When the Cartoon Network began airing the Gundam Wing anime in the USA, Bandai decided to localize The Battle Master 2 for English audiences. However, perhaps feeling that the characters would alienate the burgeoing Gundam audience, they replaced the entire cast with characters from various Gundam series. A majority of these are from Z Gundam, in addition to Char (piloting the Sazabi and Zeong) and Akahana (piloting the Acguy) from the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Additionally, Heero Yuy was turned into the main character in the place of Gloria. The story mode dialogue has been changed to suit this. The Hamma Hamma suit was removed and replaced with the Wing Gundam, which is piloted by Heero in Versus mode. The Wing Gundam technically isn’t a brand new mech, as it controls just like the Z Gundam from the other games.
Characters
Mikhail Kaminsky
Mikhail, from Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, is a burly Russian mobile suit pilot employed by the Principality of Zeon. In Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Mikhail is part of a group of pilots sent to Side-6 to find and steal/destroy the federation’s newest mobile suit, the Gundam RX-78NT1 “Alex”. He is notable for being, along with his teammates, one of the few sympathetic characters amongst the Zeon ranks.
Anavel Gato
Anavel Gato, from Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, was once known as the “The Nightmare of Solomon”. Sadly, even his great skills could not win the One Year War. After the war, Gato felt lost, until he joined the scattered remnants of Zeon banded together and began a highly complex operation known as “Stardust”. This involved stealing the Federation’s new nuclear-equipped Gundam. He pilots the GPO2A here.
Paptimus Scirocco
Scirocco, from Zeta Gundam, is a very shady individual whose true intentions are veiled in mystery. On the surface, he is a mobile suit developer, but he seems to have much more up his sleeve. He eventually leads a coup to take over the corrupt Titans (the branch of the Earth Federation military which controls the Earth Sphere after Operation Stardust). Scirocco is very much the Kefka of the Gundam franchise, treacherous and partially insane. Here, he pilots The-O.
Kamille Bidan (Kamiru)
Kamille, from Zeta Gundam is the antithesis of his predecessor, Amuro. He is angsty, brooding, emotional, and discontent with his life in the colonies. One day, he has a chance encounter with Char Aznable (who goes by the name Quattro Bajeena in Zeta Gundam) who is attempting to steal some of the Gundam Mk-II units from the Titans. Kamille decides to join Char and become his disciple of sorts.
Judau Ashta
Judau, from Gundam ZZ, is your typical Gundam hero. A wide-eyed, enthusiastic youth who is slowly twisted by the atrocities of war. He is much more like Amuro than his brooding predecessor, Kamille. Judau first gets involved with the events surrounding the Gundam saga when he attempts to steal the Zeta Gundam.
Denim
Denim is one of the two pilots who discover the activated RX-78 Gundam in the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam. Denim has the displeasure of being the first person ever to be killed by a Gundam, piloted by an inexperienced rookie no less. In spite of his failure, Denim is still often used as a character in Gundam video games.
Ple-Two
Puru-Two, from Gundam ZZ, is a clone of Elpeo Puru, a sweet, innocent girl who becomes obsessed with Judau. Like her original, Puru-Two is one of many characters who, by ZZ’s time period, is suspected of being a NewType. As such, Puru-Two’s abilities are enhanced so that she can be a better fighter. This allows her to pilot the monstrous Psycho Gundam, and ironically leads her to killing the original Puru.
Haman Karn
Haman Karn (from Zeta Gundam, but appears briefly in the chronologically earlier 0083) is the last worthy heir to the Zeon Empire. In Zeta Gundam, she heads Axis Zeon, a group of exiled members from the former Principality of Zeon who seek to restore the old glory of the empire. She has a very complicated romantic relationship with Char Aznable, and attempts to use their former intimacy to lure Char to Axis, but Char remains faithful to the AEUG.
Dozle Zabi (Dozul)
Dozle, from the original Gundam series, is the second eldest son of the Zabi family. He specializes in mobile suit development and eventually heads the development of the Big Zam, a monstrous mobile suit that eventually fails when placed against Amuro and the Gundam at the Battle of Solomon. In death, Dozle leaves behind a wife and child, and is one of the more sympathetic characters in Zeon.
Gundam: Battle Assault was later released in Japan. This means that they received two versions of what is basically the same game.
