"Disappointing But Still Fun Nonetheless"

I'm going to be honest, there's nothing wrong about this port from any other version of this same game but I do have to say as a Vita gamer, I'm quite disappointed in this would-be upgrade of another upgrade of Continuum Shift. There are just way too many versions of this game that I do believe that it's pointless to even play this but since I love the BlazBlue series and its breath taking story and gameplay mechanic, I just couldn't ignored this even if it's just another port of CSII.

Graphics:

Impressive but not as compelling, there's just nothing here that stands out as great since a lot of these visual flairs could already be done on the aging PSP which to me show a much better visual quality. I would expect Aksys to at least upped the visual flair a bit or maybe add in some new stages, levels, modes, and stuff but all we get are the same stuff we already got on the PSP versions. Sure the 2D graphics look nice, the animations are just as good as the arcade and console ports but after playing multiple versions of this game already on previous systems, I found nothing to be worth at awe here. It's just the same visuals and eye-candies borrow from the PSP version of CSII, though I do say the Calamity Trigger story arc added in here is a nice addition but if I wanted to revisit Calamity Trigger, I already got that on PSP as well.

Music/Sounds:

The crystal clear musical soundtracks that rocks the PSP version is loss here. Since the game is now done in cart form, it had the feeling of cheapness to it, they are still fairly good in some aspect but most of the track just doesn't delivered that feeling of epicness like it does on the other systems. The only thing I could say here is that if you already got CSII on PSP, don't be surprise as these music and voice-works are unchanged. The only new added voice-works are for those new story arc exclusive to the four new story characters.

Control/Gameplay:

Just like the PSP version, no more, no less. The touch pad does play a somewhat minor role to the selection here as you could now touch a character art to choose them and accessing menu is easier. Like before the gameplay is fairly balance, you get 19 characters to choose each with their own unique fighting style and arsenal of special, super, and finishing moves. The flow of the fight is smooth and enjoyable, the game is fast-paced with no lag issue and each mode had its own rewards to player who challenge them but perhaps one of the most hype thing about this upgraded port was that Aksys finally included an online Network mode which thankfully works wonders. One negative thing I do have to say about the online battle mode though was that like all other modes, it's just one-on-one battle and most of the challengers I fought online would tend to disconnect a lot from matches either before a match even starts, whenever I'm close to scoring a victory or whenever they are close enough to scoring a victory, what the heck is going on here? Online play is suppose to be enjoyable yet my experience with it is just disappointment and it's not because of my status at all either as these challengers are of the same status or better. Though I do have to say the online play was quite fun when connected since there are hardly any lags and the many options of play was nice too like 2-on-2, 3-on-3, and even a 4-on-4 matches are available but the many disconnection I got from playing it just ruins it for me which affect this review.

Replayabilities:

Everything that was included in CSII are in here as well plus four new character story chapters, one new playable character and an online mode all make this felt like a complete package. Still I can't help but hated the online Network Mode here for the many disconnection matches I experience and the lacking extras doesn't satisfied me. Also what's even more disappointing was the lack of crossplay with PS3 players, why that feature wasn't delivered here is another question.

Buy or Avoid?

If you already have BlazBlue: Continuum Shift or another CSE for consoles or CSII for 3DS and PSP, just avoid this one as the many great gameplay and extras here were already in those versions in much better quality. Unless you only want online play in the palm of your hands or the added extras then go ahead and get it, but to me this is just another port of CSII that had features which it should have from the get-go on the other versions which purposely left out. If the Vita is your only portable then it's good to get this but if you had to choose between this or CSII for PSP, I say CSII on PSP offered much better value despite no online play (but that‘s just me).

Reviewer's Score: 6/10 | Originally Posted: 02/06/13

Game Release: BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (US, 02/15/12)

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