Lost Armored Core Mobile Game Found And Released

An early Armored Core title by FromSoftware, Armored Core Mobile Mission, was recently restored and released by G-MODE, a Japanese game developer. It’s out on Nintendo Switch, and it’s coming to PC on April 30.

Armored Core Mobile Mission was first released on May 13, 2004 and is a keitai game, which means it was only available on select Japanese cellphones. This is the first time the game’s been made available to a Western audience, and it’s been preserved and released by G-Mode Archives+, the game preservation arm of G-MODE. 

“This is a reissue project that faithfully reproduces the original version of the game,” the company said in an official news post. 

“For the porting from the feature phone app, we’ve been working on a new version of the game. For your enjoyment and comfort, the operability and functions have been partially changed and adjusted.”

Super Mecha Action

FromSoftware has released over 15 mainline Armored Core games to date, with the most recent being Armored Core IV: Fires of Rubicon, in August 2003. However, the studio also released five mobile-only titles, all exclusive to Japanese phones; specifically i-mode, EZweb and Yahoo! Keitai cellphones.

Armored Core Mobile Mission was the first of these, and it’s also the first to feature a top-down perspective. The rest of the game includes everything fans of the series know and expect, though, including full 3D mech customization from over 30 parts, and intense battles against enemy robots. 

A note for US gamers into hardcore mecha action: the game uses English for some of its in-game info, such as weapons and stats, but the majority of mission and menu text is in Japanese. There’s currently no official word on a full English patch.

G-MODE Archives+ And Keitai

G-MODE has published almost 30 games, and is the owner of multiple licenses, including titles by FromSoftware and over 100 Data East games. Perhaps the best-known game by G-MODE, for US audiences, is Harvest Moon, which first appeared as a browser game in 2010.

G-MODE Archives+ works to find and restore long lost Japanese phone games, as these were typically also limited to one very specific service provider, as was the case with Armored Core Mobile Mission and its sequels. 

Although handled by a different preservationist, a lost keitai mobile version of FromSoftware’s first ever game, King’s Field, was also recently recovered and made playable.