Battle Arena Toshinden 2 for PlayStation
$49.99, Best Buy, Richfield, MN

Overall: 7.6 (of 10)

The first Toshinden, along with Ridge Racer, made me happy to own a PSX.
It was, for me, the perfect fighting game, mixing the fantasy moves of
Street Fighter with motion-captured characters and true 3-d movement. For,
me its problems were:

-Really annoying slowdown, especially on Eiji's level
-Bad character matchups; I really enjoyed Ellis, but she had such lo-power hits
-No "pouncing a fallen opponent". VF, Tekken and Zero Divide really spoiled me.

Well, with this sequel, Takara/Tamsoft have addressed each of those
problems. But, they broke a some other stuff in the process.

First, my big gripe. The US localization team should be lynched. One of
the finest parts of the original Toshinden was the international flair;
U.K., Turkey, USA, France, Russia, etc. The accents, cheesy and
stereotyped as the were, really added to the feel. Now, for some
STUPID-ASS REASON, everyone speaks Japanese. This does not "add to the
intrigue"; it does, however, say loads about how LAZY Takara/Playmates
programmers are. However, the Tamsoft team (my apologies if I've assumed
the wrong company roles...) deserves kudos for designing a great Japanese
fighting game.

Graphics: 7
The characters are more detailed and refined; some have improved (Fai's
new look rocks!), other worse (what's up with Ellis' nasty skirt?);
overall they are better than the first, yet don't equal Tekken or Zero
Divide. I know, "they're light sourced, though". Sure, the lighting IS a
neat gimmick, but it really doesn't do much to improve the look.

What really disappointed me were the backgrounds, many of which are more
pixelated than SNES games (certainly not as clean as K.I. for SNES). The
3-D effects are not as impressive as the first, and the animations (waves
crashing, clouds, big weird insect) really don't do much.

These improvements (light sourcing and heavily animated backgrounds) may
technically impressive, but if the don't significantly enhance the game,
why bother?

Animation: 8
No one will ever call Toshinden 2 smooth; it pales when compared to
Tekken/VF/ZD. But, I have yet to experience any hint of slowdown. Instead,
the game moves quicker than anything else out there, while still
maintaining some fascinatingly original motions. Each character's
movements are distinct and wicked cool.

Sound: 2
Really disappointed. The punch/swipe/kick sounds are the same as the first
(which were ok). What really blows here are the music & voices. The music
is dull & un-inspired. And the voice-over...

This is an AMERICAN release! Last time I checked, we spoke ENGLISH here in
the States. The Japanese language may indeed be beautiful, complex and
lyrical, but I DON'T SPEAK IT, and I don't plan to learn it. I would have
ordered the import version if I didn't mind Japanese voices; I DO mind,
which is why I wait for the US releases. This REALLY SUCKS,
Playmates/TAKARA.

Control: 10
In a word: perfect.
I've always preferred the classic Street Fighter approach to special
moves, and this one performs flawlessly. The 3-d dodges are still amazing,
and response is quick, predictable and precise. Nuff said.

Character Design: 10
Again, beautifully executed characters. My complaint from the original
Toshinden seems to have been addressed, at least with Ellis. Each
character has a nice balance of special movers, yet retain the
individuality. However, after only 4-5 solo hours logged, this could
change. So, its a 10, with the potential to fall.

The special moves themselves are really something, and add immensely to
the strategic nature that Toshinden was famous for. Example: Eiji is doing
his dive-bomb sparkle kick (again, I don't speak Japanese), and he's
coming in right over my Fai. I panic, randomly wiggle the joypad & hit a
button, and Fai drops to his back and shoots a Magic Sphere straight UP!
Wow. Each of the characters now seem to have similar directional attacks. 

Game Mechanics: 9
Load times are acceptable. Still not as fast as Tekken, but it bests the
all-time loosers: MK3 and SFAlpha. Plus, continuing after getting trounced
does NOT require any load delays. Menu structure is basic, but very
usable. The only flaw: why have hi-score tables if you can't save them to
memory cards?

Do I like it? Am I glad I bought it? Yes. The gameplay DOES rule, and it
addresses all my complaints with the original. That being said, I'm going
to SERIOUSLY consider ignoring these so-called "American Releases" if more
distributors start pulling this charade in future "translations".

-EA
(Erik Anderson, e-mail at erikandr@winternet.com)