Play Front Mission Online

Summary

The WonderSwan Color got its own tactical‑RPG treat on July 12 2002 when Square’s flagship mecha game Front Mission was ported for the handheld. The title lets you pilot wanzers – modular walking tanks split into body, arms and legs – and every part has its own health bar, so losing a leg slows you to a crawl while a shattered body pulls the unit from play entirely. A deep customization menu lets you mix frames, weapons, computers and backpacks as long as the total weight stays under the unit’s power output, and you can outfit your wanzer with anything from melee tonfas to long‑range bazookas or support‑fire missile launchers. Between missions you manage the world map, set up briefings that spell out enemy composition, and can earn extra cash in the optional arena against AI opponents. The game’s atmosphere is accentuated by a passionate score from Noriko Matsueda and Yoko Shimomura, who also contributed the opening theme. Although never released outside Japan on the WonderSwan, the game's blend of strategic map travel, detailed mech design, and arena challenges made it a beloved entry in the series.

Storyline

Front Mission on the WonderSwan Color is set in 2090 on Huffman Island, a volcanic landmass in the Pacific that became a UN‑administered zone before being claimed by the United Nations of the New Continent (USN) and the Oceania Cooperative Union (OCU). The rivalry erupts into the 1st Huffman Conflict in 2070, splitting the island east‑west.

OCU reconnaissance leader Roy Clive’s team is ambushed at a USN munitions plant in Larcus, where Driscoll destroys Roy’s fiancée Karen’s wanzer. The incident is framed as an enemy attack, sparking the 2nd Huffman Conflict. After a year of arena fighting, Roy joins the Canyon Crows mercenaries, recruiting journalist Frederick Lancaster, child soldier Yang Meihua, and hacker Hans Goldwin. The Crows discover the mysterious Nirvana Institute’s B‑device program, which grafts soldiers’ brains into wanzer CPUs, and learn that Driscoll is a Nirvana operative.

The war ends with a peace brokered by the PMO, but the Crows are tasked with suppressing the Spirit of Huffman insurgents. The group eventually uncovers Nirvana’s true motives, confronts Driscoll, and destroys a secret facility on Longrivers Island that houses the successor S‑device. The story concludes with the Crows disbanding, while Roy and Gentz continue as freelance freedom fighters.