Front Mission 1st

Front Mission for Nintendo DS is the North American version of Square Enix's 2007 handheld update of Front Mission 1st, the opening story in the long-running tactical role-playing series. Released in North America on October 23, 2007, it brings the mecha war drama first created for the 1995 Super Famicom game to Nintendo's dual-screen system. In Japan, the same DS release is known as Front Mission 1st and arrived earlier that year. It is a turn-based strategy RPG set in 2090, where political tension on the disputed Pacific territory of Huffman Island erupts into the Second Huffman Conflict.

The central battle machines are wanzers, humanoid military vehicles whose construction is as important as their placement on the map. Between missions, players assemble a complete frame from a body, arms, and legs, then balance its power output against weapons, computers, backpacks, and other equipment. Individual parts can be damaged during combat: losing an arm can deny a unit its weapon, crippled legs restrict mobility, and the destruction of the body removes the wanzer from the field. That part-based system gives every encounter a practical tactical dimension, whether the objective is eliminating opposing forces or protecting a key ally.

Missions play out on grid-based battlefields with alternating turns. Players move their squad, select attacks, and choose equipment appropriate to range and role, including close-combat weapons, guns, bazookas, missiles, and defensive shields. Long-range attacks can keep a unit out of a target's counterattack distance, while indirect-fire weapons trade ammunition and positioning limits for safer support. The campaign also uses a world map and intermission locations to move the story forward, visit shops, prepare a force, and pursue the next operation. Nintendo DS touch controls and the two-screen layout make battle commands and unit information readily available during these tactical exchanges.

Front Mission follows two perspectives on the conflict. The O.C.U. scenario stars Royd Clive, a former soldier who joins the Canyon Crows mercenary group after an incident at a U.S.N. factory changes both his life and the political situation on Huffman Island. The additional U.S.N. scenario centers on officer Kevin Greenfield and the Black Hounds, approaching the same wider conflict from the opposing side. This dual structure expands the original game's story rather than treating the war as a simple clash of heroes and villains, while its fictional superpowers, military corporations, and experimental technology give the setting the grounded, near-future tone associated with the series.

As a DS adaptation of the PlayStation remake, Front Mission includes content beyond the 1995 original. The U.S.N. campaign is available alongside Royd's route, and the release adds missions, equipment, guest appearances connected to other Front Mission games, difficulty options, and post-completion extras. Its localized release was also the first official English-language launch for this first Front Mission story. Square Enix preserved the series' combination of squad customization and serious science-fiction conflict while adapting it to a portable format, making Front Mission on Nintendo DS a substantial entry point for the early history of the franchise.