Super Robot Wars Gaiden follows the original story of Masaki Andoh, herald of the Elemental Lord Cybuster, both before and after events of the original Super Robot Wars canon (SRW 2, 3, EX, 4.) It is the first Super Robot War to only contain original characters and plots, the first (and one of the few) to have its robots represented in a realistic, non-SD style, the first to be isometric. It and its followups are the only SRWs to feature directional and height modifiers to damage and accuracy calculations. Due to its nature as an original story, and due to it taking place at the very beginning of Masaki’s timeline, it serves as an excellent entry point into the Super Robot Wars series.