64 is very much in the Super Robot Wars franchise's Early-Installment Weirdness era, but moves the series forward in subtle ways. Rather than reusing the Original Generation character creation system from Super Robot Wars 4, players choose one of four premade characters separated by gender and mecha "genre"; each character has their own unique mecha and rival character. Combination Attacks are introduced, allowing particular units to perform team-up attacks when placed adjacent to each other. While Universal Century Gundam is still present and plays a major role in the story, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is much more prominent than in previous entries, down to the game borrowing its Alternative Calendar. The heroes start off as freedom fighters attempting to save the Earth Sphere from the rule of the Dancouga and SPT Layzner antagonists, rather than an Earth Federation force.

Series in Super Robot Wars 64 (Debuting entries are in bold)

• Aura Battler Dunbine
  • New Story of Aura Battler Dunbine (units/fairy only)
• Blue Comet SPT Layzner
• Demon-God of War GoShogun (requires Super Robot Wars Link Battler)
• Getter Robo
  • Getter Robo G
  • Shin Getter Robo (manga)
• Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3
• Invincible Super Man Zambot 3 (requires Super Robot Wars Link Battler)
• Mazinger Z
  • Great Mazinger
  • UFO Robo Grendizer
• Mobile Suit Gundam
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
  • Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
  • Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
  • Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (requires Super Robot Wars Link Battler)
  • Mobile Fighter G Gundam
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
    • Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (The mecha show up only as secret Mid Season Upgrades)
• Six God Combination Godmars
• Super Beast Machine God Dancougar
• Super Electro Robo Combattler V

In the year After Colony 191, Side 3 declares itself the Principality of Zeon and launches a war of independence against the Earth Federation government. After six months of fighting, the Federation emerges victorious. Unfortunately, things only get worse from there, as the Muge Empire appears and launches a full scale invasion of Earth. Weakened by the war against Zeon, the Federation is no match for the alien invaders. With their space forces routed and roughly 70% of the Earth's cities burned to the ground, the Federation formally surrenders in December, and humankind is subjugated by Muge.

Now, in the year After Colony 195, humankind begins to fight back...

Due to copyright issues related to the game's joint development with Nintendo, this game was never adapted into the Super Robot Wars: Original Generation subseries, and its mechanical design was modified slightly into the units seen in Super Robot Wars A, which would go on to appear there. However, ex-Super Robot Wars producer Takanobu Terada revealed in 2026 that he intended to envision them and their story as inhabiting the Shadow Mirror universe from the plot of A, being marched to an uncertain grave after having to clean up their version of the alien invaders following the Mirror's departure to the main timeline.

Tropes appearing in Super Robot Wars 64:

