Ultimate Knight Windom XP

Initially named Bootfighter Windom XP, this series of games started as a Freeware Game based on the popularity of the Gundam vs. Series and Another Century's Episode series. Initially featuring 14 mechas (Windoms and Linuxes) and 4 game modes, it was subsequently followed by a retail Mission Pack Sequel, Ultimate Knight Windom XP, which adds 3 new robots, a fairly difficult Arcade mode, equippable items and general tweaks and balancing to the roster. As of now, the latter version is the only one that continually receives updates. An Expansion Pack called the Powerup Kit adds a new stage, the two stages from Bootfighter that were formerly absent from Ultimate Knight and 5 new units and was released at the 77th Comiket.

The game modes available for this game so far are:

Arcade mode
Survival mode
Team Battle
Blitz Tactics (Similar to Team Battle mode, only the objective now being to destroy the enemy mother ships.)
Local Single/Multiplayer mode (or Free Battle Mode)
Online Battle Mode

The game owes its spotlight and life though to the spread of its translated freeware version, followed later by the spread of the Ultimate Knight editions and the popularization of its mods and videos.

Tropes used in Ultimate Knight Windom XP include:

Ace Custom: The player can select different palletes and stat-upgrading parts they collect from the Arcade Mode to make their mechs unique.
Alpha Strike: Windom Talisker WP and Windom Black Comb’s last subattacks.
A Mech by Any Other Name: Originally called Bootfighters, now known as KD's.
Artistic License Physics: The game's gravity is an unchangeable standard, thus the gravity in the Moon map is the same as in the Earth maps.
Attack Drone: KD-06 series, KD-07 Black Comb and some of the Linuxes possess them.
Attract Mode: Wait a little longer in the menu screen, and the game will start a random CPU match.
Battle Aura: The mech gets one once you activate the Super Mode.
Beam Spam: The KD-07 Black Comb and KD-06 Windom Vista being the most popular Windom to do it, though the MS-98 and Millenium suits have a special grenade that rains beams upon the area.
- Some of the Linuxes are able to invoke one of those Magical Spell Circles that spam several medium-ranged beams, and a few long-ranged ones.
BFG - KD-08-3 Anthurium Linux and KD-06 Asteroid Windom 2000 SP1's guns.
BFS – KD-05-3’s Anti-Ship Sword, with the KD-07 Black Comb having a pair of then. And then the KD-08-2 Cymbidium Linux's power-up Sub-Attack move, which basically gives her sword a huge laser blade.
Bling Bling Bang – Windom Black Comb, especially if you turn one of the graphical options on.
Camera Lock On
Captain Ersatz / Expy: The Windoms are based on Mobile Suits, while the Linuxes are based on Magical Girls, save for two exceptions. The two most iconic examples are the KD-06 Windom Vista and the KD-07 Black Comb, respectively being the game’s Freedom and Strike Freedom Gundams.
- And then there is the IWSP Strike Gundam’s Ersatz, Windom Talisker WP.
Character Customization: You can alter the Robot’s colors and skills by collecting items from your battles at the Arcade Mode.
Chest Blaster: KD-06 Asteroid Windom 2000 SP1 and KD-06 Asteroid Windom 2K’s particle beams.
Color-Coded Multiplayer: The Single and Multi Player modes often have that.
Cut and Paste Environments – The ‘In’ maps are basically this. The In1 being what COULD be a never-ending hangar, while the In2 is basically a bland section of box-rooms.
Deflector Shields: Added in the 2.005 update for the newcoming couple of Linuxes. The Windom Black Comb however had from the beginning a deflective armor instead of a shield similar to Destiny’s Akatsuki Gundam, that recharged the energy meters while reflecting beam shots and absorbing bullets. It was however vulnerable to melee, missiles and other attacks.
Die, Chair, Die!: Wanna destroy the city’s buildings around you with your infinite supply of missiles and beams? Fire.
- Though averted sometimes, as some of the buildings such as certain Skyscrapers are impossible to destroy.
Enemy-Detecting Radar: Detects enemies, gives their distance, life bar and name of the unit, attack drones, bullets and lasers shot at you, and even tells whenever they’re blocking.
Fan Translation: For the original game by Mirror Moon. Then several by Amecha and 3DGundam.
Flaming Sword: KD-08-6 Linux Lycoris was initially presented with a Flaming Katana. After the 2.005 update, the katana is no longer permanently on fire. It needs to be manually ignited, and the function to do such replaces her double-jump ability.
Freelook Button: Available by pausing the game and selecting its option.
Game Mod: Hoo boy, and it’s the very thing that keeps this game alive and out of obscurity, going from Fan Translation of the menus to an entire change on the mechs and maps of the game.
