"Who doesn't like fighting robots?"

Custom Robo Arena is the second game in the series to come to NA shores, and, in my opinion, it tops its predecessor. Slightly.

The one main problem of this game is the lack of a story. Well, I shouldn't say that it doesn't have one, because it does, but its story is a tad on the dry side. The story is similar to the cliched "I'm gonna be the very best", a storyline most commonly seen in Pokemon games. You play a rookie commander (Custom Robo fighter) who has just moved to a new town, and is striving to make it to the top. You join a Custom Robo team, and begin to work your way to the Robo Cup, fighting rivals and criminals along the way. There's no real plot, no real drive to the story. While this does take away from the game, you won't really notice as you'll be too busy looking for battles and having fun.

Fun is the only way you can describe the gameplay. You go around town, finding people to battle, win money, buy new parts, and fight again. The customizing of robos really adds depth to the game. All the parts function differently, and can be used differently, bringing a ton of strategy to the game. And there are a lot of parts. The battles can be fast paced and short, or long and drawn out. Either way, it's fun. Simple and responsive controls make it much easier to play to. This game, unlike it's predecessor, is only limited to one on one matches. On the plus side, there's Wi-Fi, so there will (probably) be someone to play with all the time.

One new thing about this game that the original (First Custom Robo to come to NA) didn't have is the SoulBoost. When the gauge is full, tap the touch screen to temporarily power up your robo. Personally, I only use this in a tough spot, as the gauge builds only battle by battle, meaning it doesn't charge while you are actually fighting, it charges after the battle by an amount proportional to your performance. In short, it sometimes take a long time to charge, depending on how much, and well, you fight.

Graphically, the battles are on par with graphics you'd find in an N64 game, but the graphics outside battles aren't quite up to scratch. They could have been easily pulled off by an SNES or a GBA. A little disappointing, but not so much that I should really harp on about it. The anime style character portraits are drawn well, and add a bit of depth to character personality. I do have one complaint though. Some of the robos are really ugly, colour wise.

The music in game is okay, but it's not the best. The tunes get annoying after a while, since they're usually the same, but it isn't anything really major. Just turn off the volume.

My final verdict: Buy it, Rent it, or Ignore it? Definitely a buy it. This game is to good to pass up on, and is a must have on the DS, especially for you Wi-Fi players. With a little less than a month to Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (at the time I'm writing this), this game is a good way to wait out the last little bit of time.

Story- 5/10
Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 8/10
Sound- 6/10

Overall- 8.5/10 (Not an average)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/07