• Adapted Out:
  • Despite Stardust Memory's plot still being involved, both the GP-01 and GP-01 FB are not in the game, thus forcing Kou Uraki to pilot other Universal Century mobile suits before getting the GP-03.
  • Giant Robo made its debut in this game with only its first episode properly adapted, leaving several characters, including Genya, completely absent.
• Adaptational Context Change:
  • In the source material, OZ initiates a coup on the standing government in order to prevent them from pursuing peace with the colonies. In this game, they initiate a coup to push out the Muge Empire.
  • In SPT Layzner, the Seal of Grados is activated to forcibly separate the people of Earth and Grados, while Eiji is trusted to take care of the Gradosians that remain on Earth. Here, it is used to cut off the Galactic Empire from reinforcements, trapping Zuul in the Earth Sphere where he can be defeated.
• Adaptational Skill: Gundam Altron EW has flamethrowers installed into its Dragon Fangs, something it does not have in the source material, nor is it ever used in other Super Robot Wars games.
• Alternative Calendar: This game uses the After Colony calendar from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.
• Anachronism Stew: As usual when it comes to Universal Century Gundam. The UC Gundam plot starts with the very beginning of Zeta Gundam and ends with Char's Counterattack, with characters from the original series, 08th MS Team, and 0083 hanging around.
• Arc Villain: The way that the game handles the various enemy factions lands somewhere between this and The Big Bad Shuffle: while the game's premise heavily suggests that the Muge Empire and Gradosians will be the primary antagonists, they are largely dealt with less then halfway through the game. Then comes Emperor Zuul and Haman's Neo Zeon, who are likewise defeated right before the endgame. After that, the Muge Empire returns, plus there's also the newly-villainous Char Aznable. And then finally, it's revealed that Al-E-Quis was behind everything.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Giant Robo and Heavyarms Custom's FIRE EVERYTHING attack is a map attack that will also deplete the ammunition of all its other attacks to zero.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Wufei ends up being brainwashed by Emperor Zuul, and March Wind has to snap him out of it.
• But Now I Must Go: Subverted with the Aura Battler Dunbine cast. After the Dunbine finale, the cast prepares to return to Byston Well, and seemingly vanish in a bright flash... but it turns out that they didn't go anywhere, stating that their new mission is to defeat the "malice" engulfing the Earth Sphere and sticking around for the rest of the game's battles.
• Canon Welding:
  • The Gradosians are part of the Muge Zolbados Empire and are at the forefront of the Earth occupation effort, allowing both the Dancouga and SPT Layzner plots of resistance fighters battling alien occupation to coexist.
  • The AEUG and Titans get rolled into the Earth Liberation Front (here named LIFE) and OZ, respectively.
• Colony Drop: The Devil Gundam fuses with Axis to create Devil Axis, which threatens to crash into Earth.
• Combination Attack: 64's lasting legacy on the Super Robot Wars series is introducing special attacks that are unlocked by placing specific units adjacent to each other.
• Crapsack World: In the backstory, Zeon's war for independence was immediately followed by the Muge Zolbados Empire showing up, crushing what's left of the military, and razing most of civilization to the ground before conquering what remained. The game picks up after three years of occupation by Muge.
• Crossover Combo Villain: Devil Axis is a frightening combination of the Devil Gundam and the Axis space station. It acts as a boss for an end-game scenario with the highest HP possible in-game, 65000 HP.
• Demoted to Extra: GoShogun, Zambot 3, Vigna Ghina, the F91 Gundam, EZ-8 Gundam, Apsalas II and their respective pilots are the only characters that show up from their respective series. Daitarn 3 at least gets its supporting characters.
• Enemy Civil War:
  • Treize and the Specials rebel against the Muge Empire, declaring themselves OZ.
  • Drake, the Black Knight and Todd also defect from Byston Well.
  • As in the source material, Haman's Neo Zeon splits into opposing factions.
• Enemy Mine: Haman's Neo Zeon helps March Wind defeat Zuul. Of course, the very moment that Zuul is toppled, Neo Zeon turns on the heroes.
• Fish Out of Water: According to Katz, Brad rarely goes outside of his training method, so he gets awkward in normal situations.
• From Bad to Worse: Defeating Muge only results in other factions making their move (including another Alien Invasion), on top of conflict between Earthlings.
• Game-Breaking Bug: Due to an oversight, the player loses Daitarn 3 for the majority of the game if they take the OZ Route with a Real Robot protagonist. The only opportunity that the player has to reacquire the unit is to take the Muge Space route five stages from the end of the game, since Daitarn 3 is a Required Party Member in that particular stage.
• Heel–Face Turn: Gale, Aina, Kyral Mekirel, Todd, Rose, Marg, Aina Sahalin, Elpe Puru, Puru 2, Mashmyre, Kyara, Rosamie, Four and Allenby will join the player's army if the requirements to unlock them are met.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Quattro Bajeena becomes Char Aznable and becomes leader of Neo Zeon during the game.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: The rival characters if you convince them and Anavel Gato in a certain route.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Musashi sacrifices himself to take down Avi Ru.
• Idealist vs. Pragmatist: This is the theme behind the game's pivotal "OZ" vs. "Independent" route split. The Specials, after spending the first part of the game fighting for Muge, appear to pull a sudden Heel–Face Turn during La Résistance's attack on Jaburo, with Treize later meeting with the heroes to ask them to join OZ in rebuilding the Earth Sphere. The Resistance wants no part of OZ, and initially tell Treize that they'll beat the Empire and OZ and let everything else fall into place, to which Treize replies by asking if they think they can handle the likely resource wars on Earth, much less the colonies potentially starting another war for independence. If the player aligns with OZ, the resistance still expresses distrust but ultimately takes the pragmatic view that focusing on the non-Earthling factions is more important and that they need OZ's power structure to maintain peace in the meantime. If the player refuses, the resistance holds to their stance that they absolutely cannot forgive the Romefeller Foundation for their dealings and would just be replacing one oppressor with another, and are optimistic that they can face OZ's might on top of the other factions and make everything work out in the end.
• Karmic Death: Shapiro Keats gets one at the hands of the woman he used and abandoned.
• La Résistance: "March Wind", the player's Badass Army, is the combination of resistance groups that join the fight against the Muge Empire and other invaders.
