Billbine will be receiving a Robot Damashii toy this July. Even more wonderful is the fact that Dunbine will also receive similar treatment later this year. For long time readers of this site you’ll know we seriously wub Aura Battler Dunbine and these toys are just exquisite. The fact we’re also getting a Dunbine and one of this quality is really fantastic as far as we’re concerned. In any case, this Dunbine toy will be out in October of this year and will cost 4,410 yen.