Bloody Roar

  If you've been reading my reviews, time and time again I tell you that "I'm not a fighting game fanatic". Well, that used to be true. Now that I've played and re-played the most current fighters, I'm starting to really get into this genere. Matter of fact, I now find myself spending as much time with my fighting games as I do with my driving games. Once a newbee, now a vetran.

Since I've been reviewing so many fighters, I decided to purchase a new one for myself. After reading many internet reviews, I decided to purchase Bloody Roar. It didn't really look like that much from the CD case. I thought it plain and un-inspired. The ability to change into beasts sounded cool, and the reviews were all favorable, so I thought I'd give it a try. After all, it was different, and I was craving something new.

Boy was I in for a surprise. I was expecting a fairly decent fighter, but this game is totally awesome!!! Matter of fact, it is without a doubt the best fighter that I have ever played!! Sure, the Tekken and Virtua Fighter games are cool, but for me I'll take Bloody Roar anyday!

I'll start by telling a little about this game.

Bloody roar is a polygon based fighting game made by the creators of Bomberman,  Hudson Soft. What makes this game unique is the ability to transform your character into a beast after his/her energy bar fills up. Once in beast mode, you stay there until your opponent beats it out of you . The game features multi-hit combos that are found in many other popular beat em up games, and boasts over 200 unique moves for both human and beast forms.

The story is simple, and to the point. Definetely a plus in my book. Here it is quoted directly from the manual: "As the 20th century draws to a close, the world is filled with darkness and fear. Eight mysterious warriors appear, all displaying superhuman strength, astounding athletic ability and the power to morph into raging, half-human beasts! Tigers, wolves, wild boars - will mankind depend on the claws, fangs and cunning of savage beasts to bring the world safely into the next millenium?" Sound like a reason to fight? Does to me too!

There are eight (8) individual charcters in Bloody Roar. I gotta tell you, this seemed to big the biggest flaw to the game in the other reviews I've read. What the other reviewers failed to mention, is that you also have an additional sixteen (16)  by counting the characters in the "kid", and "big head" modes. So actually, the total amount of characters is twenty-four (24), and this excludes the beast counterpart to each of these. So, add in the beasts and you have a whopping forty-eight (48) characters available to play in Bloody Roar!! They are all unique too. You may be playing the kid version of Bakuryu for instance, but he is a complete seperate character,  even if he does share his fathers moves. Take this into account, and you'll realize the reviews that down-play the game for lack of characters are totally unfounded.

The base characters, and their beast counter parts are as follows: Yugo- A young Japanese man in search of his fathers killer. He morphs into a wolf. Gado- Gado is a professional mercenary and military genius. Gado- is on a search for a missing friend. His beast counterpart is a lion. Bakuryu (My personal fave)- A self styled master of the traditional ninja arts. An expert at assination. Once transformed he becomes a mole. Mitsuko- A ordinary yet extremely large and ugly housewife. She is on a mission to find her daughters abductors. Her counterpart is a wild boar. Long- A Chinese martial artist. He is a top assasin. He becomes a tiger once transformed. Alice- A Japanese female who was abducted and used for experimentation. She has escaped, and now fights against her abductors in hopes of freeing another girl who be-friended her while there (Alice is the only cute female fighter in this game). Alice is a rabbit in beast form. Greg- An ex Circus ring master. Greg is a gorilla. And finally, Hans Taubemann- Hans is a faggy looking guy who despises ulgy things, and loves the beautiful. If I didn't know better, I'd swear Hans was a girl. Hans becomes a fox when in the beast morph. 

Bloody Roar has options galore... I'm talking mega options here!! It seems the developers left nothing out. Take everything into account, and there are literally hundereds of variations of play. Some of the mode variations are: Arcade- 1 player vs. CPU.  VS- Two player mode. You have a choice of eight stages, and the ability to set the handicap range from 60%-140%. Time Attack- Compete for the shortest finishing time. Survival- Single bout in which the characters do not fully recover life between rounds. Practice- Allows you to practice complex moves, and combos. Very good for beginners to learn on as it lists on-screen info such as damage, hits, attack attributes, ect.. Watch- Missing some moves? Select watch and see what ya need to learn. In addition to the game modes, you have game options such as: Character type- Normal, kids, big heads. Difficulty- Sets computer handicap. Attack level- Sets the attack capacities. Blood Effect- Turns blood on or off. Wall destruction- On or off. Side Stepping, Character Change at Select. Ect.. ect... ect... There are many more options that I haven't even listed.

Graphically the game is a masterpiece. The backgrounds are great, and the character textures are perfect. They did look a little blocky, but the textures hide this very well. I especially liked the effects. Once in beast mode, you hack and slash your opponents. You can actually see claw marks slashing the air, and when they hit splatters of blood fly everywhere. (I'm usually against blood, but here is seems to go well- Anyway, if you don't like it you can turn it off). This game is very, how shall I put it? flashy!!! Sparks, flashes, light, ect.. It is really a visual treat to watch this game. Matter of fact, I like the visuals of this game over almost every other game I've ever played. The characters were a little less perfect in kid or big head mode, but overall it is still pretty awesome looking.

The game is silky smooth, and highly animated. The slow-motion replays are some of the best I've ever seen. Usually I like to bypass these quickly in a fighting game. Here, I wanted to see them again and again.

The game has a ton of moves (200 as stated above), and each character has it's own. There is also a complex guarding system in place. You also have to learn 2 sets of moves for each character, because the Beasts have their own unique moves. The advantage of being a beast is having more, as well as more powerful moves available. They are also heavier, and can jump higher. Their life energy also recovers once in beast mode. I personally love the beast modes, but if you don't, they can be turned off. The game also features a Rave mode. Rave mode is when your in beast mode, you can supercharge your beast for a short period of time. This allows you to perform combos and hits much quicker then you normally would. As with everything in this game. This option too can be turned on or off.

There are many little touches that make this game so great. Slow-mo replays, Wall destruction (As in Fighting Vipers), Ring-outs that send you to a lava pit, white beast air slashes, and highly animated special moves.

As if all this wasn't enough for us, Hudson also loaded the game with a ton of extras. Loads of new play options become available by winning matches, ect.. Theres even  an art gallery to the CD. Here you get to view sketches of your favorite characters.  Another thing I liked was the ability to select your own background sound, and sound effect type (which by the way are pretty good). There's even an option to select the artwork for the character select screen. It can be CG rendered, hand drawn, or a quick select format.

So is anything wrong with the game you ask? Well, it does have a few minor flaws. For one, the characters aren't that memorable. Your probably not gonna be drawing sketches of these in your art class. Another thing is it lacks move variety if you compare it to some of the more popular fighters. There is alot, and for me it's more then I'll ever use. I do expect the real hard-core fighting fanatics to complain though. The characters are a little blocky, and some of the moves are hard to pull off. The CD intros aren't that good either. They do the trick, but seem a little out of place. Oh.... One other thing....... It lacks a selection of good looking female fighters (with the exception of Alice)...... Oh well, no game can be perfect.

To sum it up, Bloody Roar is one Great game!!! Just about everyone should like it from beginners, to experts. It's easy enough for newcomers, and complex enough for the fighting fanatic. Give it a try!!
 

 
RATINGS
GRAPHICS 97%
SOUND 96%
GAMEPLAY 98%
ORIGINALITY 98%
REPLAY VALUE 98%
OVERALL 97%