• Magikarp Power: The Earthgain/Super Earthgain and Vyrose learn new attacks as Brad (or Katz in Vyrose's case) gains levels.
• The Man Behind the Man: Al-E-Quis stoked Muge's and Zuul's desires for galactic conquest, as part of their belief that the galaxy can only survive through eternal conflict.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Dijeh SE-R to Gundam Mk-III if the player takes a certain route to Nu Gundam for Amuro. Getter Robo to Getter Robo G to Shin Getter Robo for the Getter Team. Svanhild to Rathgrith Custom. Soldifar to Ashcleef. Gundam mk-II to Zeta Gundam for Kamille.
• No Ontological Inertia: Subverted during the G Gundam/Char's Counterattack finale. March Wind destroys the Devil Gundam, only for Axis to remain intact and headed for Earth.
• Old Save Bonus: Vigna Ghina, Gundam F91, GoShogun, and Zambot 3 are only available if the player links to a copy of Super Robot Wars Link Battler. In turn, this process is required to unlock Ramba Ral, Master Asia, Grendizer and its cast, and the 64 originals in Link Battler.
• Original Generation:
  • 64 has four original protagonists, chosen by the player at the start of the game:
    • The male Super Robot protagonist, Brad Skywind, is a hot-blooded martial artist who fights for justice. He pilots the Earthgain, a machine left to him by his late master, and upgrades to the Super Earthgain should Brad fail to recruit his rival.
    • The female Super Robot protagonist, Manami Hamill, is a young, wealthy girl. She pilots the Simurgh, and eventually upgrades to the Simurgh Splendid.
    • The male Real Robot protagonist, Arklight Blue, is a young man who lost his parents in the war for Zeon's independence and the rest of his family to the Muge Empire. He pilots the Soldifar, and eventually upgrades to the Ashcleef.
    • The female Real Robot protagonist, Selain Meneth, is a stoic young woman who lost her parents to the Muge invasion and has since dedicated herself to the resistance effort. She pilots the Svanhild, and eventually upgrades to the Rathgrith Custom.
  • As for the original antagonists, they are a trio named "Al-E-Quis", who are looking for a successor to continue their ways of spreading conflict throughout the galaxy, as they believe that this is the only way for the people of the galaxy to continually evolve. They are: Avi Lou, redheaded pilot of the Avieslelm, Jay Len, dark-haired pilot of the Jclaps, and Val Ah, blue-haired pilot of the Valdiscuse who leads the trio.
• Power-Up Letdown: The Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Gundams in their Endless Waltz forms lose weapons in a game where weapons are upgraded individually, meaning that upgrading the wrong weapon can cause the player's money to be spent for nothing.
• Precursors: Al-E-Quis, the Original Generation antagonists, are said to be the will of a previous civilization.
• Shout-Out:
  • When the heroes have decided that they need a new squad name, David Rutherford suggests "Solar Fang". When asked what it means, he starts to say "Fang of the Sun" before being stopped by Masato.
  • The Valkyrie Series are a rather clever one. While they're physically based on the title mech of Fang of the Sun Dougram, the name "Valkyrie" harkens back to the Macross series. Where have we seen those two together before?
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear: The main five Gundams from Gundam Wing lose any investments from the player in the transition to their Mid-Season Upgrade versions — except if they are fully upgraded beforehand, in which case they go straight to their Endless Waltz versions. For that matter, the Endless Waltz versions have fewer weapons than their TV equivalents, and any upgrades to weapons that don't have an Endless Waltz equivalent are lost.
• Sprite/Polygon Mix: In a first for the series, battle animations utilize fully-3D backdrops. However, mecha are still rendered using static 2D sprites.
• Story Branching: With the possible exception of the "Free Route System" SRW games (Super Robot Wars 30 and Super Robot Wars Y), which have no "routes" in the traditional sense, this game has the most intricate series of route splits in the entire franchise. After the first third of the game (which itself has different opening stages for the Real Robot and Super Robot originals), the player is offered a choice between joining OZ or staying independent, a decision that affects all but the final five missions of the game. The Independent route, if chosen, almost immediately offers another choice to stay on that route or change to the Complete Pacifism route. The Pacifism route ends with another decision that merges the player back into the OZ or Independent routes. In a game where a single playthrough consists of roughly 55 missions, there are only fifteen stages that remain unchanged regardless of the player's choices.
• Truer to the Text:
  • This is the first Super Robot Wars to feature the Muge Zolbados Empire (unused data in Shin Super Robot Wars notwithstanding), and depicts the Muge Empire as having conquered Earth per the source material.
  • This is the first SRW featuring Mobile Fighter G Gundam to include the entire Shuffle Alliance, with previous games only featuring Domon, Rain, Schwarz, and Allenby among the heroes.
• A Twinkle in the Sky: Simurgh Splendid's "Bloody Howling", should it do enough damage to defeat its target, carries the enemy off into the horizon while leaving behind a twinkling star.
• Villain Team-Up:
  • Multiple factions cooperate with the Muge Zolbados Empire:
    • Grados was annexed by Muge, and the Gradosians play a major role in the occupation of the Earth Sphere.
    • The Romefeller Foundation are aligned with Muge, and subsequently the Specials (here being a combination of their Gundam Wing incarnation and the Titans) serve as the Muge Empire's human military agents. However, they turn on Muge and declare themselves OZ.
    • The Mycenae Empire cooperates with Muge, though they have plans of their own to conquer Earth. Once Muge is forced to retreat, they throw their lot in with the Hyakki Empire.
    • Drake Luft cooperates with Muge thanks to Shapiro Keats having been summoned to Byston Well.
  • After the Earth gains the upper hand on the Muge Empire, a different alien alliance threatens the Earth Sphere: the Galactic Empire, led by Emperor Zuul and consisting of the Gishin, Vegans, and Campbellians.
  • Neo Zeon allies itself with Prime Minister Wong. If the player does not join OZ, Neo Zeon will also absorb the remnants of White Fang.
• Wolfpack Boss: The final stage pits the player against all three members of Al-E-Quis at once. Aside from being the leader in the narrative, Val Ah (the only one who isn't fought prior to the last stage) is not significantly stronger than the other two.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A couple of missions after Roanne successfully dupes Ru Kain and takes over his New York headquarters, Death Gaia decides that he's had enough of the humans, and Muge's generals collectively decide that it's time to start downsizing the Specials before they try to oppose them. Sure enough, OZ turns on them at the end of the mission.