(The Super Dimension Fortress Macross) and Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam). History Mike Pondsmith decided to self-publish a game which originated in his interest in the Mobile Suit Gundam manga which he combined with the Imperial Star game system, which he had designed for his own amusement: the result was the "white box edition" of Mekton (1984), a game of giant robot combat. Mekton was designed by Pondsmith and Mike Jones and published as a boxed set with a 32-page book, a large color map, two cardstock counter sheets, and dice. Pondsmith founded R. Talsorian Games in 1985, then put out a second edition of Mekton (1986) through the new company; the game was now packaged as a 100-page rulebook rather than a box. The second edition rulebook also included counters and two maps. Mekton II (1987) – the third edition of the game – made use of the company's Interlock System. Mekton II was designed by Pondsmith and published as a 96-page book, and included art by Ben Dunn. Mekton received a fourth edition called Mekton Zeta (1994). R. Talsorian published a reprint of that game as the ANimechaniX-branded Mekton Zeta (2000). Contents The first edition of Mekton was a science-fiction system of combat between giant robots, drawing on Japanese animation for inspiration - the first of its type. The second edition from 1985 would add basic role-playing rules. The game covers character and robot construction and combat, including a boardgame-combat-resolution system, plus historical background for the world of Algol and an introductory scenario. Mekton II is a complete revision of the original Mekton rules, including expanded character generation and political info on Algol. This version is compatible with Cyberpunk. Editions of Mekton "White Box" Mekton (1984) - not a role-playing game, rather a boxed tactical war-game including counters and maps. Mekton (1985) - softcover book using a custom percentile-based task resolution system. Notable for having misspelled its own name in the katakana. Roadstriker (1986) - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure Mekton II (1987) - converted Mekton to run on the Interlock System, later used in Cyberpunk 2020. Cover art by Ben Dunn. Roadstriker II (1990) - rules for human-scale transformable vehicles and power suit mecha, more advanced transformable mecha design options, and a police drama adventure converted to the Mekton II system. Operation Rimfire