Xbox 360
Whenever a developer creates a new arcade-style beat em up, you have to ask yourself how it will stand out from the pack, especially now, since Street Fighter IV just saw its long-waited European release in March. It needs a killer hook and, thankfully, Battle Fantasia is a refreshing take on the genre, but is this enough to tear the faithful away from their hadokens and dragon punches?
Set in a mythical world, where pirates and sorcerers set off on fantastic adventures and do battle with knights and sexy cat-people (yeah, you read that right), this is a game that has carved its own niche and nailed the fantasy setting spot on. The brutal knight Deathbringer brings darkness and destruction to the world of Battle Fantasia and a roster of colourful characters wage battle in their quest to take him down once and for all.
The first thing that may strike you is the art style, with lots of brilliantly hand-drawn character art in the cut scenes and polished visuals during battles. The game bleeds colour and charisma, complimented by a whimsical orchestral soundtrack that really sets a magical tone.
Of course, any beat-em-up worth its salt contains well-balanced, stand out characters and this is where the game proves its potential. You have fighters like magic bunny Watson, who fires living bear traps at his opponent, or the all-rounder Urs, who is packing a brutal lightsaber-style chainsaw. Then you have masked gunslinger Face who can pull a giant bazooka out of nowhere and make you have a really bad day.
The characters are diverse, but their move sets are not. Take boy-knight Marco for example. While his moves appear unique visually, such as calling his pet dragon into the fight, the button inputs and the way his attacks hit opponents are identical to Street Fighter IV's Ken Master's dragon punch and hadoken fireballs. This is not co-incidental either, they are literally the same.
It's tricky because there is only so much freedom to be had on a two-dimensional plane, but even the super gauge system, where players bank energy every time they get hit or pull off a special move, appears in almost every iteration of Street Fighter. The only real change, and it is almost a saving one, is the ability to spend a power gauge on 'heating up' your character. This increases their power dramatically for a few seconds and adds extra hits to their attacks. This is a real game-changer, especially at the last minute.
You also have a story mode, which is the same as arcade but with a few nice cut scenes between fights. If the option was there to travel the world, gaining EXP and levelling up with new skills, this could have held true to the fantasy moniker. But this is a missed opportunity to turn the game into something really special, which is actually a real shame.
Call it ill-timing, call it an poorly-judged mis-step, but battle Fantasia seems doomed to a life of obscurity in the wake of other big-budget fighting games out just now. It's a shame, because while a handful of die-hard fighting fans will pick this up and appreciate it, there just isn't enough on offer here to help this break into the mainstream. However, this has the markings of a strong series with many bigger and better sequels to come, but for now, this is a humble debut from a series with true potential.
.......
Want another opinion?
Check what the rest of the press are saying:
