Per the previous volumes in the ACE series, players control a mech and contend against other mechs and assorted creatures in 3D battlefields. In the first level of the game, a lad named Barrel Orland is standing atop a roof when aliens attack and are countered by a wave of Earth-based defenders. Barrel's in danger but a blue mech known as the Exbrau piloted by Fei Roshnande descends to pick him up. Once safely in the cockpit of the Exbrau, Barrel and Fei fly off to confront the alien invaders.

The first mission is a training stint to get players acquainted with the controls and the overall feel of the game since the enemies aren't aggressive. The Exbrau can attack with a sword or shoot rounds of gunfire at enemies in the local area. A secondary set of weapons are also available including a tethered battering ram and a bomb shot. Finally, the Exbrau can raise a shield to blunt oncoming mortar. Basically, it's a one mech army capable of leveling entire waves of attackers.

Jan Code: 4983164735888

View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

» Press START on the title screen and you can choose:

NEW GAME
LOAD GAME

» Select NEW GAME and set the options before starting the proper game. A voice-over relays the background of the story as the camera flies through clouds and eventually wafts downwards on a land mass. As it flies further in, a boy named Barrel Orland is lying on his back and looking at his cellphone. He flips it closed and sits up. An air siren sounds off in the distance and he gets up hurriedly. An explosion to his left fills the air with smoke and he runs over to the railing to check out a spinning whirlwind that's kicking up dust when a hulking black mass drops on top of it. Homeland mechs fly in and start attacking pastel blue, yellow, and pink alien creatures which flit through the air and are easy targets for the mech's firing patterns. A stream of the aliens fly through where Barrel is standing and he ducks. In the next scene, a mech called the Exbrau rises up to tackle a group of streaming aliens that are headed for the boy and tells him to take cover. Barrel takes a few steps before an explosion knocks him down. The Exbrau driver spies him on the roof and drops down and eventually pulls him into the hatch. Once inside, the red-eyed female pilot of the Exbrau named Fei Roshnande tells him of his significance in the war ahead and the game begins.

» Players man the blue mech and attack a swarm of alien creatures that are pretty much stationary in the air. This is a tutorial session to teach the mechanics of the game and the controls are as follows

L-ANALOG / Maneuver mech
R0ANALOG / Camera swivel
D-PAD / Change the resolution of the map on the lower left corner
TRIANGLE / Auto-lock target
SQUARE / Fire primary weapon
CROSS / Toggle boosters
CIRCLE / Swing sword
R1-TRIGGER / Gain altitude
R2-TRIGGER / Lose altitude
L1-TRIGGER / Toggle secondary weapons (accompanied with face buttons)
L1+TRIANGLE / Raise shield
L1+SQUARE / Fire secondary weapon
L1+CIRCLE / Hurl battering ram

» When an enemy is locked on, pressing the CIRCLE button will send your mech swinging into it with a sword stroke. Shooting it is faster but the sword attack is more dramatic to watch. After the training mission is over, some heavier opposition in the form of bulky mechs fly into view and raise their arms parallel to the ground and attack. They're not much of a challenge but they're followed by a larger wave of their cohorts from the south. As they begin to shoot, a scrolling Japanese text primer against a black background appears accompanied by regulation issue "action" music. In the next scene, the Exbrau is on a rooftop kneeling with its shield raised on its left arm. Fei Roshnande looks over at Barrel and sees that he's fallen asleep. She closes her eyes and joins him as the camera pans outside to view the kneeling mech as rain patters the ground around it. The game title appears against a black background and the PS2 starts to load.

» You're kicked back to the menu screen and prompted to create a save point. A controller config appears which shows what the trigger buttons are used for and allows players to choose how the mech moves with the L-Analog thumbstick. For example, you can choose to control the mech in the same way an aircraft is flown where pushing down on the L-Analog thumbstick makes the mech fly higher or choose to control the mech literally with the controls - down goes down and up goes up.

» The second mission is preceded by a short sequence which shows the mission objectives and a bunch of enemy gunners are on the ground. The enemy ground units are attacking the Nadesico B cruiser so fly in and destroy the entire ground offensive. After destroying the ground units, waves of alien starfish, beetles, and other odd creatures fly in and swarm the area. There are three enemy airships that must also be destroyed in this stage. In the next scene, two Macross warriors battle each other and zooms through the skies until the Nadesico B shoots off a powerful blast that ends the level and sends the enemy Valkyrie pilot on his way.

» A GALLERY MODE in the game allows you to check out the mechs from the series' used in the game. There's a total of 18 series featured and 265 mechs in all. Seven mechs are viewable at the outset but the rest must be unlocked before they're available for perusal. When checking out a mech, use the L1 and R1 trigger to pan the camera in and out and use the L-Analog and R-Analog to move it around and spin the bot on its X and Y axis. To reset the view of the mech to its original position, push down on the R3 (R-Analog) thumbstick.

» A built-in mini Encyclopedia may also be checked out where key words and history of the ACE series is stored in static data pages. There is a total of 88 entries but only 4 are viewable at the outset of the game.

» A CINEMA Gallery allows gamers to replay the cinemas that have already played during the normal course of the game.

» Each of the proper series featured in ACE3 are accompanied by their attendant theme songs. There are 15 animation series songs and 9 BGM tracks featured.

» Voice acting accompanies the dialogue during the cut scenes. Banpresto boasts a library of 30,000 voice samples that are used in the game.

