Andrew T. Hingson
09-01-2006, 02:07 PM
Worth the 39.99 price tag? Absolutely. It puts other license fighters to shame. The single player adventure mode is challenging even on the lowest difficulty and it's also quite expansive. It doesn't follow the story to the letter but it does hit on the key points (though not always in order). The character building system is quite in-depth as well. You level up attack, HP, special attack, item use, support use, etc. There's many more kinds of support characters and a bunch of fun new items (a huge bat and a flaming beam sword in particular... they aren't things you'd expect to find in One Piece but they sure are fun to use).
On to the Grand Battle. From the get go you have a nice selection of a mix of most of the line-up from the first US game with a few remaining as unlockable (Robin, Mihawk, Mr. 2 and Shanks). And several character to unlock that weren't in the first (as we already know). None of which I have yet but I do know who they are. The level selection is quite a bit better. There's a few more completely different levels than the first game and several alternate versions of maps that are actually pretty neat. And I must say the levels are a LOT better looking and easier to fight in thanks to crisper graphics all around.
The voices (like in the first game) are slightly more tollerable versions of the TV dub we're all painfully aware of. Sanji's accent isn't as thick, Usopp's screach isn't as hard on the ears, etc. Luffy's voice is a bit more annoying though and Zoro's is a bit flat compared to the dub but it's fine as usual.
I'm not much of a fan of the pseudo chibi style characters like in the first game but they work in their own quirky way.
And if you thought Vivi and Tashigi were going to be half-assed characters... you'd be very wrong. Vivi's combo's are pretty freak'n awesome.
The controls are quite a bit tighter as well and for a fighting game gamer that means the world.
So in short... better graphics, better control, a lot more of everything and a good and challenging (sometimes grueling) adventure mode.
I've played better but this is at least as good as Budokai III and I greatly enjoyed that one. But most of all I hate the dub with a passion and I don't regret buying this game for a second (nor the effort it took to track it down).
On to the Grand Battle. From the get go you have a nice selection of a mix of most of the line-up from the first US game with a few remaining as unlockable (Robin, Mihawk, Mr. 2 and Shanks). And several character to unlock that weren't in the first (as we already know). None of which I have yet but I do know who they are. The level selection is quite a bit better. There's a few more completely different levels than the first game and several alternate versions of maps that are actually pretty neat. And I must say the levels are a LOT better looking and easier to fight in thanks to crisper graphics all around.
The voices (like in the first game) are slightly more tollerable versions of the TV dub we're all painfully aware of. Sanji's accent isn't as thick, Usopp's screach isn't as hard on the ears, etc. Luffy's voice is a bit more annoying though and Zoro's is a bit flat compared to the dub but it's fine as usual.
I'm not much of a fan of the pseudo chibi style characters like in the first game but they work in their own quirky way.
And if you thought Vivi and Tashigi were going to be half-assed characters... you'd be very wrong. Vivi's combo's are pretty freak'n awesome.
The controls are quite a bit tighter as well and for a fighting game gamer that means the world.
So in short... better graphics, better control, a lot more of everything and a good and challenging (sometimes grueling) adventure mode.
I've played better but this is at least as good as Budokai III and I greatly enjoyed that one. But most of all I hate the dub with a passion and I don't regret buying this game for a second (nor the effort it took to track it down).