Bleach: The Blade Of Fate

Do you remember Gunstar Heroes on the Mega Drive? Do you remember Dynamite Headdy on the same system? Do you remember Guardian Heroes on the Saturn? (Of course you won't, did ANYONE own one? I am kidding. Hello Saturn fans! Both of you...)

Well Treasure made all of those cracking titles. So what happens when Treasure get a hold of one of the most exciting manga series to hit these shores and combines it with the awesome gameplay of Guardian Heroes? You get Bleach: The Blade Of Fate of course!

If you're wondering, Bleach features Ichigo Kurosaki as the main protagonist and he can see dead people (but he doesn't sit in a bed with Bruce Willis leering over him like... well... a dead person). One inadvertent meeting with Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki and BANG, he's a Soul Reaper himself now and when Rukia gets captured by her brother and is sentenced to death by the Soul Society then Ichigo and friends go and save her. Cue massive four-player fights, outlandish attacks and stunning anime-style graphics. Having Treasure take the winning gameplay from Guardian Heroes and transplant it into this format and you've got a cracking way to spend hours.

The story mode is a lot more fun than it should be (when has a story mode in any fighting game really been much fun?) and the versus battles are always entertaining but the best part is being able to take your battles online over the Wi-Fi connection and battle ANYONE with your favourite Bleach character.

If I have to have a gripe with it then the slowdown in these online battles is quite sizeable. It's an excellent attempt at online fighting on the DS and the battles can be fun but be aware that the lag can be a deterrent but stick with it and it's awesome fun (unless you keep getting the world's most accomplished Bleach player and then you'll probably get so frustrated you'll never play it again for fear of facing the humiliation of defeat again...)

Hugely entertaining, bundles to unlock, superb artwork and a brilliant story mode... what more could you ask for? Bleach: The Blade Of Fate is the best fighter on the DS, without fail...

Not that there's much to compare it with...

Seeing as I'd only heard of Bleach through a friend who egged me to watch the series, I decided I'll play this DS version as the WII one was not very well received and I must say I was mightily impressed.
I was expecting some poor excuse of a game, but it's actually mighty satisfying and the fighting is rather similar to Dragonball Z Supersonic Warriors 2. As much as i still like and love the Dragonball Z SW2 (I mean what's not satisfying about making Goku unleash his Spirit Bomb?!) this game is pretty much on par with it.
There are similarities, in that there are story modes, most of which are a championship between the Soul Society Captains and Lieutenants, but playing each of these episodes helps you understand each character and their weaknesses and vulnerabilities and also gives you a decent enough work out. There are ample characters to sort out and a load of extra goodies to buy at the Urahara Shop (which costs a lot so a lot of game play is needed) but they've over come this by not having just the story mode. You also have a training mode (although you obviously win no money for this) there is an arcade mode, where you fight ten rounds with randomly chosen characters, a survival mode, and so much more. There are even some simple features such as being able to change teh background to a picture or image you like as well as changing the menus voice from Ichigo, to other characters (although these need to first be unlocked and then purchased). There is loads to do and the fact that it is also a DS Single Download for 2-4 players is a real treat as one person can play with other mates fans or not of Bleach and at least have a taster of what is expected. There is also a Wi-Fi option which I as of yet have not tested out yet, but will surely try out soon.
Usually these cartoon to game ports can be dodgy and unsatisfying, but I like this for what it is and how it works and the feature that you can either use the touch screen to unleash special moves and Bankai or you can just button bash a sequence in helps in that if u remember the simpler sequences you can button bash 'em in without needing to touch the screen, although touching the screen is effectively a lot quicker.
There's so much to do and it is so much fun. another feature I enjoy is that you control whether you want your fights timed or if you want them as death match rules, for me I've always fought to the death just through personal taste, time running out is always unsatisfying for me in midst of battle.
This game has so many pretty neat options and the storylines are great and sometimes funny.
For someone whose never seen Bleach this really got me into it and I've watched the DVD of Bleach Series 1 part 1 already and have already eagerly ordered part 2. There are a mix of characters each with swords or fists armed with their own special powers and with a deck of special power up cards to add a little spice to fights, it's a win-win situation. Sega really have made something here worth talking about, and to make someone who knew nothing about Bleach to want to watch the series, this si a very well done game indeed. My only nit pick is that i wish they had, even as a mini-game or as some sort of training, or even to be included in the survival mode, a version where you only fight Hollows, although they might even decide to make another Bleach game purely on going around defeating Hollows. Either way this is a good game and with the actual voice casts voices being used it's a real treat for any Bleach fan. Buy it! You won't regret it!

Yet another Shonen Jump game to review.
Blade of Fate wasn't so bad but I feel that Shattered Blade did a better job on action gameplay, but still despite being a DS game it pulled off good graphics but eventually gave in to it's limitations by playing like another Smash Brothers style game with the only difference being a smaller arena.
The story seemed to keep me going around in circles without telling me how to progress the story and even when they did tell me it was difficult to meet the requirements they asked.
On paper this is better than Shattered Blade but like other shonen jump games it's too limited by the story.
Oh yes and the card system used in battle is cheap. You would almost always choose the ones that fill up the special gauge to launch super moves which could easily be seen as unfair.