» The 18 series and their attendant mechs + pilots that are featured in A.C.E. 3 are as follows

A.C.E. Original
XA-00 Exbrau (Pilots: Barrel Orland, Fei Roshnande)
Blood Ark (Pilot: Berucuto)
Gun Ark (Pilot: Unknown)

After War Gundam X
GX-9900 Gundam X (Pilot: Garrod Ran)
GX-9900-DV Gundam X Divider (Pilot: Garrod Ran)
GX-9901-DX Gundam Double X (Pilot: Garrod Ran)
GX-9901-DX + GS-9900 Gundam Double X + G Falcon (Pilot: Garrod Ran)
GW-9800 Gundam Airmaster (Pilot: Witz Sou)
GT-9600 Gundam Leopard (Pilot: Roybea Loy)
NRX-0013 Gundam Virsago (Pilot: Shagia Frost)
NRX-0015 Gundam Ashtaron (Pilot: Olba Frost)
NRX-0013-CB Gundam Virsago Chest Break(Pilot: Shagia Frost)
NRX-0015-HC Gundam Ashtaron Hermit Crab (Pilot: Olba Frost)

Aura Battler Dunbine
Dunbine (Pilot: Marvel Frozen)
Billbine (Pilot: Shou Zama)

Brain Powerd
Yuu Brain (Pilot: Yuu Isami)
Hime Brain (Pilot: Hime Utsumiya)
Nelly Brain (Pilot: Yuu Isami)
Johnathan Baronz (Pilot: Johnathan Glenn)
Quincy Baronz (Pilot: Quincy Issa aka Iiko Isami))

Eureka Seven: Psalm of Planets
Nirvash Type ZERO (Pilots: Renton Thurston/Eureka)
Nirvash Type ZERO Spec2 (Pilots: Renton Thurston/Eureka)
Nirvash Type ZERO Spec3 (Pilots: Renton Thurston/Eureka)
Nirvash Type The END (Pilot: Anemone)
Terminus Type R909 (Pilot: Holland Novak)
Terminus Type B303 (Pilot: Holland Novak)
Spearhead SH-101 (Pilots: Charles Beams, Ray Beams)

Getter Robo Armageddon
Shin Getter-1 (Pilot: Ryoma Nagare or Go "Saotome")
Shin Getter-2 (Pilot: Hayato Jin or Kei Kuruma)
Shin Getter-3 (Pilot: Benkei Kuruma or Gai)
Black Getter (Pilot: Ryoma Nagare)

Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero Custom (Pilot: Heero Yuy)

Macross Plus
YF-19 (Pilot: Isamu Alva Dyson)
YF-21 (Pilot: Guld Goa Bowman)

Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness
Black Selena/Aestivalis Custom Akito (Pilot: Akito Tenkawa)
Yatenkou (Pilot: Hokushin)
Aestivalis Custom Ryoko (Pilot: Ryoko Subaru)
Aestivalis Custom Hikaru (Pilot: Hikaru Amano)
Aestivalis Custom Izumi (Pilot: Izumi Maki)

Metal Armor Dragonar
XD-01SR Dragonar-1 Custom (Pilot: Kaine Wakaba)
XD-02SR Dragonar-2 Custom (Pilot: Tapp Oceano)
XDFU-03 Enhanced Dragonar Lifter-3 (Pilot: Light Newman)
MAFFU-09 Falguen MAFFU (Pilot: Meio Plato)
Falguen Custom (Pilot: Meio Plato)
YGMA-14 Gilgazamune (Pilot: Gun Jym)

Mobile Suit Gundam
RX-78-2 Gundam (Pilot: Amuro Ray)
FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam (Pilot: Amuro Ray)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam (Pilot: Kira Yamato)
ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam METEOR (Pilot: Kira Yamato)
ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam (Pilot: Athrun Zala)
ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam METEOR (Pilot: Athrun Zala)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
RX-93 í Gundam (Pilot: Amuro Ray)
FA-93HWS í Gundam HWS (Pilot: Amuro Ray)
RGZ-91 Re-GZ (Pilot: Amuro Ray)
MSN-04 Sazabi (Pilot: Char Aznable)
MSN-03 Jagd Doga (Pilots: Gyunei Guss, Quess Paraya)

Mobile Fighter G Gundam
GF13-017NJII God Gundam (Pilot: Domon Kasshu)
GF13-001NHII Master Gundam (Pilot: Master Asia)

Overman King Gainer
King Gainer (Pilot: Gainer Sanga)
Dominator (Pilot: Cynthia Lane)
Emperanza (Pilot: Gain Bijou)
Gatchiko (Pilot: Gain Bijou)
Power Golem (Pilot: Artham Boone)

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
VF-1S Super Valkyrie (Pilots: Hikaru Ichijyo, Roy Focker, Maximilian Jenius)
VF-1J Armored Valkyrie (Pilot: Hikaru Ichijyo)
Queadluun-Rau (Pilots:Maximilian Jenius, Milia Fallyna)

Turn A Gundam
WD-M01 Turn A Gundam (Pilot: Loran Cehack)
Concept-X 6-1-2 Turn X (Pilot: Gym Ghingnham)

Wings of Rean
Nanajin (Pilot: Asap Suzuki)
Aka-Nanajin (Pilot: Asap Suzuki)
Okaou (Pilot: Shinjiro Sakomizu)

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