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| BLEACH
DS By Christopher Troy Author’s note: The follow review is for a IMPORT only game. Granted the BLEACH manga has been hitting American shelves since summer of 2004 and the anime has debuted on adult swim this past September, this game has yet to be announced for release in the States, and probably won’t until 2007 the earliest, if it does at all. That being said….. Ah, the licensed video game. What a wacky couple of years you’ve had. What with dozens of crappy anime, movie, comic book and cartoon video game tie-in we’ve been exposed to, it’s easy to be skeptical when it comes to buying a game based on any establish product outside of sports. Spider-Man, Goku, Darth Vader and countless had have their respected franchises handled by various companies, some of them producing some very excellent games, others...yeah, not so much. It seemed that manga/anime hit BLEACH was doomed to follow in the footsteps of countless anime whose games outright blew. Horrible Gamecube, Ps2 and PSP games were crapped by SEGA and their crack team of developers/janitiors who’ve read Shonen Jump or own a TV, and things looked bleak for Ichigo and company. Until that is, earlier this year, when developer Treasure came along. Hardcore gamers know Treasure as one of SEGA’s best development teams, putting out some of the hardest of the hardcore 2-D games during the company’s 16 bit days. Anime and video game lovers Treasure is also know for putting out excellent video game based on such properties as Yu Yu Hakenso for the Sega Genesis (Japan only) and Astro Boy for the Gameboy Advance (released in America a few years ago). So when it was announced that this legendary development team would be making a new BLEACH game, the chances of this franchise FINALLY having a solid video game tie-in increased. There was still one more hurdle for BLEACH to cross, that being the console it was being released for, the Nintendo DS. A fine system with some very innovative and fun titles, the DS is certainty not known for it’s fighting games. And for the record, ask around, there aren’t many, if any, original portable fighters worth playing that were released on a handheld console other than the Neo Geo Pocket (Obscure? You know it!). And note the word “original”. That excludes those all those PSP ports folks. So how is BLEACH’s DS debut ? Long story short, fun as hell. But you probably want me to explain why so, in which case I gladly will. BLEACH DS has a lot in common with another SEGA release- Guilty Gear
Isuka, with it’s cast of wacky characters and multi-leveled stage.
What sets it apart from it’s spiritual The game has the all purpose arcade mode as well a main story mode for series lead Ichigo, which will in-turn unlocked more characters who also have smaller story modes which unlock even more characters, and so on and so on. These characters (somewhere between 20-30 with 2 characters with variant forms ) all have their own unique move sets, so it makes for some compelling fights, assuming you haven’t picked one of the 3 “joke” characters, which consist of a non-super powered school girl, a large boar, and “The King of New York” (not really) himself, Kon. Control wise, nothing new for 2-D vets what with D-pad based movements and 3 different strength attacks, and a block button. The only thing that may seem new to casual fighting gamers are the boost button, which allows your character so dash across the screen and the L button which allows you to jump between the front and back level of each arena. And this being a DS title, the lower touch screen can be utilized to access cards that either raise your characters stats or lower your enemies…I guess, I rarely use them and they don’t seem to be that big a deal to use in combat. Overall the game controls very well and is easy to learn and eventually master. As for the visual aspect of the game, this title does the anime justice. The character sprites look great and at times, super cute. Sound wise, it’s pretty generic for the most port, aside from the intro single by rising J-pop band HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, who are probably most noted for the use of their single “ PRIDE” in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, and tend to capitalize words a lot apparently. Lack of originality and touch screen fun aside, the only other thing I can complain about this title is the inane load times for this game when you try playing a friend who doesn’t have a game card. This is one of those you games you want everyone in your cosplay circle (hey, obscure Cosplay reference, it’s like reading an issue of EGM!) to pick up for your DS if you’re going to have wireless throw-downs; and if you’re really looking for a challenge or just outright unpopular you can also jump on Nintendo’s Wi-Fi series to fight and probably lose to 7 year old Japanese kids with internet acess. In the end, BLEACH DS is a must buy for fans of the series who are
into fighting games and is worth the jacked up import fees, providing
you have no problem paying 40-60 for a DS game, which is all you should
be paying for an important. If you’re not that big of a BLEACH
fan, or don’t like fighters, you’re better off looking elsewhere
then for your fix of DS goodness. |
