Play Front Mission Online

Summary

Front Mission on the WonderSwan Color lets you command wanzers—walking tanks built from four interchangeable parts: body, left arm, right arm, and legs. Each piece has its own health bar, so losing an arm strips you of its weapons while a crippled leg reduces movement to a single tile. The linear mission flow moves you from point‑and‑click world map to cut‑scenes, then into tactical battles where you arrange your units at towns before striking again.

Customization is a deep rabbit hole; you can swap frames, computers, backpacks and weapons as long as the total weight stays under the wanzer’s power output. Computers sharpen accuracy and unlock special abilities, while backpacks boost power and let you carry ammo or support items. This freedom means a light scout can become a heavy artillery platform with the right load‑out.

Weapons fall into four clear categories—melee, short‑range, long‑range and support fire—each targeting different parts of an enemy. Shields can be fitted to soak damage, and the optional Arena mode pits you against AI opponents for cash rewards. Briefings give a quick rundown of enemy composition, helping you plan which parts to protect or sacrifice.

The game’s backstory is a quirky Square‑G‑Craft partnership that even stripped the usual Squaresoft logo from the intro. Producer Shinji Hashimoto insisted on lighter moments like card‑playing scenes to balance the dark tone, and Yoshitaka Amano’s imposing artwork was trimmed down for the cartridge cover. Modeler Kow Yokoyama treated the wanzers like real weapons, giving them a tangible heft that still feels fresh on a handheld.

The soundtrack, a collaboration between Noriko Matsueda and Yoko Shimomura, was described by Shimomura as "passionate" and drives the tactical action with memorable themes. Their work, later arranged by Hidenori Iwasaki for remakes, adds a layer of intensity that makes each mission feel like a miniature war drama.

Storyline

Front Mission (WonderSwan Color) is set in 2090 on Huffman Island, a volcanic island the size of Oahu that was placed under United Nations control in 2002. By 2020 the United States of the New Continent (USN) claimed the island, while the Oceania Cooperative Union (OCU) disputed the claim in 2065, sparking the 1st Huffman Conflict and dividing the island east‑west.

The story kicks off when OCU reconnaissance leader Roy Clive’s team is ambushed at a USN munitions plant in Larcus. Driscoll, a USN wanzer commander, destroys Roy’s fiancée Karen’s wanzer and detonates the factory, an event the USN frames as an enemy attack – the Larcus Incident – which triggers the 2nd Huffman Conflict. Roy and his surviving squad are listed KIA.

A year later Roy fights in a wanzer arena until Guri Olson recruits him into the mercenary group Canyon Crows. The Crows grow to include Natalie Blakewood, Keith Carabell, "JJ" Jeriaska, Ryuji Sakata, war journalist Frederick Lancaster, child soldier Yang Meihua and hacker Hans Goldwin. They learn Karen may be alive at Grey Rock Hospital, but Driscoll destroys the facility before they can rescue her.

The Crows ally with the OCU against the USN, liberate Freedom City and assault Morgan Fortress, where Driscoll reveals himself as a member of the secretive Nirvana Institute. Nirvana’s experimental "B‑device" grafts soldiers’ brains into wanzer CPUs; Driscoll’s wanzer even houses Karen’s consciousness.

A peace brokered by the PMO forces the Crows to work with both sides, targeting the terrorist group Spirit of Huffman led by Gentz Weizer. Gentz claims the group only attacks Sakata Industries, the creators of the B‑device, and that Nirvana kidnaps veteran soldiers for testing.

Roy’s faction splits from Olson’s when they decide to pursue Nirvana and Sakata. They discover the Larcus plant was Nirvana’s original B‑device factory and that Sakata engineered the war to sell the technology. Driscoll is killed, but reveals the Crows themselves were B‑device candidates.

The final act takes the Crows to Longrivers Island, where Zafra‑backed researchers have built the successor "S‑device" – a weaponised Driscoll cyborg. Roy’s Crows destroy the facility and kill Koichi Sakata, after which the PMO spins the event as a mass suicide of the Spirit of Huffman. The group disbands, though Roy and Gentz continue as independent freedom fighters.

Six months later Frederick publishes an exposé exposing the conflict’s hidden agenda. The OCU and USN accept partial blame, the PMO’s reputation suffers, and Zafra denies involvement. In the remastered "Front Mission 1st" a second scenario follows USN officer Kevin Greenfield, whose mishandled anti‑terrorist mission leads him to the Nirvana Institute and later to command the Silver Lynx strike force during the 2nd Huffman Conflict.