"Bleach: The Blade of Fate, a pleasant surprise (US Version)"

I wont lie. I bought Bleach: The Blade of Fate (TBoF) because of the license. I really got down with the idea of mixing it up with Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and the rest of the cast from one of my favorite mangas. I was expecting the game to be totally mediocre, and I was expecting to draw most of my enjoyment from the license. Once I started playing it, I realized that I had an above average fighter on my hands, and I was pleased. Once I took it online, and the people who actually knew how to play the game kicked me around for a few hours, I realized that I had bought what is arguably the best fighter on the Nintendo DS. And I was Happy.

The game follows the story of Ichigo Kurosaki on his quest to save his friend, Rukia, from the clutches of her death god captives. The plot makes more sense if you have a familiarity with the anime or manga it's based on. Actually, the plot follows the second of the anime pretty closely, so unless you have seen it all, the game is full of spoilers. Fans of the anime will have a blast playing as their favorite characters, and people who still think of an industrial strength cleaning solution when they hear the word “Bleach” will also be treated to a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

It is annoying from a story point of view to see Ganju even get a single hit on Byakuya. From a gamer's stand point, it is very satisfying. Obvious pains were taken to make even characters that are weak in the story very playable. The balance in this game is good (Except for a few of the hidden characters who were put in more for joke purposes than for any other reasons) but not quite perfect. Some characters are innately better than others, especially right out of the box. Others start to stand out as you play them more, and I took great pains to play some with everyone. Still, the difference in power is not so great that any single character comes even close to dominating all the others, or that any character is rendered even close to useless.

That moves us on to the game play. At its core Bleach TBoF is a 2D fighter with a heavy emphasis on aerial combos, much like those found in the Marvel Vs Capcom series or the Guilty Gear series. Combat takes place on a dual platform screen, a background and a foreground, which helps control the chaos when there are four characters on the screen tossing fireballs and swing swords. Changing planes is done by a single button press. It's slightly disappointing that there is no way to attack a character on another plane though. It is frustrating to unleash you super cool Banki super, just to have your three opponents hop to the other plane and avoid all damage.

Each character has a standard compliment of normal attacks: light, medium and hard from a jumping, crouching or standing position. They each have a handful of special attacks that are imputed using a button sequence, and two or three special attacks that only are available when a character has a super bar filled up (called a spirit pressure gauge in this game.) This game also features a secondary spirit power gauge that characters can use to empower their special attacks, perform super fast dashes or to guard cancel. The spirit gauge refills quickly if it is used to perform a dash, but quite slowly if it is used to empower an attack. This makes the player carefully consider how to balance their offense and their defense.

Also added to Bleach TBoF is a simple card system. Players can unlock a verity of different cards in different ways, and use them to empower their characters during a fight or to weaken their opponents. Card effects range from powerful effects like completely filling up both players spirit pressure gauge or eliminating the opponent's ability to block attacks to simple effects like healing a small to moderate amount of health. Using the cards is easy, a character just has to tap the card on their touch screen and the card gets used. And for those of you who just rolled your eyes at reading about the cards (like I did. Honestly, why does every DS game have to include cards!) the option can be turned off, and often is when playing online.

Also available on the touch screen are each characters special and super moves. With a single touch of a simulated button on the DS touch screen, a characters most powerful move is unleashed. But be warned: using a special move from the touch screen uses the empowered version of the attack quickly depleting a characters spirit power gauge and severely limiting defensive options. Personally, I only use the touch screen to deliver a characters super moves, because I find it far easier to reach over and touch a single button than I do to perform a half circle back, a quarter circle forward, and then a punch. But that's just me. I have heard debate both ways on how the touch screen is used.

All in all, the game is different enough from other fighting games that I have played that I don't feel like I am playing the same game I have been playing for the last few years with different paint. The replay value in single player mode is moderate, but thanks to the online mode you will be playing this one for a long time. Even better: find a buddy with a DS and talk him into buying this one.

Bleach TBoF is easy to pick up and play. I was able to beat all 23 episodes of the story mode, and thus unlocked all playable characters, on normal difficulty without dying once. On easy mode the enemy AI is just flat out stupid. I beat 27 fights in survival mode using Tosen without ever touching the control pad. I just kept using one of his special moves over and over again. Hard mode is a little, well, harder, but a few good sessions online was enough to teach me all I needed to know to completely decimate any computer controlled computer.

There are a handful of modes: Story mode takes you through a scripted set of battles. Arcade mode pits you against six one on one fights. Vs Mode lets you fight a single battle against up to three other opponents. Challenge mode is interesting, as it challenges you to complete a series of combos with each character. There is time attack mode which sees how fast you can kill 20 opponents, and survival mode that lest you cut through opponents until they kill you. The Urahara shop lets you unlock most of the games cards, as well as artwork and sound samples. It's all really standard. The only mode that really stands out is, of course, the online mode. It's a blast to take Blach TBoF online. Gotta love WiFi.

The graphics in this game are overall good. Each character looks like they do in the anime. Most of them are large and colorful, except for the ones that are not supposed to be. The special moves are flashy and fun to watch and some of the really strong super moves are a real sight to behold. However, they tend to reuse too much. Many of the explosion effects are the exact same and I swear Rukia and Tatsuki have the same body. It's a little aggravating that such an otherwise graphically impressive game would use such shortcuts.

The music in the game is pretty standard. I don't get the urge to turn it off when playing, but it is totally forgettable. The sound effects are good though. You can really feel it when one character bounces another off the ground. The voice overs are good too. They used the same actors as are in the show, so it all sounds right. Unless you can stand English voices in video games, it all sounds good.

All in all, Bleach the Blade of Fate is a solid addition to any Nintendo DS library. It is a must have for any fans of the anime or manga. Seriously. If you're broke find the going rate of blood. Mow a neighbor's lawn. Blackmail your roommate. Whatever. Just get a copy of this game. For the non Bleach fan, this is still arguably one of the best fighters currently available on the DS, and at $29.99 retail, certainly worth the money. Bankai!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/07

Game Release: Bleach: The Blade of Fate (US, 10/09/07)