After the second and the third game, SEGA decided to go back to the series' roots in the first game, which many of the fans loved.
Mechanically it's a direct improvement of the first game, especially with tanks and APCs being actually viable now and turning without AP cost.

The characters are fun and the story is good, but initially feels like it's using the exact same beats as the first game - that is, until the endgame hits.
Doesn't quite surpass the first game, but stands quite well on its own.
Localization could still use more polish though.