Since the release of the original Front Mission in 1995, the series has gone on to encompass several media, including film, manga, novels, radio dramas, mobile phone applications, and toys.

The Front Mission video games achieved moderate success, selling over 3 million units worldwide up until January 2006.

Taking place during the 21st and 22nd centuries, the series revolves around military conflicts and political tension between powerful supranational unions and their member states.

[3] Although the Front Mission video games use self-contained, standalone stories, these tie into a greater overarching storyline that encompasses the entire series.

In combination with the stories from its other media, the series possesses a level of storytelling depth and continuity comparable to a serial drama.

[4] Another major draw of Front Mission is its use of giant mecha called "wanzers" (from the fictional German word Wanderpanzer, or walking tanks) in battle.

[5] Tsuchida also had difficulty explaining how much of a role robots would have in the proposed game, and so he obtained some development hardware to create a prototype of the title.

A year later, the video game entry received a Sony PlayStation remake under the title Front Mission First on October 23, 2003.

[13] A three-year gap followed before the localization of the Nintendo DS port of Front Mission First, which saw a release in North America on October 23, 2007.

Front Mission Evolved became the first spin-off entry to be localized in North America and Europe, making it the fourth and second titles respectively to reach those regions.

Although Front Mission video games venture into multiple genres, each of them contain core elements that are universal to the entire series.

In the Front Mission series, players use playable units called wanzers, a term for mecha derived from the German word "Wanderpanzer", or "walking tank".

[3] The player has full control over customizing their wanzers and can do so as long as its total weight value does not exceed its given power output.

Short-range weapons, such as machine guns, shotguns, and flamethrowers are used at close range and deal damage to all parts of a target.

[18] The union's roots date back to 2006, when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reorganized itself into the Bangkok Economic Alliance.

In the localized version of Front Mission 3, the OCU's full name is presented as "Oceana Community Union".

The union's roots date back to 2011, when its relations with Australia began to sour following a diplomatic incident over the detention of an Australian ship named The Trinidad.

[9] The United States and Canada begin negotiations on merging with South American countries after the Republic of Zaftra is formed in 2015.

The union's roots date back to 2026, when the EC and the OCU assisted the African nations to merge as a super-state.

[21] In an attempt to remedy their issues and make capitalism work, the post-Soviet nations reformed as the Republic of Zaftra in 2015.

The composers for the series have included Yoko Shimomura, Noriko Matsueda, Koji Hayama, Hayato Matsuo, Hidenori Iwasaki, and Garry Schyman.

[37] Greg Kasavin of GameSpot praised the graphics of Front Mission Alternative and audio experience, but criticized the game for being too short and rewarding players with more elaborate story sections if they failed to achieve game missions, indirectly rewarding failure.

[42][24] North American reaction to the game was consistent across the board, receiving mixed to generally good reviews.

On the disapproving side many felt the plot advanced at a sluggish pace, the AI was subpar, and the menu system was cumbersome at times.

[44] While the developers acknowledge the good reception of the cinematic focus of the game, they noted that later entries in the series would not necessarily follow the same direction.

[45] Greg Miller of IGN scored Front Mission Evolved a 6.0/10, calling it "uninspired" and that it would only appeal to "hardcore mech-heads".

[46] IGN called Left Alive a “failure on every level”, with poor controls and game balances issues cited along with technical glitches.

[50][51][52] The series has a long-running line of manga and novels that are expanded universe supplements to the stories of the Front Mission video games.

[53][54] Some of the actors and actresses that have been involved in these productions include Banjō Ginga, Hiromi Tsuru, Dax Griffin, Danielle Keaton, and Tina Coté.