"A quality handheld 2D fighter that's worth importing."

If you own a DS and live in the US, you probably don't own any fighting games for it, and if you do, they likely aren't very good. If you want some fighting goodness for that dual-screened handheld of yours, importing is really the only option at the moment. If I have your attention, may I direct you to the best choice available; Bleach DS 2nd. Chances are you'll likely recognize the license; yes, it's a game based on an anime, but fear not as it still manages to be an extremely quality fighter whether you're a fan of the anime or not. As for myself, I haven't watched a single episode of the show or read any chapters from the manga, but that doesn't stop Bleach DS 2nd from being an awesome 2d fighter. It's competent as a video game but is still garnished with toppings that fans will squeal themselves over and while I don't know all of the characters in Bleach, I'm pretty sure just about all of them appear in the game as some point, and most are playable.

At first glance, Bleach DS 2 may appear to be a shallow and simple-minded fighter. While it certainly doesn't have the depth of Virtua Fighter, there's a lot more to Bleach that what's on the surface. In addition to your simple ground and aerial attacks, each combatant has at least six different unique attacks that can be activated via button combos or the touch screen, as well flash combos. These are definitely what make the game undoubtedly fun and satisfying to play, but it also can make the game frustrating to play at times as some characters' attacks are vastly superior to others, as they may do much larger amounts of damage or may much more difficult to avoid or defend against.

Fortunately however, the block command does protect your fighter against just about every possible attack and works extremely well under most circumstances should you have the reflexes to use it well. In this regard, most of the characters aren't incredibly different from each other. Nearly all of the fighters fight using melee attacks with daggers, swords, fists and the like. There may be the occasional oddball like Uryu who sticks solely to his phantom archery, but once you get the hang of the combat it becomes fairly easy to jump from one character to another with little stress.

Bleach DS 2nd is a fast game. The attacks are fast, (most of) the characters move swiftly, but in contrast, the bouts themselves can tend to last quite a while because the warriors themselves often times have absurd amounts of health, so using special attacks as frequently as possible is usually the key to having each session end before the turn of a new century. Also, the game is very hectic. You'll be pressing buttons and tapping the touch screen very quickly to keep up with your opponents, particularly when playing in four-player matches.

As far as content goes, Bleach DS 2nd is certainly quite a bit less than it looks. Initially, the game looks massive, but once you get the scheme of things, it isn't unlikely that you'll have conquered arcade mode with every character (about 40 of them) and mastered each story mode route in about ten to fifteen hours, which is pretty meager for the fifty dollar import price. However, there's a lot of customization to be had and the quality of the gameplay is quite impressive so the time you do spend is well wasted and you can count on coming back for more. If you want to customize your fighting style, you can equip a deck of cards to use during battle. Using different cards has many different kinds of effects, such health regeneration, stat increases or even can be devious as to turn the user invisible. These are a cute addition, but without knowledge of Japanese, putting together a useful deck can be impossible. While they may help in certain crises, I've never actually been forced to use them to win any match I couldn't beat otherwise by supplementing with skill.

For the social out there, you may play this game endlessly thanks to the multiplayer. Bleach DS 2nd supports online versus matches for up to four players over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect service. You'll have to get pretty good to trudge through the onslaught of masterful players, but if you can get past the learning curve, the online battles are sure as hell of a lot more fun than the simple-minded CPU directed foes you'll face otherwise. The game also supports local multiplayer, but I'm not entirely sure if it features download play for those with a copy of the game. The language barrier can be steep at times. However, if the game does, it works well because the basics of Bleach DS 2nd are easy to grasp and you'll have a worthy opponent in no time.

Speaking of language barriers, Bleach DS 2nd may seem like a roadblock at first, but after a few minutes it's extremely easy to get the hang of. Many of the menus can be navigated fairly easily with some trial and error, and if you've got basic knowledge of video game menu design, traveling Bleach DS 2nd should be no big trouble for those who don't know even a lick of Japanese. Of course you may not understand what's happening in the story, but I seriously doubt it's really anything worth looking into, since it is to my understanding, a series of events non-canon to the Bleach universe.

Visually speaking, Bleach DS 2nd has some excellent looking and well animated sprites and fantastic looking effects and arenas to fight in. Things can look a bit pixilated or choppy at times, but more often than not, Bleach is feast for the eyes accompanied by a rocking soundtrack and impressive amount of vocal snippets.

For the DS owners craving some quality fighter to travel with, there is no better choice than Bleach DS 2nd and it's more than worth the import fee if you can play online with it or with a group of friends. It doesn't set any records, but it's still an exceptional 2D fighter.

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Value: 7
Import Friendly? Yes!

Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/07