Iron Saga VS Characters all follow a simple rule: they have to be giant robots. Whether from the annals of Super Robot history or their own stable of original mechs, the game’s present roster of characters that include Mazinger Z and Dancouga mean anything’s on the cards for GameDuchy’s 1v1 fighter.
With that in mind, here’s our wishlist for Iron Saga VS Characters that might be in the game.
Iron Saga VS Characters We Want To See
The Big O
Showtime! The Big O is one of the coolest Super Robots of the 1990s, from the Batman: The Animated Series inspired anime of the same name. While a lot of Super Robots tend to share major elements, the Big O is one of the most uniquely silhouetted designs of its era, from its tiny head to its massive pilebunker arms.
As far as playstyles go, it seems pretty obvious: the Big O would have to be the one to add charge inputs to the Iron Saga VS Characters, playing like Q from Street Fighter or Big Band from Skullgirls, the latter of which even has a color scheme homaging the decopunk destroyer. While the Big O has a multitude of tools from the anime including missiles and beams, it’s really going to be all about the punches- and it’d be interesting to see how the game deals with having a big-body brawler in the game.
There are some downsides though- unlike the other Iron Saga VS Characters from other anime, The Big O hasn’t crossed over with the mobile game yet. They’ve not said this is the hard rule for guest characters, but it probably will cause a bit of a hurdle for GameDuchy to get him in. Thankfully, Roger Smith himself is a bit of a negotiator, so they may come to terms sooner rather than later…
Great Bari Bari Team Epic (AKA Biggus Mc HugeGuy)
Look, I’m not going to pretend like Pop Team Epic doesn’t sincerely love the mecha genre. The series has had multiple homages to Masami Obari specifically, having the legendary director design a super robot form for the two gremlin main characters of Pop Team Epic.
Great Bari Bari Team Epic is the most recent version of this, with Popuko transforming into an upgrade for Pipimi during their fight with King Recorder. Its toolset includes its Shitty Manga Drive for absorbing animation budget, as well as an insanely expensive missile barrage to finish off its weakened enemies.
Given the mobile game’s clear love for the genre, it makes so much sense to have a Pop Team Epic skit be one of the Iron Saga VS Characters. It’s new, yes, but it also pays homage to so much of the old classics that you get something that feels respectful but can also draw new players in.
The biggest downside with Great Bari Bari Team Epic would be its moveset- since it pays homage to so much of Super Robot lore it’s hard to come up with a unique moveset. The best way to implement it would be to have it be the Dan Hibiki equivalent- same basic moveset as the other super robots but with its own more jokey twist.
This wouldn’t even be the game debut of the Pop Team Epic mecha. It’s also appeared in the Super Robot Wars mobile game, which also featured a cameo by Obari himself. If you’re making a game paying homage to the super robot genre, you may as well include the character that’s loudest about being one of his children. I mean, there’s Bravern too, I guess…
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Gurren Lagann is cool. Like, really cool. Studio Gainax’s own love letter to super robots decided to be a two-headed robot, with one of the heads wearing sick shades while the other sports a samurai helmet. It also has a ton of drills, who I’m told are heaven-piercing in their nature.
Just like the Big O, it does a good job of differentiating itself from others in its genre. Even its weapon- a multitude of drills it conjures out of nothing but willpower, would give it a cool moveset. Heck, it could even be the E.Honda equivalent, considering how many of those drills could send Gurren Lagann forward.
The biggest reason I’d have for wanting to have Gurren Lagann as one of the Iron Saga VS Characters is for how visually loud it is. People think of Gurren Lagann and they usually think of the Imaishi special- loud colors, explosive animation, etc. While the mech would obviously have to conform with the rest of the Iron Saga VS Characters looks, that doesn’t mean it can’t at least have some cool flashy supers. It’s not even that uncommon in fighting games to have that one character whose moveset is just that much flashier- that’s a role Gurren Lagann can fill.
Considering that the anime also sees a variety of upgrades and different forms for Gurren Lagann that all involve growing exponentially in size, I’d say you have the grounds for a pretty cool super- you thought dealing with Gurren Lagann was bad, imagine getting stomped out by the city-sized Arc Gurren Lagann or even the galaxy-sized Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Funny enough, Gurren Lagann actually has a non-zero chance of making it on the roster- the robot has appeared in Iron Saga as part of a collab event, meaning you could reason that it’s already got its drill-shaped foot in the door.
Somehow, Vergil
That’s right, it’s time to show me your motivation. Jokes aside, I don’t actually think that the menace of Marvel vs Capcom 3 needs to be in the game. That being said, there is a mech from Iron Saga called Vergil that pays homage to one of the greatest menaces of fighting game kind. From its visual design to even its Judgement Cut End-style ult, it’s definitely a character designed with one of the most iconic action game rivals in mind.
And what better way to pay homage to that than by giving it a moveset to boot? It wouldn’t even be the first time- Quantum Ranger from Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid also featured a Vergil-lite moveset, so it makes sense that Iron Saga’s Vergil should also have the same high-damage glass-cannon build to terrorize players. Give it good movement options, insane punishment and maybe even throw in an install and you’ve got an instant top tier.
Not unlike Akuma in Street Fighter, just having the name Vergil would definitely have some expectation thrust upon it. Anyone with memories of being told to get motivated are expecting one of if not the strongest of the Iron Saga VS characters, which can be hype to watch but may not be as hype to fight against. Unless you’re a Vergil main, that is.
By virtue of Vergil being an original Iron Saga character you wouldn’t even need to worry about the difficulty of getting it in. It’d do a lot to help the game be more than just the crossover fighter too- by promoting the honestly cool roster of designs already in the Iron Saga stable. Sure, it’s a design based off a popular character, but I think it’d get some heads turning.
Of course, none of these characters have been confirmed as potential Iron Saga VS Characters. There’s a lot of other royalty that I figured were no-brainers and left off the list- cue Gaogaigar or anything from Macross. But the joy of the mecha genre is there’s a lot of cool, fun and weird stuff that could be pulled from- and enough fighting game knowledge out there that it can probably be paired with a playstyle that best shows it off.
Iron Saga VS is set to release some time in 2024, but no specific date has been locked down yet. I hope we get a nice ever-growing list of characters in the game though- if nothing else because every new character moves us closer to a potential Vergil release.
