Sentō Mecha Xabungle: The Race in Action

Sentō Mecha Xabungle: The Race in Action is a side scrolling mecha racing game based on the 1982 TV anime series Combat Mecha Xabungle directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

The game is single player only and features two gameplay modes; Story and Free Play. Story has the player cast as Jiron Amos riding his Xabungle-type Walker and follows a set sequence of races. Free Play lets the player pick freely from a selection of Walkers and stages with no story elements included.

The races themselves take place on the desolate planet Zola and are an armed race to the finish between all of the participating Walkers. The race plays out as a 2D side scrolling affair along stages with varying degrees of terrain to tackle, while at the same time avoiding rockets, machinegun fire and punches from the other Walkers. If a Walker gets enough hits, it falls over and is immobile for a short time, allowing other participants to pass and gain a better position in the races. Each of the Walkers also have jet thrusters for an additional aerial speed boost, which comes in handy when avoiding fire or scaling rough terrain. The first half of the race scrolls to the right, and at the end the player has to pass a pole in the ground, quickly turn back to race back to the left and cross the finish line first.