- On one side, no less than 3 forums mostly dedicated to this, one of them being the popular 3DGundam community, well known for creating detailed 3D models and artworks of mechs, many of which end up applied to the game!
- It is also know for its fully-customized versions such as 3DGundam’s SEED and GVG Mods.
Good Old Fisticuffs: The KD-06-3’s method of meleeing.
Guns Akimbo: Again the KD-06-3, using double automatic beam pistols. KD-07 Black Comb uses two beam rifles and the KD-08-3 has a rifle and a cannon.
Gun Fu: Take a guess...
Humongous Mecha
Impossibly Graceful Giant: The Linuxes play this straight, justifiable though.
Instant Runes: The KD-08 Iris Linuz does this for its ultimate move.
Katanas Are Just Better: Both Windom Taliskers agree.
Kick Them While They Are Down: Most of the times you can still deliver a few blows to an enemy while it is down before the Mercy Invincibility rule begins to act.
Loads and Loads of Characters: The game itself has over 20 characters, but the Mods available allow you to replace these characters AND add a few more, with a limit of 50.
Macross Missile Massacre
Meaningful Name: The name Bootfighter itself. The words "Boot" and "Fighter" can be translated to Japanese as "Kidou" and "Senshi" respectively.
- As for the robots themselves, see Theme Naming below.
Mecha Expansion Pack: The Windom Talisker WP, Windom Millenium and XP series.
Mercy Invincibility: After recieving a certain amount of hits, your mech goes down and the rule is applied until it gets up and either begins firing again or the invincibility time runs out.
Mirror Match: Rarely in the Arcade Mode, though common in the other modes.
Missing Backblast: Subverted with the bazooka gun for the Millenium and XP series as they have the special effect of the backblast, yet no recoil on the mech itself.
- Averted when using the Sub-Attacks, be them missile launchers or the bazookas themselves.
One-Hit Polykill: With any kind of Beam Rifles, since the beams will only cease to exist if they hit one or more buildings, the floor, reach a certain distance or time length.
Regenerating Health: Subverted, as only a couple of Linuxes are able to do that, and it’s by summoning one of the crystals you normally use as an Attack Drone.
RPG Elements: Check Character Customization.
Scoring Points: Comes with a basic Ranking system.
Schrödinger's Cast: Arguably, since you can add any character you wish in this game as a pilot, be it from a Super Robot series or a popular Memetic Mutation, you can add him to the game.
Shout-Out: Aside from the examples back at the Captain Ersatz trope…
- One of the last stages of the Arcade path puts you against the KD-07 and KD-07-2, the Windom versions of the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice (Not counting the Akatsuki parts in each mobile suit). Good luck fighting Kira and Athrun at the same time.
Skybox: A circular and static skybox, noticeable if you fall off the map (Especially in the Skyland map) or fly too high without the map boundries (By deleting the "Hit" files from their folders).
Sky Surfing: The shield for XP (KD-05) and XP Type-B (KD-05-2) can transform into a sub-flight unit that the mech rides on top of.
Spam Attack: Pick your preference.
- Beam Spam? Black Comb and Windom Vista live up to the name of their Gundam counterparts.
- More Dakka? The last subattack of the MS-98 and the first Millenium units, aside from the “IWSP” Talisker.
- Macross Missile Massacre? Meet the KD-05 and KD-05-2.
Static Stun Gun: Subverted. Windom Black Comb has a Static Stun Beam that looks like electricity as the first subattack.
Super Mode: Introduced in the 2.005 version of the game. Activating it allows you to shoot faster and deal more damage while executing a sword combo.
Super Move Portrait Attack: Most of the times you use any of the subweapons the robot goes through a rotating camera shot, Gundam Seed or Magical Girls style.
Super Robot Genre
Swiss Army Weapon - The KD-06 Asteroid Windom 2000 SP1 and KD-06 Asteroid Windom 2K’s guns, with a normal or a spiral beam shot as the main mode, a bazooka gun mode for the last Sub-Attack and a Wave Motion Gun for the Fighter Ship mode.
Theme Naming: All the robots are named and slightly based off the Windows and Linux Operational Systems.
Throwing Your Shield Always Works - KD-05-3 And KD-04-4 in allusion to the Impulse and the RX-78-2 Gundams respectively
Transforming Mecha: The KD-06 Asteroid Windom 2000 SP1 and KD-06 Asteroid-o Windom 2K are capable of transforming into fighters.
Unusual Weapon Mounting: Lasers from the hips, the wings, and the list goes on…
Wave Motion Gun: KD-08-3 Anthurium Linux’s BFG.
Whip Sword: Cymbidium Linux's power-up Sub-Attack gives a huge bending beam blade to her sword that works mostly like a whip, capable of hitting multiple enemies around with the right combo at the right time.