Battle Stadium D.O.N

"Super Smash DON"

I played this game recently, only to find that it isn't so great as the hype anticipated it to be. It requires two things to be enjoyable:

A. Familiarity with an Anime Series {DBZ/One Piece/Naruto} and their main characters.
B. Already decent at playing Super Smash Brothers Melee.

If you lack both then you will NOT enjoy this game.

Quite literally, this game plays EXACTLY like Super Smash Brothers Melee. Characters rumble, using basic moves {B Button} and special moves {L Button} the throw button and guard button defaults are even the same as SSBM.

So how is it different other than controls? The basic setup for 4 player melee is on a 150 second timer where the winner is the character who has collected and retains the most life at the end of the match. However a character with enough HP to go into "BURST" can KO remaining players and win without a timer.

When a character is sent off-screen; instead of being out of the game for the match, a target will come up and the player lands at appointed target. Falling off the stage is the FASTEST WAY TO LOSE; and is quite easy as the stages are quite small; the smallest I believe is the Merry Go {One Piece Ship}.

There is also an energy bar. Special moves {L} costs a small amount of energy to use; while Super moves {X} cost 3/4 of the bar. It is NOT a good idea to spam Super moves; as it leaves you vulnerable to your opponent's super. Also Super moves steal a lot of HP if they make contact.

Moves can be charged to increase damage. A fully charged Super Move can easily drop a first-place to a last-place in seconds; or if in burst it can KO all remaining players.

One thing I enjoyed about this game was how the physics applied more to the One Piece world; Naruto characters can't spam-jutsu and DBZ characters aren't "GODLY" like they were feared to be. Each character has his or her own disadvantages in battle {Except Luffy... he's GODLY} and when used right each character can win the matches.

I give DON a 7 out of 10 cause of how the Energy Bar works in comparison to Super Smash Bros Melee; plus One Piece characters own.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/07/06