Battle Arena Toshinden 2
PlayStation * Playmates/Takara

Review by Michael Vafeas
7.8


Toshinden...the name itself brings back memories of last Fall, the day I bought my PlayStation and stayed glued to it for hours...and I spent only a couple of those hours playing Toshinden. Ok, do I really have to explain a fighting game? Of course not. You're all (or at least most of you are) familiar with the good ol' Toshinden, so let's do what is only natural: compare the sequel to its predecessor and to every other fighting game ever created.

Probably the most notable difference between the two is the addition of a graphical feature called light sourcing, which is basically a mechanism by which shadows on the fighters and objects appear to react to a fixed light source. The light source just adds shades and shadows to the fighters and objects. I didn't really think that this feature would impact the game all that much, and it didn't. However, it is a nice graphical feature that provides for some excellent effects throughout the game. Besides that, the graphics are the same quality as the first Toshinden. The characters are nice looking, but a mediocre frame rate gives us the choppiness that we've grown accustomed to in some polygon games.

Sounds? They're nice, but again, nothing spectacular. In the first Toshinden, the music started at the beginning of each match and continued throughout the rounds. In the second, however, it seems as if this was not possible (or necessary) and the result is music that begins anew before each round. Definitely not anything to make a fuss about, but the old method seemed more fluid. While the sounds are average, the voices are a mess. Some voices suit the characters, but they are often annoying and lack that "magic" that they had in the first Toshinden. In addition, don't try to understand any of the spoken expressions in this version, as all of them remain untranslated, a feature which I found quite odd. In all, the sounds and music in BAT2 do the job, but not much more than that.

The backbone of a great game is game play (in theory, of course). Well, this is one of those games that has less-than-perfect game play glossed over with gorgeous graphics. The control in BAT2 is quite similar to that of the first Toshinden. The sluggish feeling is back, and the sidesteps are as cheesy as ever. Oddly enough, I found myself sometimes running towards my opponent only to pass right by him and continue right off the ledge for a nice "ring out." The overly (and unnecessarily so) powerful overdrive and desperation moves provide for an imbalance of character strength that almost assures victory to the one who simply chooses the right character. Nevertheless, in all, the second Toshinden is quite fun to play once you get used to it, but I can't see any Tekken or Virtua Fighter fans losing sleep over this one. The strategy just isn't there.

The first Toshinden was probably the PlayStation's most important launch title as it nicely showcased the capabilities of the system at the time. It housed great sounds and graphics in a 3-D playing field, but the control was usually sluggish and the sidestep move (which was supposed to revolutionize the 3-D fighting genre) was more of a confusing hindrance than a necessary addition to a game. The game still sold in vast quantities because of its presentation as a game, however. I expect the second installment to do the same. BAT2 is basically the same game with different backgrounds and a couple of extra characters, but nothing really revolutionary by any means. I would recommend BAT2 to the player who loved the original Toshinden or someone who has not played the first one. This one is definitely worth a try, but not much more than that. Tekken 2, please?


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