Back in 2000, when Gundam Wing anime series were airing in the USA, Bandai released a playstation fighting game loosely based on the series. Gundam Battle Asault. "loosely" because the only mobile suit from the actual series was Gundam Wing. Many were wondering, where the other mecha in the game came from (only gundam fans knew, what are those mobile suits). And only few knew that Gundam Battle Assault was a adaptation of japanese game Gundam The Battle Master 2 for american market. IMO they should not change the original game storyline. Not only to avoid confusion, but to keep the charm of GtBM series.
There are two games in the series - Gundam The Battle Master and Gundam The Battle Master 2. Gundam Battle Assault, the american adaptation of the second game, expanded on it's own series, but that's another story, not to do anything with the GtBM storyline. The games take place in the After War universe, like the Gundam X anime series, but in another time interval (more than three hundred years after). Mobile suits in the GtBM series are taken from different Gundam anime series, most are from the Universal Century.

Characters

1. Mercury Promenade
A goverment soldier, fighting for the earth safety. He is a typical hero, noble and fearless knight. His mobile suit is Gundam in the first game, and Z Gundam in the second.

2. Honey-B
This cutey is an orphan, probably lost her family because of war. She lives with other orphan kids, who treat her like mother (despite she's only 14 yr old). Her mobile suit is ZZ Gundam (although it is referred to as Full Armor ZZ Gundam in the game, it is actually not "Full Armor").

3. Lloyd Nichols
This guy is ex-serviceman. He looks harmless, but he is on his own not-so-innocent-looking way now. Looks like he was hired by goverment or the opposition (who knows?) as an agent. Also he is a father of the main antagoist, Maria Nichols. His mobile suit is Zaku II (Also there is a secret MS, Red Zaku IIS, piloted by Nichols too).

4. Rachel Aiphath
A blonde MS pilot. She is a heiress of Aiphath family. They have some MS Business, and Gloria, GtMB2 protagonist, works for their company. Her mobile suit is The O.

5. Synapse
He is an goverment security android. Built to protect goverment property form intruders like you =) His mobile suis it Q-Mantha. Heavy, slow and furious.

6. Carol
This sexy girl is actually a mobile suit hunter. MS hunters are fighters, who fights for their mobile suits, and take their enemies MS as an trophy. They work for noone, and fight for their own interests. Her mobile suit is agile Hygog. Small and fast.

7. Date
He is a noble fighter, who lives his life in mastering his skills. Kinda Street Fighter's Ryu, but in a more comical way. He is a parody of the Ryu-type heroes of many fighting games. He pilots Nu-Gundam in the first game and Hamma-Hamma in the second.

8. Smith
An afro-amirican, he is, like Carol, a mobile suit hunter. He is an always-happy-looking character in the game, not unlike SNK's Duck King. He pilots Sazabi, and all-around good mobile suit.

9. Largo Ford
Largo is a farmer, who chose a mobie suit hunting as his hobby. His mobile suit, Gundam GP02A, is a real THING. A large shield and a similar large bazooka might tell you something. Oh, don't worry, the games are not so unbalanced.

10. Noise
This guy is a real freak. He looks like MS maniac, and works for the opposition (antagonists). Not only himself, but his mobile suit looks rather weird. He pilots Ziong.

11. Gallus
This bald cutthroat is a first boss in the games. He is a mercenary, and works for the antagonists. His mobile suit is Bygzam, a behemoth among the others. But don't be confised with it's size. Bygzam is rather slow and stupid.

12. Stein
Stein is a moon base commander, a man behind the opposition. He looks like some XIX-century general, and may have a german blood in his veins. He pilots Neue Ziel, a really big floating fortress-MS, which is a real headache.

13. Maria Nichols
Maria is a main antagonist in the game. She escaped a jail right before an execution by death in the first game, and fights alongside the opposition since then. She pilots Psycho Gundam Mk. III, a really insane war machine.

Characters added in the second game

14. Patricia Estefan
This guy is a goverment soldier. He looks like SEAL, and his MS, Acguy, is built specially for underwater missions. It's small and very very agile fighter.

15. Rita
She is one of the opposition commanders sent to the earth. She pilots Qubeley, a freaky designed mobile suit.

16. Symeon
After Stein was killed in the first game, Symeon takes his place of moon base commander in GtBM2. He is the new leader of opposition, and pilots good ol' Stein's Neue Ziel.

17. Gloria
Gloria is the protagonist in the second game. She works for the Aiphath company, and doing some MS-hunting job. One day she met Pixie, an orphan, whom she took care of. She can pilot almost every MS in the second game, depends on which is selected. In Versus mode she pilots Ball, a secret MS, who can be unlocked by completing the game with every other mobile suit.

18. Pixie
Pixie is an orphan, unnaware of his true identity. He lost his memories, and since then became friends with Gloria. Their quest is to discover, who really is he. I don't want to spoil, but he will pilot Hydra Gundam at the end of the second game. A really cheap mobile suit. Fast, powerful, and supplied with an unvulnerable shield. Also Hydra has an SNK'ish Super Combo to kick your *ss. Beware!

GUNDAM THE BATTLE MASTER, PSOne, 1997.
The first game in the series starts, when Maria, a criminal, breaks out of a jail, hijacks Psycho Gundam Mk. III and joins the opposition in their fight against the earth goverment. The battle between the goverment, opposition and mobile suit hunters begins. You take control of one of the MS pilots on the mission to eliminate Maria and get a reward for her head.
The game controls a little bit different from other typical 2D fighters. Mobile suits are heavy and the game may seem to be slow. But it has it's own depth with a big array of moves and a lot of space for multi-hit combos.
Graphics look very well for PSOne. Mobile suits are big, an can take the whole screen (Thanks to a scaling camera). Each MS consists of different segments, which are animated separately (there is also a visible damage on this segments).
Music is another good part of game. It is very various and has some catchy melodies to listen to.
Sound is a little bit on a dissapointing side. Typical MS sounds and a boring commenter voice. I'd like to hear some character grunts in the game, but unfortunately there are none.

GUNDAM THE BATTLE MASTER 2, PSOne, 1998.
This game's storyline is settled around mobile suit hunter Gloria, who met an orphan kid Pixie, and took care of him. She searches for his true identity, and also is not against to get some reward for Maria's head, who is suprisingly alive after the first game.
The biggest change since the first GtBM are the gameplay mechanics. They look more polished now, and IMO Gundam The Battle Master 2 is a much more enjoyable game. But all the other things - graphics, sound and music remain virtually unchanged. That's not bad, but really looks like Capcom's Street Fighter II tuning back then. This game was released as Gundam Battle Assault in the USA which is the part of it's own series. I personally prefer the japanese original because of it's storyline and colourful characters.

Back then, when the games were released, they got very little attention, and became forgotten since then. It's a shame, because they are really not that bad. They just have some flaws, and IMO are just underrated by the gamers. I enjoyed both of them, and think that they deserve a chance to be played by any fighting game fan.