The developers of mentioned several times as the big influence and the one game they were competing against on release. Debuting in (below left) was a game-changer for the genre of big robot action. With the possibility of choosing different clans and full mech customisations, the Activision title was definitely the one to beat. It also featured full 3D environments, online multiplayer and also (later) added support for accelerated graphic cards. Much less known, but still quite fondly remembered by fans of the genre, is . Released in 1994 exclusively for the Atari Jaguar, it was a mech sim played from an in-cockpit view with a full 3D engine and single-player missions with various objectives to complete. Also, let’s not forget Monolith’s (below right). Released in 1998, , despite really being a first-person shooter at heart, was the first game to incorporate ideas from both anime and , with sequences where you’re able to ride a mech around in a fully 3D environment. Finally, Italian software house Milestone, better known for the racing series, also released its own homage to , the 1995 shooter which featured a faux-3D engine similar to that of .
