Battle Arena Toshinden URA

"The painful series reach their best point."

Battle Arena Toshinden was not quite the hit the producers were expecting... so they decided, why not making a sequel to the then-more popular Saturn? Something that wasn't really Battle Arena Toshinden 2, but something in between. But still there were lots of doubts. Is that going to work?

Graphics: 7/10

Not really an example for other Saturn games, these graphics were somewhat awful. The polygons are big and if there's anything really good to point out, is that the characters have nice facial animation. We can use the excuses that this was one of the first fighting games for Saturn, and that this must have been about the series' best, anyway...

Gameplay: 9+/10

Gameplay was always one of Battle Arena Toshinden's strongest points, and this game is no exception. It's still a weapon based 3D fighter with 2D controls. Two kicks, two slashes (that don't have many combos), special moves, arenas and lots of fluidity. I doubt this will disappoint many fighting game lovers.

Story: 9/10

Toshinden's story has always been good. This game is no exception. Now finally you'll be able to understand it, as on the first game you can't sneak a word out of it... now you begin to understand it and notice it's great.

Audio: 9/10

If I speak about the game to some people, they'll surely refer to its cool soundtrack. There is a large variety of stage BGMs, and the hit and fall sounds, even not among the best, are sure good for a saturn game. Guess what? You can put this game on a regular audio CD reader and listen to the music! Great addiction!

Video: 10/10

Like many other Saturn games, Duck Corp take care of the intro movie. They've never let us down and this game goes the same way. Great Intro, and extremely well done, with good graphics, synchronized with the voice and facial animations during the victory poses.

Replayability: 9/10

This game took me YEARS to get enough of it. Every time I played, it just seemed to get cooler. Mastering all the characters may take a lot of time...

Buy or Rent?

If you dislike weapon-based fighting games, DON'T buy nor rent this game because it doesn't have anything new for you. If you love every fighting game that appears, then this is just another game for you, so it's a good buy. Either cases I guess it's a bad idea to rent it.

This game was much hated and its price had to be decreased in order to be sold... but myself I don't consider it a failure. In my opinion it's the funniest Toshinden to play.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/03, Updated 07/28/03