Battle Arena Toshinden

"The first true fighter for the PSX"

-Visuals 8/10-

This being the premier game for the Playstation console when it was first release, Battle Arena Toshinden was a complete and total knockout. Giving you access to several different polygonal fighters in 3-dimensional worlds. This was a new concept for the home systems at the time, and gave the player a true look into the world of #-dimensional gaming, spawning off a couple of sequels and something of a cult fasination.

The fighters ranged from a sword wielding bounty hunter, to a whip-wielding dominatrix. A wide varity of character personallities, and each personallity fit the respective fighter. From the special moves, to the way that they walked, it was a brand new era for fighting games everywhere.

Speed and clarity in such games of the time, were just being thought of, and tested {Battle Arena Toshinden being one of the first} so there is quite a bit of missing frames, some image breakup, and mismatching of moves to the characters that they were assigned. You'll be able to tell once the game starts, where and what the problems are. But this is nothing if you can get into the game itself.

Every special move, and every 'hyper-combination' comes off like a colorful blast of rainbow shades, flowing across your screen with sparks, glowing rings, flame and ice...it's something to behold, and even better if you've played this title when it was first released.

-Sound 8/10-

Once again, for a game of it's time, the soundtrack to Battle Arena Toshinden comes out like a champ. Giving you a guitarish/dance mixture, the soundtrack of this fighter gives you the feeling and rush of needing to beat the crap out of your opponent, and to do it in such a way, that they would look forward to the event.

The sound effects, while by today's standards limited, include everything from the snap of a whip, the battle cries, and death tones of a beaten opponent right down to the swishes of punches and kicks thrown, and impacting on an opponent's body. Nicely done, very nicely done. This also sets against the backdrop of music to come together in a pleasing way for the ears.

However, there are some problems with this...some of the soundtracks end abruptly, and don't pick up on cue like they should with a song set on repeat. This can get slightly troublesome if you're keeping up with the beat of the music, only to have it cut out, and your eyes divert from the screen to check if you hit the mute button on your television or not.

Also, some of the sound effects do not match what's going on in a battle...some of the clips are mismatched, and either come too early, or too late for it to truly match a move that is being delivered. And, this being one of the first games for Playstation, most of the voice overs in the game, are dubbed in Japanese...while this is something that can be overlooked, you'll find yourself wondering just what they are saying before, during and after the match.

-Control 8/10-

Slightly cumbersome, but perfect for the time, the Playstation controller gives you a pretty good handle on each character and the way they move, in accordance to what kind of special moves they pull off. The controls can be reset in either a couple of different game presets, or with a custom control configuration for you playing comfort.

However, this leads to a secondary problem with the control of the game, in which all of the higher damaging moves, take alot of practice to pull off and connect...timing is everything, and you have to first master the way that the Playstation control reacts, before trying to pull off anything that is too difficult.

-Gameplay 8/10-

You may be thinking that this game doesn't have what it takes to be a contender with any other fighting game out there right now...well, that may be true, but this was the precident setting 3-dimensional fighter for all of the current Playstation fighting games on the market now. WIth this title, you'll see the experimental physics that lead to games such as Tekken, including the camera angles, dodging, special combinations, and other various aspects.

The game itself is rather fun to play. Pitting yourself off against your opponents in a 3-Dimensional world, and just trying to fight your way to the end of the match, and then further to the end of the game is what Battle Arena Toshinden is all about. With the set amount of characters to choose from, there should be no question as to which character is best suited to you.

The in-game physics include combinations, dodging, throwing, jumping and special moves, with the ability to chain together attacks that tack on some heavy damage. This can be hard at first for anyone that is stepping into a 3D fighter for the first time...so don't be daunted if you can't pull off a massive combo and outright knockout your opponent.

-Overall 8/10-

The precident setting game for the Playstation, and one of the very first games out, Battle Arena Toshinden is a long tested, but never forgotten game that shows you how to fight in a 3-Dimensional environment with 3-Dimensional characters. While the graphics and sound may be below the current standard, there must be a bit of room given for the fact that it was released years ago with the Playstation launch.

Regardless of how you look at this, this game is recommended for any first time fighting game player that is looking to learn the fine arts of a 3-Dimensional fighter without getting into the techincal side of Tekken, or the brute force fighting of Soul Caliber. Worth a weekend rental for those who are looking for an old-school fighter, this game is also worth a purchase for any Playstation game collector looking to have a piece of the system's past.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/00, Updated 04/04/00