Faselei!

Faselei! is a tactical role-playing game where players take on the role of Shotaro Kurosawa, member of the titular mercenary group, across thirteen story chapters. The game features three modes; the story campaign, a battle mode used for earning in-game currency and items, and a multiplayer versus mode. In the latter, two consoles with the game installed can be connected via a link cable allowing battles between mechs, with the winner taking a variety of prizes from the loser ranging from items to the defeated mech.

Combat is performed using the TS (Toy Soldier) mechs, which can be switched out for new models, upgraded and outfitted with different abilities, weapons and supplies between missions. Completing a mission quickly will award a higher rank, raising Shotaro's standing and granting access to a wider selection of items between missions.

The game is set during 2099 in the aftermath of World War III. The Middle Eastern nation of Istar attempted to broker peace between the surviving nations, but its king was assassinated and his two sons ended up in conflict. The older son, Aerbel, established himself as dictator of Istar with the backing of the Syrian military, while the younger, Kein, formed the rebel faction. Shotaro Kurosawa works for the 13th Independent Armoured Division, also called Faselei, a mercenary group in the employ of the rebels.

Faselei successfully pushes back the Istar army, with Shotaro regularly clashing with leading Istar soldier Alen Zemecks, later revealed to have assassinated Istar's king for personal reasons. Aerbel is eventually deposed and killed, but Zemecks retreats to a base in Syrian territory, planning to unleash a nuclear weapon and trigger another war. Faselei successfully stop the weapon, Zemecks kills himself after his final defeat by Shotaro, and Faselei are rescued from the Syrian army by the intervention of the United Nations Forces.

Faselei! was developed by Sacnoth, a company founded by former Square composer Hiroki Kikuta with funding from SNK, creators of the Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC) handheld console. It was Sacnoth's final project for SNK, and their final product for the NGPC. It was directed by Matsuzo Machida (credited as Matzuso Itakura), and produced by Jun Mihara, who would become Sacnoth's CEO.

The character designs were created by Miyako Kato, who had also worked on Sacnoth's Dive Alert. Additional artwork was contributed by Machida, Takamusa Ohsawa, and mech designer Minoru Saegusa. The music was co-composed by Yoshitaka Hirota and Kazumi Mitome. As with his work on Dive Alert, Hirota had to create music with only three sound layers−the melody, the countermelody, and the bass line−and an additional sound effect channel used for drum beats.

In Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, the game was scored 24 out of 40 points, a relatively low score for the magazine. The reviewer for Game Informer praised it as one of the best titles released for the console, noting its storyline and praising its gameplay and customisation. Electronic Gaming Monthly noted some cliched dialogue and its interface as negatives, but otherwise praised its narrative and gameplay. The magazine Pocket Gamer, as part of a feature on the console for its first issue, was less positive than other outlets. The writer faulted the storyline as disjointed and its interface as cumbersome, but lauding the gameplay and its multiplayer functions.

In a 2011 article for Hardcore Gaming 101, John Szczepaniak called it "a wonderful little game", citing its gameplay and narrative tone as positives despite balancing issues. In a 2019 review for RPGFan, Pete Leavitt cited it as the best NGPC game released in the West, saying: "This is not a case of mystique masking the flaws of a rare game that isn't actually good. Faselei! is beautifully complete, and wherever possible, it must be played." Nick Thorpe, writing for the Retro Gamer website, called it "one of the most essential games for the [NGPC]", citing its storyline and gameplay compared to other titles on the console.