One Piece Grand Battle

"A game that does the Anime some justice"

One Piece: Grand Battle is the first video in america based on the hit Anime. The game features powerstone like gameplay, and stays faithful to the show by including actual stages and certain character abilities.

Graphics: The graphics in this game, although not exactly breathtaking, are very nice. All the stages look great, from the snow disappearing under your feet, to the ocean you just accidentally fell in. The characters all look great, from the playable characters to the support characters. I have also caused a lot of stuff to hapen on screen, and I haven't experienced the least bit of slowdown. However, I wish the characters moved a bit more. I mean their faces dont even move while they're talking. It's a shame that the company got lazy here and didn't bother to make their mouths move.

Gameplay: This is where the game really shines. The fighting system, although a bit shallow, is fun and challenging. Each character gets the same button combos, but everyone does something different. Luffy could blow himself up into a balloon, Buggy could turn into a car, and Arlong could put a chomper on your head. :p In addition to the playable characters, each character has a support character that you can call at the press of a button. The support character will come out and help you attack your enemy. Learn to use them, they can be really helpful. ( you also need them in the mini game mode, Usopp's pirate challenge ) It really shows that the company took extra care with each character. There are also items to add to the action. You have the basic bombs and powerups, and then there's the status items, that poison you, reverse your controls, etc. It adds up to make some incredibly fun and bizarre matches. This just compliments the show. Even the levels add to the gameplay, with hazards such as lightning bolts and canonfire.

Sound: Now, I know a lot of anime fanboys hate the american VA's. And this game will be no exception, as all the VA's in the dub are here. I personally did not have a problem with this. The actors did pretty well in my opinion. Just playing through story mode shows this. You could play once, see character's dialogue between your character and a certain character, but if you go back and do it again, the dialogue may change. And it's like that for almost every character. On another note, when Sanji fights a girl, his ENTIRE DIALOGUE CHANGES. His eyes become giant hearts, and he starts talking about how he's in love. It's amazing how the company went the extra mile for only 2 POSSIBLE BATTLES. ( there's only 2 girl characters ) As for music, I can't say that It stood out. I never pay much attention to game music anyway. =P

Modes: The modes here are pretty straightforward. You have the basic story mode, VS mode, practice mode, etc. BUT there's also a minigame mode! It's a nice little diversion from the same old fighting. There are 8 minigames in all, some are actually very challenging, like breaking Don Krieg's armor in a time limit. While others are just plain fun, like throwing balls into each other's goal. ( you could even throw the other player into the goal for extra points. =D ) However, my only complaint about this is that it's not easy unlocking these minigames. It definately got annoying playing throw Usopp's challenge for the 20th time.

well, that's most of the good stuff i have to say for this game. now for some things that bothered me...

Remember how I said each character has the same button combinations? Yeah, basically once you figure out the buttons, you've figured the buttons for EVERYONE. They could at least change the attacks a little to make each character a bit more different, or make the fighting a bit more deep. And they should've put an option to change the voices. I'm sick and tired of Sanji's annoying dub voice. They could at least allow some kind of option to turn off all the dialogue at least! Just think of the fanboys Bandai!
And they should try putting more characters in. 16 is fine, but the japanese has about 3 more I believe. Sigh...

OVERALL: the game is incredibly faithful the show. If you're a fan of the show, go get it now. ( it's price has probably dropped by now ). If you are somewhat familiar with the show, or you're looking for a crazy melee game, rent it and check it out. Here's to more One Piece in our future.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/05