We have some great news for fans of giant anime and giant robots. It has been announced that a fan translation of Super Robot Wars 64 for the Nintendo 64 is currently in development, meaning that fans of the series will one day be able to experience the tactical role-playing game in English for themselves.
Super Robot Wars, in case you're unfamiliar, is a tactical RPG series from Banpresto (and Bandai Namco) that features characters and mecha from various anime shows coming together to do battle against one another, and originally debuted back in 1991 with the launch of Super Robot Wars on the Nintendo Game Boy.
Since then, it has gone on to comprise countless titles and also inspired several anime and manga spin-offs, though the majority of these were never localized for the Western market — a decision often attributed to the complexities and costs related to securing the rights to its licensed characters overseas.
Some of the exceptions to this are the Original Generation games, Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation and Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2 for the Game Boy Advance, and Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier for the Nintendo DS — all of which were released in North America — and Super Robot Wars 30, which launched globally on Steam. Some of the later games have also launched with English subs in Asia, including Super Robot Wars V and Super Robot Wars T, making them particularly easy to import and play.
Super Robot Wars 64, however, is one of the games from the series that has frustratingly escaped localization over the years. Released in 1999 for Nintendo's 64-bit machine, it brought together various characters from TV shows like Giant Robo, Mobile Suit Gundam, Dancouga, and Six God Combination Godmars in one single package, with the gameplay seeing players guiding units around a flat terrain to complete objectives, while the story was told through separate cutscenes comprised of 2D sprites overlaid over 3D backgrounds.
The translation appears to be the work of a small group calling themselves RoboVerse Translations, who have a Discord, where they are sharing updates on the game and soliciting feedback. They also have a YouTube channel available as well, with two WIP videos having been posted over the last couple of weeks, which we'll link to here.
We'll try to keep a close eye on how this project develops and will let you know if there are any significant updates in the future.